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bettsfic · 2 years ago

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i know in the past you've made "fix-it" scenario posts where you write out how you would've wanted a certain story to go (like the star wars sequel trilogy) and they are always so brilliant and fun and so much better than anything boring men in the writer's room came up with. in your ideal world, how could stranger things s4 plot have gone if/how chrissy survived? (i'm looking at this through my grubby lil hellcheer glasses) (pls don't feel obligated to answer! only if you have time ofc.)

very cool question!

(stranger things s4 spoilers ahead)

this got long, so i'm putting it under a cut.

so when i've written fixit things in the past, it's usually pretty easy because the writing is so sloppy and the character motivations are flat and uninteresting. so really all i do is tidy the story up and give the characters a touch more nuance.

the problem with stranger things is that it's working in the total opposite direction. it's too tidy. in fact after i got this ask i thought about it for a good half an hour and every single time i moved or changed a piece of plot, it had major repercussions for the rest of the plot. the s4 plot was woven so well that at the end i was like, there's no way i'd ever be able to write something as tightly woven as this. i lack the skill for it definitely but i also lack the interest. big plotty plots with many characters reacting to outright, unquestionable evil is just not my aesthetic wheelhouse.

which is all to say, there's nothing to really fix, exactly. i think eddie and chrissy are a huge missed opportunity, but i don't think chrissy dying is bad writing. (eddie's death was some of the weakest writing in the whole show imo [because he could have lived, like the plot did not force him to die, it just decided to, and i think there's a big difference], but the duffer brothers keep writing themselves into a corner where they make these phenomenal one-shot characters and can't keep them because there are already too many characters.)

so i think what we'd have to do is go back to season 3 and have billy live so he can stick around for the repercussions of his actions to be addressed in season 4. i really liked billy conceptually (and dear god dacre montgomery is hot) but ofc they made him a racist and so i just couldn't give a fuck about him. let's say they didn't do that and billy is still fucking awful but redeemable. (also while we're rewriting season 3, let's also say he boned mike's mom.)

billy is alive for season 4, and so max's plot would involve billy somehow so she doesn't get cursed. possibly redemption arc? we just need max out of the cursed ptsd kid fodder lineup. (by the way, that is my least favorite trope of all time. curse/monster attacks kids with ptsd only. like i watch stories like that and i'm like, yeah that'd be me. i'd be dead.)

we now have a totally unnecessary E plot in addition to plots A through D. but we're not bound by the physical constraint of production, so it's fine. i don't know what exactly would go in E plot except billy, max, and lucas feeling their feelings. which honestly i would be okay with.

that frees up max's story in plot B to go to chrissy. so she's not as far along in her vecna symptoms as the others yet but still having enough trouble to reach out to eddie for some weed. (this is where things get tough because there are so many tiny threads to consider.) but let's just say nancy's friend, vecna victim #2 becomes vecna victim #1, and his death happens near/around/in eddie's trailer somehow, so that chrissy is implicated in the murder and they both have to go on the run.

jason's plot would then turn into finding chrissy, who is missing and presumed dead because he believes eddie is a murderer on a rampage, etc. so instead of avenging her death, he's just trying to find her. all of this to say, i need chrissy and eddie trapped in a boathouse together with nothing to do but talk and fall in love. and this fits aesthetically with the "opposites attract in states of extreme danger" trope that littered 80s action movies.

so chrissy is with eddie the whole time. they escape on the water together running from jason, because by this point chrissy has sided with eddie and knows that if she gives herself up, jason will harm/kill eddie for kidnapping her or whatever.

the guy, jason's friend, is vecna victim #2 and opens the gate to the upside down. now chrissy's plot is tied firmly into plot B and everything happens basically the same except chrissy is in the upside down with the rest of the big kids and we would get some gratuitous protective eddie. which i think would also lower the pressure on steve/nancy which, i mean, i love a good love triangle and i enjoyed that tension but it feels a little hamfisted to me.

meanwhile, in our newly forged plot E, billy has started to exhibit vecna symptoms. and we know he is Doomed, because there would be a scene where he hangs out with max and has a good time and maybe even smiles. but! we don't know how far along he is in comparison to chrissy, so we aren't sure who is next.

imagine: chrissy in the upside down, her cheerleading uniform all torn up and dirty. she has no idea how to fight but she is doing her best. she's lost that cute little sweater she has. eddie gives her his jacket.

here's where i a little bit lose track of things, but roughly what would happen is that plots B and E would merge so that the big kids + dustin and lucas could try to help billy, which would fail and billy would die. (listen i hate redeemed characters dying as much as anyone else, but this is about hellcheer so sacrifices must be made.)

that leaves chrissy and eddie to take over the final scenes that max and lucas have, and eddie can still get his big damn hero moment by fighting jason, which makes more sense than lucas fighting him anyway. there is no random bat protection setup, because that's stupid. i know we sacrifice eddie's guitar solo but let's say there's a scene in episode 1 where we get to see him play at the hideout or something to make up for it.

imagine: instead of max listening to kate bush (sorry kate bush), chrissy's song that helps her get away from vecna is eddie's demo tape or something. so she's just constantly listening to eddie's music because it makes her feel safe and eddie has to pretend he's not dying about it.

imagine also: earlier in the season we have a very tender moment between chrissy and eddie, and because she is a Sad Girl that's what becomes her happy memory when she's trying to get away from vecna, forcing her to realize that even through all this nonsense that this time with eddie has made her happier than anything else ever has. she is determined to live through this so they can be together.

eddie fights jason. chrissy's in vecnaland. plots A and B merge and eleven is fighting vecna. unfortunately this part gets really wobbly because eleven and chrissy have no connection to one another. let's just ignore that because we're not even really addressing plot A here.

let's say this is either the final season or we don't know if there will be a season 5, and therefore things have to wrap up rather than escalate, which means when vecna goes to give the final blow, eleven does her thing a little earlier, preventing chrissy from having all her bones broken and dying for a minute to open the gate. let's say also that vecna is dead and not tease that he's coming back next season, so that the resolution is firmer.

chrissy falls from where she's levitating a few feet off the ground. eddie has knocked out jason or something and he goes to chrissy, holds her, there's crying, there's some cheesy line that joseph quinn somehow fucking nails about how they could have had something real.

and then! chrissy wakes up! she says something romantic and vulnerable. eddie spouts a cheesy one-liner callback to something said earlier to lighten the tension. joseph quinn also nails this because he understands the assignment. they kiss! plots A through E resolve in some way i am not going to bother thinking about.

hellcheer resolution: chrissy is in the hospital. eddie is playing an acoustic guitar. chrissy brings up the tough question: what's he doing after graduation? eddie, who still can't believe he's dating chrissy cunningham: basically nothing. maybe go on tour eventually. maybe record an album. chrissy admits she doesn't really have any plans. no decisions are made, but in the silence they both kind of realize nothing is stopping them from being together. eddie brings up jason. chrissy says her relationship with him is no longer an issue. everyone comes to visit chrissy, because they're all friends now.

tiny epilogue: chrissy and eddie (and the other big kids) at graduation. cute 80s montage set to rock music of all of them getting their diplomas. we see chrissy and eddie making out because they are now That Couple and everyone is already exhausted about it. happily ever after! the end.

bonus epilogue that provides the music for the credits, which are rolling on the right side of the screen: chrissy goes to see eddie play at the hideout.

i know this is a mess but like i said, i am no good at balancing multiple plotlines. or any plotlines, really. and i know i forgot a bunch of stuff because honestly i was playing a game on my phone while watching season 4. i'm not even going to reread this because i'll want to add to it, so. this is the best i can do.

#my fic #do i have a tag for my fixits?#st4 #fixit

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immaturityofthomasastruc · 4 years ago

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#4: There's totally character development, you guys! You just don't see it!

A common critique of Miraculous Ladybug is the lack of actual character growth and development in three seasons, a sentiment most of the fandom agrees with.

At the time of this post, Miraculous Ladybug has been through three seasons with 78 episodes, and nothing has really changed. Sure, by the third season, new villains were introduced, and the season finale shook up the status quo a little bit by exposing the identities of the temporary heroes as a result of Chloe's damnation arc that was obviously planned from the beginning, but despite one of the main plotlines being the relationship between the two, Marinette and Adrien are still at square one. She's still a stammering mess around him, he still doesn't get she has feelings for him, while Cat Noir still can't take a hint that Ladybug isn't into him.

Sure, you could make the argument that they're in relationships with other people now, but not even the show wants to acknowledge it, as a big part of the recent New York City special was about Marinette and Adrien's friends forcing the two to spend time together, even though Marinette said she was trying to move on from him. Even the synopsis for the fourth season says that Marinette still has feelings for Adrien, so now we're wasting even more time on this subplot that's starting to rival Ross and Rachel in terms of tediousness.

Honestly, a good representation of the writing process can easily be summarized like so:

youtube

But enough of my rant, what you're here for is what Astruc has said in response to this kind of criticism in this (now deleted) tweet.

Okay, first of all, who unironically uses the term “haterz” to describe someone who criticizes them? What is he, Taylor Swift?

Second, in order to properly analyze this tweet, I'm going to have to talk about Luka and Kagami first. They were introduced during the second season of Miraculous Ladybug to complicate the Love Square, sort of like Jackie and Tom during Star vs. the Forces of Evil. Their reception was... mixed, to say the least. Part of it had to do with how the show first portrayed them.

Now, I like both of these characters, as well as the ships associated with them, but I want to make things clear that this is based on fan interpretation of these characters. If you like Luka and Kagami, or the associated ships with them, that's fine. Same goes for the ships in the Love Square between Marinette and Adrien. While I will be criticizing the writing of the romantic subplots, I am not trying to start a ship war here. This is all about the way Astruc views the writing of Luka and Kagami. So let's please try to keep any comments here civil.

Luka first appeared in the episode “Captain Hardrock”, and was instantly infatuated with Marinette. Fans really didn't like the episode. In addition to the boring villain and horrible animation on display, some viewers simply found Luka to be a boring character. Don't get me wrong, there were still some fans who loved Luka in his first appearance, but for others, it took until his next appearance, “Frozer”, for them to warm up to Luka. The thing is that was because of how Adrien had been for some of the season.

See, mid-Season 2, people had started to question the way Adrien was being written. He had been much more assertive in his attempts to get Ladybug to fall for him, like setting up dates, offering flowers, and supporting the media shipping the two together, claiming they're “meant to be”.

This ties back into why people stated to like Luka more. Unlike Adrien, who was more intrusive of Ladybug's boundaries, Luka was much more calm and understanding of how conflicted Marinette was when she was caught between him and Adrien. By Season 3, a lot of fans found Adrien was only getting worse and basically abandoned ship (no pun intended) to start shipping Luka with Marinette.

While I believe there are some problems with the way Adrien is being written (which I will get into in a later entry), I don't think all hope is lost for the Love Square, as there are some generally cute moments between Marinette and Adrien, and there have been a lot of great fanfics featuring the two as a couple. So it's safe to say I don't think the Love Square is a lost cause.

At the same time, I can understand why people would start shipping Lukanette instead because of the way they viewed Adrien's behavior during Season 3. I also think they have some nice moments in the show, with one of the few good episodes in the garbage fire that is Season 3, “Silencer”, being all about Luka and Marinette growing closer.

Here's the thing. The way the fanbase perceived Luka? IT ISN'T CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT.

A big reason fans started to ship Lukanette because of how poorly the other romantic subplot with Adrien was going. Hell, people started to ship Marinette with Damian Wayne because of how much they hated Adrien. Some fans have also cited how Marinette looks much more comfortable around Luka compared to when she’s an anxious mess around Adrien, allowing for better interactions with the former.

And Astruc is acting like the fact that more people are shipping Lukanette like it's all part of his brilliant plan. It's hard to explain how ridiculous this sounds without starting a ship war across Tumblr, so let's move onto what he said about Kagami.

Kagami's first appearance in the episode “Riposte” didn't really give the audience a good idea of what she was like, as she was the Akuma of that episode. All we really knew about her was that she was a fencer, her mom was incredibly strict towards her, and she hit it off with Adrien. It didn't help that she didn't have another appearance for almost an entire year.

Her next appearance, “Frozer”, really didn't portray her in a positive light. Because Kagami had a crush on Adrien, she was a lot more cold to Marinette (even though they hadn't met before and when Adrien told her about her at the end of “Riposte”, she sounded eager to meet her) and basically told her to move her ass or Adrien was hers. Oh, you think I'm paraphrasing? That is literally what Astruc said when someone asked the meaning of that line.

Because all girls do is fight over cute boys, right? Such a good message for a “girl power” show.

Her next appearance in “Animaestro ”made her out to be the threat in the first half of the episode for the crime of hanging out with Adrien. This motivates Marinette to team up with Chloe of all people to embarrass Kagami in front of Adrien, and neither of them are ever called out for it. Yes, Marinette and Chloe both have a crush on Adrien, but the show is demonizing Kagami for daring to spend time with him when Adrien honestly looks much more comfortable around her compared to when Chloe or Lila (another character I'll talk about later) force themselves onto him.

So here's a fun fact: If you write a character as a threat to the protagonist in a completely irrational way, all while perpetuating the cliche stereotype of girls fighting over boys, people aren't going to like that character.

It wasn't until the episode “Ikari Gozen” that Kagami and Marinette finally became friends, and people actually warmed up to her because the show stopped trying to portray her as a romantic rival on the same level as Chloe and Lila.

So while you could call Kagami becoming friends with Marinette character development, it just comes right out of left field, I don't really think it was planned out. But even if, congratulations Astruc. You finally wrote some character development for two supporting characters. Now if only you could do it for your main characters too.

(Sorry if this isn’t my best work, I’ve been focusing on another entry that tackles an... interesting example of how poorly Astruc can respond to criticism.)

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winnix85 · 4 years ago

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About Lewis Nixon’s mother Doris Ryer Nixon (Mrs Stanhope Nixon)

Source: mostly from old newspapers and digitized documents (I can’t guarantee the accuracy because they are fragmented information. I will just put it out there for someone may find some interesting useful backstories).

Doris Ryer was born on Oct 1 1894.

Her father Fletcher Ryer was a wealthy pioneer agriculturalist in California. He owned 6,600-acre (27 km2) ranch on Ryer Island, which was named in their honor. Because Doris was his only heiress, this ranch all went to Doris and then to Lewis Nixon III and ultimately to Grace Nixon. It's an agricultural (instead of livestocks) ranch. They grew crops, fruits and vegetables such as wheat, milo, safflower, pears, apples, cherries, grapes, tomatoes and asparagus. They produced such large amount of asparagus that Doris's mother, Mrs Ryer was nicknamed Asparagus Queen back then. This farm is still up and running today, managed by Clarence Hester from 1950s to 1990s (Nix' war buddy, the regimental S3, the one who wrestled with Dick in that photo), after him by his son Thomas Hester.

Doris was educated at Madame Payen's school in Paris from 1906 to 1914 (her entire high school).

Fletcher Ryer died an early death in 1911 (when Doris was about 16). Doris was close to her mother Mrs Blanche Ryer. Mrs Blanche Ryer, though very charming, married very very young. As a pretty, attractive, wealthy widow she determined to ensure that her daughter Doris have a brilliant "bellehood" as a girl. She took Doris to tour around the world. For example, in Sep1913, they traveled to Russia to present Doris at the court of Tsar Nicholas II (Very inconvenient timing, I have to say).

Doris was very sweet and attractive, with pretty black eyes. Her mother has always been most ambitious for her handsome daughter. She aimed to marry Doris to British aristocracy. Doris was presented at Buckingham Palace in 1914, wearing "a white satin princess gown embroidered in pearls and brilliants". Mrs Ryer has had her eye on several members of the British aristocracy for Doris, "but this cruel war, of course, smashed all of her well-laid plans to smithereens." She has to stoop so low to choose from American heirs.

Doris married Stanhope in Jan 1917 in New York at Church of Heavenly Rest. Their wedding was the social event of the year. Guests from coast to coast attended Nixon-Ryer wedding.

The bride's costume was soft white satin, made in combination with pearl embroidered net. She worn a lovely veil, the same that had been worn by her grandmother at her wedding, which was held in place with a band of diamonds. Her only other ornament was a necklace of diamonds with a large pear-shaped diamond pendant, the gift of the bridegroom.

Because the father of bride has died, she was given away by governor of New York Charles S. Whitman. Among those in attendance were the Brazilian ambassador and Argentine ambassador.

After the wedding the new couple went to Bermuda for honeymoon and then they lived at 52 East Fifty-second Street NYC (but later moved to 46 East 65 Street). In 1920 census, the household of the new couple included Stanhope the head of the house, Doris the wife, Lewis the one and half yr old old baby son, and a butler and 3 maids. They also have a suburb house at 167 Grange Ave, New Jersey (a 20-room estate, equiped with oil burning hot water heat, a 4-car garage, servants quarters, a boat house and a stable).

After marrying off her daughter to the Nixons, Mrs Blanche Ryer re-married in 1920 to Clifford Erskine-Bolst, a British conservative party politician. Mr Erskine-Bolst was elected to the British House of Commons in 1923 and again in 1931. To help him win the election, she made generous donations to King George's Hospital in England. She campained hard for him, making speeches and appealing to the constituency in the South Hackney district.

In 1920s, mama Doris bought a villa at Riviera France from the late Grand Duchess Anastasia of Russia. She lived there until her death in 1939 (This villa went to Nix. But he didn't like living there, too much hassle to open the house. He prefered to stay at the hotel Cap Estel. In 1950s he leased it to the Kennedys).

Doris and Stanhope seemed to be ok in 1920s. They attended social events together and traveled to England together. After Lew, they had a baby boy in 1922 (who tragically died in 3 months. Doris' mother went to New York to be with her.) Then they had Blanche Nixon in Aug 1924 (also born in NYC). While living in NYC, it seems little Lew was often spending time with his grandfather. Grandpa often took him to play at central park. For example, he took Lew to that model yacht regatta in central park when he was 7, and to skate in central park in Jan 1927 when lew was 8. In 1927, Doris took 2 yr old Blanche to France to visit her mother, but she didn't take Lew (maybe he was too naughty?). Anyway, Doris took Blanche to see grandma almost every year but Lew was only with them on one visit when he was 10 yr old.

Doris appeared to be lonely and out of place in the social circle of New York. Here is a social note about her in 1929: "A remarkable girl with her embroidery frame, actually engaged in a simple, normal occupation in a land where the atmosphere is charged with hang-overs, gambling-losses and mistrust. Nobody around here looks twice at a woman with mauve hair like Madame de Roch, or at a man with ear-rings and a bracelet on his ankle. But let a girl take out a half-finished centerpiece and commence embroidering and every lorgnette in the crowd is whipped into place."

At the end of 1920s, Doris seemed to be so unhappy to live on the east coast anymore, and she still regarded CA to be her real home. Stanhope sold their house in New Jersey and bought a new house in Montecito (also a mansion with a large stable and everything). In the 1930 census they were living at 180 Cold Spring Road, montecito, CA (Stanhope, Doris, Lewis (11yr), Blanche(5yr), and a French governess, and 2 servants). Lew attended boarding school at Cate School in Santa Barbara.

In social notes in 1930s, Stanhope and Doris mainly attended social events in CA (Santa Barbara and San Francisco), they also travel to New York to visit Mr and Mrs Lewis Nixon Sr.. The family traveled a lot, not only back and forth between east-west coasts, but also trips abroad. Doris always took Blanche with her, but Lew traveled on his own even when he was as young as 15 yr old. It appears that Doris and Stanhope's relationship has gone sour in 1930s. For example, in this 1934 social note: "The Stanhope Nixons will spend the Christmas holidays with his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Lewis Nixon. Mr Nixon will return to California on Jan 1, and Mrs Nixon will sail for Europe to spend six months on the Riviera with her mother." (almost as if Doris was running away from Stanhope and hide in France after briefly met him on Xmas day. Meanwhile 15 yr old Lew was at boarding school in CA).

In 1940 census, Doris and Blanche were still living at 180 Cold Spring Road, montecito, CA (with a housekeeper, a cook and a maid). Stanhope was no longer in this household. Maybe they have separated. Lew was also not in this household for he has left for college.

Among the CA high society, Doris was a all-around likable person: "Doris is always bubbling over with enthusiasm, her joy of living and her wit making her a welcome guest at any affair". She was very enthusiastic about opera (and art events in general, such as oriental dance). She attended the openning of Opera Season at San Francisco every year (usually with Blanche, and she will grab Lew when she can catch him). In 1940, she offered a prize for the "Best one act play" to stimulate interest in the Lobero Theater of Santa Barbara. She also went to see excellent plays in New York when it's in season and made some witty comments about the remarkable fashion trends in New York: "The only lavender and old lace that you see today is on the individual--the lavender in the tinted hair, and the lace on the dainty unmentionables."

After the Pearl Harbor Attack, Doris turned from a socialite to a civic leader. In 1942 she became the national vice-president of the American Women's Voluntary Services (AWVS) (and during ww2). The AWVS recruited and trained women to harvest crops, do nurse works, driving trucks and sell war bonds. She encouraged women to show more interest in international affairs. She also founded Guide Dogs for the Blind in 1943 (primarily to help the blinded veterans) and she made generous donations. In addition, she was the state commander of the California Cancer Society.

The AWVS duties kept her so busy, she has to relinquish her box at the opera house. She only had long enough time to have a toasted chicken sandwich for lunch. She put generous amount of English mustard on her sandwich. When her friends cautioned her not to put too much, she said:"If it puts me out, I will be a most excellent subject for the first aid class I am about to attend, and we will all find out how much we know!"

In the summer of 1945, Doris and Stanhope finally divorced (Stanhope even filed counter-suits seeking divorce on the grounds of desertion). They divorced in August, and Stanhope married "the Blond" in September 1945.

In June 1948, Doris died at home (944 Chestnut Str San Francisco CA). She had a stroke (and she always had hypertention). It seems her death was an unexpected sudden death because one month before she was still traveling around France with her daughter Blanche. Her will dictated to split her legacy equally between Blanche and Lew. She also left generous amount of money to employees such as housekeeper, secretary. For a former maid, she gave her $225 monthly for life.

#doris ryer nixon #Doris Ryer #Mrs Stanhope Nixon #She was a wonderful person #Generous kind and funny #lewis nixon #band of brothers

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link4eva · 4 years ago

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Kiro’s S2 Company Project- Campus Youth Translation [CN]

Hi, everyone! Just a couple of notes before you begin reading. I don’t actually know Chinese so this translation was done through the power of Google Translate and with help from @keliosyfan. Thank you! 💛

This translation contains spoilers for Season 2 content which hasn’t been released to the ENG server yet. If you wish to not be spoiled, please don’t look below the cut.

Enjoy!~

*Spoilers below for future content!*

[Stage 1]

I’ve already graduated, but it feels good to be back at school.

At this moment, the conference room is full of people.

The woman sitting across from me was drinking water and putting down the thermos in her hand.

This very accomplished woman in front of me is a very reputable director and has a great reputation in many film festivals.

Not long ago we reached an agreement with this director--

A few months later, Kiro will be participating in a movie production involving friendship amongst youths on campus.

The director looked at Kiro next to me and said,

Director: As far as I know, Kiro has no experience of going to high school in China.

Director: Considering that every detail in our youth drama must be accurately portrayed….

Director: I propose that he go to the high school campus for a week to learn about high school life in China.

Director: At the end of that week, let’s discuss the experience of it.

After listening to the director’s suggestion, I fell into deep thought, and my fingers tapped on the table.

MC: If a star were to go to the campus to experience high school life for a week, will it cause “trouble” for the school and students?

Director: I have a friend in a private high school so we can call ahead and see.

Director: And this school holds great importance to the arts. I believe everyone will look forward to Kiro’s arrival. Of course, we will tell the students the exciting news in advance.

Director: With the students’ academic schedules in mind, I can only arrange a week.

MC: Sounds like a good idea.

I nodded slightly and looked at Kiro.

He put his chin in one hand and gave a silly smile.

Kiro: My thoughts are exactly the same as those of the director.

MC: Director, please arrange it.

MC: If you still need our cooperation, please feel free to let us know.

As soon as my voice fell, Kiro’s rang through.

Kiro: Director, I have a little suggestion~

Kiro: I hope that someone can be with me in addition to making it easy to shoot daily tidbits. And, in case any problems arise, they can also be handled promptly and properly.

After listening to these words, the director and I nodded in agreement.

Director: Okay, so do you recommend anyone?

Kiro gave a slight smile, and then those azure blue eyes fell on me.

Kiro: I think the most suitable candidate is….my boss!

After the director listened, she looked at me with a little astonishment.

My eyes widened slightly, and I couldn’t speak due to the surprise.

Kiro: Believe me, she is the best candidate.

Kiro: She is an excellent producer and is also very familiar with the shooting process.

Kiro: More importantly, she can handle various emergencies with her ability.

Kiro: With her, I feel at ease.

He stretched out his palm to calculate the “pros” of me a little bit. Seeing everyone’s eyes cast on me, I lowered my eyes to weigh the “pros and cons” of this plan.

Suddenly, Kiro bent over and came into my peripheral vision.

The golden hair that was swept down from his forehead swayed playfully, gradually occupying my gaze.

I raised my eyes to meet those bright eyes and heard him speak in a voice that only I could hear.

Kiro: MC, will you be my classmate?

(Cut to campus)

The moment Kiro and I walked into the school’s office early on Monday morning, the world suddenly became quiet.

I couldn’t help rubbing my ears; it felt as though the screams of the students were still echoing in my ears.

Unexpectedly, even though the exciting news was given in advance, the enthusiasm of the students was still overwhelming. *Changed some wording*

But looking at the familiar and unfamiliar surroundings, I couldn’t help sighing in my heart--

In the end, I still agreed to their suggestion “confusedly”...

Teacher: The formalities have been completed, so come with me.

A simple and powerful voice immediately pulled me back from my thoughts.

While I was following the teacher, the security guard turned towards Kiro beside me.

He was wearing a clean white shirt and pants for his school uniform. Even his golden bangs were slicked back. *Changed some wording*

The sun fell on his hair, spots of light scattered over it.

Seeing that I was about to arrive at the classroom, I had to withdraw my eyes somewhat reluctantly.

(Cut to the classroom)

The moment we walked into the classroom, all the students turned their eyes towards Kiro. As if they couldn’t contain their excitement, they whispered amongst each other.

Student A: Ah, it’s really Kiro!

Student B: We’re so lucky that he came to our class!

Teacher: Students, be quiet!

The teacher knocked hard on the table, but the students still couldn’t hold back their excited chatter.

Teacher: No matter how excited you are, you have to listen to the introduction of your new classmates.

The teacher seemed to understand the mindset of the students very well, and as soon as the voice fell in the classroom, it was silent.

Teacher: Classmates, please introduce yourselves.

Kiro took the lead in taking a step forward, showing a bright smile.

Kiro: Hello, everyone. I am Kiro.

Kiro: Because of work, I now want to spend a week as a student here with everyone.

Kiro: So, please forget my previous “identity”. I am just your classmate now.

Kiro: I hope I can spend a very happy week with you. Please give me your guidance.

Kiro seemed to have made an agreement and lowered his eyes.

I don’t know if it was because Kiro’s voice was magical; the students nodded obediently and slowly calmed down.

But soon their curious eyes fell on me. I gave a smile and said,

MC: Hello, everyone. I’m MC. Please give me your guidance for this coming week~

After the ceremonial applause was over, Kiro and I sat in the last row of empty seats.

As soon as I sat down, a few crisp claps came from the direction of the podium.

Teacher: Students, the annual art festival will soon start.

Teacher: We will also give a performance and decorate the campus in accordance with tradition.

Teacher: I heard that Kiro loves music very much. He will be responsible for this year’s art festival. Do you have any objections?

Students: No!

Students: With him, our festival must be the most brilliant!

Everyone turned around unanimously and looked at Kiro expectantly.

The sunlight reflected on Kiro’s brand-new white shirt, and the reflection off of it seemed to light up the entire classroom.

He straightened up, and the corner of his mouth raised up into a sincere smile.

Kiro: Okay. Everyone, leave it to me!

[Stage 2]

Internet age. Be comfortable with various situations. *It came out like this so I’m hoping this makes sense lol*

Kiro has been very busy these days. He has to arrange the art festival and attend classes on top of that.

Looking at Kiro, who was lying on the table during the break, I gently took out the disposable camera from my bag and pointed it at him.

In the picture, he is lying on his arm lazily, with long eyelashes, and his face squished.

Suddenly, his eyelashes trembled and he opened his blue eyes.

Kiro: Miss Chips, has class started yet?

There was a trace of longing for sleep in his voice, which made me laugh.

MC: Not yet, you….

Ring--

Halfway through our conversation, the school bell rang in the classroom.

Unexpectedly, he swept away his tiredness and immediately sat up straight in excitement.

Kiro: After this class is a music class. This is the first time I have a music class in a private high school!

He is like a child who is about to get a toy, his eyes full of unconcealed anticipation.

There were neat footsteps in the corridor, and the teacher soon walked in.

Teacher: There is still a lot to do for this semester. We will have two consecutive classes today and cancel the next music class.

As soon as the voice fell, voices of complaint were heard all over the classroom.

I looked to Kiro but found that he was a little bit frustrated and turned his head.

Immediately afterwards, his elbow crossed the middle line and was propped up on my table. He lowered his voice.

Kiro: MC, the music class will be cancelled. Is this reasonable?

I nodded to the person who reached over and cast a regretful look at him.

Kiro: Is there no other way? How did you solve it before?

Suddenly, a white piece of chalk hit his head, leaving a small mark.

Teacher: Class time! Go out and talk.

Kiro rubbed his head aggrievedly and put his hands on his desk obediently.

Teacher: The book, do you want me to get it out for you?

Kiro immediately lowered his head and fumbled in the drawer for a long time and then cast a look at me asking for help.

He just moved his lips, and then followed the teacher with some fear. He picked up the pen and quickly wrote something on the notebook.

After a little bit, a small piece of paper was gently pushed in front of me--

“Miss Chips, what kind of class is this? OvO”

I held the note silently, pretending to be note-taking, and wrote a word in big letters on the note--

“Language.”

[Stage 3]

Helping Kiro organize the school’s art festival can be thought of as filling in something that was not possible before.

The bell finally rang and I turned my head to find that Kiro’s figure had disappeared at the door of the classroom.

Maybe he went to the bathroom….

I didn’t worry too much about it and lay on the table lazily.

MC: Did class time ever pass by this slowly before?

I closed my eyes with ease. I don’t know how long I was out until there was a sudden rush of footsteps outside the door.

Kiro: We’re going to music class!

I opened my eyes in surprise, only to find that the students had surrounded Kiro.

Student A: Wow, awesome! She’s normally what we would consider “unreasonable”. *Changed some wording*

Student B: How did you do it? Quickly teach us!

With every word, the students said, Kiro held his chin pretentiously.

Kiro: Actually, it’s very simple. I just used my role as the person in charge of the festival and confidently asked for music class back!

Kiro: Learning is important, but it also requires a combination of work and rest!

Soon, the class bell rang again, and the students waved their arms excitedly.

Teacher: Walk nicely and go to music class--

The sound of youthful and restless footsteps disappeared one after another from the classroom, leaving only me and Kiro.

He walked up to me in the sunlight and patted my shoulder lightly.

Kiro: Let’s go, it’s time to go to class.

He smiled so brightly, the previous bright smile from before remained on his face.

I looked at Kiro who was so dazzling, and I couldn’t open my eyes for a little bit.

I couldn’t help but look at my school uniform, and suddenly laughed.

Kiro: Miss Classmate, what’s up?

I shook my head without speaking, got up and walked to his side.

MC: Classmate Kiro, let’s go~

I walked briskly out of the classroom, and Kiro followed me closely.

The sunlight pierced through the gaps of the leaves and fell on the corridor, printing a bit of staggered light and shadow.

With the position of the light, his mouth seemed to rise to the same arc as mine.

I can’t help wondering if Kiro and I are both happy about the same thing in our hearts--

I’m glad that I can be a classmate in this time and space with you.

[Stage 4]

Every story will have an ending, just as the cold winter must usher in the spring.

Since I started preparing for the festival’s activities, everyone will seemingly purposely stay after class to help out every day.

I walked around the corner with the camera, recording Kiro’s every move.

Although he was wearing a school uniform and seemed no different from this group of high school students, he still had an aura of maturity.

Kiro looked around and said,

Kiro: Some classmates told me in private that they didn’t like to perform on stage very much.

Kiro: So, those who don’t want to perform on stage, please raise your hands!

When his voice fell, the students laughed at each other and did nothing else for a while.

Kiro seemed to be aware of some of the students’ worries and timidity. So, he let out a long sigh and spoke softly.

Kiro: Although the art festival is a collaborative event, it doesn’t necessarily require everyone to perform on stage.

Kiro: Because I always think that it is embarrassing to “force” myself to do things I don’t want to do.

In the camera, although the corners of his mouth were raised in a smile, his eyes flashed with dim light.

Kiro: Don’t forget that we also have the task of decorating the campus. It is also one of the collaborative activities, isn’t it?

Kiro: So raise your hand loud and proud!

After some silence, a trembling hand finally was raised into the air. Immediately afterward, about seven or eight hands were raised one after another.

The remaining classmates who did not raise their hands seemed to breathe a sigh of relief and smiled brightly when they looked at the raised hands.

Student A: The task of decorating the campus is up to you.

Student B: Well, if you don’t have enough manpower, we will help!

Seeing them in a passionate discussion, the corners of my mouth rose unconsciously.

Suddenly, a familiar golden figure drew me into the crowd.

Kiro: Classmate, I need your help.

He leaned into my ear and whispered something.

I couldn’t help looking at him in surprise, my mouth moved slightly.

MC: How to help?

He smiled and turned his head, the setting sun outside the window happened to fall into his deep ocean eyes, reflecting the charming colours.

Kiro: Of course to help!

After sorting out the desires of all the students, Kiro and I divided them into two teams.

One is in charge of the show and the other is in charge of decorating the campus. In order to improve efficiency, I took the initiative to propose a team responsible for decoration.

MC: First of all, we must make a list of props and strictly manage our budget according to a certain proportion of class fees.

To help everyone understand more clearly, I drew a simple budget sheet on the blackboard.

It wasn’t until I put down the chalk and turned to face everyone, that I found everyone was casting admiring glances.

Students: That’s so amazing….You made it look so easy!! *Changed some wording*

I smiled embarrassedly, but Kiro beside me patted my shoulder with some pride.

Kiro: She is an excellent producer.

Kiro: So don’t worry, leave it to us.

Kiro: Although there’s no guarantee that our class’ performance will be the best.

Kiro: It will definitely make everyone the happiest!

[Stage 5]

Operation school is a go. *Changed some wording.*

There are new messages.

*I had trouble with this part so hopefully it makes sense when you read it. I’ll put the screenshots in below so you can see those too.*

Miss Producer,

There’s some good news for you, the show has been arranged! I compiled a lot of tips from countless stages experiences. I believe that the effect will reach the audience by then!

When the art festival begins, that’s when we’ll “graduate”, right? I don’t have any regrets. I feel that high school life in China is like this; it’s better than I thought and even happier! I wonder if you have the same thought?

Reply:

0(n_n)0~

[Stage 6]

Good actors will blend right into the play. *Changed some wording.*

The school bell rang, and I looked at the books on the desk and stuffed them into my bag with some reluctance.

The day after tomorrow, the high school life experience with Kiro and I will end.

Thinking of this, I subconsciously looked to the side and found that Kiro seemed to show the same expression as me.

He smoothed some of the curled corners of the book, and his curled eyelashes were downcast.

Kiro: Class is over. Let’s go.

I nodded, picked up my bag and walked out with him.

(Cut to outside)

As soon as we walked to the gate of the school, we saw students from a distance stopping us.

Students: Although there is still some time before the art festival, you will be leaving soon.

Students: So we specifically asked the teacher for the chance to rehearse in advance and wanted to invite you to join us!

I couldn’t help but freeze just as I was about to say something.

Kiro raised his hand and rubbed the back of his head, then smiled handsomely.

Kiro: Where is the rehearsal hall? Let’s hurry up!

(Cut to rehearsal hall)

Kiro was standing in the center of the stage wearing a white school uniform, and my thoughts were suddenly taken back to California.

Although I wasn’t there to see him attending school in California, the figure in front of me depicts my imagination of his past.

He must not have been too different back then from how he is now. He was so dazzling that people couldn’t look away.

Kiro: MC!

A voice from a distance drew me back to reality.

Kiro: Come on up!

I walked onto the stage with some hesitancy, but he grabbed my arm tightly.

Kiro: Today is our first and last rehearsal. Don’t be lazy.

MC: Wait, I don’t have a place in the performance….

Before I finished speaking, I was pulled up onto the stage.

Kiro: Haha, I actually don’t have a place either.

Kiro: But it doesn’t matter, let’s just be two cute little actors.

Kiro swayed lightly to the rhythm of the music, and the lights of the stage made him brighter than ever.

Suddenly, the stage light changed colours randomly, as if something unexpected happened.

The students stopped and looked around for the theatre staff. But it seemed that it was because it was lunchtime, there was no one in the booth.

Seeing everyone looking anxious, I hurriedly said,

MC: Someone take me to the booth, let me try to solve it.

One of the students stood up, and I followed her to the booth.

I walked to the booth and looked. The functions on it were similar to what I was used to at the TV station.

I let out a sigh of relief and after a few skilled operations, the stage lights returned to normal.

MC: Classmates, you should go back to the stage first. I will help you with the stage for the time being until the stage staff return.

After speaking, I pressed the PA button.

MC: Let’s rehearse again. I can clearly see whether the formation is neat or not.

MC: If you have any questions, I will give you feedback.

MC: 3, 2, 1, Start.

As soon as my voice fell, I immediately pressed the music play button.

Suddenly, a similar touch of gold in the distance bounced into my sight.

But my position was too far away from the stage, and I couldn’t see Kiro’s expression clearly.

He raised a hand high and seemed to make a gesture.

I couldn’t help squinting my eyes, trying to see his gesture clearly--

A thumb was raised high and shook excitedly at me.

[Stage 7]

High school life ended in the blink of an eye. Kiro and I went to the conference room as scheduled and handed in the “answer sheet”.

Director: Kiro, how was your experience this week? Do you think it will be helpful for the shooting?

Kiro lowered his eyes as if he was thinking, but the corners of his mouth had already “betrayed” him….

Kiro: Actually, high school life in China is not very different from that in foreign countries, but I am very happy.

Kiro: Because I have new wonderful memories of high school.

Kiro stopped suddenly and raised his eyes to look at me.

Kiro: The teachers in China are excellent, and sneaking snacks requires super skill to succeed.

Kiro: And if you whisper in class, you will be hit with chalk.

Kiro: But MC taught me to use a small note to communicate so you’re less likely to get caught.

Seeing Kiro’s “blabbermouth”, I quickly gave him a look.

He seemed to have received my signal and snickered uncontrollably.

Kiro: Ahem, but what I am happiest about is that I feel the beauty of youth again.

Kiro: The beauty of being a student feels purer now as an adult.

Kiro: In fact, this purity has always been there, but it was in slumber.

Kiro: Therefore, we must work hard to wake it up and let it revisit the world.

Kiro’s eyes creased in a smile as if to express his satisfaction of this time.

Memories are always full of filters, painting the time called “youth” with soft and bright colours.

It is flawless and pure, representing all the cleanliness and beauty. It is far away and unreachable as if some beauty can only stay for that period of time.

But people have forgotten that we should have this purity, even more, when we grow up.

When facing this complicated world, we shouldn’t take it for granted.

Looking at his smile, the figure in the white school uniform came to mind again.

It is like the brilliant sun shining everywhere in my heart, making people nostalgic and looking forward to the future.

I can’t help but believe this dazzling figure will meet me in various forms in the future.

The meeting ended in joy, and only me and Kiro were left in the room.

MC: Kiro, let’s wait a bit before leaving.

I took out the USB drive in my pocket and inserted it into the computer, and then turned on the projector.

MC: I have a small gift I want to give you.

After that, a video popped up on the projector background, which was a recording of Kiro’s high school life this week--

There’s footage of him running in the courtyard in his school uniform, and footage of him dozing off with his head on his arm.

And the look of my school bag on his shoulders.

Even the footage of him “copying his homework” was left guilty as evidence by me.

Kiro: Miss Chips….

He watched the video with a look of surprise and murmured to me.

MC: Although it was only a short experience, this is the first time you and I have been classmates.

MC: So I want to keep this memory forever and ever.

Until the video was finished, I looked at the picture in the last frame with nostalgia--

Me in school uniform, and him in school uniform.

We faced the camera and raised our brightest smiles.

This gift isn’t to make up the regret of youth but rather to record the me I was then and the me I am now.

Although we have grown up, we can still depict the youthfulness of Kiro and me at this moment.

Suddenly, Kiro walked right in front of me.

Kiro: Thank you, I really like this gift.

Kiro: But I didn’t expect Miss Chips’ gift to down without my knowledge.

With that said, he took out two small student name tags one by one from his pocket--

The names of Kiro and me are engraved on them.

At that time, due to the rush and short-term “entry”, the school did not prepare a name tag for us.

But at this moment, the name tag in Kiro’s hand seemed to reflect the light of the projector, reflecting a beautiful brilliance.

Kiro: MC, although the time was short, we really did become classmates.

Kiro: And you see, this is proof.

[End]

We went to the high school campus to experience high school life once more. The purpose of this experience was to add more vivid details to the youth drama that was to be filmed. But this wonderful time and the infinite expectations for the future at this moment will be deeply imprinted in my mind.

#mlqc spoilers #mr love queen's choice #mr love #mlqc #mr love game #mr love dream date #mr love kiro #mlqc kiro #mldd kiro #周棋洛 #s2 translation #AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH #ILYSM KIRO #THIS WAS SO CUTE #I wiah that they could've been together in high school #ma heart

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jackstarbrightisaqueen · 4 years ago

Text

Thoughts on the Alex Rider TV show...

Some background: I’ve been reading the books since Point Blanc came out, so we are going back a few years (actually quite a few more years than I care to credit). I thought the Stormbreaker movie was a pretty awful adaptation all round. Definitely lacked the grit of the book series. Imagine my fear of what they were going to do to Point Blanc, one of my favourite books of the series...

So, thoughts (in no particular order):

1. Otto Farrant is brilliantly cast. OK, one can nitpick. He’s been aged up, but I think that works - the TV series has tried to go grittier than the movie, and if we’re honest, a 14 year old being treated the way Alex is would just be extremely uncomfortable viewing. The books are written for children - they put up with a lot more than adults. And Farrant manages to strike an excellent balance between being old enough to make the whole thing believable, and young enough to provoke the right amount of outrage. His portrayal of Alex is really very good - the unwillingness to let something drop when he’s curious about it, the coldness, the desire to just be a schoolboy, the fundamental streak of doing what’s right. Sorry, Alex Pettyfer, but no matter how good looking you were, you weren’t Alex Rider for me. Otto Farrant has nailed it.

2. Alex generally. The writing is pretty faithful to his character. There are a few tweaks - he’s a bit more of a rebel than he is in the books. The foam party - one can see Alex doing that in the book because it’s part of the bad-boy act he’s supposed to be putting on, but I’m not sure that was the motivation for the foam party; I think he did it because it was fun and he’s someone who likes to rock the boat a bit. But I liked this Alex. It made his snarkiness and impulsiveness that much more believable. And, let’s be honest, what kid is taught to withstand interrogation techniques without becoming a bit of a loose cannon? One thing that was changed that I’m still not sure about was his determination to go back to Point Blanc. Book Alex didn’t want to go back; TV Alex says he’s going with or without MI6′s help because he’s got friends there. This was admirable, and I think probably the right move (I don’t think “leaving it to the professionals” would have come off well on screen when he’d made such good friends), but I did miss the scene from the book where Jones more or less manipulates him into going back in.

3. Jack. I love Jack as a character. It’s a bit more of recent phenomenon - I think since I became about the age that Jack is and suddenly woke up to what she must have felt - but the book Jack puts up with so much without complaint. The thing is, she’s a very tricky character to portray, because it’s a fine balance between making her powerless and useless. I think they did a good job here. They’ve changed things - Jack gets her degree at the start, and hints to Ian that it might be time for her to think about leaving. It’s not faithful to the book, but it’s a brilliant move, because as soon as Ian dies and she sticks around, you think - wow. She’s just given up her plans for this kid. She really cares. And that’s what the book series hints at throughout but has only addressed explicitly in recent books. I also like that they showed her having a bit more agency, which is realistic. I mean, she’s got a law degree. She’s not helpless. Ronkẹ Adékoluẹjo does a good job here. OK, she’s not the red haired Jack we know of the series. But so what? Representation matters (on a side point of which, good job in making Alex’s crush at school black too). And didn’t that thing about Immigration strike just a bit harder because Jack was black? Didn’t it make it that much more realistic and scary? This shit happens, people.

4.Ian. I didn’t have strong views about this. I’ve seen that others didn’t like how his death was changed. I’d argue they wanted to get away from what had already been done in the Stormbreaker movie, and, anyway, it set up the mystery of Scorpia’s involvement and the MI6 leak quite effectively. I don’t care about the speeding/seatbelt change. They probably did it because these days any decent car (like Ian’s was) screams at the driver if they’ve not got their seatbelt on.

5. K Unit generally. We didn’t get too much of Fox, Eagle and Snake, but we got a bit, and what I saw, I really liked. I liked that two of them were women (one of them an excellent sniper!). This show generally handles women much better than the book series - far more balance. I liked the introduction of K Unit - the whole interrogation scene was really well done, from K Unit following orders but being quite uncomfortable with the whole thing, to Alex’s reaction to it, to his escape. I think the lack of SAS training camp was again an attempt to shift away from the Stormbreaker movie and, although it has spawned a lot of fanfiction, it doesn’t actually serve any purpose that couldn’t be addressed elsewhere. For K Unit lovers, I think this move was a good thing. It is pretty difficult to justify K Unit’s attitude towards Alex at Brecon Beacons, and translating that situation to one of trust between Alex and Wolf would be very difficult. This approach worked because, although K Unit was introduced in circumstances where you think they’re acting badly (following orders to interrogate Alex), you’re immediately introduced to the idea they’re not comfortable about it - so they might be good guys after all.

6. Wolf. So this gave us ALL the feels (the apology, the blanket wrap at the end...), but I (possibly controversially) think they could have done more here. I would have liked to have seen a bit more of what we saw in the book - Wolf not liking Alex, and then them turning that around. Don’t get me wrong - obviously, the more Alex/Wolf trust, the better. But I thought they made Wolf into a bit more of a softie than they really needed to. They had 8 episodes - they had time to build more of a character arc for him.

7. Jones. Mixed feelings. Vicky McClure is really good, and I think the way they’ve set it up, there’s room for a good character arc here; at the moment, the Department is portrayed as basically being under Alan Blunt’s rule, with others disagreeing with his approach but getting overruled. If they make it far enough, Mrs Jones is going to need to have adopted some of his ruthlessness by the time Blunt gets the sack at the end of Scorpia Rising. A bit like Wolf, I thought Mrs Jones could have been a bit more complex than she was. But I’m happy to wait and see what they do in (hopefully) future seasons.

8. Setting. Generally pretty well done. Thank GOD they were wearing proper school uniform (what were the directors of the Stormbreaker movie thinking...this is Britain, y’all). The Point Blanc academy was suitably creepy and isolated. My only criticism re setting was that the “Department” was in a basement. I can see why they did it (dark and mysterious setting, OK), but it didn’t strike me as a particularly realistic place to run a Government department from. Even MI6 has a decent building in Vauxhall.

9. Kyra. I didn’t want to like this deviation in principle - I was really suspicious they were just setting up a love interest (the same way as in the Stormbreaker movie, where they elevated Sabina’s character in a way that just wasn’t appropriate). But Kyra was a brilliant addition. Complex but good-hearted. And nothing cringey happened - even that nearly kiss before Alex leaves Point Blanc was actually pretty believable and went just far enough. Be interesting to see if she comes back - that hanging ending, man. Poor Kyra. On a side point, I think for the purposes of the TV series it was quite important to give Alex a good friend at the academy. Solitary spying works well on the page, but not so much on screen - viewers need dialogue. I thought the way they did it worked well.

10. Plot. Yes, there were tweaks. But I thought the way it was put together was well done. There was no dramatic baddie revealing all at the end. I liked the way it gradually unfolded, and that although MI6 had managed to piece some of it together, it was ultimately Alex who solved it through the spying he’d done. Interesting that they have decided to introduce Scorpia so early on, but it’s given us something to drive the series forward rather than it just being one mission after another, so probably a good move.

11. Tom. The relationship between Tom and Alex was well done (when Alex comes to Tom’s rescue at the end!). O’Connor is good (though, please, PLEASE can we ditch what my husband and I have dubbed the gnome hat?). I thought he got slightly too much air time at this stage, personally - and turning up at the Friends’ house was a bridge too far for me. But I can forgive this. I liked the way they targeted Tom because he and Alex are such best friends. This bromance was something missing from the series and it was a welcome introduction.

I could go on, but I think this is long enough. If anyone has anything they’d like to chat about or to hear my opinion on, do PM me or comment on this post. Meanwhile, I’m off to rewatch the series.

#alex rider #alex rider tv #otto farrant

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fandomlurker · 4 years ago

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A Ponderous Rewatch: “Win Big”

And so we begin. For real, this time.

And to start, we have to go all the way back to Animaniacs season 1, episode 2, with the very first Pinky and the Brain skit which is named “Win Big”.

Interestingly enough, the duo are not directly trying to take over the world in this episode. The premise is that Brain needs money to buy the one part needed for his actual plan to take over the world using a machine he calls the “Super-Conductive Magnetic Infindibulator”, which will “deplete hydrogen and promote gravitational collapse [to produce] a magnetic charge from the center of the Earth so strong that every person who has loose change in their pockets will be magnetically drawn to the ground and stuck there”.

…

For those of you who are new to the series and for those of you who maybe can’t remember the show very well, I want to say that yes, what you’re probably asking yourself right now is true: Brain’s plans are almost always this complex and completely absurd with giant, glaring holes in logistics. There’s been a long-time “theory” that while their theme song says “one is a genius, the other’s insane” and intends to indicate that Brain is the genius while Pinky’s insane, it’s actually the other way around. And honestly? That doesn’t exactly hold up to any kind of scrutiny at all. Brain is actually a genius…he’s just also very, very short-sighted and lacks a lot of common sense. He’s so focused on his goal of world domination that he forgets to account for even the most obvious of details that would completely ruin what he’s trying to accomplish. And Pinky? Well, Pinky’s a lot smarter than he seems, but I wouldn’t exactly mark him as a genius. He’s just more worldly, more emotionally intelligent, and has a knack for pointing out the obvious. For you D&D nerds out there, think of it like this: Brain is a high INT low WIS character while Pinky is a high WIS low INT character.

As for which one is “insane”? Disregarding the…let’s just say “problematic” baggage that comes with that word, I’d argue that Pinky is just neurodivergent and Brain has a lot of problems. Like, a lot of problems. We’ll get more into that mess much farther down the line.

In any case, the opening of this episode has Brain pulling Pinky away from watching what is obviously supposed to be The Honeymooners, complete with “Bang, zoom, right in the kisser!” quote and everything. That quote, or one like it, was what the character Ralph Kramden would frustratedly yell at his wife, Alice, after she’d dismiss a get rich quick scheme of his. It was an ultimately impotent threat of violence, as he never did hit her. A lot of folks before me have delved into how messed up and controversial that whole running gag was, so I didn’t particularly feel the need to go over it here.

However, it does become immediately relevant because as Pinky laughs at the joke and excitedly quotes it while Brain is trying to get his attention, Brain reaches up and gently holds both their faces close for a few moments…

“Stop saying that, Pinky!...”

…then more aggressively tugs Pinky’s face down as he finishes with “…Or I shall have to hurt you.”

“Oh, okay. Sorry, Brain. NARF!”

Isn’t it interesting how the very first thing this series does is juxtapose Pinky and the Brain’s relationship with that of the main married couple on The Honeymooners? Like, it’s certainly not the most healthy of a relationship parallel to make, but in Pinky and Brain’s favour their world is governed by slapstick humour and thus any and all violence is much less serious. Also, there’s Pinky’s…uh…special relationship with physical pain that will become more apparent as the series goes on. Like, of course this kind of behaviour is wrong and appalling in real life, but this is a Warner Brothers Looney Toons-style cartoon and there’s a big difference between the two.

There’s also this little tidbit of information on the Animaniacs wiki regarding this episode and its writer, Peter Hastings:

“Although Peter Hastings has stated that he always tried to have Brain threaten to hurt Pinky but never actually hit him (because he felt this was both funnier and truer to the character), Tom Ruegger and the other producers would often have Brain actually hit Pinky. Even in this very first short, the Brain does follow through.”

Moving on, though, after Brain Rube Goldberg machine’s his way out of their cage and points out that Pinky has an “inordinately short attention span” after Pinky gets briefly distracted by another TV show that’s a very blatant parody of Jeopardy, he explains to Pinky his latest plan for world domination.

“EGAD, Brain, brilliant!”

“…Uh oh, no, wait…what if they take off their pants?”

^ The face of a man who somehow managed to forget that clothes are removable.

See what I mean about Pinky having a knack for pointing out the obvious? It’s very much needed to counteract Brain’s complete lack of foresight and introspection.

“Then…we’ll have to take over the world quickly.”

…Though there’s also something to be said for Brain’s stubbornness.

So they need a part for Brain’s machine called a Infindibulator, which is for some reason listed in the Farmer’s Almanac??? Which to my knowledge doesn’t sell anything at all??? Okay, Brain, whatever you say.

Brain actually kicks Pinky directly in the ass to get him up onto the Almanac to read it,

which would be alarming if not for Pinky’s completely happy and sincere “Thanks! :D” afterwards. It’s a mere hint to Pinky’s…predilections. I find it interesting that it’s so subtly foreshadowed in this very first short. I know you newer folks might think I’m joking, but I assure you I’m not. You will see.

As a side note, it’s so odd hearing Rob Paulsen’s early Pinky voice in these first several Animaniacs shorts. I’ve seen fans say that it’s more lispy than the standard Pinky voice that we’re all familiar with, but to me it just sounds like Pinky with a very, very bad cold and a stuffy nose. Get this mouse some nasal spray.

So Pinky finds the entry for the Infindibulator and it costs a whopping $99000. Where would two little lab mice find that kind of cash?

It sure is lucky and convenient that the TV is still on during that moment and tuned into an episode of Jeopardy—I mean “Gyp-Parody” (Really, writers? Really? In addition to being a horrible and lazy pun, I would rather not have to type a slur so much, so I’m just going to call it the name of the show it’s based on) where the reward for winning totals $99000.

And here we go, the first of its kind. The birth of the most famous running joke from Pinky and the Brain!

“Pinky… Are you pondering what I’m pondering?”

“I think so, Brain, but where are we going to get a duck and a hose at this hour?”

…Believe it or not, Pinky’s bizarre answers do have an explanation and a certain logic to them, but we find out the hows and whys much, much farther along in the series. That said, I’ll be damned if I know how he got to this particular train of thought right now. The inner machinations of Pinky’s mind are an enigma.

So Brain gets the idea to become a contestant on Jeopardy to win the amount of money they need for their plan. Pinky points out that the questions on the game show are very, very hard and Brain would have to get all of them right, and I just love Brain slowly turning his head to face Pinky with the most deadpan “Bitch, are you for real?” look on his face.

To Brain’s credit, he doesn’t berate the other mouse at all for his doubts. He just very calmly asks Pinky to quiz him about anything he can think of. When Pinky asks him “What is pie?”, well, see above for the summary of the answer Brain gives.

He then asks for a harder question, and Pinky asks him which TV character says “Bang! Zoom!—“ before Brain cuts him off with a wack of a pencil for quoting something inane and annoying him again.

Though he quivers a little before the smack, Pinky’s fine afterwards. Smiling, even.

And he happily gives Brain the answer anyway, complete with bows. “Ralph Kramden! TA-DAH! :D”

But Brain is insistent on preparing to go on Jeopardy, grabbing Pinky by the tail to drag him off-screen and Pinky is…

Hmm.

He’s, uhh, more than fine with it.

Now we get the debut of the human suit mecha. It’s quite the staple of the series; the go-to for a human disguise whenever the mice need one.

And it certainly is…something. You may be noticing the lack of a human head. Don’t worry about it. Brain certainly didn’t.

I love Brain’s playful little “Honey, I’m hoooome!~” when he pops his head out, despite having a deadpan look on his face the entire time. He’s having fun!

“Ahahaha! Oh, that’s a funny joke, Brain!”

“I am not devoid of humour.”

Pinky is having a little less fun with his tail accidentally tied along with the shoelaces, however.

It’s fine, he’s fine. He’ll be okay! Pinky is indestructible.

He’s a pocket pal now. He’s fine.

Makin’ my way downtown, walkin’ fast…~

Okay, sorry, he’s hailing a cab instead. Effectively, too!

Oh hi, Warners, nice to see you! Doing a literal running gag, I see. Nice, nice.

Goodbye!

So if you were wondering how regular humans would react to Brain’s “clever” and totally made without proper foresight disguise, well…

“Wh—HOA! Hey, if you don’t mind me askin’, bub, what happened to your head?”

“Nothing. I am a mouse in a large, mechanical suit.”

“Hehehehe! Okay, all right, my fault for askin’, right? Heh.”

Yup. This isn’t the first time this kind of thing happens. I guess since they’re in Hollywood the taxi driver’s seen worse.

So Brain gets on the show (don’t worry about how, shh) and the announcer calls him “Brian” instead and Brain politely tries to correct him. I can’t exactly fault the announcer because 1. “Brain” isn’t a name and 2. Look at Brain’s gloriously messed up handwriting.

The host walks on in. It’s pretty cute that they gave him the parody name “Alex Quebec”. It’s a suitable pun and rhyme to hint at the fact that Alex Trebek was born in Canada. Rest in peace, Mr. Trebek.

The first question is in the category of celebrity shoe sizes and asks what size sandals Plato wore. Umm. Okaaaaay… Thank goodness this show first aired before websites for foot fetishists cataloguing celebrity feet was a thing. Also is it just me, or does that font looks like something off of The Simpsons?

I don’t know if I should be worried or not that Brain got the correct answer to this question. (Seven and a half, if you’re curious.)

Question two is totally a trick question, though. There’s no such place as “Lestho”. “Lesotho”, however, is a real kingdom in South Africa. King Moshoeshoe I was indeed the ruler in 1820 as Brain answers, although the place was called “Basutoland” at the time and didn’t formally become a kingdom until 1822.

Educational!

Question three is a normal if extremely hard question for anyone unfamiliar with geographic locations off of the southeast of Asia. There are a lot of correct answers, and Brain answers correctly with “Bikar, Ailuk, and Ailinglaplap”. As this post notes, he is totally flexing on everyone by naming very obscure coral atoll islands that are some of the furthest neighbours from the Isle of Yap.

You smug asshole, Brain.

We don’t get the questions Brain answers correctly in the following montage, but we do get a close-up of his handwriting. Look at this. Just…look at it.

We get to see the aftermath of Brain’s monopolizing of the scores, though. The other contestants aren’t looking too good. Note that it seems there were times that they did manage to buzz in to answer before Brain did, but they must have got all of their answers or at least most of them wrong. They’re both in the negatives.

“Any plans on how you’ll spend your winnings?”

“Yes. I plan to take over the world!”

“...”

“…Ah haha, my fault for asking.”

Pinky claps and congratulates Brain on doing so well so far, because he’s a sweetheart like that, and

Brain flicks him back into the pocket. Man, you’re so quietly mean in this first episode, Brain.

Now it’s the final question, from the category “Quotable Quotes”. I remember this kind of category as usually being the easiest on Jeopardy, so it’s kind of surprising that it’s the Final Jeopardy question.

Uh-oh.

Looks like someone forgot that Jeopardy questions aren’t all science, history, and geography-related. Sometimes they’re about pop-culture.

Brain is…not very good with pop-culture. And Pinky’s been banished to the bottom of the coat pocket.

Whoops.

“Umm. Uh, who is, uhh… I, umm. Who is, uhh… Who is…uhh, Pinky…?”

Oh Brain, honey, it’s cute that you got so stumped and flustered that you just blurted out the only name that came to mind (and because Pinky was quoting it earlier, but still!), but it’s also so very, very sad.

Of course that’s incorrect, and Brain is just so monumentally defeated.

“And how much did you wager?”

“Everything…”

HUBRIS!

We then cut to the mice watching Brain’s horrible defeat on TV, and Pinky suggests a few other game shows they could try: Wheel of Misfortune, $10,000 Pile-A-Mud… The latter of which is supposed to be a parody of the old game show Pyramid, which wasn’t around in that format by the time this episode aired, so…good luck with that one, Pinky.

But no, Brain doesn’t plan on going on any more game shows. He instead walks sadly over to their cage to rest for tomorrow night.

It’s then that we are witness to the birth of the other memetic exchange this show is known for:

“Why, Brain? What are we going to do tomorrow night?”

“The same thing we do every night, Pinky: Try to take over the world!”

That wink, though. It’s the confident wink that sells this and tells us all you need to know about the Brain. No matter how bad his defeat, how humiliated he gets, or how sad he feels about failing, Brain always gets back to business sooner or later. He has determination on his side. And Pinky, of course.

And that was the very first Pinky and the Brain short! A pretty good start for the series, really. Nothing spectacular, and definitely not the worst, just a good start that sets the tone of the series well and establishes several of the running gags the show is known for. The creators pretty much have Brain as a character down right away: serious but not devoid of humour, single-minded, stubborn, egotistical, smart, and determined to meet his goals. There are a few things missing from him that we get later, and he certainly softens a bit by the time the spin-off starts, but they’ve set up a solid foundation to build on so far here. Pinky’s character is a little more nebulous in this episode, though. He’s shown to be generally good-natured, smarter than he first seems, easily distracted but well-meaning, and willing and able to help Brain achieve his goals. Still, he’s missing the much of the overwhelming kindness and his enthusiasm for Brain’s plans and awe at Brain’s intellect that he has as we go further through the series. I mean, there are hints of it here, too, but it’s much more understated compared to later on. Not to mention that Pinky gains a bit of a sassy side to him that somehow still manages to be friendly, like when you gently tease your friends while still caring about them.

I understand that you can’t really squeeze all of that into the first, like, fifteen minutes or so of a series, though.

Also, the animation for this episode wasn’t exactly the best of the series. There are points where Brain looks kinda muppet-y and Pinky is uncharacteristically gaunt and gangly. I mean, Pinky is usually a little gangly but not as hunched over and his nose stretched out so much. It’s not the worst, either, and serves as a decent baseline of how the characters look. Wang Film Production looks to be the animation studio behind this one, and I’d say their style is the most “normal” quality of the ones that get to animate for PatB. They do settle into a better and more consistent style for the show, so I’ll try and be on the look-out for that.

I’m not sure if the other posts I’m going to do on this rewatch will be quite so play-by-play as this one was. Since this is the first, I felt the need to establish in more detail the kind of things that happen in your average episode of PatB and the general rhythm of the show. I’m definitely going to try and include every instance of the ongoing running gags the series has, though.

I feel I should also say that from now on I might have to double or triple the amount of episodes in one post, too. There are some episodes in a long-running series like this where not too much of note happens, I’m sure, and I know at least a few are either silent shorts, cameos in other Animaniacs skits or little music videos and you can only get so much out of those entries.

Yes, music videos. Including a cameo appearance in a Macarena parody. I’ll prepare as best as I can to cringe so hard from secondhand embarrassment that I morph into a pretzel shape.

We’re only getting started, folks. Things are only going to get weirder and more interesting from here on out.

#Pinky and the Brain #PatB #Win Big

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formula-one-thoughts · 4 years ago

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2020 Italian Grand Prix

Oh my god. I still can’t quite believe what we all witnessed last Sunday. Despite a slightly mixed up qualifying (with a bit of slip stream drama thrown in for good measure) resulting in Verstappen starting from 5th and Sainz and Perez locking out the second row of the grid, Monza was set to have another paint it by numbers podium, with the overwhelming talking point being Ferrari’s disappointing pace. Oh how wrong we were. In addition to the Scuderia’s weekend being even worse than they could ever have imagined, we were gifted one of the most unexpected podiums in the history of the sport (well, not so unexpected if you were the mystery individual who reportedly placed a 20 cent bet on the top three and got back over €33,000!)

Mercedes lost what could have been an easy 1-2 through a combination of factors, first of which was Bottas’s terrible start. Overtaken by Sainz and then Norris (who took advantage of Verstappen’s poor start), he was swiftly eaten up by Perez and Ricciardo. Such was his lack of pace he thought he might have a puncture, and whilst he did pick up a small amount of damage from contact with Norris, it wasn’t enough to explain the pace with which he moved backwards through the field. Whilst Hamilton was able to motor away undisturbed into the distance, the lack of a teammate to protect him and help with pit stop strategy didn't look to be ideal. I couldn’t help but feel it was a small serving of karma following Hamilton’s less than complimentary comments on Albon and Red Bull during the week, where he suggested Alex wasn’t a strong enough number 2 driver to help Max and the team to victory. It wasn’t however a strong weekend for the Thai driver either. After another disappointing quali he made contact with Gasly, went wide across the first chicane and dropped back to 15th, a position he occupied for the majority of the race. His cause was not helped by a 5 sec time penalty for a first lap episode with Grosjean, and the damage his car sustained. His teammate meanwhile found himself stuck in the DRS train behind Bottas in P7.

Whilst their woeful qualifying result of P13 and P17 had already put Ferrari on the back foot, it really started to go downhill on lap 6. Whilst battling to avoid being overtaken by George Russell, Seb’s brakes failed and he careered quite comically straight through the polystyrene barriers at turn one, before retiring the car. The field was spectacularly bunched up in these early stages of the race, with the DRS train extending all the way from Norris in P3 to Latifi in P19. After the action of the opening laps no one could seem to make a move, least of all Bottas. His Mercedes wasn't only one of the slower cars in a straight line on the track, but also fundamentally isn’t built to follow other cars, being accustomed to leading the field.

The cars came in to pit for the undercut from lap 16, one of them importantly being Pierre Gasly. Lap 20 then brought about the turning point of the race, albeit in a less then dramatic fashion. Who would have thought that Kevin Magnussen pulling over on the exit of the Parabolica would have such insane consequences! With the Dane’s retirement came a safety car, and with that I assumed there would be a steady flow of cars into the pits, terrible timing for those who has recently pitted. Only the race leader and Giovinazzi came in though, and it soon became clear why: the pit lane was closed as Magnussen’s car was being recovered into it. Hamilton’s race lead actually played against him, as it meant his team had the least amount of time to warn him of this. With there being just 19 seconds between the safety car deployment and him crossing the pit lane entry he was alerted to the issue 5 seconds too late. Mercedes error was thus understandable to an extent, whilst Alfa Romeo’s, who had a whopping 75 secs to warn Giovinazzi, was not. However, both teams could have avoided the penalties that soon came their way had their drivers noticed the red cross signals indicating the pit lane closure. Again though, it’s somewhat understandable that they didn’t. Being such an unprecedented occurrence, the only driver to register that the signs meant they could not pit was George Russell.

Once the signs were gone though everyone yet to pit but Stroll filed in, McLaren pulling off a flawless double stack. It turned out that pitting before the safety car was a great call, and when racing resumed Gasly and Leclerc were in 3rd and 6th, respectively. The Monegasque quickly swooped past the two Alfas but it was to be a short-lived high for Ferrari, as he lost the back end of the car at high speed and went careening off at the Parabolica. It could have been an extremely nasty accident but instead we were reminded once again of how brilliant the sport’s safety measures are. Due to the extent of the damage to the tyre barriers the race was red flagged, and Giovinazzi and Hamilton were informed of the punishments for their illegal pit stops – a ten second stop/go penalty. Whilst the combination of the first safety car and red flag cost McLaren a possible double podium, the pause in the race massively advantaged Lance Stroll, who was able to make his mandatory pit stop without, well, pitting! This loophole has kicked up a certain amount of chat and criticism across the world of F1 (especially from a certain Lando Norris), and maybe the rules will be altered to say the obligatory tyre change can’t take place under red flag conditions. As the vast majority of red flags are due to heavy rain, the cars are on wet weather tyres when they come in and hence this has never been an issue before; it will be interesting to see whether the FIA address this for future races.

Another anomaly thrown up by the non-wet weather red flag was a second standing start (as opposed to a rolling start as per usual). I liked this, as it was a more neutralised beginning to the second half of the race rather than being the race leader’s to control. With Hamilton taking his penalty at the end of the lap, which would place him in last, the re-start was Stroll’s to lose, and that's kind of what he did! Losing places to Gasly, the two Alfas, and Sainz, he was in 5th within two laps. Max Verstappen’s race came to a dismal end as he pulled into the pits with power unit issue, but he had an uncharacteristically poor race prior to this, failing to make much of an impact on the cars in front of him. As Raikonnen moved backwards through the field, Hamilton was battling up the order, overtaking with much more apparent ease than Bottas (though admittedly most of the cars in his way were of the slower variety). As the countdown to the finish began, it was Gasly, Sainz, Stroll at the top, a potential podium I found near impossible to imagine. Surely Bottas would wiggle his way up to second, Hamilton would appear in first and Verstappen would return from the dead to plonk his car in third? But the trio were secure, the only possibility of a mix-up coming from Sainz, who lap by lap was nibbling into Gasly’s lead.

It was only on the final lap though that he was able to get DRS, and as much as I love wheel to wheel racing, I was terrified of the prospect of the pair taking each other out and Bottas lucking his way onto the podium. But fortunately, it was not to be, and we were blessed with the first podium not to feature a Mercedes, Red Bull or Ferrari since Hungary 2012. In complete disbelief, I cried as Gasly crossed the line and the Alpha Tauri garage erupted with joy, the most emotional race ending for me since Abu Dhabi 2016. What it meant to both Gasly and the team was palpable. After an unimaginably difficult 18 months, that saw him relegated from Red Bull and lose one of his best friends in the most tragic of circumstances, Gasly emerged as one of the most deserving ever winners of a Grand Prix. For Alpha Tauri, it was their second ever win and first in 12 years, at their home race to boot. As the Red Bull mechanics congratulated their sister team and Leclerc, Grosjean and many more came to congratulate Gasly in Parc Ferme, the waterworks really started on my sofa. Add to that the Williams drivers’ heartfelt messages of thanks and farewell to Frank and Claire Williams and I was a sobbing mess! Gasly sitting alone on the top step of the podium, taking it all in, is an extremely poignant image I'm sure will live on for years in the minds of every F1 fan.

It was a superb weekend for McLaren, securing a 2nd and 4th on pace that gave them a brilliant boost in the constructor’s championship. Whilst it was a disappointing afternoon for Perez, Stroll continued what has been an impressive season, disproving his doubters with a second career podium. It was sad to see the Williams drivers unable to score at the family’s last race, but they do seem to be on the up and hopefully will be in good hands to return to the top of the sport. With retirements due to both mechanical and driver errors, the weekend couldn’t have gone worse for Ferrari at their home race; as Seb said it was a good thing the Tifosi weren’t there to witness it. Nonetheless, they've got two more Italian Grand Prix to try and claw back a bit of their reputation, with their 1000th race at Mugello set to be an unpredictable one that they can hopefully capitalise from. I can’t wait.

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zero2heroyesindeed · 5 years ago

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So Tangled the series ends in just a few hours.

What can I say about this show, this wonderful wonderful show. I still remember my reaction to that first promo image in 2015 and being excited since this was the first Disney movie to series spin off in years and with how much the landscape of tv animation had changed in that time (much more focus on overarching stories and continuous, in-depth character arcs) it would no doubt be interesting to see. I remember everyone HATING that the hair was back but I didn’t mind as long as it made sense and was part of a good story and OH MY WAS IT PART OF A GOOD STORY.

Tangled the series is a show that somehow feels like it’s been around forever yet also feels like it’s not been around long at all. I watched Before Ever After the day it came out and same with What the Hair. A few months later I binged from Rapunzel’s enemy to Max’s enemy and fell in love with this show. The stunning art style and flowing animation, the respect and attention put into making the returning characters feel exactly as we remember them while also perfectly integrating every new character flawlessly into the world. The show completely eclipsed the original movie in every possible way in my opinion. And it only got better the further we got into this story and lore.

Instead of continuing on about how amazing this show is and how grateful I am for it’s existence as both a Disney obsessed teen and animation fan and I just wanna sing the praises of the crew, there are countless posts more we’ll put together than mine that accomplish that. So what i’m gonna do is instead throw it all the way back to the first season and go in chronological order and pin point the 10 most important moments in the series as a fandom. These are not the most emotional or impactful moments, just things that were a huge deal in the fandom.

1: Life After Happily Ever After

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The first ever real impression of the series we got and an indication of what a ride we would be in for. Bringing in Alan Menkin to continue writing the music showed just how far this show was going to go to create the most faithful continuation as possible. It was also the introduction to our precious Cass and showed Eugene getting ready for the first of many proposals we would see throughout the series.

2: Eugene and Rapunzel talk after the coronation disaster

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Who could ever forget when Rapunzel and Eugene officially became the most developed and healthy Disney couple. This was basically the moment most people fell in love with the series and it’s not hard to see why. Tangled the Series wasn’t just cute Princess hijinks with some action thrown in, it took it’s characters and their relationships seriously in a way now Disney show had ever done up to that point and could be mature. Rapunzel asking Eugene to be patient with her to this day still gives me chills and showed the direction this show was taking Rapunzel’s character and we were all along for the ride.

3: Rapunzel dreams of Gothel

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OOH BOY this moment. While the fandom was still relatively small by this point this moment sent everyone into an absolute frenzy. While Before Ever After featured mentions of the Sun Flower and the King’s ptsd of losing Rapunzel, this was when the flood gates opened for all the angst and tears. Rapunzel’s trauma of the tower and Gothel’s treatment of her were not gonna be glossed over, they would be explored in excruciating detail which to this day is still one of the greatest elements of the series. Just because Gothel is gone doesn’t mean the 18 years of abuse she put Rapunzel through magically heals (pun intended).

4: Varian’s introduction

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I don’t even need to say anything for this one. It’s Varian. (gonna be honest. It is 3am in my corner of the globe and I am struggling to find the energy to keep writing this much, so we’re just gonna rush through the rest of these).

5: Big Brothers of Corona/ aka Eugene is a perfect human being

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This was the episode that cemented Eugene as one of my favourite Disney characters of all time. I can not count how many times I have rewatched the ending to this one alone. But it was also a fantastic episode for developing Lance’s character and integrating him as part of the shows main cast moving forward despite this only being his second appearance. Also I forgot how small Red and Angry (or the girls formally known as Red and Angry) were.

6: You promised!

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This is still my favourite callback to the movie the show ever did. To me Rapunzel saying she never breaks a promise in the original movie feels out of place. Like Rapunzel keeping her promises was going to be a huge part of the story early in development and that line is just a reminant of that draft that should’ve really been taken out. But I don’t care because it gave us this beautiful moment. Also this moment cemented Nigel as my most hated character on the show.

7: “Difficult decisions are what make us who we are”

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I can’t with this scene and just how brilliant this episode was at dealing with the fall out of Queen For a Day and how crucial it was to Rapunzel’s character development in retrospective. Everything she has done in season 3 and every action she has taken can be tied back directly to what she learned in this moment. If that ain’t good story telling then I don’t know what is.

8: The Tower Falls

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I’m just gonna say it. This is my favourite scene from the series. Everything in this moment is perfection. The music, the staging, the visuals, the emotion. It all builds to an absolutely devastating climax as Rapunzel watches her childhood home crumble to the ground leaving behind one pieces of the walls she used to paint on. If wanna frame the moment Rapunzel starts tearing up as the tower collapses and display it on my mantle because I love it so much.

9: Rapunzel reaches her limit

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I couldn’t finish this episode for hours after seeing this first scene. Rapunzel finally took a stand against her father and I was just making inaudible gasps throughout my first time watching it. Then there’s that bombshell at the end where Raps compares her father’s actions to that of Gothel’s that never fails to shake me to my very core no matter how many times I rewatch it.

10: Ready As I’ll Ever Be

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What? We’re you expecting the biggest song this show was turned out to not make the list? I mean it was the first time Tangled the series was able to get the attention of those outside the fan base and hooked so many people into checking the show out. This was the moment Tangled the series just left the movie in the dust and from there it just kept pushing further and further with each season.

Not really sure how I should end this. I am very emotional and very tired but I refuse to go to sleep. I am staying up until this finale drops because I am not going to go to sleep knowing i’ll wake up in a world where Tangled the Series is over. This show is a once in a lifetime experience that is in my top 5 television shows of all time. It might not have had the legacy of Phineas and Ferb or the popularity of Gravity Falls but it had so much love, energy and passion behind it and you can tell everyone making this show loved it just as much as we did. I’ll probably end up doing lists like this for season 2 and 3 when I get around to binging the entire Tangled franchise (which will probably be around Summer).

Thank you to the indescribably talented crew of writers, animators, designers, and directors (and I am so sorry if I missed any other positions out but you are all so amazing). Thank you Mandy and Zach for giving your voices to Rapunzel and Eugene and letting us explore their life after Happily Ever After and letting their journey continue. Thank you Eden, Jeremy and James for bringing life to Cass, Varian and Lance who expanded the world of Tangled and felt like perfect additions to the main cast. Thank you Alan Menkin and Glen Slater for continuing to write phenomenal music and putting in your all for something you clearly didn’t even need to do in the first place. Every piece of music for this show has left me breathless (and not just from belting Waiting in the Wings to myself). This 3 year Journey has been simply sensational and I can’t wait to see how it all ends.

Next stop anywhere!

#rapunzels tangled adventure #tangled the series #tangled before ever after #rta #tts #tts fandom #rapunzel #eugene fitzherbert #rta cassandra #tts cassandra #lance strongbow #tangled pascal #tangled maximus #tangled varian #disney channel #disney television animation #appreciation

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redrobinhoods · 4 years ago

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illicit affairs | Chapter 1, Buzzcut Season

AO3 Link | 4,000 words (approx) | Chapter 2

Story Summary: Commander Fox thought that his only love would be the Republic. He certainly never thought that a small blue senator would change that. But if the Republic wants to make him a martyr, it should be for something he believes in.

“They can’t do that.”

“I’m afraid they can.”

“I won’t let them.” Fox shook his head incredulously and Thire bit back a laugh.

“I don’t think you have the authority to do that, sir.” The Chancellor had made the request himself.

“We have a perfectly fine atrium here-”

“Sir, there’s still blast marks on the wall from the bounty hunters.”

“- I don’t know why we need to host it in the Galactic Museum. Do you know how many sniper perches there are in just the main hall?”

Thire thought back to the holomap he had been looking at five minutes prior, before Fox had commed him in practical hysterics. “Last I checked it was seventeen.”

“Seventeen.” Fox slammed his hand down on the device before him and a holomap of the Galactic Museum flicked to life before them. Thire noted that some light renovations had been done in one of the exhibition rooms, he would have to adjust his current plan. “Seventeen perches in one hall and they want to take over the entire museum.”

“I’m sure that the 501st would donate some of their ARCs to our cause if you asked.”

“Thire, I’m considering it.” Fox groaned and leaned into his hands. “At this point we may as well comm Cody’s Bad Batch.” He’d heard that they’d ended up with one of the 501st’s ARC Troopers and had an expert marksman on the team. But any of them would have different uniforms than the Guard and the Chancellor had been prioritizing the Guard’s visual conformity as of late.

“You two do remember that we have authority over both the Senate Guard and the Red Guard, right?” Commander Stone walked in without knocking, carrying three mugs of caf. “Spread out the Senate Guard and our boys equally around the rooms and have a detachment of Red Guard at each of the entrances and around the Chancellor.”

“Yes, but the Senate Guard is incompetent and corrupt at best.” Thire gratefully accepted a mug from Stone.

“So are the senators.” Fox scoffed as he accepted the other mug from Stone. “Name an honest senator off the top of your head that’s not part of the Delegation of the Two-thousand, not that all of them are honest either.”

“Representative Jar Jar Binks of course.” Stone grinned as he leaned against the back of Fox’s chair.

“First, he’s not a senator. Second, don’t get me started, Stone.” Fox sighed and took a long sip of his caf, looking into it as if the answers would swirl to the surface. “We’ll mobilize the Blue and Red Guards. Thire, get me the optimal force placement by tomorrow morning. Stone, prep the bomb squad and get Sergeant Hound up to date. I want him on site. I’ll inform the Chancellor.”

“Another thing, Fox.” Stone brought out a holopad that he’d had tucked under his arm. “Chairman Papanoida has requested an additional security detail for the Pantoran Senator at this event.”

“Senator Chuchi, again?” Thire shook his head in amazement. “She’s going to give Amidala a run for her credits. Have you met the senator, Fox?”

“I’m about to. I’ll take three of the men and lead the security detail myself.” Fox took the holopad from Stone and placed it by his helmet on the desk.

“You’ll like her, she’s the one that dropped off those sweets last month.” Stone said, rising from the back of Fox’s chair. “Brilliant young woman, prime target for assassination.”

“I’m familiar with her file, Stone.” Fox closed the holomap and rose from his chair, followed shortly by Thire. “Let’s get this shit-show on the road.”

“Don’t let the Chancellor hear you call his gala a shit-show.” Thire said.

Fox shrugged. “Fine. Poodoo-parade.”

---

The members of the Coruscant Guard were fond of Senator Riyo Chuchi. She had always been nice to them, looked at them-not past them- when walking in the Senate halls, and took the time to remember their names and greet them. Commander Thorn had spoken very highly of her to Fox. But Thorn wasn’t here anymore. While Thire had risen to the occasion of his promotion, Fox was still grieving Thorn’s loss. The entire Guard was grieving all the brothers they had lost on Scipio. An entire squad, all because of one man. But that was how Fox ended up running the senatorial detail for Senator Chuchi. Thorn had usually been the one running the show on all protection details, but while Thire was adjusting to his heightened responsibility Fox had taken over some of Thorn’s duties.

Few senators would’ve been able to pick out the commander of the Coruscant Guard out of a line-up. Impressive, given that his was now the only truly unique armor in the Guard. Of course they’d heard about him, how could they have not? He was the most highly decorated clone trooper in the GAR. But the names and faces of clone troopers didn’t come easily to non-clones. That is why Commander Fox was surprised to be approached by an unfamiliar face as he walked from the offices of the Coruscant Guard to that of the Chancellor.

“Commander Fox?”

Fox looked up from the holopad that he used to avoid eye contact with the senators. “Ma’am?”

“Senator Riyo Chuchi, Commander.” She held out her hand and he took it. “I heard that you will be leading my security detail this weekend.”

“You heard correctly, Senator. Though very quickly.” Did he need to check his office for bugs? It had been two days since the last scan. Perhaps that was too long.

“I just passed Commander Stone.” She smiled softly and Fox understood why all of his guardsmen were charmed by her. He had been told that his and many of his brother’s eyes were golden in the right light, but her eyes were downright gold. He felt his breath catch in his throat and was glad that she couldn’t see his look of wonder through the mask. Fortunately, his training prepared him for high-stress situations, and he was able to regain his composure quickly.

“Of course, our local chatterbox.”

She chuckled. “Really?”

“No.” He smiled, and though she couldn’t see it he felt that his body language probably conveyed it to her. If she could remember the names of his men, then surely she could read their body language through the helmets.

She laughed again, then turned her eyes down. “I’m very sorry, but I must be on my way.” She looked up into the black visor of his helmet. “I look forward to seeing you this weekend, Commander Fox.” Then she was off before Fox could respond. Suddenly, the gala was not entirely a poodoo-parade, but a rather enticing event. It was Fox’s job to protect the citizens of Coruscant, but he had never really wanted to protect someone until now. He suddenly understood why beings owned pets or had children. He had now only known Senator Chuchi for a few fleeting moments, but he would give anything to ensure her safety. He didn’t set off again until her retreating figure was no longer visible in the crowd.

---

“How’s the crap-carnival going, Commander?” Jek asked as soon as the door closed behind Fox.

“It’s going well, Jek. Thank you very much for volunteering for Senator Chuchi’s security detail.”

“You ran into her didn’t you, Fox?” Thire was where he had been when Fox left. In the corner of the main office-space in front of a holomap of the Galactic Museum. Fox noted that it was now the updated one.

“Are you also volunteering, Commander Thire?”

“What did you think?” Thire leaned forward onto the table before him, eyes on Fox. Every guardsman in the room turned to look at their commanding officer. Fox look around at them and said nothing. “So, you too would throw yourself in front of a blaster bolt for her.” A light laugh, quickly stifled, broke out across the room. One of the men couldn’t muffle his laughter in time and found himself fixed by the blank stare of Fox’s helmet.

“Shut up, Thire. And thank you, Impulse, for volunteering. Thire you may surrender your position to another volunteer at any time if your presence is required elsewhere.”

“With all due respect, sir. I wouldn’t miss this for the galaxy.” Fox knew that it would be something that Thire was more comfortable with. Thire had yet to command event security and starting off with the entire Senate body was a little too much. Two commanders for a single senator’s security detail may have been overkill, but at least it would put them both on the floor.

The next few days were a blur. Commander Stone was placed in charge of event security, and while Commander Thire was part of Senator Chuchi’s detail he was also placed in charge of watching the floor. The Guard was rearranged, with more senior members being moved to the gala detail and more junior members being shuffled to fill the vacant positions for the time being. This was one of the upsides of the Chancellor’s new uniform rules. With an identical body they could rearrange themselves however they wished, and no one would know the difference. Thire, who had stuck with his regulation uniform despite the promotion, found it to be very convenient. He was becoming a fast favorite of the Chancellor, and the ability to swap himself in and out with his men as he pleased was agreeable to him. He still found it so even as he lined up with Jek and Impulse as they waited for Fox to finalize the Chancellor’s final security briefing. Without knowing his name or CT number, he looked like just another trooper in the detail. Tonight, it would allow him to run security on the senator and get a better feeling for the room than Fox would be able to, considering how his inverted armor would stand out from the trio of white. Though Fox would have a greater intimidation factor than he would. Altogether, Thire doubted that something could go wrong in the next few hours.

---

Riyo stepped back from the mirror to cast a final look over her appearance. Padme had been the one to pick out her dress, a full length light blue gown that fell over her skin in soft pillows of fabric. The folds that appeared to be formfitting concealed thick plates of body armor that covered her torso. Very practical, very Padme. Riyo tucked a stray hair back behind her ear, not that it would matter after the speeder ride to the gala, and ensured that she’d grabbed the right tube of dark purple lipstick for her purse. She felt very regal.

Her doorbell chimed.

Checking over the contents of her purse one last time, she nearly ran to answer the door. Opening it she found four clones standing before her.

“Commander Fox, Commander Thire, Impulse, and I’m not sure I’ve ever caught your name.”

“Jek, ma’am.”

“Nice to meet you, Jek.” She stepped out of the door, closing it behind her before setting off towards the apartment complex landing platform. “Thank you all for your protection. I believe that Chairman Papanoida is merely being paranoid, but I feel much safer with you here.”

“Always a pleasure, Senator.” Said Thire, falling behind her in the escort. “If you don’t mind my saying so, you look stunning tonight.”

She giggled. “Thank you, Commander. I didn’t know that clones ever considered looks.”

“You wouldn’t know if you only knew Fox, ma’am.” Jek said, looking to the right at his commander. “He’s regulation cut, a good boy. No tattoos or fancy hair.”

Fox looked left at Jek. “Tattoos are the mark of a clone with too much spare time. Are you trying to tell me you’re bored, Jek? I can pass that on to the janitorial staff if you like. You wouldn’t imagine the things that they find in bathrooms. Could be useful to have a Guard member on the team.”

“With all due respect, sir. I’d rather lick the ground of the Undercity.”

From behind Riyo, Impulse spoke up. “I’m sure the commander could arrange that too! He could prepare your medical papers ahead of time.”

Riyo shuddered, though she was still grinning. Maybe having an escort for the night wouldn’t be as boring as she thought. “I’m sure medical would be preferable to cleaning up after one of Senator Orn Free Taa’s parties.”

Fox scoffed. “No comment.”

When they reached the speeder, Jek was the first one in. He held out his hand to Riyo and she took it, accepting the boost up into the vehicle. Impulse immediately followed her and the two clones took a seat on each side of her in the middle row. Thire and Fox still stood next to the speeder, and she watched Fox take off his helmet and hand it over to Thire before he ducked under the vehicle.

Thire caught her stare. “Additional anti-theft devices, ma’am. Makes placing undercarriage bombs harder, but you also have to turn the damn thing off.”

“Does the benefit outweigh the trouble, Commander?”

Fox popped back up, running a hand through his regulation hair, loosening a few curls. “Not at all, Senator.” She took in his face. As Jek had said, he had no tattoos, visible ones at least, but a few white lines of scar tissue crossed his throat. He looked tired. Fox took his helmet back from Thire and vaulted over the speeder door into the driver’s seat, taking a drink of water from a small canteen at his hip before putting his helmet back on. Thire sat behind her, facing backwards. Shielded on all sides, she relaxed. She had a feeling that the commander of the Coruscant Guard was what many beings called a ‘defensive driver’.

“Buckle up or be bucked.” Jek kicked the back of Fox’s chair lightly.

“That was one time.” Fox mumbled, pulling off the landing pad to join the lanes of air traffic.

“One time?” Riyo exclaimed.

“I saw our target and went for him, Senator. I assumed that any of my men would have the good mind to buckle up before going on a high-speed chase for a bounty hunter.”

“I almost died, Fox.”

“But you didn’t.” Fox made a sound as if he was going to say more, then turned his attention back to the traffic.

“Commander Thorn saved me, grabbed my ankle just in time.” Jek mumbled, the helmet vocabulator barely picking up the sound.

“I heard about Scipio, I’m sorry for your loss. He was a good man.” Riyo remembered him as the man who had once fully taken over her apartment with troopers after a threat on her life and personally installed security sensors on all her windows and doors. She’d ended up sleeping on the couch that night while he secured her bedroom. Afterwards, she had run into him often in the Senate halls, and always with a crack about how her window frame had never been the same.

Fox sighed. “He was the best of us.”

Thire was the first one out of the vehicle when they arrived at the Galactic Museum, followed shortly by Impulse and Riyo. She gratefully accepted his hand as she exited the speeder, heels and speeders never seemed to get along, and was followed shortly afterwards by Jek and Fox.

“You know the drill, Senator Chuchi. Enjoy your evening and pretend that we’re not watching your every move.”

“Thank you, Commander. I have enjoyed and will continue to enjoy your company tonight.”

The gala was a beautiful event. Held in honor of the founding of the Republic, all of the Senators and well-to-do of the city had been invited. Riyo spotted many beings who she knew only by name or by reputation amongst the crowd. She was not the only one with an escort, and she found a little comfort in that she wouldn’t stand out for being accompanied by the clones. Though the clones themselves stood out. She caught more than one being staring at the red-armor commander at her right side, and she couldn’t help a small twinge of jealousy. She wondered if she could convince one of the boys to dance with her. Perhaps not Thire or Impulse, they seemed busy scanning the floor for threats, but she was sure that Jek wouldn’t mind and she wondered if she could even convince Commander Fox to take her out on the floor. Then she realized how much she would stand out for dancing with a clone, red or white, and how that could negatively impact their positions in the Coruscant Guard. Many of the beings here were the type that didn’t like to be reminded of the humanity of the clones and she didn’t want to bring their outbursts down on her companions. She stuck to the edges of the rooms instead, where she could find many more senators who were not comfortable with mingling with the rich in the middle of the floor. Here she found solace in discussing some of the exhibits with those she considered to be her allies in the Senate, and occasionally with the clones if she noticed something intriguing in passing. They wouldn’t speak to her unprompted but would gladly respond when spoken to.

Towards the end of the night the crowds thinned out and she and her escort walked freely through even the middle of the rooms.

“There was an exhibit on the ice formations of Hoth that I would like to see again. Would that be suitable, Commander Fox?”

“Yes, ma’am. If you take a right before the mock mythosaur there is a shortcut that we can take if it pleases you.” Of course he knew the layout.

She weaved her way through the remaining guests, noting that it was mostly senators in this room, and passed through the small passage that Fox had recommended. This hall, Natural Formations of Wonder, was mostly empty save for a small crowd gathering around the volcanic glass from Mustafar. Across the room, there was a temperature-controlled case containing the formations she wanted to see.

“I didn’t see ice until I was thirteen, you know.” She spoke as they crossed the room. “Pantora is marshy by nature. My father took me to Scipio with him when he served as the Pantoran Senator. I’d never seen anything like it before.”

“We can relate, Senator.” Thire spoke up. “Kamino, our homeworld, is oceanic. Fox thought that the Kaminii were lying about trees for the longest time.”

A huff of air that could have been part of a laugh escaped Fox’s vocabulator. “I’m still not too sure about forests.”

“You need to get out more.” Jek reached over Riyo to give Fox’s shoulder a light shove. “Breathe the fresh air.”

“Never heard of it.” Fox shook his head lightly and went back to scanning the room. Riyo felt a stab of pity for the commander and made a note that she would have to find a way to get him off-world with her somehow, if only so he could experience fresh air.

“Do you miss Kamino?” She ventured, keeping her gaze on the ice crystals before her so that none of the men felt that they were being put on the spot.

There was silence around her until Impulse spoke. “I don’t think any of us have that option, Senator.”

“Well, if you could be on any planet in the galaxy right now, which one would you choose?” More silence greeted her question.

“Naboo.” Thire said, breaking the tension. “It’s nice there. I don’t think that we clones view Kamino as you view Pantora, Senator Chuchi. It’s the closest thing we have to a home, but it’s not ours. Personally speaking, my home is my brothers. It’s not tied to a place. I don’t miss my homeworld because my home is always with me, waking up at the ass-crack of dawn.”

Riyo laughed, turning away from the ice. “I believe I am ready to depart, before dawn finds us here instead of in our beds.”

“As you wish, Senator.”

They started back across the room the same way they had spent the evening, Fox and Jek at her side, Thire and Impulse behind her. But now there was no crowd to push through, and no chance of one as the group admiring the Mustafarian glass had departed. Riyo let her gaze wander around the room, taking in the natural marvels one last time. Her attention was grabbed by the sudden turn of Fox’s helmet as he looked up into the catwalks of the vaulted ceiling. She followed his gaze, but saw nothing.

“Senator!” Fox stepped back, grabbed her by the elbows and pulled her to the ground. The force brought her to her knees, and her head was pushed down as Fox covered her body with his own. He pulled her in with his left arm so that she was pressed against him, fully shielded from behind. Jek knelt in front of them, rifle drawn over Fox’s shoulder as he scanned the room around them. It was silent. Riyo watched Fox slowly bring a pistol out from its holster with his right hand. Thire and Impulse swept through the room, with the former going up into the catwalks. They gave the all clear minutes later as Thire rejoined the group. Fox and Jek eased away from Riyo, and she sat up straight. Fox didn’t move from behind her, and she stayed put as the four guards continued to visually scan the room. Then there was a flash of movement on her right. The sniper was fast, but Fox was faster. His hand had never left her side, and now he brought her close to himself as he twisted his body down to shield her.

The was a whistle and a crack. Fox’s grip around Riyo’s waist faltered and the two crashed into the ground. Riyo couldn’t help the whimper that escaped her lips, and Fox pulled her closer to his body to continue to shield her, curling around and over her tiny form. Another shot rang out and Fox clutched her even tighter to his chest. Her hands clung to his arm as if the touch would save her life. Perhaps it would. Two of the men, she couldn’t tell their boots apart, moved to stand over her and Fox, rifles raised towards where the shots had come from. There wasn’t a third shot.

One of the men standing above them raised his comm. “This is Commander Thire requesting a medic in Natural Formations, Commander Fox is down. Activate Contingency Theta.”

“Get her out of here.” Fox mumbled. She could feel the vibrations in his chest against the back of her head as he spoke. His grip on her waist relaxed. Riyo realized that he had been hit.

“Yes, sir.” Jek said. With Impulse and Thire standing guard Jek reached down and pulled Riyo from Fox’s grip.

“No, we can’t leave him!” She protested. She tried to pull away, but Jek’s grip on her arm was strong and soon she was surrounded by plastoid as she was taken away. Between Thire and Impulse she could see the motionless form of Commander Fox behind them, a black hole burning between his shoulder blades, another at his waist. She let out a quiet sob at the sight.

“He did his duty, Senator; you must do yours.” Thire said as the three men swept her away from the room.

#foxiyo #commander fox #commander thire #commander stone #riyo chuchi #clone trooper jek #my fics #illicit affairs fic

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griffinnblake · 5 years ago

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A couple of you have asked for it, and Part II of my Bellarke fanfic rec is finally here!

This is suuuuuuper late considering I promised it a while ago, but I blame moving to a new house, teaching a new course, and getting sick at least twice in one month. What can ya do? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

These fics are in no particular order because one) I don’t have any particular favorites and two) I ain’t got time for that. I hope y’all enjoy!

P.S. If y’all missed the first part of my fanfic rec, you can find it here!

P.P.S. This is my disclaimer that I obviously haven’t included all the Bellarke fics out there. If you have a favorite that I did not include, I probably haven’t read it yet, in which case, please share!

a castle in the clouds by @pawprinterfanfic Star Wars AU. Bellamy is Han. Clarke is Leia. Oh and did I mention that there’s some fake dating? That doesn’t normally do it for me, but I can make an exception this time. *kisses fingertips*

We’ll Paint the Town Blue by @animmortalist

Clarke wants to ruin her reputation in this College AU and who better to do it than resident heartbreaker Bellamy Blake? They enter a friends with benefits/Bonnie and Clyde arrangement (it works I swear), but oops, they like like each other.

(clumsy) ‘cause I’m fallin’ in love by skai_heda

Sometimes you just need a cute little S1 AU where Bellamy faints and Clarke gives him a hard time for it. Oh, and feelings.

small dot among infinite stars by @kindclaws

This is a really interesting take on how one change can drastically affect future events. It’s a S2+ AU where Dante shoots Cage and Clarke doesn’t irradiate Mount Weather, but the end of the world still comes.

someone let the poets out by @kindclaws (WIP)

This one’s hella meta and I love it. Even though it’s based on the GoT cast, I could totally see it also applying to the 100 cast given how S7 may or may not go. Fingers crossed for a decent ending. Anyway, Bellarke and co. are the stars of a popular show in its final season, and they are horrified by what Jaha comes up with story-wise. (Think those final GoT table reads. C’mon, we’ve all seen the footage of Conleth tossing his script aside when Varys is killed off). So they decide to recreate their own low-budget version of the final season. And Bellamy may or not be having a crisis regarding his feelings for a certain blonde co-star. OH! And how could I forget the social media tie-ins? Brilliant. Definitely read this one on a desktop to get the full experience.

how I learned to stop worrying and love the apocalypse by @kindclaws

Another kindclaws fic. I’m sorry but the writing is just so good. I can’t help but include them. This one’s a Praimfaya AU fic and also an exes fic and also a time loop fic and also an angst fic and I love it so much. I personally recommend the 2nd person POV version (chapter 1), but if 3rd person is more your jam, then just read chapter 2!

An Evening I Will Not Forget by @octannibal-blake

Bellamy is a soldier who has a “one night stand” with Clarke the night before he’s deployed, but these losers can’t have a one night stand to save their lives, so of course there’s emotion involved. I’m a sucker for military AUs, so of course I liked this one.

i would give my life just to hold your hand (i’m your number one fan) by @captaindaddykru

Bellamy’s an actor. Clarke’s a singer. He likes some of her photos on Twitter. She slides into his DMs. It’s the start of a beautiful friendship love story. These idiots I swear. I’m actually surprised this is the first safeandsound13 fic I’ve listed on here considering the first part of my other fic rec was basically a love letter to her Hunger Games AU series. That, and I’m subscribed to her as an author. Seriously. Go read everything she writes.

so i sing a song of love by @hiddenpolkadots

Clarke gets pregnant and Bellamy’s the father, but they’re not together. Oops. They figure it out.

It’s All Coming Back by @johnmurphysass

Clarke receives an invitation to Octavia’s wedding, but the problem is that she hasn’t seen Bellamy or Octavia in over 5 years. And Clarke and Bellamy are both hiding secrets. Y’all. This one was emotional af. But so good. I will say, heed Tricia’s author tags and warnings. Just in case.

a beam in darkness: let it grow. by starsonfire

I’m not sure if this user has a tumblr, so I just linked their ao3 profile. This is a S6 Finale AU where Clarke gives up and Bellamy helps her. Again, heed the warnings just in case. But it’s really good.

like you mean it (like it’s splitting you in two) by @talistheintrovert

Talis lets them sleep. She lets tHEM SLEEP. That’s all you need to know.

as moonlight through the pines by @hiddenpolkadots

Clarke and Bellamy get matching tattoos while drunk and now all the Grounders think they’re married. Heh. Sign me up.

guess it’s never really over by @captaindaddykru

Bellarke + exes + Bellarke kid + Bellarke trying for another kid + angst + fluff = Bingo for Lindsay. Looking back at it, I think it was written for Bellarke Bingo. An ACTUAL bingo fic. So basically this just means you really need to read it.

All tomorrow’s parties. by @robotmango

This is a really cool take on a Praimfaya AU. Bellamy is for intents and purposes the Time Traveler’s Husband. I LOVED this one.

Kiss It Better by delinquents

This is a really cute S1 AU with forehead kisses. Forehead kisses! It’s the only work by the author, but I hope they write more.

speedin’ into a new sunrise by @carrieeve

Clarke participates in a night of speed dating and ends up reuniting with an old college friend slash huge what if. It’s super cute and fluffy and totally the type of fic needed to break up an angst session. I love angst like nobody’s business, but sometimes you just need something happy.

everything will bring a chain of love by @lost-n-stereo

Another cute fic but this time with Bellarke as parents! These are short little fills combined into a one shot, and they’re just perfect. I love it.

A Safe Place to Land by @octannibal-blake

Bellarke as parents but the Angst™ version. Basically Marper dies and Bellarke take care of Jordan. It’s sad but so good, I promise.

Still Yours by @arysafics

Bellamy and Clarke agree to be friends after they break up. Angst ensues. Being friends with your ex is hard y’all. I promise it has a happy ending.

when it all comes together by soundtracktomysoul

Jasper wants Bellarke together and creates a group chat that includes all the delinquents. Plotting and shenanigans ensue. This one was super fun, and in going back to it, I discovered that this author also has a Bellarke Rock Band AU. Haven’t read it yet but definitely going to check it out!

gone til november, on my city come december by @jamesstruttingpotter

Bellarke are cops and Bellamy goes undercover. Angst. Pining. Gah, I love it.

we’re never done with killing time by @bestivals

The angst. The angst. This is a post-s5 AU fic where they’re onboard the Eligius ship but didn’t go into cryo. Bellamy and Clarke have a series of 48 conversations and we get what they were supposed to do which is TALK.

I think I’m going to call it for now. I hope you enjoy all these wonderful fanfics! And if you have additional favorites, please share!

#bellarke fanfiction #bellarke #bellamy blake #clarke griffin #fic recs #fanfic #mine #thanks to my sister for the gif!

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septiembrre · 5 years ago

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Upon rewatching last night’s episode and knowing what to expect, I’m loving so many details in it. In some regards, I’m giving the show snaps and saying, yeah this is the detail I always want. Haha, we’re going to overlook that Beth ordered a hit on Rio twice last night.

I never promised to take off my shipper googles, okay?!

I have come around on the hitman character and I appreciate that the nature of Beth and Rio’s relationship was obvious to him despite how fucking terrible it is right now. I hope he reveals what tipped him off. What did he observe about Rio’s business ops with the girls that flagged it? Inquiring minds want to know!!!

Before the episode, I was convinced the hitman was working for Rio, or ended up going to Rio and disclosing the hit. Now I don’t think he’s working for Rio... I think Rio’s putting this together because of how obsessive he is about unpacking Beth and her chess moves (or he has a Beth space (her house or her work) bugged, which I mean circles back to how obsessive he is). There’s too many indicators that point to Rio being in the know.

I love that he’s this super suave, ridiculously bougie crime boss and Beth’s a Junior League mom, three-time winning mini-muffin champion, and 1. he knows to not underestimate her and 2. these two idiots are locked in this stalemate. I stan.

Additional points of note:

- Rio’s little grin at Beth’s celebratory dance of his murder. Sometimes I wonder if Rio still likes her, because he’s so exhausted by Beth this season. But, I think at that moment he unwittingly did. Despite his better judgment, he continues to be charmed by her. Oh, my boy.

- Rio and Beth back in her kitchen!!!!

- Rio is no longer waiting for her outside in the Mercedes, making Beth leave her groceries to rot on her front porch or wherever. #Growth. Instead, he’s inside her house again, with her, for the first time this season. This time there’s so little furniture/stuff to look at it, but still so telling and I love that it percolates thoughts as to where her money is going.

- I thought that Rio would return her shit? I really thought at some point he’d give it back to Beth. I didn’t realize he was expecting her to have bought (some) new things. But like, duh - that makes sense with how much of a nester Beth is. Of course, he would think she would spiral into buying things for the kids and repopulating the house. I wonder about his thought process as he moved through the space. I also APPRECIATE THAT HE WENT INTO HER BEDROOM all solito. Bitter, no doubt. But, also probably in his feelings about that day, about how Dean’s shit is back in that room. Ohhhh, my boy.

- Everything’s so different, but I loved the call back to the pilot and their first meeting. I love the return of S1 hoodie. So many callbacks to a better time! I love it, but it also prompted me to have a lot of feelings at the state of things now.

- That being said I loved how tired Rio was during in the car wash scene. Our guy (and our girl) are so tired and done with each other. Rio’s tired in this scene because he knows Beth so well and he knows she’s scheming against him, and he’s not here for it (little does he know...).

- “Unkillable. Unhuman.” Hahaha. I don’t overall approve of the dehumanizing Rio, but I did find this funny. If we have to suffer this hitman storyline, I do love that he continues to resurrect on Beth.

- Ruby and Annie finally hearing that there was a round two.

- Beth’s comment about how Rio only drops by on her.

- “Jilted lovers”

- “Crime of passion”

- “Your lover enjoys a two-hour omakase lunch every Friday. He never misses it.” LOVER!!! Foodie!Rio!!!! Bougie-af Rio. Like who has a two hour (solo?) lunch? I stan.

- Rio plays tennis every Tuesday.

- Rio SPEAKING SPANISH. You see - all I had to do was write that post and the gods of Good Girls heard me and made it happen. If only they would hear my other requests :’)

- Beth throwing and breaking something at Rio’s establishment for once. Yes, queen.

- Rio being a little shit in the pool scene and then getting one-upped by Beth. Rio definitely thought her throwing the pool ball was hot.

- Beth having won the state mini-muffin competition for the past three years. Honestly, she should be on GBBO. Can we get a crossover next season for levity? Rio can eat all of her practice bakes and they can work through their feelings week by week. At the end, when Beth makes it to the championship, he can be featured in her segment about her support network, jaja, perhaps with relationship ~unlabeled?

Noel voice: “Beth is a brilliant mother of four. She certainly gets plenty of feedback regarding her bakes from her children. Beth is also an entrepreneur and enjoys a supportive working relationship with her business partner Rio. Since entering the competition, they have adjusted their work schedule so that they take off every Tuesday afternoon, so Beth can experiment with next week's recipes.” *shots of Beth baking in the Boland kitchen. Rio sampling an award-winning muffin* ahhh! Then, Rio (+ Ruby and Annie) can go to the picnic with all of their kids, and talk about how proud they are of her.

I mean, yes? Okay, enough of this enormous GBBO digression.

- “I was bored.” I love this admission. I think some folks in the fandom are hurt by this because it is in direct reference to her relationship with Rio. But, Beth wasn’t going to admit she grew huge, wild feelings for the crime boss to a stranger. She can barely admit it to herself. She can’t admit it to the crime boss in question. Nor can she admit it to the people she is closest to in life. This admission that boredom/frustration/numbness are key motivators for Beth - I loved it. And Rio knows those motivators. He gets it. It calls back the “Did they suck your soul out yet?” comment from the end of Season 2. As much as Rio was trying to belittle her to Mick later in the episode, he still knows she’s smart, talented, and capable and he hates it/loves it.

- Beth: “Story of my life [...] missed opportunities.” My heart hurts for her.

There are definitely more moments that I enjoyed. I overall liked this episode. But, obviously what hurts my heart the most is that Beth said the hitman could pull the trigger on Rio, twice. I don’t know what to do with that, in combination with the show clearly exploring how impactful Beth and Rio’s relationship was/is.

On some level, there’s a juxtaposition of S1/S2!Brio to now!Brio, and the juxtaposition shows that Rio doesn’t mean enough to Beth right now to not kill him. That really hurts me personally. But, the discussions of what once was also brings up again how much there still is, festering, unresolved.

The hitman saying that crimes of passion~ always yield to someone regretting it feels like foreshadowing. The point is: Rio isn’t going to die, he will not be killed off the show. So, Beth is changing her mind and I’m wondering what is going to do that so quickly? I’m assuming the hitman is going to put her on the schedule for the next week or the week after. Unfortunately, despite the potential for the reversal of the hitman storyline... soon? (jajaja, I mean who am I kidding? I thought it was going to be over episodes ago. It could have been strung out to Episode 16 with the way things are handled right now), I don’t think we’re going to get it this Sunday.

Another point of hope - as others have voiced - is that Beth still can’t kill Rio herself. She already HAS shot Rio and it speaks to me that she can’t do it again.

I feel like my head is spinning with Season 3 content. I’m excited to write in this new canon-verse over the hiatus. I’m just crossing my fingers that the hiatus isn’t FOREVER.

#gg spoilers #long post #my thoughts

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magicofthepen · 4 years ago

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Gallifrey Relisten: Spirit

This reaction post is almost 4,000 words long, which, given the episode in question.....is very on brand for me. So here have a whole lot of ramblings, in which I go back and forth between “I love this so much” and “hmm yes I do think Spirit is overhyped by virtue of being The Romana/Leela Episode,” and back and forth between “I will be objective and not get overtly shippy about this” and “I’m definitely getting overtly shippy about this.”

(Includes discussion of The Apocalypse Element, the rest of Series 2, Intervention Earth and Enemy Lines, also a bit about Time War 3, but only in the last section.)

Things that are absolutely not overrated and deserve every bit of the hype:

1. The premise

Like, hold on. Hold on. Here we have an entire episode resting on the premise of “Romana wants Leela to stay on Gallifrey so badly that in spite of being y’know, the President of a planet, and specifically a planet currently undergoing major social changes and dealing with evil eldritch beings, the #1 most important thing for her to do with her time is take Leela on a private vacation off world to convince Leela why she should stay on Gallifrey.” (Hint: it’s. it’s for Romana.)

She also then proceeds to be very bad at using her words when it comes to this premise because Romana is all into grand gesture and very little into actually talking about her feelings. Of course. But in an episode that rests on the idea of Romana as the Rational, Logic-Driven One, and Leela as the Instinctive, Emotion-Driven One, it is very good that the premise of the episode is entirely driven by Romana’s emotions. (Wait. Am I going to talk myself out of the idea that Spirit creates these overly simplistic contrasts between Romana and Leela by arguing that it also muddies them at the same time? .....I still think the “overly simplistic” thing is true to an extent. But stay tuned.)

2. The core emotional story

I’m deeply into Gallifrey for the relationships between the main characters, so Spirit is vastly appealing on that front.

The central question of Spirit is: can Leela trust Romana? Leela’s been deeply betrayed by her husband, she feels lost and adrift and she’s doubting her own ability to judge people. (“He stood before me as Torvald, and I did not know him. I had thought myself to have a keener eye.” / “But is his the only trust I may have given in error?”) Leela’s doubting her own instincts specifically, which is why it’s so important that this episode has Romana move from being more dismissive of Leela’s instinctive, emotional approach to the world, to understanding where Leela’s coming from and appreciating her instincts and worldview. Leela needs to trust not just Romana, but also herself.

And it is 1. important to explore this! Shoutout to Gallifrey for not brushing aside the emotional repercussions of Andred’s betrayal on Leela’s close relationships in general and her own image of herself! and 2. intersects in super fascinating ways with Romana’s trust issues.

Romana gets a hard time for the “valuable asset” thing, which. Fair. But I think it is important to acknowledge the premise here — the whole vacation, everything Romana is actually doing screams “I care about you very much on a personal level,” and just because she isn’t saying that doesn’t mean she isn’t showing that. Because she has her own baggage when it comes to friendship and trust, and a lot of that does loop back around to “being imprisoned for twenty years and having no one come to save you really messes you up. on so many levels.”

(Also I have to mention the end of The Apocalypse Element because that last scene with the Doctor and Romana really established how I looked at Romana and her close personal relationships moving forward. Because yeahhhh maybe having the one (1) person who is specifically your Friend (and not your colleague, or advisor, or anything related to The Presidency) go “yeah you can clean up this mess right! cool bye!” after you’ve gone through decades of trauma immediately followed by needing to repel an invasion of your planet....maybe that might make you distrust that anyone in the universe is actually going to care about you as a person anymore, and not see you as The President of Gallifrey first and foremost).

Bottom line: Romana really, really likes Leela (.....we all can decide in what way....), but also has a whole lot of doubt that other people could care about her as a person, doubt that it’s even worth letting herself be that emotionally vulnerable with someone else, because what if they throw her trust and care back in her face? And so this whole episode, there’s this undercurrent of wanting to trust each other and wanting to care about each other simmering under the surface for the both of them, but they’re both having trouble really seeing and believing what each other is feeling and I love it. I love this kind of interesting, complicated relationship struggle so much, and I love how Spirit has a positive ending, where they both manage to convey to each other in one way or another that they really do want to be around each other. ( “I was so alone in the world of dreams when you left. The wildlands were dark and so quiet. I do not wish to be alone.” / “There will be a place for you with me, for always. Whatever face I wear.” ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh)

(Sure, the later episodes of the season fuck everything up again, but we are Not Talking about Insurgency/Imperiatrix here.)

(We are also Not Talking about Intervention Earth/Enemy Lines....okay I’ll talk a little about IE/EL, but only because when relistening to Spirit there’s this sort of elephant in the room with “There will be a place for you with me, for always. Whatever face I wear.” And that elephant is the writers deciding that when Romana regenerated, she would abandon Leela, which...hmmm. To be fair, I have lots of more complex, specific thoughts about what might have happened emotionally and literally in that thankfully jettisoned timeline, but the bottom line is that I was and still am very *side eyes* at that writing choice.)

3. The chair scene

Oh my god. Oh my god. This scene is actually brilliant and delightful on every relisten, I want it framed please??

I think it’s probably iconic because it’s just so happy, and it is so so wonderful to have a moment like that, with the two of them making up a silly story to Hallan about what happened to the window and laughing about it. And it is good! It’s so good! (A side note: Romana in particular in this episode has that “audibly smiling” tone of voice so so much more than usual, in addition to her overall tone having very clearly shifted away from “presidential” for the majority of the episode and y’all.....it’s so excellent to hear, that is such a rare thing.)

Also specifically, it’s the fact that Leela is like ugh this room is too stuffy :( and Romana immediately is like “I must fix this, I need to make her happy” and does something so ridiculous and impulsive just to please Leela.......again, this episode is pulling a Romana Has Too Many Feelings and is acting on her emotional instincts thing......yes.

“You’re a breath of it yourself in the Capital.” “Oh Romana, nice words will not make me stay.” I’m sorry but Romana’s delivery of this line is so flirtatious? (And Leela going ah no, you can’t flirt your way out of this.)

Things that are......not good:

1. The science vs. spirituality dichotomy (and how it makes the characters look)

The whole evolution vs. creation discussion thing not only feels too simplistic for the characters, but it also feels like it’s deliberately painting Leela in a negative light? To have Leela specifically going I don’t believe in evolution when the audience is going to disagree with her and bounce off of that....yeah. It also feels like the whole exaggerated ~super in tune with nature, doesn’t know or believe things about science~ thing is leaning into the racist indigenous stereotypes her character is too often linked to.

And on top of that, it doesn’t feel in character? Classic Who episodes don’t stick in my brain that well so my memory isn’t super clear on the details, but Leela was banished from her tribe for questioning their beliefs. Plus she learned that her society’s social divisions were based on misinformation and forgotten history (having more information was important, it changed things for her world). And she was the one who wanted to leave and travel, and also has always showed a lot of interest in learning new things. To have Leela so deeply clinging to the beliefs she learned when she was young, without any of that questioning or the nuance of weaving in new things she’s learned with the old......it feels reductive. (There could be so much more nuance here re: how living so long away from the Sevateem and having to defend her background so much on Gallifrey has affected her relationship with the culture and beliefs she grew up in, but Spirit has none of that.)

2. The mindswap’s lack of nuance

There’s a similar issue here with the mindswap, where Leela especially comes off as over-simplified. I don’t know if this was an acting choice or a directing choice, but the over-the-topness of Lalla’s performance during the mindswap really feeds that (the way Romana’s voice sounds so different when she’s “acting like Leela”, while Leela still sounds fundamentally like herself when she’s acting more like Romana — why the difference?). Also, Romana is a lot more helpless and distressed when she has part of Leela in her mind, which again, does not make Leela come off as especially competent (even though she is). There are times when this episode feels like it’s trying harder to put Romana and Leela into these boxes than it is at trying to break down those boxes and yeah, all around I wish there was more nuance.

3. The interrupting of the vacation date, damn it, do you think I care about a “plot”?

Alright, alright this one is not in the same category as the other two. It is absolutely not a valid criticism, it is purely the “I want this audio to cater to me, personally” part of my brain getting disappointed every time I relisten when Wynter crashes the vacation. Specifically, when they’re all alone in the woods together having important personal conversations and Leela’s decided that they’re camping out for the night....maybe I just wanted to hear the overnight camping trip, y’know. Maybe I just wanted them to cuddle beneath the stars. (Also this will come back big time next episode, but I very much back away from horror of Wynter’s mutilation, I am a squeamish person and the Wynter thing is not my favorite plot.)

Misc liveblogging things:

“I’m sorry I had to have you dragged here to my quarters. I have requested an audience with you several times on a matter of security but have received no answer.” — It’s unclear exactly how much time has passed between Lies and Spirit, but not too long(?) and Leela’s been trying to track down Andred a lot during this time (which means that once again, Romana’s specifically taking Leela away from looking for Andred....).

Leela scathingly calling Romana “Madam President” oof. (I think this moment may have been what I was thinking of re: Leela only uses Romana’s title when she’s annoyed or angry, will have to note if/when it happens again.)

“It is your world and not mine. Although I have lived here for many years it has never been my home. And I am unhappy.” I know I’ve said this before, but Leela’s concept of home is very much the people she cares about and hhhhh so many feelings about this throughout the series.

Oof Darkel’s got Romana pegged with the “how far will she go” thing.

Is Narvin......being nice re: Romana having a trying time? Or sarcastic? Or is he just like oh thank god she’s off the planet for a hot sec I can take a breath.

Brax saying it was him that recommended Romana leave and insisting they don’t talk about it — he’s sooo covering for her, but also I want to know how that convo went....how exactly did Romana explain the “I’m going to take Leela on a private vacation off-world for.....personal reasons.....please cover for me slash be my emergency contact” thing?

“So I can only conclude from your recent behavior that you’re experiencing a considerable amount of pain.” — I mean, Leela did explicitly say earlier that she was unhappy. Still, it is a really good moment here — Romana saying I see that you’re hurting and I want to help.

.......and that’s right before “valuable asset” line. You were doing so good, Romana. (She does say friend though! I mean, she says it like it’s an ordeal, but she does immediately course correct to admit that Leela’s her friend.) Also....I’m having some kinda thought here about the “asset” line — how she compliments Leela in terms of her usefulness is icky, but I think Romana often judges her own worth based off of how useful she is to Gallifrey? I think there are several moments throughout the series that point to Romana basing her worth as a person off of her work and how successful she is at protecting her world and making it better, which is just an overall unhealthy mindset to be in (and this says something about the toxicity of Gallifreyan culture possibly but also something about the lingering trauma of Etra Prime and living for decades in a place where her life itself (whether she survived) was directly tied to her usefulness...going to mull this over more, but I think there’s something here).

Hallan is so awful about Leela, and he goes on for a bit about how he should be watching the president at all times — aka there is definitely resentment within the Chancellery Guard towards Leela for taking the role of bodyguard to the president. And this is mixed in with nasty comments about Andred, former member of the Chancellery Guard, for marrying an alien.

“A marriage is about maintaining the power of the chapters, strengthening alliances between houses” — it is interesting how more than once in the audios they talk about marriage as primarily a political thing in Time Lord culture (at least among the elite), with love being an exception and something disapproved of.

The “Leela’s been on Gallifrey for twenty-five years” math......does not work. Between The Invasion of Time and the Gallifrey audios, Romana left Gallifrey, ended up traveling with the Doctor for a while, stayed behind in E-space for a while, returned from E-space to Gallifrey, became President, got captured by the Daleks and held prisoner for twenty years, and according to Square One I believe it’s been “years” since The Apocalypse Element.......and apparently only twenty-five years have passed on Gallifrey? Even if we pretend that no time passed on Gallifrey during Romana’s adventures with the Doctor and in E-space, that timeline is still questionable. Leela has to be on Gallifrey for a lot longer than that.

“I’ve searched for [my purpose] in many places.” — It’s interesting that Romana lists off the places she’s tried to find purpose, but doesn’t say anything at all about Gallifrey — Leela is the one to say that Romana has found her purpose on Gallifrey, Romana never actually says that. (I have...lot of feelings about Romana’s very complicated relationship to Gallifrey.)

Romana mentions Pandora predicting that she would rule over Gallifrey, and predicting that Romana would let that happen — Romana is worried about Pandora in particular, and also there’s the implication that she wants Leela to stay to help her hold onto herself and prevent that future.

Just ahhhh the scene by the fire where Leela decides, after avoiding too much discussion about what she’s feeling, to be emotionally honest: “It frightens me to think that I have spent so much of my life with another in a trust that I believed was true and strong, one that could not sicken, and that I was wrong.”; “You are my friend. I know that, for all we disagree on. And yet, if tomorrow you grew sick, you could throw off your form like an old sheet and be a person I would no longer recognize, not with my eyes nor with my heart.” It’s a good scene!!

The whole “who is the broken man?” mystery is good on first listen I suppose, but I’ve never quite bought that they can’t ID him. Can the Time Lords not do a quick DNA test or something? (To be fair, these are the same people who missed that Andred was impersonating someone else for months, but at least here they actively know that they need to be figuring out who he is.)

The herbal remedy — “The outsiders use it when in pain or distress.” Confirmation that Leela does hang out with the outsiders on Gallifrey.

“I’ve been inside these things I don’t know how many times and I assure you nothing could go wrong.” Post-Etra Prime Romana trying to get some sleep for once tbh (also okay she does have some healthy coping mechanisms apparently).

“It speaks to your innermost wishes and wonders and indulges them while you dream” “There is a wild woman inside me” I’m so sorry but did they really not intend to making the sensory tanks and mindswap sound incredibly erotic because

“It is winter here.” *eyebrow waggle*

I do not like hearing stabbing sounds! (Also apparently this season has a thing for Romana kinda sorta killing people with knives.)

Leela wakes up a bit later than Romana (she stays in the dream space longer), and she says she heard Pandora’s voice — Romana dismisses that, but I do wonder what exactly happened in the dreamspace after Romana woke and what additional things Leela might have heard/seen??

Hallan is so shitty, kick his ass Leela.

I do wonder why the subplot with Melyin and Hallan was included? Was it to introduce Hallan as a character and flesh out the side characters so we know them a bit better when they’re around with the Wynter subplot? (Personally, I don’t enjoy how earlier in the episode they keep cutting away from Romana and Leela’s really important and interesting conversation to those two sides characters, so I’m not sure they needed that storyline?) But there is this sort of interesting moment where Melyin talks about freeing herself from this place where she’s isolated and Leela sympathizes — and yet at the same time is choosing to go back to Gallifrey. There is potentially an interesting parallel here, but I’m not exactly sure what the parallel is supposed to be saying about Leela.

“And what about you? Back to Gallifrey and your husband?” “I am returning to Gallifrey, yes. It is not yet time for me to leave.” Leela expertly dodging mentioning Andred in her response or referring to him as her husband. Actually I kinda want to pay more attention to when she does or doesn’t refer to Andred as her husband. I’m pretty sure she calls him her husband after he dies because that is who she’s grieving, but in this episode she talks about wanting to confront him and hurt him or make peace with him, and in A Blind Eye she was all “my husband is dead” (and I think there are some things in Insurgency about this) —there is a question here about whether or not she still considers herself married to Andred at this point.

How did the knowledge of events get out on Gallifrey? Brax says if people were watching his movements closely it wouldn’t be hard to put things together — but also he probably knows that Romana needs to return for Gallifrey for events to play out, so it seems quite possible that he essentially leaked the info himself (knowing that the events of Pandora are coming....oof).

Leela talks about returning to Gallifrey avenge the broken man — in series 2 and 3, she frequently turns to vengeance as something to give her motivation and purpose when she’s unhappy and grieving, but I forgot it came up as early as Spirit ahhh yikes.

The (shippy) elephant in the room:

(Includes vague mentions of Time War 3.)

As a final thing, I do want to mention that while this episode has a reputation of being really gay (because yep it so so subtextually gay)....I do always remember that it is only subtext. Specifically in a “isn’t it interesting that other ships between main characters get clearly teased as romantic possibility, but when it’s the core relationship of the show that just so happens to be between two characters played by women, they would never explicitly hint that there might be anything romantic going on there” way. (For a long time, I tried to convince myself this didn’t bother me. It does.)

Like don’t get me wrong, I adore their friendship and I am very cool with their relationship being entirely platonic in the audios. However, my feelings are also very context-dependent, and the context is an audio drama series in which the only explicitly queer characters are side/minor characters who die horribly (and also only exist in the very recent releases). There are no canon f/f relationships or canonically queer women in the entire series (no, Leela/Veega doesn’t count, they were pretty explicit on that being not canon), in contrast with plenty of canon m/f relationships. This is also why I say that I’d be 100% unbothered if Gallifrey really was equal-opportunity devoid of romance (I really genuinely enjoy the friendship-centric narrative of this series, it’s so good) or even had significant canonically queer side characters, but when there’s such a pointed ignoring of any queer subtext and a general ‘would never ever make any main character canonically queer’ vibe throughout the whole series (I am looking at you Unity) it’s.....hmmm. It just doesn’t feel good, you know?

To end on a lighter (ish) note, going to talk about shippy things for a sec — so I have many headcanon universes that float around in my brain, but generally speaking when I’m writing Romana/Leela fic or thinking about the possibility of their relationship being romantic at some point, I tend to go for things happening between them later in the audios (ideally post-Enemy Lines), with the early series just being endless unresolved tension. But gosh there is a part of me that’s interested in the disaster universe where they do get romantically involved with each other post-Spirit (because as far as the early series go, it does feel like it has to be post-Spirit, when Leela does make the choice to stay with Romana/for Romana on Gallifrey) because oh god that’s so emotionally messy. (It’s only been six months and change since Leela’s husband first disappeared! We’re only two episodes away from Andred’s death! She’s not in a healthy emotional space to be doing this right now, and neither is Romana, frankly! Especially given what’s going to happen in the next several episodes.....but oof wow there’s certainly a story to explore there).

This was not a lighter note, I’m so sorry. Anyways, friendly reminder that I’m always down to go on and on about Romana/Leela, I have....so many feelings about them. Also if you’ve actually read through this entire post, wow and thank you??

Previous Episode Reaction: Lies

#gallifrey audios #romana #leela #(i will be honest i had large chunks of this written even before i relistened)#(what can i say i will take any and all opportunity to ramble on about these two)#also i think this reaction post deserves the #romana x leela #tag #the relisten of rassilon #ramblings #emily listens to big finish

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migleefulmoments · 4 years ago

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Abb/y has something to s/ay

Let me premise this by reminding everyone that Abby -like Trump-doesn’t “get” comedy. They literally do not understand jokes, punchlines, or humor. So a satirical show about the Hollywood song writers falls flat. Her time away did nothing to sway her conspiratorial aspirations or her misogynistic hatred of Mia. She watched Royalties not once, but twice... not to enjoy Darren’s creativity and performance, not to support the celebrity she stans, and not even to crack up at the humor, no she watched twice because she was looking for confirmation bias. She wanted to document all of the ways Darren wrote his CrissColfer truth into Pierce’s life and she obsessively listened to all of the diss-tracks he wrote to attack his wife.

Let me also premise this by saying I loved the show. I thought it was funny and the songs are so damn catchy. The lyrics are quintessential Darren- funny, very clever, and raunchy.

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R/oyalties, the Tale of Two Shows with a Heaping Side of Meta

ajw720. So I just finished watching R/oyalties for the second time, this time solely focused on the meta. Look, we all know, the show is not good, it was not well written and the short format didn’t help as there was no option to develop character or plot. But D knew it would not be good, he apologized for it back in January 2019. And I think the effort he put into acting was the effort it deserved. Ok.

But his songs were genius. As were the videos, hence why i call it the tale of two shows. It truly was like watching content made by completely different people. I concur with MH, D is “intensely talented.” And the part of this show he poured his blood, sweat, and tears into, the songs, are evident of this.

But this is a post about that Heaping Side of Meta. I think D, knowing that that show would not be made in the manner he envisioned, instead used it as a vehicle to make some bold statements and parallels with his career and public life. Shall we begin? And please, unlike the perfect song, this is not a perfect post and after the second round of watching i canceled my Quibi subscription and never plan to look back, so please feel free to add. I know some of these have been pointed out but I thought it was valuable to have one post.

One idea to inpsire the song? A tiny FROG on a dime.

D’s shirt 1st seen in Episode 2: “It is hard to soar like an Eagle when you are surrounded by turkeys”

And of course “Call me Goldilocks bitch” Remind you of something?

How about the entirety of Episode 3 when we are told that an artist is completely the product of the team. That no matter what the artists expresses they want, it doesn’t matter because the Label/manager/publicist/on camera agent/legal will always have a say. And how it will play in America or the Foreign market are key metrics of how the product is produced and presented. I love the line of the songwriter that tells P/ierce and S/ara to “get out while they are young.” Or the line by one of her team “we don’t want something different, we want something the same that is different.” And in the end P&S simply took one of KK old songs and reworked it, making something different that is not different and her team loved it.

And of course, the line that was an utter slap in the face to the most over praised “director” of an indie band video ever when D reminds her of the real director in his life, the man set to direct major motion pictures, “you know who would be perfect to direct? C/hris. C/hris would shatter this.”

Not much in Episode 4, but the gorilla suit in my opinion was mocking of a certain MMR video where we watched Swiller and a banana in a song about a gorilla. Images I never need to see in my head again.

Episode 5, a gem, I am still so fucking proud of D and how he mocked her throughout the entirety of the episode. New lines I love of that amazing song he wrote about her (in addition to those i posted previously here) “Some people say I’m a genius, which comes from the greek word for Latin, and other people will say, alright in fact i’m a fuckin’s genius” “I’m not saying I’m a god, but I’m not saying I’m not a god.” Mocking at its finest made all that much better by the band’s name “Switchback Jacket” that D describes as “butt rock emo” that is performed by a band that doesn’t actually sing, they are just the public image. He literally told us that what we see is an image created for the public and that it is completely fake. And he used his beard to make this statement. Just brilliant. I cannot praise him enough for this, stealing her moment in the sun and making her look like an utter fool, telling us just how narcissistic she is.

Also some wonderful lines from that episode that are beyond telling:

“Power, it felt good to remind Kevin that I hold power over him. You always want to be the one with power”

“p/ierce wouldn’t know where to take a shit if I didn’t tell him.”

“she is like my wife except we don’t have sex and we are friends.”

“alright boss, I am ready to record that song, but where should i take a shit?”

“You will do anything to succeed.”

Episode 8 starring “Poly Amorous and the Unicorn Guild” an episode used to shine a light on how absurd it is that people believe D&PBB lived with platonic roomie B/enny for something like 4 years. 3 grown ass adults, all of whom have money to spare lived together in a relatively small house for four years. It is pure comedy that anyone would believe that this is normal. But hey these are the same people that explained away the infamous arm around her while at an awards show with D looking on:

And the cherry on top of this episode, the inclusion of C/huck (for some background, see my post here).

I really like the one bit of dialogue between P&S, where D pretty much tells us once again that M will use anyone to get what she wants:

“Did it ever occur to you that maybe just maybe, I don’t like where we are now? There were a lot of really great things about the way things were. Things that are worth preserving. Not that you just take and use and through out.”

Episode 9 had some really impactful lines:

“you think i wouldn’t steal for my career? You think I wouldn’t lie? I would do anything.”

The Neils being the nameless individuals, nothing more than a number, who are the ones who actually create the product. And then the song, some of the translations are D telling you how he feels, because sometimes i think in terms of his public image he is just a Neil trying to escape the cage that has been built around him:

“I dream about getting away, I have been locked up in this cage wishing i could make my escape. I hate that I need you.”

And finally Episode 10, where we learn the Neils get no credit and no royalties. This reminds me of a script C wrote that never saw the light of day but suddenly the next season of AHS had the same theme as his script.

And that is all i got, if you have more please add. I think the fact that D took what he knew would be a mediocre project and projected his voice and story throughout it was pretty genius and a smart way to utilize this vehicle, that was clearly payout for so many that have used him for years and to shine a bright light on the truth.

elicc The “perfect song”’s performer is called Bailey Rouge, a clear link to TLOS.

He is a genius.

ajw720 @elicc damn, that was on my list and I forgot. And we all know who Red is inspired by, so seems fitting Bailey Rouge would get the perfect song.

ajw720. Just adding one more I thought about putting in my original post but admittedly think it’s a stretch. But maybe not? Just adding here for fun.

When Theo tells P to bottle up all his romantic feelings I couldn’t help but think of a certain chapter in a book

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Oy Vei! Abby didn’t use her time away getting any therapy or perspective. She hasn’t learned any lessons. I have no doubt she’s been reading just as much as she did before and she’s speaking to Cassie, Flowers et al all day. It’s really sad. It’s sad that she can’t see how silly she sounds, what an asshole her version of Darren is. If she could restrain herself even a little bit it might come off less unhinged because turning every single moment of Royalties into some crisscolfer wet dream reeks of desperation.

Abby hates Royalties. In last week’s “Dear D” she had the audacity to say

....Fans that are beyond devoted and mainly because of the way you have treated fans with respect and a level of caring that far surpasses the majority of public figures. And while I am not enjoying the show itself, the music shows how diverse you are as a writer and how you can virtually write for anyone or any genre. The songs are fantastic. Memorable. And really fun.

She knows the the Langs wrote the show and Darren wrote the songs but what she can’t seem to comprehend is that Darren IS Royalties. Everything in the show is Darren’s.

Staying in the closet would be less painful than trying to express oneself through a short-form satirical comedy. Can you imagine trying to express your devastation and pain through Kick Your Shoes off or Break It In?

“I’m the king of the hard fuck....pile drive the bed like a young buck...if you like feathery shit thats pretty cool but I don’t need that...people say I fuck too soft, saying that I can’t please a woman”

BTW Abby- “call me goldilocks bitch” isn’t a reference to TLOS it’s a reference to Goldilocks and Three Bears because because he fucks perfect, not too soft, not too hard. It’s much more believable that he is referring to a random nursery rhyme than it is to believe he is referring to a children’s book his lover/husband/boyfriend wrote 8 years ago. You might love the book but Chris has moved on and written new things.

Darren wrote funny lyrics. I loved Kick Your Shoes Off because it’s written by a man whose watched his wife and female friends wear painful shoes for the same of fashion even though its painful as fuck.

“Yeah, I’m a bad bitch so don’t be mad bitch. I turned the room into a catwalk like a sad bitch. I can’t feel my toes in these stilettos. when I walk out my roomate says you’ll regret those....Beauty is pain but oh I look amazing. You won’t hear me complaining but oh my instep (inside?) is screaming...kick your shoes off (kick em off) ooooooo I do what I want..(Kick em off) ooooo Hey I can’t walk in these, blisters start to bleed now both my feet are swollen. Kick your shoes off (Kick em off).....It’s like i feel so good when my shoes are on, but like i also feel sooooo good when they are off”

Abby’s convinced I am So Much Better Than You is straight up about Mia because Mia is in the video. She listened to it on repeat the day after it came out. In her “Letter to D” last week she said

Especially after you made an effort to mock her for the entirety of Tuesday when her episode aired (and for the record I am still really, really proud of what you did with that episode and how you handled the roll out, that is the fighter I admire and that inspires me. I listened to I am so much better than you on repeat on my drive home from work yesterday).

Good Lord The lyrics are as silly as all the other songs: “My mirror wants to bone me (but it can’t because it’s a mirror)” How did Abby miss the obvious TLOS mirror/ Halloween costume reference here?

“You keep doing push ups while I get buff eating mac and cheese (with overpriced lobster and truffles because I’m worth it)”

“Some people say I’m a genius (which comes from the greek work for latin) Some other people will say yeah I’m right I’m a fucking genius (I’m not saying I’m a god but I’m not saying I’m not a god).

“And even when you sneeze, God blesses me, he blesses me. And even when you sneeze, god blesses me, he blesses me, he blesses me”

“I’m am so much better than you at everything”.

She believes Darren would be- and stay- married to a women that he publicly ridicules and attacks. I don’t get why she thinks that is something admirable .

She thinks Also You is referring to Ben living with them. Where to start with this one? She says

“Episode 8 starring “Poly Amorous and the Unicorn Guild” an episode used to shine a light on how absurd it is that people believe D&PBB lived with platonic roomie B/enny for something like 4 years. 3 grown ass adults, all of whom have money to spare lived together in a relatively small house for four years. It is pure comedy that anyone would believe that this is normal. But hey these are the same people that explained away the infamous arm around her while at an awards show with D looking on”

I’m gobsmacked. Also You is about Polyamory. She doesn’t even understand her own theories if she thinks that is the message Darren wants to share about Mia and Ben. In no world would someone try to proclaim their wife was cheating on them with a live-in houseguest by writing an episode called Poly Amorous and the Unicorn Guild. Also, someone needs to explain cuckholding to her because her theories about Ben and Mia make Darren a cuck.

OMG I just realized that Darren is a cuck and Royalties proves it. He hired Kether to be his costar in Royalties,...Kether is in You’re the Worst as Lindsay. Lindsay cuckholds her husband. Bam! mic drop.

Why isn’t Perfect Song about Mia, you know, if we are playing confirmation bias “No one is as good as you because you're my perfect song”

#CrissColfer #Darren Criss #Abby Speaks

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