#i was just supposed to watch the special episode but a scene at the beginning made me suddenly start thinking about this | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

eu-nicola · 22 days ago

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non think

summary: your friendship with Rudy began naturally and fluidly, but when his girlfriend's jealousy begins to interfere, tensions arise

warnings: nothing (?)

word counter: 5049

author's note: english is not my first language, this is fiction, don't take it seriously

From the moment you stepped onto the Outer Banks set, you felt that unmistakable energy of a team completely in sync. But even though everything seemed to click, it was Rudy Pankow who you instantly connected with. It wasn’t something you could plan—it just happened naturally.

Your role wasn’t easy. Playing Isabella Cameron, the middle Cameron sibling, meant bringing depth, charisma, and a hint of rebellion that contrasted with Sarah and Rafe but still shared a certain sensitivity with Wheezie. Even though Isabella wasn’t a Pogue like JJ, her connection with him promised to be one of the season’s most interesting twists.

On your first day on set, the nerves were real. This wasn’t your first acting gig, but something about joining a cast with such strong chemistry was intimidating. Rudy was one of the first to approach you.

“New Cameron?” he asked, with that grin of his that always seemed ready to crack a joke.

“The one and only,” you replied, trying to hide your nerves.

He burst out laughing.

“I like it. I’m Rudy, but I guess from now on we’re calling each other JJ and Isabella.”

The conversation flowed like you’d known each other forever. From that moment, it became almost a tradition for the two of you to find each other between takes to talk about scripts, crack jokes, or improvise ridiculous lines just to make the rest of the cast laugh.

One afternoon, during a scene where Isabella and JJ were supposed to argue about something involving Sarah, the directors decided to let you two improvise a bit to explore your characters' dynamic. It was a mess… in the best way possible. Your quick comebacks and Rudy’s ability to keep up with sarcastic remarks had everyone on set laughing. After calling cut, Jonas Pate, one of the show’s creators, came over.

“You two have something special. I think we’re gonna lean into that.”

It wasn’t until weeks later that you understood what he meant. In one of the season two episodes, Isabella and JJ would share an unexpected kiss—a moment that would completely shift their dynamic.

“A kiss?” you asked, stunned after reading the script.

Rudy shot you a playful look.

“What? Not excited? I’m a great kisser.”

“Uh-huh, sure.” Your sarcastic tone made him laugh, like always.

Filming that scene was… interesting. Even though you got along great off-camera, you couldn’t help feeling a little nervous. But Rudy, ever the charmer, made sure to ease your nerves before the take.

“It’s like we’re mocking the cliché, but with style,” he said, adjusting JJ’s jacket.

The scene turned out so well that the director asked to shoot it from multiple angles. After every take, Rudy would wink at you, making you smile despite yourself. The funny thing was, even though JJ and Isabella’s kiss wasn’t originally meant to happen again in the series, the on-screen chemistry between you two led to more moments like that.

Still, the main storyline for Isabella revolved around Barry, the character who was supposed to be her big love interest. Barry was different, but his relationship with Isabella brought an emotional depth that fans quickly adored.

Even so, every time you and Rudy shared a scene, the vibe on set shifted. There was something contagious about the way you interacted, both on and off camera. It wasn’t uncommon for the other cast members to watch you two during breaks and joke about your 'explosive chemistry.'

“You two would be absolute chaos if they let you,” Chase said one day, watching you rehearse a particularly intense scene.

And he wasn’t wrong. Despite Isabella clearly being paired with Barry, you couldn’t deny that working with Rudy was one of the most fun and genuine parts of the production. That connection eventually led fans to start shipping Isabella and JJ, even though the show’s narrative had other plans.

The on-screen kisses quickly became a recurring topic among the cast and crew.

Everything was going perfectly fine between you and Rudy until the fans started noticing what you and the rest of the cast already knew: your on-screen chemistry was undeniable. Comments on Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter exploded as soon as the first kiss scene between Isabella and JJ aired.

'Does anyone else think JJ and Isabella should be endgame?'

'Barry has nothing on JJ-Bella tension. Sorry, not sorry.'

'The way JJ looks at Isabella when she walks away… CHEF’S KISS. I need more of them.'

'I don’t care what anyone says, Rudy and Isabella HAVE to be together, ON and OFF screen.'

At first, the comments didn’t bother you. After all, most of them were about the characters, not you as actors. Even the more insistent ones were easy to brush off. But things changed when fan theories started crossing the line.

'Have you guys noticed how Rudy is always around her in BTS? 👀'

'I refuse to believe there’s nothing going on between them off-screen. Look at their interviews.'

'Sorry, but Rudy’s girlfriend doesn’t hold a candle to her. Stay with Y/N.'

That last comment felt like a trigger. Suddenly, the presence of Rudy’s girlfriend, whose relationship with him had been private and mostly unknown to fans, became glaringly obvious. She hadn’t been around during the first few months of filming, but now she showed up on set often, always quiet but clearly watching everything.

At first, you tried to be friendly. She wasn’t part of the cast, but you understood her wanting to be near Rudy. However, the tension started becoming noticeable when she stopped hiding her discomfort around you.

“So, this is the famous Isabella Cameron?,” she said one afternoon during a break. Her tone was sharp, even though her smile tried to mask it.

“Yeah, I guess that’s me.”You smiled, trying not to let it affect you.

“Well, I hope you don’t take everything the fans say too seriously. Rudy and I have something real, not like those fake kisses you share with him.”

You were caught off guard. It wasn’t like you cared about what she thought, but her comment made it clear she didn’t really know where the line between fiction and reality was. From that moment on, her little digs became more frequent.

One day, while scrolling through your social media, you saw a comment she left under one of your photos promoting the show. It didn’t say much, but the sarcasm was obvious:

"Wow, working with Rudy must be the highlight of your career. You must love it."

Fans, as expected, picked up on it right away. ‘Why’s Rudy’s girlfriend so passive-aggressive towards her?’ was one of the top comments on your profile. You laughed it off, but the whole thing left a bitter taste in your mouth.

The tension hit its peak during one of the more intense scenes between Isabella and JJ, where the two characters had to share an intimate moment in the middle of an argument. You and Rudy had rehearsed the scene, and everything seemed fine until you noticed his sudden change in attitude.

“Everything okay?” you asked him before shooting.

“Yeah, it’s fine.” His answer was short, distant, and not like him at all.

You couldn’t help but think his girlfriend had something to do with it. She was sitting in a corner of the set, arms crossed, watching you both. She wasn’t doing anything obvious, but her presence was enough to throw him off and, by extension, ruin the dynamic you two usually had.

After the scene ended, you confronted him.

“What’s going on with you? We never had problems before, but now it’s like you don’t even want to be around me.”

“It’s not that.” He avoided your gaze, confirming what you already suspected.

“Then what is it? Your girlfriend? Because if it’s about her, I need you to tell me now if we’re going to keep working like we used to or not.”

Rudy sighed, running a hand through his hair. You knew he didn’t want to have this conversation, but it was necessary.

“She just… doesn’t get it. And I don’t want things to get messier than they already are.”

“And what about our work?” you asked, more frustrated than you intended to sound.

He didn’t answer, but his silence was enough to tell you that, fair or not, things wouldn’t go back to the way they were.

After that, Rudy started pulling away not just from you, but from the rest of the cast too. The jokes between takes became less frequent, and the fun improvisations you both used to enjoy practically disappeared. No one said anything, but it was obvious something was wrong.

Social media wasn’t helping. Every time you posted something about the show, fans kept fueling the drama with their theories and comments.

‘Rudy’s girlfriend is definitely behind this. They’re not even in interviews together anymore.’

‘It’s so sad that JJ and Isabella have such good chemistry, but off-camera, it’s a mess.’

You tried to ignore it, but some nights you couldn’t help feeling frustrated. Not because of the comments, but because you missed how things used to be. Rudy was one of the best co-stars you’d ever had, and now it felt like you couldn’t even be friends.

And the worst part? He wasn’t doing anything to fix it.

When the fourth season rolled around, the news hit like a bomb. During a cast table read, the producers announced that JJ Maybank’s arc would come to a tragic end with a heroic death. While everyone murmured in shock, you could only look at him. Rudy sat in silence, arms crossed, eyes glued to the script, avoiding eye contact with everyone—especially you.

“What does this mean?” you asked Jonas directly.

“It was Rudy’s decision,” he replied, with a tone that made it clear he didn’t want to elaborate.

You couldn’t believe it. You’d heard rumors that Rudy wasn’t as excited about continuing on the show, but you always thought they were just that rumors. But now it was clear he’d made the most drastic choice possible.

That night, you couldn’t stay quiet. You found him outside the set, sitting on one of the service stairs, like he was waiting for someone to confront him.

“What the hell are you doing?” you blurted out. He looked up, surprised by your tone, but said nothing. He just shrugged.

“I’ve got nothing left to do here. I’m done.”

That lit a fire in you.

“Done? Are you serious? Rudy, your character is one of the fans’ favorites. JJ still has so much potential, and you’re just letting him die because… what? Because your girlfriend can’t handle us doing our jobs?”

He frowned, clearly annoyed.

“This has nothing to do with her. It’s my decision, and it’s final.”

“Of course, it has to do with her. Ever since she started coming to set, you’ve changed. You’re not the same anymore. You can’t even joke around with me like you used to. Now you’d rather run away than face things.”

Rudy stood up, defensive.

“And what do you expect me to do? Ignore everything? Pretend like I’m not losing my relationship?.”

“You’re not losing your relationship, Rudy. You’re sabotaging your career. And along the way, you’re throwing away everything we had, our friendship, all of it. Why can’t you see that?.”

“Because it’s not as simple for me as it is for you,” he said, raising his voice. There was frustration and pain in his tone.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” you asked, crossing your arms.

“It means not everyone can separate things like you. Do you know how hard it’s been for me? Everyone assumes there’s something between us, like there’s more… And she sees it, the fans see it. No matter how much I deny it, someone’s always pointing it out.”

The intensity of his words caught you off guard, but you weren’t about to back down.

“So what? You’re just going to throw it all away? Let her control every decision you make? That’s not professional. It’s childish.”

He shook his head like your words couldn’t break through the wall he’d built.

“Do what you want, but don’t expect me to stay quiet while you ruin something that meant so much to all of us,” you said before turning and walking away.

From that moment on, things went downhill fast. What used to be a natural and fun connection turned into pure tension. Arguments became frequent, both on and off set. Something as simple as a rehearsal could turn into a battleground, and it wasn’t long before it started affecting the whole team.

In scenes where Isabella and JJ had to interact, the tension was so obvious that even the directors began to notice something was off. After weeks of trying, they decided to use doubles for the shots where the two of you shared the screen.

The rumor spread quickly among the crew. People whispered behind your backs, some blaming Rudy, others blaming you, but most were just confused. It wasn’t easy to explain how one of the cast’s most beloved dynamics had turned into something so unsustainable.

By the time the last scene rolled around, the atmosphere on set was heavy. That day, JJ’s final scene was being filmed—a moment that would mark the end of an era for the show and the cast. While everyone tried to keep the energy upbeat and positive, all you could feel was an overwhelming emptiness.

It wasn’t just about JJ leaving; it was because Rudy was leaving too. Even though your relationship had deteriorated to the point of being unrecognizable, you couldn’t help but remember how things had started: the laughs, the improvisations, the jokes that even got the directors to join in. Now, none of that was left.

The scene you were filming was heartbreaking, probably the most emotional one of the entire season. JJ sacrificed himself to save Isabella and the other Pogues, dying heroically. You, as Isabella, had to hold him in your arms while he said his final words.

When the director called action, you threw yourself into character completely. Isabella was desperate, her hands covered in blood as she tried to hold back tears.

“No, JJ, don’t do this to me,” you said, your voice breaking. The script called for you to cling to him, as if you could stop the inevitable.

Rudy, as JJ, looked at you with a weak smile the same one that had always defined his character, even in the darkest moments.

“Don’t cry, Bella. You always knew I’d do something stupid like this.” He coughed, mimicking the character’s weakness, but there was something else in his voice something that felt way too real.

“Don’t say that!” you screamed as Isabella, feeling a knot in your stomach that went beyond acting. Tears streamed down your face, and for a moment, you wondered if they were yours or your character’s.

“Take care of them... all of them.” He tried to laugh, but his voice faltered. JJ’s eyes closed, and the camera captured your devastated face as you hugged him one last time.

“Cut!” the director yelled.

The set erupted in applause. The crew, the cast—everyone knew they had just filmed something unforgettable. But you couldn’t move. You kept holding onto Rudy, trying to steady your breathing, because even though the scene was over, the emotions were still there.

“You were incredible,” someone said, but you didn’t register who. You barely heard Rudy mumble a “thank you” to everyone as he stood up and walked off set.

As soon as you snapped out of character, the real tears came. You weren’t one to cry in front of everyone, so you slipped away from the set and found a quiet corner where you could be alone. Sitting on one of the folding chairs, away from the lights and noise, you let the emotions take over.

“Are you okay?” Madison asked, approaching cautiously.

You looked up at her and tried to smile, but you couldn’t.

“Yeah, just... haven’t gotten much rest.”

Madison nodded and stayed quiet beside you. You knew she didn’t want to push you but was still worried. After a while, she gave your shoulder a squeeze and went back to the set, leaving you with your thoughts.

Later, when everyone was gathering to say goodbye to Rudy, you couldn’t bring yourself to go near him. You watched from a distance as he was surrounded by hugs, encouragement, and smiles. He seemed happy—or at least relieved. But to you, it all felt like a façade.

You knew you’d eventually have to face him, but you were too angry to do it now. Every time someone asked if you were going to say goodbye, you just answered, “Maybe later.”

The anger you felt toward Rudy had become constant. No matter how much you tried to justify it or make sense of it, it always led back to the same thing: he acted like none of this mattered. Like losing his friends, his job, and everything you’d built together meant nothing.

But what bothered you most wasn’t just his apparent indifference it was how, deep down, you found yourself wanting him. You hated yourself for it. You tortured yourself with thoughts that if things had been different if his girlfriend wasn’t in the picture, if he could see things the way you did—you wouldn’t be here now. But you knew he wasn’t that kind of person, which is why you’d always tried to give him the best advice, even if it hurt.

The night before Rudy officially left the set, he came to find you. You had just finished packing up your things and were walking to the parking lot when you saw him waiting by your car.

“Can we talk?” he asked, his expression unfamiliar. He looked exhausted, almost desperate.

“What for?” you shot back, crossing your arms. Sarcasm had become your go-to defense. “To have one last argument? That seems to be all we do lately.”

He sighed, running a hand through his hair.

“I don’t want to argue. I just... I need to explain myself.”

You were caught off guard by that. You hesitated for a moment before tilting your head toward the passenger seat.

“Talk.”

He leaned against your car, staring at the ground before finally speaking.

“I know you think I don’t care about any of this. That I’m just walking away because none of it matters to me. But that’s not true.”

You rolled your eyes, unable to hide your disbelief.

“Oh, really? Because it sure seems like you don’t care. You’ve distanced yourself from everyone, didn’t even try to fix things, and now you’re just leaving. What do you expect us to think?”

“It’s not that I don’t care. It’s just... I don’t know how to handle it,” he admitted, with a sincerity you hadn’t seen in him for a long time.

You stared at him, trying to figure out if he really meant it or if it was just another excuse.

“Rudy, we’ve all tried to help you. Madison, Chase, even the directors. We all wanted to help, but you wouldn’t listen to anyone. And you can’t blame us for being upset when it seems like all you care about is keeping someone happy who doesn’t even understand what you do.”

“It’s not as easy as you make it sound,” he shot back, his voice rising slightly. “She didn’t ask for this. She didn’t ask to compete with fans, theories, or with you.”

“With me?” you asked, stepping closer to him, feeling anger boil inside you again. “Are you seriously saying this is my fault?”

“No, that’s not what I meant,” he said quickly, but it was too late.

“Listen, I never tried to make you choose between your career and your relationship. In fact, I always told you that you could have both if you just took a second to put things into perspective. But you didn’t. You chose to pull away, not just from me, but from everyone. And now, you’re leaving. So tell me, what else do you want me to do?”

For a moment, he didn’t seem to have an answer. He just looked at you, his lips slightly parted, like he was searching for the right words.

“I want you to understand that this wasn’t an easy decision,” he finally said. “And I want you to know that I never wanted us to end up like this.”

You laughed, though there was nothing funny about the situation.

“Is that it? You want my forgiveness? Or are you expecting me to sit here feeling sorry for myself because you decided to throw everything away?”

He took a step toward you, but you stepped back.

“No. I’ve had enough. Do what you have to do. Go live your life, but don’t expect me to sit here waiting for you to realize you made a mistake. Because you did. Not just with me, but with everyone who cared about you here.”

His eyes darkened, but he didn’t argue. He just nodded slowly, like he was accepting your words.

“Goodbye,” he said, with a sadness he hadn’t shown before.

“Goodbye, Rudy,” you replied.”

After that night, Rudy disappeared from your life. No immediate messages, no attempts to reconnect—at least not in the first few weeks. You didn’t reach out either. You’d made everything clear that last time, and you didn’t want to go back to a cycle of arguments that never seemed to end.

But as the weeks went by and the Outer Banks team started gearing up for the promotion of the new season, something inevitable happened: contact between you two. The first time you saw a message from him, you were going through emails, looking for info about the upcoming red carpet event.

It was simple, almost casual.

Rudy: “Hey. Hope you’re doing okay. How’s everything going?”

You read it a couple of times, trying to decide if it was worth replying. You knew he’d probably written and rewritten that message several times before sending it, but you still weren’t ready to fully open that door again. Finally, you typed:

You: “All good. You?”

It took him days to reply. When he did, it was just as brief.

Rudy: “Good too. Thanks for asking.”

It didn’t seem like much, but for someone like Rudy, who always avoided uncomfortable conversations, it was something. The messages continued—spaced out, always short. He’d ask how work was going; you’d reply politely, sometimes returning the question, other times leaving the thread hanging. It didn’t feel like a conversation between friends, more like an attempt to hold onto something that wasn’t really there anymore.

When the first promotional event for the new season rolled around, you knew it was only a matter of time before you saw him. The whole cast was there—except Rudy—but that didn’t mean he wouldn’t show up. Even though he wasn’t actively part of the show anymore, his character was still important, and the producers wanted him there to honor that legacy.

The anxiety hit days before the event. Even though you’d managed to respond to some of his messages neutrally, the thought of seeing him in person made your heart race. You didn’t know how you’d react. Would you ignore him? Act like nothing happened? Talk?

The day came quicker than you’d hoped. You got ready in your hotel room, surrounded by stylists and makeup artists doing their thing while you stared at your reflection in the mirror, lost in thought. You wore a stunning dress, something that screamed strength and confidence, but inside, you felt more vulnerable than ever.

When you arrived at the event, the usual chaos of red carpets consumed you—flashes, photographers yelling, rapid-fire interviews. Everything seemed to be going as expected until you saw him. Rudy was on the other side of the carpet, talking to a group of reporters. He wore a simple but sharp suit, and while his smile was polite, there was something in his eyes you couldn’t quite figure out.

Madison, standing next to you, nudged you lightly.

“There he is,” she murmured, not needing to clarify who she meant.

“I know,” you said, trying to keep your composure.

You knew you’d eventually have to cross paths with him, but you avoided it as much as you could. There were interviews to do, group photos to take, fans to greet, and you stayed as far away from him as possible the whole time.

The red carpet premiere was everything you’d expected—flashes, shouting fans, excitement everywhere. But for you, it all felt distant. Rudy and you barely glanced at each other the entire time. It was like you were both in your own worlds, aware of the crowd but completely detached from everything else.

There was an awkward tension in the air, one you couldn’t ignore. The pain from the past months was still there, but it wasn’t something you were willing to show in public. The press team and photographers fired off quick questions, and while the flashes lit up everyone’s faces, you responded just enough, smiling when necessary. Still, Rudy’s presence, even from a distance, made you feel shaky.

Every now and then, your eyes met his—brief, almost fleeting—but always heavy with something you couldn’t name. He didn’t approach you, didn’t try to break the ice. He kept his distance, and everything between you stayed frozen, like time had stopped. The laughter and chatter around you felt mechanical, as if all your emotions were locked away in a room neither of you wanted to enter.

It wasn’t until you moved inside the venue for the screening that things shifted. The photographers were still snapping group photos, this time with the entire cast. A bunch of people surrounded you, and among them, somehow, was Rudy. You didn’t even notice when he got closer, but when one of the photographers gestured for everyone to squeeze in, Rudy slid in beside you. Without a word, he put his hand on your waist, stepping closer to position himself next to you. The move caught you off guard.

The photographer, clearly waiting for that moment, shouted instructions.

“Closer, please!” he called as flashes started going off again.

Instinctively, you leaned into Rudy, the heat of his body almost too much, a reminder of everything you’d once shared. The closeness made you uneasy, but it also surprised you how natural it felt for him. Like nothing had changed. Like everything was fine.

The flashes kept coming. Then, in the middle of it all, Rudy leaned in slightly, his voice barely audible over the chaos of the cameras.

“Just for tonight,” he murmured, with a faint but genuine smile, like he was trying to ease the tension.

You froze for a second, staring at him. Annoyance bubbled inside you, but you knew this was part of the job. It was a moment neither of you could avoid, no matter how much you wished you could.

“Just for tonight,” you repeated, more to yourself than to him, taking a deep breath as you forced a smile onto your face.

The photographer kept directing the group, asking for different poses, more smiles, more closeness. A part of you wanted to pull away, but another part knew that would only make things worse. So you went with it, doing what was expected, perfect smile, flawless posture, all while Rudy’s hand stayed on your waist, like it was the most normal thing in the world.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, the photographer signaled that the shoot was done. Rudy’s hand dropped from your waist, but he didn’t step away. He looked at you, his gaze holding too many unspoken words.

“You okay?” he asked softly, his voice low, meant only for you.

You looked at him, feeling the words catch in your throat. There was something ironic about that question. You knew the answer wasn’t as simple as “yes.” Everything between you two was so tangled, so complicated, that words seemed pointless.

“I’m fine,” you replied, though it didn’t feel true. The answer came out more robotic than honest, but you weren’t willing to give him more than that.

Once again, the distance between you both became tangible. Rudy didn’t push. He gave you one last look before turning back to the group, rejoining the rest of the cast. You, on the other hand, stayed there for a moment, trying to process what had just happened.

Even though you’d had to interact with him for work, the frustration lingered in your chest.

The night went on, and you knew you’d have to face him again at some point. The red carpets, the events, the interviews—it was all part of the job. But at the end of the day, all that was left between you two was the weight of a past you still didn’t know how to let go of.

#rudy pankow #rudy pankow x reader #rudy pankow x y/n #rudy pankow x you #fanfic #oneshot #imagine #x reader #jj maybank fic #jj maybank #jj mayback x reader #jj mayback imagine #jj maybank x reader #jj maybank x you #jj maybank x y/n #jj obx fic #jj obx imagine #obx4 #obx x reader

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otomehonyaku · 3 months ago

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DIABOLIK LOVERS Haunted Dark Bridal Anime DVD, Official Online Shop Tokuten CD ☽ Episode 0

Original title: Episode 0 Voiced by Midorikawa Hikaru (Ayato), Toriumi Kōsuke (Shuu), Konishi Katsuyuki (Reiji), Kaji Yūki (Kanato), Hirakawa Daisuke (Laito), Kondō Takashi (Subaru) English translation by @otomehonyaku Click here for the audio (special thanks to @uzi-boozii for providing the audio!)

─── ･｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

SUMMARY | As the title of the CD suggests, this drama can be seen as a '0th episode' in the first season of the Diabolik Lovers anime. The setting is a night of incessant rain unlike any other, and even through the rain clouds, the full moon is unusually bright. Eerie, even. It leaves the Sakamaki brothers feeling uneasy as their monthly family banquet approaches. The family discusses if this abnormal weather could be a sign of things to come... Happy reading and listening along, friends!

─── ･｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

[The scene starts in Reiji’s laboratory.]

00:00 Reiji: Good grief, what a downpour… And precisely on the night of our monthly banquet. That’s harsh. I wonder if Father predicted this. Heh.

[Reiji walks into the dining room and toward his familiars who are busy setting the table.]

Reiji: Oh, no. We won’t be using that tableware tonight. Use this instead. It will compliment the food better. Hm? The moonlight is peeking in through the window…

[Reiji decides to check on the weather and opens the door.]

Reiji: It’s still raining. However, the moonlight is so strong, even through those rainclouds… What will happen on a night like this? Something is coming…

[Reiji closes the door again.]

Reiji: Hm. I wonder whether our banquet will be able to begin on time.

[A crow screeches in the distance.]

Reiji: Well, I suppose that’s impossible.

[The scene shifts to Reiji walking into the Sakamaki manor’s library. There, he finds Laito.]

Reiji: So you’re here, Laito.

Laito: Oh, Reiji. It’s rare for you to come looking for me. Do you need something?

Reiji: It’s rather rare for you to be here, reading a book.

[Laito snaps his book shut.]

Laito: I do read books, you know. Especially on nights like these. If I don’t, I won’t be able to control my impulses. Ah… If only the school would revert my suspension…

02:12 Reiji: Even if they did, you would be suspended again in no time at all if you keep acting that way.

Laito: Huh? But it can’t be helped, can it? I don’t like suppressing my urges. I’d rather live by my instincts.

Reiji: Nevertheless, it would cause me just as much trouble to keep you locked in here. You seem to be forgetting something.

Laito: About what?

Reiji: I took the trouble to come all this way to see you, so would you not be able to guess?

Laito: Hmm… Ah, I see. It’s that time of the month again. It’d be great if we could take a field trip somewhere…

Reiji: I have said this many times already, but this is Father’s order. His word is final. Come downstairs within 10 minutes. That is all.

Laito: You’re so uptight.

Reiji: About what?

Laito: It’s not like he’s watching, anyway.

Reiji: What an insult to your father.

Laito: Well, it’s got nothing to do with me. Hey, are you going to go get Ayato and Kanato as well?

Reiji: I cannot count on you to do that, so…

Laito: Well, I’ll do you a favour and get them for you, then. Hehe.

Reiji: Well, then. If you please.

Laito: Gotcha. Leave it to me!

Reiji: You say that you will look for your brothers, but if I catch you running away instead, I will show no mercy.

Laito: I know, I know. You’d chase me into the depths of hell, Reiji.

04:06Reiji: That is a rather unpleasant way of putting it. However, if you understand—good. Well, then. I shall go fetch Subaru.

[Reiji leaves the room. The scene then shifts to the nearby lake, where Laito finds Ayato.]

Laito: So you were here after all, Ayato. Did you come to stare at the lake?

Ayato: What?

Laito: Reiji is looking for you.

Ayato: Reiji? Why?

Laito: It’s that time of the month again.

Ayato: Ah. Time for that useless banquet?

Laito: Yeah, that’s it. Well, let’s get going. Reiji’ll be annoying as hell if we’re late.

Ayato: Tch. Shit sucks. Laito. How’d you know I was here anyway?

Laito: I just know. I thought you’d be in a spot you usually don’t go to when it’s rainy. You don’t like lakes, right?

[Ayato throws a skipping stone across the water. ]

Ayato: Shut up. I just don’t like lakes… or rain.

Laito: So? Do you feel comforted being here?

Ayato: Huh? Why would I? I can’t calm down on days like these. I’d rather be here than anywhere else.

Laito: Hmm… So even you think that way, Ayato.

Ayato: Laito. Are you pickin’ a fight with Yours Truly?

Laito: No, not at all. I just thought it’s unusual for you. It’s actually quite refreshing. I like it.

Ayato: Tch. Don’t say such stupid things.

Laito: Still… It’s a pretty strange night, isn’t it? It’s raining cats and dogs, and yet the moon is shining brightly.

Ayato: What?

06:08 Laito: I mean, it’s almost like a glaring, fiery-eyed beast. I wonder if the moon is chastising us for some reason.

Ayato: Who knows.

Laito: Something’s going to happen. Something we’ve been avoiding for a while now. Hm? What’s up, Ayato? Did you perhaps sense something too?

Ayato: Nothing in particular.

Laito: Why are you lying? You felt it, didn’t you?

Ayato: It’s nothin’! Besides, what ‘something’ are you even talkin’ about?

Laito: The next time it rains as heavy as tonight again, something will happen. Very soon.

Ayato: Hm.

Laito: Well, we won’t know until it happens, though! Hey, Ayato. Come with me.

Ayato: What? Where?

Laito: To go get Kanato.

Ayato: Come to think of it, I haven’t seen Kanato around today.

Laito: He’s probably at that place.

Ayato: What place?

Laito: The one place where he can relax. His wax doll museum.

Ayato: Ugh. That’s such a boring spot. Well, fuck it. I’ll go. Let’s hurry ‘n go get him. I don’t want it to be the two of us versus Reiji.

[The scene shifts to Ayato and Laito walking into Kanato’s wax doll museum.]

Ayato: Yo, Kanato. You here?

Kanato: At least knock when you come in. Don’t you think it’s impolite to my girls to barge in so rudely?

Right, Teddy?

Laito: Ah, so you’re here. Sorry for forgetting to knock, Kanato.

Ayato: What’s so fun about being surrounded by a bunch of wax dolls? I don’t get it.

Kanato: A bunch of wax dolls? You clearly don’t understand the beauty of these girls whose lives have been preserved for all eternity. How utterly foolish.

08:23 Ayato: What? I was only askin’, though.

What’re you gettin’ your panties in a twist about?

Laito: Well, seems like Kanato isn’t in the best mood tonight either.

Ayato: Yours Truly’s feelin’ just fine.

Kanato: I’m not particularly ill-humoured. It’s just that… When I look at the moon, I get this feeling that something’s about to change.

Laito: Oh, so you’re feeling it too, Kanato?

Kanato: Yes. I can’t quite put my finger on it, though.

Ayato: Stop spouting bullshit. What’s about to change?

Kanato: Hehe.

Ayato: Kanato! The fuck’re you laughin’ about?

Kanato: Hehe. Ayato, are you anxious? You seem awfully reluctant to accept new things.

Ayato: The fuck?

Laito: Ah, Kanato—I did come here with a message to you from Reiji…

Kanato: I’m busy. I haven’t got time for something as frivolous as a banquet.

Laito: Aw, so you knew already. Well, then. Come with us.

Kanato: I’m not coming.

Laito: That won’t do. Reiji seemed pretty serious.

Ayato: We’ll be in trouble if one of us is missin’. Come on, Kanato.

Kanato: I told you, I’m not coming! Why don’t you understand what I’m saying? You’re all just taking pleasure in bullying me, trying to coerce me into doing your bidding…

Laito: It’s not like we actually want to go, either. Right, Ayato?

10:12 Ayato: Yeah, ‘course. Who would ever go to that shit willingly?

Laito: Listen. We’re all in the same boat, Kanato. So let’s go together.

Kanato: But I…

Laito: You remember what happened last time you didn’t come when Reiji called you, right?

Kanato: He truly likes bothering us with useless activities. Right, Teddy?

[The scene shifts to Reiji knocking on the door to Subaru’s room.]

Reiji: Subaru.

[Reiji enters Subaru’s room.]

Reiji: He’s inside his coffin again.

[The coffin suddenly flies open and Subaru comes at Reiji with a knife, thinking him an intruder.]

Subaru: Reiji?

Reiji: If you know it’s me, then drop that silver knife immediately. Good grief…

[Subaru drops the knife.]

Reiji: This is quite a greeting, even though I went through all this trouble to come get you.

Subaru: I had that dream again… Fuck!

Reiji: Not even an apology? You are a lost cause.

Subaru: Shut up! You’re the one who came in here unannounced! I can do whatever the fuck I want. Why’d you come in while I was sleeping?

Reiji: I came here for a reason.

Subaru: Huh?

Reiji: There can only be one reason why I come to find you here once a month. Even somebody so feeble-minded such as you should be able to know what it is.

Subaru: Ah, so it’s time for that stupid fuckin’ banquet again.

Reiji: It is far from stupid, actually.

Subaru: Hah.

11:58 Reiji: I should be punishing you for brandishing a knife at me, but today is the day of the banquet. I shall pardon you. I implore you to be careful, though. It is your obligation to be present at the banquet. Understood?

[Reiji leaves the room.]

Subaru: ‘Pardon,’ he says? Bullshit!

[Subaru throws something across the room and accidentally breaks a window.]

Subaru: Oh, shit. Why’s the moon like that? Is something gonna happen?

[Subaru tries to get himself together. The scene shifts to the banquet, five brothers now present.]

Reiji: Now, let us open the banquet.

Subaru: Hey, Shuu’s not here, though.

Reiji: There is no need to wait for someone who has forgotten about the banquet. We can do without his presence. There is no reason for him to be here to begin with.

Laito: I saw him in the hallway and called out to him, at least.

Ayato: Did he answer?

Laito: Nope, no reaction as usual.

Reiji: He will not come even if you call out to him. We do not need that good-for-nothing.

Kanato: Ah… We should’ve pretended not to hear him too, Teddy.

Reiji: That will not do, Kanato.

Kanato: Why?

Reiji: Because you have a different kind of importance to the Sakamaki family.

Laito: I see. So does that mean you don’t need me here, either?

Ayato: Great, you won’t need me, either.

Subaru: Then I’m leavin’, too.

Kanato: That’s mean! Is there something wrong with just me?

Reiji: Wait. None of your importance to the Sakamaki family has changed. However, I am merely saying that that good-for-nothing is worthless.

14:00 Ayato: Huh. So it’s only fine if Shuu’s not here?

Reiji: Exactly. Let us now quit this foolish conversation and eat dinner.

[The door opens and Shuu joins the others in the dining room after all.]

Laito: Ah, Shuu! You’re late.

Kanato: It seems like you still heard what Laito had to say, despite the fact that you were listening to music.

Shuu: Hm? Did you say something?

Ayato: Anyway, Shuu… It’s kinda surprising that you came to this banquet all by yourself.

Shuu: Banquet…? Oh, right.

Subaru: Isn’t that what you came here for?

Shuu: I just thought I’d be able to sleep in peace here.

Laito: Huh?! So this is just a misunderstanding?

Shuu: What a bother.

[Shuu grudgingly sits down at the dinner table.]

Reiji: You truly have no manners, barging in here and sitting down without so much as a greeting. I am flabbergasted.

Shuu: I’m here, so it’s fine, right?

Reiji: The end result matters none. I am merely finding fault in my family. Well, it would be a waste of time to continue this any longer. Let us begin the banquet.

[The brothers start eating.]

Ayato: Pasta again? Why’re we eatin’ this shit?

Reiji: Ayato. No talking while eating. Mind your manners.

Ayato: Reiji, make us somethin’ we actually like to eat!

Laito: Yeah. You’re the only one who likes pasta carbonara, Reiji.

Ayato: I want takoyaki!

Kanato: I agree with Ayato. Make me something nice for banquets like this, too. It’s unfair that Reiji is always the one to compile the menu.

16:04 Ayato: Right? Let us pick some stuff, too!

Reiji: I thought you all had no desire to participate in the banquet? I suggest you stop complaining. No matter what we eat, it all tends to taste the same to us, anyway. After all, human food does not nourish us.

Ayato: Well? We can pretty much eat anythin’, right?

Reiji: However, this banquet is a serious matter. This is not the time to eat takoyaki.

Ayato: It ain’t that different from pasta, though. It’s all flour-based.

Laito: There we go again. You’ve been pointlessly complaining about the menu for a while now. It’s getting out of hand, don’t you think? And then Kanato takes out a bunch of candy, Subaru finishes eating and leaves without a word… You know how it goes.

Ayato: It can’t be helped, right? It’s already a stupid fuckin’ banquet and then we don’t even get any satisfyin’ foods.

Reiji: Well, then. Do you have any substantial suggestions on how to host a proper banquet?

Subaru: Yeah. Don’t host one.

Reiji: We have been over this many times, Subaru. It is Father who orders us to have these banquets. We will not go against his word. As it is imperative that we continue holding these banquets, I ask you whether you could make suggestions on how to make it worthwhile.

Subaru: This sucks.

Reiji: Anyone else?

Laito: As for me, I’d like to discuss what the most delicious blood we’ve ever tasted was like for each of us. We don’t really talk about that sort of stuff, do we? It might be fun!

Ayato: Huh? I never remember shit like that.

Kanato: Teddy says he doesn’t remember, either.

Laito: And Subaru?

Subaru: Tch. Like hell I know.

Shuu: Wouldn’t you let someone with such delicious blood actually live?

Ayato: Right! Whoever pleases me that much becomes Yours Truly’s possession. Besides, you’re the only one who’s havin’ fun talkin’ ‘bout this, Laito.

Laito: Huh? I, for one, perfectly remember where and how I sucked the most—

18:21 Reiji: Hold on, Laito. I know I am interrupting the conversation, but we are having dinner. Please refrain from such vulgar topics.

Laito: Oh? Is that bad?

Reiji: It is.

Laito: I really thought it’d be fun. Why don’t we hold a review session, properly including everyone’s opinions?

Reiji: A review session? A splendid idea indeed. The lot of you could use some self-reflection, after all. It would definitely be useful if you reflect upon the faults I point out in you and try to better yourselves. Subaru? It is bad manners to make so much sound. Why don’t you join the conversation?

Subaru: Tch. I don’t wanna. I don’t care about your conversation. I figured eating would be better than actually listening to your bullshit. I don’t have anything to reflect on to begin with.

Reiji: I am telling you to reflect upon that exact behaviour.

Subaru: Shut up! I can do whatever the hell I want.

Shuu (who hasn’t been paying attention): Ah, you’re still at it?

Reiji: Be quiet, Shuu. It seems all of you have more than enough faults to reflect upon.

Laito: This is a little different from what I was going for, but… how about you, Ayato?

Ayato: I ain’t got shit to reflect on, because I’m always perfect.

Kanato: Hehe. Are you, now? Ayato has more faults than I can count. Haha, Teddy thinks so, too.

20:15 Ayato: Ah? The fuck you sayin’?

Shuu: Well, I guess he could do something about his simple-mindedness.

Ayato: Shuu, too? You motherfucker— You should all start self-reflectin’!

Kanato: I have absolutely nothing to reflect upon. Laito’s the one who came up with this idea, so how about him?

Laito: Huh? You could probably think of something, Kanato. You always turn your prey into wax dolls right away, after all.

Kanato: And what exactly is wrong with that?

Subaru: Fuck. He’s actually being serious.

Laito: If turning someone into a wax doll is considered okay, then I definitely don’t have any self-reflection to do, either.

Reiji: No, Laito. I assure you have plenty of faults. You were suspended for a reason. Reflect upon that.

Shuu: Yeah. You definitely cause too much trouble. I, of all people, should know. Fuck, you’re a bother.

Laito: I’m only living by my instincts! It gets the blood flowing. I like that feeling. And what you’re referring to did take place during a full moon, by the way. I just can’t suppress my instincts during a full moon! Hehe.

Reiji: No, it was excessive. There is such a thing as cleaning up afterwards. To think that even such lowly humans at the academy would suspend you… You bring shame upon the Sakamaki family. Repent.

Kanato: I, for one, am able to finish without leaving a trace and properly dispose of the leftovers. Teddy helps me. Don’t you, Teddy?

22:02 Laito: No, I did it properly! It was just… kind of bad timing…

[Subaru slams a fist on the table.]

Subaru: That’s exactly why we’re telling you to reflect! You’re inconveniencing us!

Laito: Ah, even Subaru is angry with me! Well, I got caught, so it doesn’t matter, does it? Nothing I say could change that. Wouldn’t it be more fun to talk about what you’ll get angry at me for in the future?

Reiji: What are you saying?

Laito: You saw the moon tonight, right? It really does feel like something’s about to happen. Kanato felt it too.

Kanato: I think it left a stronger impression on Ayato than on me, though. Right, Teddy?

Ayato: You’re being way too persistent. I told you, I don’t know what you’re talkin’ about!

Kanato: But that’s why you’re anxious, right? What do you think will happen, Ayato?

Laito: Subaru is even more irritated than usual, so he’s probably feeling it too.

Subaru: What? Who’s irritated now, huh?

[Subaru gets up and punches a wall.]

Ayato: Subaru! Don’t go poundin’ the wall again!

Reiji: Stop it right there, everyone. You are all making baseless claims at this point, so it cannot be helped. Hurry up and clear the table. The banquet is over.

Laito: What? Don’t you like it, Reiji?

Reiji: It is no matter of liking or disliking. I merely think that conversations like these are a waste of time.

It is pointless to spend time feeling sorry that you were suspended from school if you do not understand the reason why.

Laito: Come on, stop the talk about my suspension! What about you, Shuu?

Shuu: I wonder.

Reiji: What would a good-for-nothing like you know?

Laito: So then you’re feeling something too, Reiji?

24:03 Reiji: It has nothing to do with me. However, there is no way this waste of space would be able to pick up on such subtleties.

Shuu: Ah, now that you mention it…

Reiji: There he goes.

Shuu: No, I’ve been thinking I should probably tell you all something…

[Subaru hastily tries to finish his meal]

Reiji: Subaru! Use the tableware with care!

Subaru: Shut up! We’ll be done when the table’s clear, right? I figured I’d clear my plate first. The fuck are you complaining about?

Laito: Hey, everyone. You should know why I’m being persistent about this. We’ve seen such heavy rain combined with such a bright moon before. Right, Ayato?

Ayato: What? Oh, you mean back then. You’re beatin’ around the bush.

Laito: Besides, Shuu—you said you’d seen Uncle recently, didn’t you?

Subaru: Uncle… Richter was here?

Shuu: I think I saw him near the lake.

Subaru: He hasn’t visited us in a while. Why would he be here? Shuu, did you get to talk with him?

Shuu: Talk with him? No, I only saw him. I’d only just woken up, so I don’t remember it very well.

Reiji: You truly are worthless. Sometimes I even wonder why you are undead (1) at all. Well, then. I propose we end this meeting.

Laito: Why are you trying to avoid this conversation, Reiji? Uncle was here. Last time the moon was like this, he was here as well…

Reiji: I only care about the truth. If nothing is happening yet, there is no use in talking about it. However… judging from your current discussion, you consider the fact that the moon was somehow bright enough to shine through the rain and that Uncle just so happened to appear as an omen. I merely think that line of thought is absolutely ridiculous.

26:16 Kanato: Hehe. Reiji seems pretty afraid of something happening, Teddy.

Reiji: As I said earlier, I only care about the truth. I most certainly am not scared.

Ayato: Figures. You’re all a bit too carefree.

Kanato: Carefree? You’re the last person I’d like to call me that. Especially since you’re so lacking in mental capacity that “I’m the best” is all your brain knows how to say.

Ayato: Hey, Kanato. You’ve really been pissin’ me off.

Laito: Whoa, now. Calm down, you two. Don’t you think the heavy rain and the moon are the cause of all of this bickering?

Shuu: As far as I know, it's always like this.

Laito: I feel like it’s a little different this time, though.

Subaru: What? What’s different? They’re always picking fights with one another for no reason. It’s stupid.

[Subaru pushes back his chair and storms off.]

Subaru: I’m done eating. I’m going back to my room.

Kanato: Subaru doesn’t seem to like to talk about these kinds of things, either. Are you so afraid of change?

Subaru: Shut the fuck up!

[Subaru punches the wall again, sending parts of it crumbling to the floor.]

Subaru: No matter how big the change, I’m not afraid. Even if this mansion is swallowed by the lake, if it’s burned to the ground, I don’t care. Maybe it’s even better off just reduced to ash.

[Subaru leaves the room.]

Kanato: Teddy, it’s quite funny that Subaru’s more nervous than usual, isn’t it? Hehe.

Reiji: Well, then. Subaru has left, and this is becoming quite the argument. I declare this meeting over.

28:09 Laito: I wanted to hear what you had to say, though, Reiji.

Reiji: Laito… Make fun of me all you want, but your will lose your ground eventually.

[Reiji gets up.]

Reiji: Well, I shall be returning to my laboratory now.

[Reiji leaves the room.]

Laito: Ah… I ended up getting scolded in the end.

[Shuu gets up as well.]

Laito: Oh, Shuu, are you leaving too?

Shuu: Well, it looks like this troublesome dinner is over. I’m tired.

[Shuu walks off and leaves the room. Ayato gets up as well.]

Ayato: Ah—I could really go for some delicious blood on days like this.

Laito: You too, Ayato? Let’s head out together later, then! Let’s go drain some people to the last drop and have fun!

Ayato: I’m not going. Fuck you. I’m going back to my room too. But Laito—like you said, the moon does look weird today. I’m feeling thirstier than usual.

Laito: Right.

Ayato: The only thing that could quench this thirst is some extraordinarily tasty blood. I don’t think blood like that even exists.

[Ayato leaves.]

Kanato: Teddy, should we get going, too?

Laito: Won’t you come have fun with me, Kanato?

Kanato: There’s no way I’ll go with you. I haven’t had my dessert yet. I won’t rest until I’ve had my petit gâteau… Right, Teddy?

[Kanato leaves as well.]

Laito: That’s a shame. I didn’t really feel like going alone… Maybe I should go back to my room, too. The moon is a little too bright, after all. Hehe. I’m looking forward to whatever happens next…

[The scene shifts to Shuu, who is now soaking in the bath tub.]

30:36 Shuu: There’s nothing like a nice bath. I feel like I can relax and sleep here… Come to think of it, I had this itch in the back of my mind earlier. I forgot to pass on Karl Heinz’ message to the others, saying that a new sacrificial bride would be arriving. Oh, well. No matter who it is, we already know how the story goes… I don’t really care what happens. They’re nothing but prey to us, anyway. Ah… but there was something else he said… I think this time it’s the real sacrificial bride…

[Shuu falls asleep in the bathtub.]

─── ･｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

Reiji literally says ‘I wonder why you’re even alive’ but that didn’t really make sense (they’re vampires ffs) so I changed it to ‘undead’ hehe

149 notes · View notes

miraculouslbcnreactions · 6 months ago

Note

Granted, tumblr’s search function may broken but I can’t find a post on your blog centered on Alya’s writing. As a person constantly on the look out for critical examination of Alya’s role in the narrative and the compromises on her principles, relationships and competences made to artificially engineer the episode’s story, I’d be very interested to see your thoughts

I use Alya's writing as an example of a character done dirty all the time, but I don't think I've ever done a sugar post focused on her and I totally should. Before we get into it, I will openly admit that her bad writing bothers me more than Marinette's or Adrien's because she is best girl and we stan her. What can I say, I'm a writer whose best friend is an artist with a diagnosed anxiety disorder. I like characters who are writers and with artsy, anxiety-ridden best friends. They are my people and that gives us a great starting point for this post.

Marinette is the unambiguous main character of the show, so it makes sense to design both her hero partner and her best friend around balancing her out, giving them strengths to fill out the spots where she is weak. It's how you make a strong cast. When Alya is allowed the shine, she fills that balance role wonderfully and I love it! Some of my favorite moments are when Marinette goes on one of her rants and cool-headed Alya drags her back down to Earth:

Marinette: We're gonna stroll over there real cool as if we just happened to be passing by. Alya: Then what? Marinette: Then? I'll invite him out for a fruit smoothie at the end of the photo shoot! Then, we'll get married! Live happily ever after in a beautiful house and have two kids? No, three. And a dog! Maybe a cat? Nah, forget the cat. A hamster! I love hamsters! Alya: Let's just start with just happen to be passing by and see if we can get to that smoothie.

This banter from Stormy Weather is fantastic. It's exactly the type of thing I want to see from these two as it gives Alya a very different flavor of supporting role from Adrien. While Alya and Adrien are both card holding members of the Marinette hype squad, Alya is more of a voice of reason while Adrien is there to validate Marinette and follow her crazy schemes without question.

This brings us to the first issue with Alya's writing: when the plot demands it, they make her a gullible tabloid journalist even though it goes against everything her character should stand for. The reasons I'm comfortable saying this are many. The first one is that Alya is very clearly supposed to be seen as a serious journalist. That's why you get scenes like this one from Feast:

Alya: Now you know back in the day sculptures were painted, right? Most of the paint vanished over time, but tiny microscopic pigments still remain. Thanks to this special app, witness how it originally looked. But here's the big thing. All these works of art have something in common. It's the same symbol! Look, everywhere. It's like some kind of secret society emblem. As if a kind of Order of the Guardians has been watching over the superheroes since the beginning of time!

This scene would not exist if Alya was supposed to be the kind of person who only cared about getting blog hits because this type of content isn't where the money is. But money and clout aren't what Alya cares about. She's just a passionate reporter (or fan girl) who wants to know everything she can and who is having fun sharing her obsession with the world. This is an extremely important aspect of her character because it brings us to reason two that she clearly wasn't meant to be a clout chaser: if she was a tabloid journalist who only cared about hits, then she should have never been given a miraculous.

I could go on a rant her about how poorly Alya's blog is used after she becomes Rena Rouge, but I'll spare you the word count and just say that, as soon as she joined the team, she should have stopped sharing secrets on the blog. It makes sense that a blog would initially fill her need to share the fine details of her obsession, but once she's on the team, the blog should have been replaced by her teammates. She could still have the blog, but it shouldn't have things like the freaking guide to how the miraculous work that we see in the season four episode Gabriel Agreste:

Alya: The Miraculous are magical jewels that give powers to superheroes, like Ladybug's earrings and Cat Noir's ring. But supervillain Shadow Moth also has two Miraculousbrooches in his possession, and they will give him his powers. We can figure out from this that the Miraculous can either make a superhero or a supervillain. It's all riding on who wears it, which is why these jewels can't fall into just anybody's hands.

Alya, you are supposed to be Marinette's sole confidante at this point. Why are you giving the world this information? The writers are doing you dirty, my dear, and I'm so sorry. The best I can do is to promise to never treat you like this in my stuff.

Now, to be fair, there is some nuance to this. Alya is a human being. She's allowed to have flaws, so I can absolutely forgive her for getting caught up in the moment and posting scoops to her blog without thinking (see: Oblivio). That's honestly a great weakness for her character to have as it makes perfect sense for a fan girl to fan girl. At the same time, if you want to have a fan girl character who becomes part of the things she's a fan of, then you usually need to give that character something that will tone them down and make full fan girl mode something other than the standard setting.

Making your fan girl a serious reporter is a great way to do that! It allows you to have that initial bust of fan girl hype that quickly switches into serious get-the-details mode. Without that kind of complexity, Alya would just be another Wayhem and one Wayhem is already one too many.

While I will give Alya some grace on this topic and even call it a good thing for her character, the same cannot be said for her writing because the writers fail to embrace her hype as an in-the-moment weakness and it ruins her character. To put it another way, a lapse in judgement about posting a photo is excusable as a photo is quickly acquired and posted. A lapse in judgement about a full interview with a total rando who is claiming to be Ladybug's best friend is not excusable (see: Volpina). It's a completely different flavor of poor judgement as - at a minimum - it requires Alya to stand there talking to a person for several minutes and never once question what that person is saying. Those are not the behaviors of a good journalist.

Of course, this brings us to the most glaring example of Alya's character assassination: the Lila thing. Almost everything about this arc paints Alya as a terrible friend, which is a massive missed opportunity as Lila is the perfect antagonist for Alya! Who better to take down a liar than a truth seeker? It's such an easy way to give Alya her own mission to focus on, especially if you make Lila more subtle. You don't even need to have Alya believe Marinette without question. Just have her be an investigative journalist who is like, "You know what, this new girl clearly bothers Marinette and I know Marinette can get caught up in her own head, but it doesn't usually last this long. I think something is up, so I'm going to use my skills to see if Lila is telling the truth that way I know if I'm supporting the right person here." Don't have your character claim that she checks her sources and does research if you're going to turn around and have her believe whatever she hears without checking any of it!

Even outside of the Lila thing, I wish we saw more of Alya's research skills! They were such a good thing to give Marinette's best friend as Marinette is great at focusing on a clear task, but research is the kind of thing that would overwhelm her, so it makes perfect sense to make her best friend a researcher as that lets the team have someone to help track down whatever Gabriel is calling himself this week. The writers even understood this to some extent as we saw in Mr. Pigeon 72:

Alya: Marinette, how long have you been working on this? Ladybug: I dunno, six-seven days, maybe ten. Now that we're on spring break, I finally have time to put my whole heart into it! Alya: When was the last time you worked on one of your own designs? Ladybug: I do loads of designing! Look! (pointing to the contraption at her door) I designed a security system so that nobody can enter my room when I'm not in it. And if I put on this hat (puts on modified hat) I hear everything that's going on in here, even when I'm out of the room. Alya: I'm gonna have to break it to you because I'm the only one who can. THIS IS TOTALLY INSANE! Girl, trust your BFF. When I'm researching something obsessively and I can't think of anything else, that's when my mind can get really blocked. You know what you need most right now? A break! Ladybug: No way! No breaks until I find out how to keep Shadow Moth from reakumatizing people!

Remember who ultimately figures out how to keep Shadow Moth from reakumatizing people in this episode? Alya! Because her creative style is all about researching and looking at the evidence. You know, the classic skill set of a reporter?

I really do mean it when I say that the show has a fantastic setup for telling a good story. Alya's character should have been a perfect addition to Marinette's team. My favorite lineup is the line up from season two with Kagami and Luka in non-love-interest bonus roles that I won't get into here since it's a little too deviant from canon to make sense without explanation. Instead, I'll just give you the clear roles they perfectly set up and then squandered for the original miraculous five:

Ladybug: Battlefield commander

Rena Rouge: Big Picture Strategist (basically Marinette excels at reactive thinking/leading during a battle while Alya excels more at proactive thinking/long-term tactics)

Chat Noir: Peacekeeper/Heart/Hype Man

Carapace: Protector/Stop Button (much like Alya and Marinette, Nino and Adrien should have been two sides of the same coin with Adrien being focused on making everyone happy while Nino focuses on keeping everyone safe)

Queen Bee: Wild Card/Chaos Element (I love a good chaos element who is there to suggest the options that won't occur to people who have been raised to follow the rules.)

I'll also point out that this lineup would show that the characters weren't interchangeable and make the two main couples feel more unique and meant for each other. For example, Nino's tendency to encourage others to stay safe would pair terribly with Marinette's need to not get too caught up in her own thoughts. The second Nino second guesses one of her plans she'd fall apart, so she needs Adrien to be her Chat Noir. Similarly, Alya's impulsivity weakness would make her a terrible match for go, go, go Hype Noir! She needs a partner who makes her take two seconds to second guess herself. There was so much potential here you guys! So much potential! It could have been beautiful! Instead, we got canon...

There you go, my broad love letter to Alya. I could keep going, but you didn't request a specific topic, so I'm just going to end it there. Feel free to ask for more, but please do it in another ask as this is already super long and - out of kindness to my followers- I try to avoid essay after essay on the same post unless they really need to be connected.

#Alya deserves better #ml writing critical #ml writing salt #Alya defense squad

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selkiesongss · 24 days ago

Text

has some of this been said before? i don't know, probably. do i give a fuck? nah

i want to talk about sam butler and nobody can stop me

(lengthy rambling below the cut)

looking back on misfits and magic, it genuinely astounds me the leaps and bounds that sam has experienced as a character. i can't speak for anyone else, but for me, i had the least connection to sam in mismag 1 and the special– i think it was a combination of it being danielle's first appearance on d20 and my unfamiliarity with her, the narrative spending a relatively large amount of time on evan and his demons compared to everyone else, and the fact that sam started as a trope-y character who didn't have the chance to grow beyond that in the limited amount of time they had to begin with– like i definitely enjoyed her but i didn't really love her, yknow?

(sidenote: after episode 6 or 7 i went back and rewatched mismag 1 and the special and i adored sam the entire time, so i think it was mostly just a "right place wrong time" thing.. or "right character wrong time" i suppose? i'm just pissed i didn't give her the adoration she deserved then tbh)

which is why i was BEYOND surprised that as episodes of mismag 2 dropped, i found myself being increasingly pulled into sam's orbit. episode 1 and episode 2 were so refreshing, seeing how these characters had changed over time and watching them interact with each other again, and it really felt like sam had grown into herself; at this point i was confident that i was going to enjoy her more, i just didn't know how much lmao

and then. episode 3 dropped.

danielle's performance in that episode fucking destroyed me. lou and erika were acting their asses off and i STILL found myself wishing there would be more cutaways to sam so i could see danielle living her character. now that i mention it, i think that was what i was missing from season 1 and the special, a moment where things went from bad to worse and sam truly struggled. that's not to say she didn't struggle before, just that there was a depth to her grief in episode three that hadn't been present in past seasons and it really took me aback (in a positive way). not to mention sam's interactions with the qohlye, which set up the final act of the season!

EVERY episode after episode 3 was another heavy hitter. episode 4 and learning about sam's childhood (buttery smooth tights dni), not to mention the comedic juggernaut that was coked-out sam butler !! episode 5 and her infamous sofa conversation with evan, which i took the time to transcribe because thinking about it made me insane (just as a personal note, i think episode 3 was when the possibility of evsam struck me, and episode 5 was what really cemented how much i wanted it to happen). episode 6 and her interactions with jammer and k, the endive salad with way too much parmesan (which is incredibly funny given that she's lactose intolerant) and her realization about sweeps week and celebrity cameos, code pink ??? oh my god it makes me nauseous i love the pink pals so much..

obviously episode 7 was HUGE for sam; charming weugan was an incredible moment for her as a wizard, but it also teed up her breakdown in the finale. her charm spell also gave us the absolute masterpiece that was the jammer+evan puppy playtime hour, which i personally haven't stopped thinking about since it happened! did that awaken something in me? who can say.

episode 8 had her interactions with tadershacourt which i found hilarious, and her sleeping on the air mattress with evan was HUGE for me, but really the moment that got me was when she chose to snap her wand to see the connections between the pilot program and the new magic infusing k and evan. this moment solidified my adoration for sam butler, because who else would destroy a prized magical artifact from their past just to know a little bit more about their friends? not to mention this scene really laid the groundwork for her magical connection to the qohlye in my eyes

and of course, episode 9 was where we actually got that connection! it strikes me looking back that i never doubted that sam would turn down the qohlye's boon. so much of her narrative and so many of her choices up until this point had been her choosing to sacrifice power to support her community– using her question to the qohlye to save evan, her distaste for the magic of seegenpelater, the straight up disgust she felt at weugan's suggestion to purposefully charm jammer and evan, snapping her wand on tadershacourt.. oh god the storytelling.... it's killing me.......... there's a lot more to say about this episode but this is getting long even for me

episode 10... episode 10 how i love you.... this episode is admittedly pretty sparse when it comes to big moments for sam, but i just adore it and danielle looked beautiful here (as she did every episode but it's still worth saying) so i'm bringing it up. OH and obviously jammer, k, and sam's conversation with tabby was devastating but that goes without saying

which brings me to the finale.

i truly will never be able to thank aabria enough for giving sam the spotlight here. not only do i think that it was incredibly meaningful to begin with sam coming face to face with her deepest fears in order to save the world, i think that it was deeply narratively satisfying to have sam, the person who has spent her entire time on screen reaching out and showing people kindness, be the one to hold the reins on a ritual to change magic forever. it's worth mentioning that jammer has done the same, but he didn't need to take charge like sam did, and i think it makes the most sense that he and the rest of the pilot program would be there to support her as the ritual went on.

sam's breakdowns in the beginning and then again during the scuppers match were truly, genuinely some of the most emotionally resonant scenes i've ever seen in D20 history, which is saying a lot. the joy i felt as the ritual "ended" and the pilot program had changed magic was insane. and i honestly believe that i wouldn't feel that way if sam hadn't been there.

this has been an extremely long-winded way to say: sam butler is my favorite dimension 20 PC to date. i was completely blindsided by how drastically my opinion of her would change between seasons, and i couldn't be happier about that. it has been so rewarding to watch sam evolve from her first iterations to who she is now, and i cannot overstate just how impressive and inspiring danielle radford's performances were to watch. her ability to match the emotional tone of every scene she's in is beyond amazing, and the love she has for sam shines through her performance like light through a lantern.

tl;dr: sam butler's arc in misfits and magic has me on my fucking knees it's so good. danielle radford you will always be famous

#did any of this mean anything #i don't think i even said anything of substance here #but thats okay because i got to rant about how much i love sam butler #mismag is going down in the history books as the biggest come up of any show on dimension 20 #they just needed the time to make some fucking magic baby #i love you mismag #i love you sam butler #mismag #misfits and magic #mismag 2 #misfits and magic 2 #mismag spoilers #misfits and magic spoilers #sam butler #sam black #sam britain #danielle radford #aabria iyengar #selk says

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constellationguy · 2 months ago

Text

Another perspective

Halloween Special

"Text: regular talking

'Text': regular thinking

"Text": Saiki talking telepathically

'Text': Saiki thinking

Summary: Class 3 puts on a Halloween play, an adaptation of the Corpse Bride.

ATTENTION! You might want to read the last few episodes of Another Perspective to fully understand the characters and/or rewatch the movie Corpse Bride before reading to fully understand the events.

Red: Y/N’s mother

Orange: Y/N’s father + lord Barkus

Green: Saiki’s father + singing skeleton

Blue: Kokomi + kokomi’s mother

Purple: Y/N

Pink: Saiki

Another Perspective Halloween Special:

The Corpse Groom

Act one begins in a gray, poor ish looking town.

“Here ye here ye! Ten minutes until the L/N wedding rehearsal!”

“It’s a beautiful day!” “It’s a rather nice day.” “A day for a glorious wedding.”

“A rehearsal my dear, to be perfectly clear.” “A rehearsal for a glorious wedding.”

“Assuming nothing happens that we don’t really know.” “That nothing unexpected interferes with the show.”

“And that’s why everything, every last little thing, every single tiny little microscopic thing little thing must go, according to plan!”

“Our child will be married.” “According to plan.” “Our family carried.”

“Will be brought to the heights of society.”

“To the costume balls,” “in the hallowed halls” “rubbing elbows with the finest.” “Having crumpets with her highness.”

“We’ll be there, we’ll be seen having tea with the queen. We’ll forget everything, that we’ve ever ever been.”

“Where’s Y/N? We might be late.”

The L/N’s leave the stage and the Teruhashi’s walk on.

“It’s a terrible day.” “Now don’t be that way.”

“It’s a terrible day for a wedding.” “It’s a sad sad state of affairs we’re in.” “That had lead to this ominous wedding.”

“How could our family have come to this?”

“To marry off our daughter to the newly rich.”

“They’re so common” “so crass,” “it couldn’t be worse.” “It’s couldn’t be worse? I’m afraid I disagree. They would be penniless without a coin to their name, just like you and me.”

“Oh dear.”

“So that why everything. Every last little thing, every single tiny microscopic little thing must go, according to plan.” “Our daughter we’ll wed.”

“According to plan.” “Our family lead.” “From the depths of dearest poverty. To the noble of our ancestry.” “And who would have guessed in a million years that our daughter would provide our ticket to our rightful place?”

The parents walk off stage and the scene is now set farther in the desolate mansion, where Kokomi was getting dress for the wedding.

“What if Y/N and I don’t like each other?” Kokomi asked.

“Ha! As if that has anything to do with marriage. Do you suppose your father and I like each other? ” Her mother responded.

“Surely you must! A little.”

“Of course not,” the both rebutted.

“Get those corsets laced properly. I can hear you speak without gasping.” Ms Teruhashi said dismissively then everyone walked off stage.

Y/N just finished getting ready and ran into the carriage that would take them to the Teruhashi manor.

“We certainly hope to win her this time Y/N.” “Now all you have to do is reel her in.”

“I’m already reeling mother. Shouldn’t Teruhashi Kokomi be marrying… a lord or something?” Y/N responded plainly.

“Oh nonsense. We’re every bit as good as the Teruhashi’s. I always knew I deserved better than a fish merchant’s life.”

“But, I’ve never even spoken to her.” “Well at least we have that in our favor!”

Going back to the Teruhashi family.

“Marriage is a partnership. A little tit for tat. You think a life time watching us, would have taught her that.” “Everything must be perfect.”

“That’s why everything. Every last little thing, every single tiny microscopic little thing must go, according to plan.” Both sets of parents said.

As the door open to the Teruhashi manor Y/N mother was fussing over them.

“Oh! Oh such gradure! Such impeccable taste. Beautiful innit.” “It’s not as big as our place dear. But shabby it is, isn’t it” “Shut up!”

“Lord and lady Teruhashi, Mr and Ms L/N.”

“Why you must be Ms Victoria. I must say, you don’t look a day over 20.”

“Smile darling smile,” the lord found it hard to do so.

“Well hello, what a pleasure, welcome to our home.”

“We’ll be taking tea in the west drawing room, do come with us.” Both sets of parents set off, leaving Y/N alone in the foyer. However they found a piano, it was in-tune so they decided to play it.

The music was somber but powerful, it flooded the manor and even reach Teruhashi’s doors. Hearing the piano played made her run out of her room to meet the player, but she ended up spooking Y/N.

“Oh do forgive me.” “You play beautifully.” Teruhashi said with a smile.

“Excuse me for the playing, and the mess,” Y/N said awkwardly as they picked up the piano stool that they had knocked over.

“If I may ask, Teruhashi, where is your chaperone?” “In view of the circumstances you could call Kokomi. As tomorrow we are to be married.” “Yes.” Y/N like they had forgotten that fact.

“Since I was a child I’ve dreamt of my wedding day. I always hoped to find someone I was deeply in love with. Silly isn’t it.”

“Silly? No. To our parents? Perhaps. But to me? No. Wanting love isn’t as silly as our parents make it out to be.” Y/N said with charm.

“What sort of impropriety is this?! You shouldn’t be alone together. Here it is, one minute before 5:00 and you’re not at the rehearsal. The pastor is waiting, come at once.” Ms Teruhashi was clearly outraged, shooing everyone off stage as the curtains came down.

There was a small break where the curtains closed as the chapel scene was set for act two.

—————————————————————————

“Again! From the beginning. With this hand I will lift your sorrows. Your cup will never empty for I will be your wine. With this candle I will light your way in darkness. With this ring, I ask you to be mine. Let’s try it again.” Said the pastor.

“Yes. Yes sir. With! This candle.” The candle did not light when Y/N put to the flames. “With this candle.” Y/N repeated, again it did not light. “This candle,” Y/N said dejected. Y/N tried multiple times to get the candle to light, but it didn’t work. Once it did light Y/N restarted the phrase.

“With this candle!” When Y/N laughed dryly to ease themself the candle blew out. Causing both sets of parents to groan. “Continue!” The pastor said, suddenly the door bell rang and a butler was sent to get it.

“Let’s just pick it up at the candle bit.” Said the pastor. “A lord Barkus sir,” “I haven’t a head for dates, apparently I’m a day early for the ceremony.” Said this supposed lord Barkus.

“Is he from your side of the family?” “I can’t recall, Emil. A seat for lord Barkus.” “Do carry on.”

“Let’s try it again. Shall we Mx L/N” “Yes sir, certainly” They said quietly Teruhashi lit their candle for them.

“Right.” The pastor said with annoyance. “Right. Oh! Right!” Y/N once held the candle in their left hand quickly and cartoonishly put it in their right hand. “With this… this.” “Hand.” “With this hand.” Y/N then hit the table by accident.

“Three steps! Three! Can you not count?” The pastor yelled. “Do you not wish to be married Mx Y/N?” “No! No.” “You do not?” Teruhashi asked.

“No, no. I meant I do not not wish to be married. Which is that I want very much to- Ow!” The pastor hit Y/N with his cane. “Pay attention! Have you even remembered to bring the ring?”

“The ring? Yes of course.” Y/N produced the ring from their breast pocket but it fell from their hand. “Dropping the ring?! This child does not want to get married!” Y/N ran after the ring and grabbed it however Ms Teruhashi’s dress was set on fire by Y/N’s candle. Luckily lord Barkus put out the flame with his drink.

“Enough! This wedding will not take place until this child is properly prepared! Child! Learn. Your. Vows.” The pastor said sternly towards Y/N, with much fear Y/N existed the stage.

“He’s quite the catch, isn’t he.” Said lord Barkus.

—————————————————————————

The curtain closed and shuffling was heard as actor left the stage and the back drop was changed again, to a forest, the setting of act three.

“Oh Teruhashi. She must think I’m such a fool.” Y/N said glumly. “This day couldn’t get any worse.”

“Hear ye hear ye! The rehearsal is ruined because L/N child causes chaos!” Y/N could only sigh and walk away from the voice shouting from off stage.

As Y/N walked slowly the background slowly changed,showing Y/N going deeper into a forest.

“It really shouldn’t be all that difficult. It’s just a few simple vows! With this hand I will take your wine- no!” Y/N sounded tired and frustrated but they continued to walk.

“With … this… with this, with this candle I will-”before they even realized, Y/N walked very far, not even recognizing their surroundings.

“I will, set your mother on fire,” Y/N face palmed. “Oh it’s no use…” Y/N paused for a moment, gathering themself.

“With this hand, I will lift your sorrows. Your cup will never empty, for I will be your wine. Ah! Ms Teruhashi. You look ravishing this evening.” Y/N said with confidence, holding a tree branch.

“What’s that Mr Teruhashi? Call you dad? If you insist sir.” Y/N said to another tree.

Y/N broke off a small branch before speaking again with vigor and acting out the motions of the vow. “With this candle, I will light your way in darkness! With this ring! I ask you, to be mine!” Y/N said while placing the ring on a hand like branch.”

The sound of wind and crows that was once idol now blared in the speakers as the branch was now moving. And the noise was blaring as the branch grabbed and tugged Y/N’s arm beneath the stage.

Y/N fought with the hand and managed to break free but a skeletal arm still held theirs. Scared at the sight they threw the arm off stage. The hole where the hand looking branch used to be, opened up and someone sprouted from it.

“I do.” The man from the ground replied. He was dressed in a tattered wedding suit and his skin was painted to look decomposing. Y/N gasped and ran away from the newly animated corpse but the groom chased them into the forest and through the graveyard.

Y/N only stopped momentarily when they ran into a tree. But otherwise Y/N was running for their life, fighting trees and brambles to get away.

Once Y/N got to the bridge and the man was out of sight Y/N started to walk and catch their breath. However when they turned around the dead man was right behind them.

The man approached Y/N and held their shoulders gently as he said, “You may kiss the groom,” when he leaned in the curtains closed, signaling the end of act three.

—————————————————————————

When the curtain opened again a skeleton and the tattered groom surrounded Y/N in what but the sound of the place seemed to be a jazz bar.

“A new arrival.” “They must have fainted. Are you alright?” “What, what happened?”

“By Joe man, looks like we’ve got ourselves a breather!” A skeleton said before he was pushed by a blue corpse woman. “Do they have a dead brother?” “They’re still soft!”

Y/N could only whimper was they got up from their place on the floor.

“A drink! To the newly weds!” “Newly weds?” Y/N wondered allowed.

“Ah! In the woods you said your vows so perfectly,” corpse groom said sweetly. “I did? I did!” Y/N said in awe. “Wake up! Wake up! Wake up!” Banged their head on the bar table to try and wake themselves from what they thought was a dream.

When Y/N stopped they were terrified and started walking through the crowd of skeletons and various bodies before they finally lost it and tried to pick up a sword but ended up also taking the man who the sword was attached to.

“I’ve got a- a dwarf. And I’m not afraid to use him! I want some questions! Now!” “Answers, I think you mean answers,” the man on the sword said. “Thank you, yes answers. I need answers! What’s going on here? Where am I? Who are you?”

“Well, that’s kind of a long story.” “What a story it is, a tragic tale of romance, passion, and a murder most foul.” “This is going to be good,” the sword man addressed Y/N before they dropped him.

“Hit it boys.” The skeleton that started talking about said story started to hit other skeletons, making them come alive while a skeleton on the piano make the bar alive with music.

“Hey! Give me a listen you corpses of cheer. Least the one that still got an ear, I’ll tell you a story, make a skeleton cry of our own jubilisously lovely corpse groom!” As Y/N looked towards the groom, he seemed rather melancholy.

“Die, die, we all pass away. Don’t be afraid cause it’s really okay. You might try and hide, you might try and pray, but we all end up the remains of the day.” The skeletons danced to the chorus their bones adding another level of sound to the music.

“Well! Your boy was a beauty, known for miles around, till a mysterious stranger came into town. He was plenty good looken but down on his cash, and our poor little baby, he fell hard fast.” The skeleton dipped himself into the groom’s arms as he told the story to Y/N.

“When his daddy said no! He just couldn’t cope, so our lovers came up with the plan to elope.”

“Die, die, we all pass away. But don’t be afraid cause it’s really okay. You might try and hide, you might try and pray but we all end up the remains of the day!” By the time the chorus came around the bar patrons came to dance with Y/N.

Instead of going straight back into the story the group of skeletons played some heavy jazz and showed off their skills.

“Ya! So the conjured up a plan to meet late at night. They told not a soul, kept the whole thing tight. Now his father’s suit fit like a glove, you don’t need much when you’re really in love. Except for a few things, or so I’m told, but the family jewels and a satchel of gold. Then next to the grave yard by the old oak tree, on a dark foggy night at a quarter to three. He was ready to go! But where was he?”

“And then?” The crowd asked. “He waited.” “And then?” “There in the shadows, was it the man?” “The man?”

“His little heart beat so loud!” “And then?” “And then baby. Everything went black.”

“Now when he opened his eyes. He was dead as dust. He’s jewels were missing and his heart was bust. So he made a vow lying under that tree, that’s he’d wait for his true love to come set him free. Oh he’s waiting for someone to go and his hand.” The groom then takes Y/N’s hand and they spin to the music

“When out of the blue comes this groovy young sport, who vows forever to be by his side! And that’s the story of our own, corpse, groom!”

As the song ends and the crowd cheers Y/N runs up the stairs and makes it out of the bar, and when the door shuts so does the curtain.

—————————————————————————

Act five starts on the streets of a more blue than gray town, where the corpse groom was searching for Y/N.

“Y/N, darling where are you?” “If you ask me, your partner is kinda jumpy,” a voice sounded from the speakers. “They’re not just my partner, they’re my spouse.” The groom told the voice.

“Y/N? Where’ve you gone?” “I’ll keep any eye out for him” said the maggot in the groom’s eye socket. Little did they know Y/N was watching from behind a statue.

“Y/N?” “There they are, there they are! They’re getting away, quick quick!” As the voice sounded from the speakers Y/N ran off again.

“Y/N?” The groom paused for a moment so the arms in barrels pointed in the direction Y/N went, “thank you.”

“Y/N, where are you?” Y/N knew their groom was close behind so they played dead in coffin as he passed by. “Married huh? I’m a widow.” A spider said, hanging from the top of the coffin.

“He went that way!” The spider said as Y/N ran off in the direction they came from.

“Y/N, Y/N darling.”

“Please! There’s been a mistake!” Y/N said while grabbing the shoulders of a pedestrian. “I’m not dead!” After their head fell off, Y/N ran away from the now headless man, trying to get as far away from the shouting of their name as possible.

“Dead end.” In their hysteria, Y/N started to climb the wall. However when they reached the top they grabbed onto their groom, who appeared out of no where.

“You could have used the stairs silly.” The groom said as they pulled up Y/N. “Isn’t the view beautiful? It just takes my breath away. Well it would if I had any. Isn’t it romantic?” Saiki asked as he sat down on a near by bench. Y/N defeatedly sat done next to him.

“Look. I am terribly sorry about what’s happened to you, and I’d like to help. But I really need to get home.”

“This is your home now.” “But I don’t even know your name.” “It’s Kusuo.”

“Kusuo.” Y/N said, letting his name roll off their tongue.

“I’ve almost forgot, I have something for you!” Saiki said, grabbing a box from beside him. “It’s a wedding present.” He whispered.

Y/N lightly shook the box before opening it. When they did they gasped at the sight of bones. And turn fearful when the box started to shake and it jumped from their lap. Before their eyes Y/N watched as the pile of bones turned into a dog skeleton, it barked, then pranced back to Y/N giving them its collar.

“Scraps?” Y/N asked, the dog barked in response.

“Scraps! My dog Scraps!” Y/N said lovingly and the dog jumped onto their lap. “Oh Scraps, what a good boy!”

“I knew you’d be happy to see him,” Kusuo said dreamily. “He’s so cute.” “You should have seen him with fur.”

“Mother never approved of scraps jumping up like this.” Y/N commented. “But then again, she never approved of anything.” “You think she would have approved of me?” “Ha, you’re lucky you’ll never have to meet her.”

“I wish I could,” Saiki said a little sad. “Well, you will one day right?” Y/N laughed humorously.

“I suppose so, well, let’s get you introduced to everyone. I’m sure that will help you settle in here.” “Are your parents around here? If you can’t meet mine yet, I might as well meet yours.”

“I think I’d like that,” Kusuo said, taking Y/N’s arm and walked off stage, Scraps following close behind. The audience clapped and the play was over.

————————————————————————-

“What did you think of the play Kusuo?”

“I still don’t understand why I played Emily. I don’t think our personalities match at all.”

“Well I don’t think Teruhashi or Hairo would let to get away without trying out for a part. It was just pure dumb luck you played the corpse groom. I was mainly asking about the story though. What did you think of it?”

“I wish we had time to play out the full movie.”

“Me too but I don’t like the idea of the real ending, I’d have to give up my life with you to marry Teruhashi. I think I like this implied ending, a bit better,” Y/N smiled. Saiki returned a small smile.

—————————————————————————

Happy Halloween! Hope you liked it!

#the disaster of psi kusuo saiki #kusou saiki #saiki kusuo #saiki x reader #saiki kusuo x reader #the disastrous life of saiki k #saiki no psi nan #saiki k #saiki kusou no psi nan #kusuo saiki #kusuo saiki x reader #kusuo x reader #x gn reader #x gn y/n #corpse bride

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bruhstation · 8 months ago

Note

You seem like a Train Professional so where would one begin in order to get into the funny little talking train show?

these are all my own opinions so take it like a grain of salt -- the common go-to would be the thomas and friends tv show. start off from season 1 then work all your way up to the top (not actually really. you can skip some later seasons like s17 if you want to). the model seasons are considered to be some of the greatest because 1) they set the foundation of the cast (besides the railway series books) 2) they contain some of the most iconic scenes from the show like gordon's ronan kirk crash, the flying kipper accident, james and the shoelaces, etc and 3) they're the originals so you know what their personalities and relationships to their peers were like and how their characterization was supposed to be like before the cgi era flip flopped them up

also check out the railway series books in the meantime! the funny talking train show was based on the book series created by reverend awdry for his sick son! the first book feature edward, henry, and gordon. thomas appears in the second book. fast forward decades later and britt alcroft created a tv show called thomas the tank engine. there are many eras of the show, from models, to model/cgi hybrid, to computer animations where the show gets passed around like a volleyball from studio to studio

here's a google spreadsheet that contains all the thomas and friends episodes in various languages. feel free to watch the show for yourself and decide which seasons you like the most

some more of my thoughts under the cut

I recommend you steer clear of the big world big adventures seasons and specials because it's probably the most controversial seasons in the fandom. replacing two of the core cast members, "pandering" to certain audiences, putting in lackluster representation for the sake of selling toys, SAID representation turns out to be racist depictions, all of it reflected the current state of mattel when handling thomas and friends. they also didn't contribute anything to the overall show, like by the time the bwba seasons were out, people dgaf and just focused on the older seasons. you can ignore bwba and you won't miss anything important about ttte. not that I'm stopping you! you have your own free will.

the thing about ttte that made many adults get into it (if not for train autism) is how ttte was a show grounded in reality. idk if that makes sense but basically despite being a show about mean talking trains for little kids, reverend awdry and britt alcroft handled the characters with care. they gave the engines so much charm by making them bicker with each other like the cranky old engines they are BUT they're not reduced to singular personality traits too. thomas is cheeky and kind of a meanie but he wants to prove himself useful. edward is old and acts as a mentor to thomas but he also wants to show that he still got it despite his old age. gordon went from being a pompous grand young express engine to a humble old engine being a mentor to the newer ones and so on! they also put a lot of historical references related to the engines' basis too and tie their backstories in (henry's a stolen faulty design hence his cynical, miserable personality at the early seasons of the show). there's even irl engines mentioned in both the books and show (flying scotsman and city of truro) and it's just neat!!! because awdry cares about history so much!!!! that he even made an "encyclopedia" about sodor, its railways, and its history

the books and the earlier seasons of ttte didn't shy away from themes of death and usefulness and all that (the story of godred, henry being a faulty engine and getting cask of amontillado'd for being uncooperative, all of gordon's siblings scrapped sans flying scotsman) because the thing about them being engines are important to them. it's their reison d'etre. they get scrapped if they cannot be of use anymore, because that's how things have always been. they get into accidents often because their ego got to them. dieselization is starting on the island of sodor and the diesels are asserting their dominance over the oldschool steam engines. the engines just exist there. they just happen to have faces and talk. idk. I think it's interesting how they view life a bit differently than humans. thank you for listening to my ramble

#asks #anonymous #also I'm not the most professional!!!! dozens of my mutuals are more qualified in this field than me

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lanezza · 2 months ago

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I haven't seen season 3 of Earthspark yet, but from the comments and spoilers I've seen, I get the feeling that the characterization is still a mess (especially Optimus).

I have mixed feelings about Prowl, I'm happy that we can finally see him in a series after so much time having some relevance as a character. That his personality is a mix between G1 and IDW is a very good concept and I hope that in the future they continue to explore it and find a balance in his characterization (because there are things that still feel very out of character like having so much physical affection and suddenly hugging -you know who-), but at the same time I'm discouraged, apart from having some influence on the plot, it seems that they brought the character to the series as a kind of "comedy", I don't know, it feels strange and inconsistent.

It's like the typical character from an animated series that is supposed to have authority but nobody respects him (especially children) and then they show him incompetent at his job to justify the scenes ridiculing the character and the cringe scenes and the... ughhh.

They want to sell me the idea that a soldier (who was probably high ranking) who survived the war doesn't know how to fight well and can be defeated by anyone even a child? I understand that the writers are trying to be funny but it generates the opposite effect on me, a discomfort that begins to border the cringe line. This may be an unpopular opinion because I've seen that many people liked that part, it's just personal tastes.

On the other hand, that they show their detective side and the concept of their Cybertronian alt mode (hopefully they don't change it, I know it's a lot to ask, you know, they have to sell toys, haha): 10/10.

Remember that I'm saying all this without having seen the episodes, I'm basing myself on the spoilers I've seen, so I could be wrong at some point.

I think I'm starting to have doubts about whether I'll watch them or not because I don't want to be left with the feeling that they wasted the character of Prowl (like many other things in the past that had potential in the show), especially because I don't know if I'll be able to finish watching the series, I'm just finishing the first season and I'm starting to get tired of the theme of children who get special powers because they are the chosen ones and save the world fighting like warriors or soldiers but at the same time they solve the problems with the power of friendship and blah blah blah... and then the inconsistencies in the development or omissions of both the plot and the characters where they underestimate the intelligence of the child audience (also known as the power of the script).

Sorry for so much text, if you read up to here take a cookie

#transformers earthspark #tf earthspark #earthspark #prowl #tfe prowl #tfe optimus prime #opinions that may be unpopular or lack context #autobots #Sorry if the English is strange #I'm using the translator's help

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planet-crait · 4 months ago

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Okay so I admit after finishing my review of episode one I immediately went to episode two and uh died laughing when Jorgan crashed into Hazels room to call out Cosmo and Wanda choosing their own Godkid while being retired. It’s like the writers knew I’d ask about that. I did wait cuz I wanted to give it a second watch before I posted the review and I’m glad I did.

I did immediately notice as well episode two clocks in at just 11 minutes while episode one was 20. I’m curious if the episode lengths continue to jump around like this or if the season will continue with 11 minute episodes instead. Intro is still a banger lolz I need a longer version stat.

But focusing on the begining of the episode I really think it’s cute Hazels wish was about having just playtime with someone. Being the new kid with no one to play with…sucks so it’s not too crazy for me to see Hazel wishing to play games with Cosmo and Wanda. And yes, Cosmo rocks the princess dress he makes a very pretty princess and I think if he and Buzz Lightyear met they would swap tips of making believable damsels in distress.

On a second re watch I have to wonder why the 100th wish had to be a special request “fun” wish I’m a little confused about that. Can she not make a wish like this normally? I don’t see why not. It’s just playtime you know? Either way cute scene I love seeing Hazel as a knight it’s adorable and I love it.

Now a couple of immediate questions is one: how has Hazel already made a hundred wishes? Time probably has passed but that would be a big time skip unless she makes a lot of small wishes which again, in the original we had a whole episode dedicated to it being bad to run your fairies ragged with too many wishes. So having her established has making so many is a little wild to me. I’m not sure why they’re making sure we know she’s making so many wishes I’m a little confused about this aspect right now.

This also raises the next question of how Hazel has made so many wishes before Jorgan shows up and makes a fuss. Like I’m glad this issue is being addressed but noting it’s her hundredth wish makes the timeline well. Confusing.

Hazel so cheerfully making a comment about the destroyed roof is kind of adorable and funny all at once. Jorgan demanding Hazel to make more frivolous wishes (I call them frivolous because clearly she had no need to make a wish in that moment) feels…out of character for what we’d been told previously. It’s so bizarre Jorgan is so obsessed with having Hazel make a bunch of wishes when multiple times Timmy was scolded for making too many wishes, meanwhile as the episode goes on, Hazel being unable to make enough wishes lands Cosmo and Wanda into trouble.

Another cute moment with Hazel when she comments about loving the DMV or her asking about wishing school are both just cute moments. I know I keep bringing it up but I’m loving what they’re doing with Hazel and how well they’re establishing her character. She is definitely a massive strong point so far in these two episodes and for me a likeable main character can really save a show even if the story isn’t as tight as he could be.

Back to the story. The tests really seems to be testing Hazels ability to wish and not Cosmo and Wanda’s ability to grant wishes which again, seems to be defeating the point and Jorgans issue? Like they grant Hazels wishes as soon as she makes them and how she makes them which is how their magic always operated previously. Fairies are supposed to grant wishes as the child makes them, they’re not supposed to just do whatever, or at least they weren’t supposed to before. It’s a change I’m not a fan of myself. I liked the idea they’re supposed to be a support system for their godkids and make things easier, not just a machine to spit out stuff for them. I know I keep bringing up the original but when something is a sequel to something I feel like discussing how it matches the continuity of the original piece is important and stuff like this stands out lore to me when, as I said, Timmy got into trouble a lot because he was accused of over wishing a lot while Hazel is running into not wishing well enough.

Anyways, Cosmo and Wanda fail, and Cookie is made Hazels new Godparent because she gives children what they want, all the while ignoring Hazel who is trying to say what she wants and is promptly ignored. She was clearly asking for a bike and Cookie gives her a car, but somehow this is seen as a good wish?Strange choice, not a fan. I do love though how quickly Hazel figures out to get Cookie to have a uh “wish fart” to call back Jorgan and then, following what Jorgan said about kids getting what they want, wishing for Cosmo and Wanda as her fairies. I suppose the scene couldn’t happen without the Wanda and Cosmo getting replaced stuff, but I can’t help but wonder if they had a bit more time they could have worked it better. 11 minutes is tough to get a large story into, though I will be the first to admit I much prefer a show with a breakneck speed then one that just crawls at a snails pace *cough*rw/by*cough* in the end it’s very much a pick your poison situation, I don’t want to blame the studio to much for this crunch feeling since it sounds like they had a very limited budget but just something I want to bring up. While I think it could have been done better, again Hazel really saves the scene by being fun and creative. I’m really enjoying her character and I admit she’s a favorite of characters from new shows I’ve been watching recently. She’s fun and cute and I really like that.

Episode two for me wasn’t as strong as episode one in terms of writing, but Hazels character continues to be well written which helps a lot. I also noticed the bike in the intro was brought in for episode two so I wonder if or when a fish boy will come into play. I’m excited to see what episode 3 gives us.

#fop #fop a new wish #fairly oddparents #fairly odd parents a new wish #review

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queenofmalkier · 1 year ago

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Egwene and Being "Ignored" in the Tower

SOOOOO.

I actually have a lot of thoughts about this and I think this is a very good instance of Egwene being an unreliable narrator in terms of what she thinks is happening and what is actually going on. (I was reminded of wanting to go on a tangent about this by a recent post.)

For starters, Aes Sedai are all very, very good at manipulation. We're not supposed to know in the beginning just how invested in Scheming they are, even though the text and to some extent the show tells us over and over. We're supposed to believe it's an exaggeration, playing on our own knowledge that woman are generally painted in a bad light when they have power. It's wickedly clever.

They're all a lot older than Egwene and have seen a lot of things. From the moment she put on that novice dress it was easy to peg her as someone who not only wanted to be one of them, but also had an instinctive need to be noticed. That shaped how they were going to train her.

Now wanting to be seen? That isn't a bad thing! Everyone likes to receive praise! But this is the tower. Part of their training is to break down the girls who enter and rebuild them into the image of an Aes Sedai and Egwene's obvious pride and need for praise are easy targets for them to start doing just that.

You can't tell me they don't have plans for her and you can't tell me any part of her novice training is unintentional.

For starters, as a fairly new novice she's cleaning the Amyrlin's study. I think this is a subtle way to remind her of her goals and aspirations, to see what she could be if she applies herself. This also allows Siuan to keep an eye on her - even when she's away from the Tower, Siuan naturally has other means of doing this through Leane or her personal staff.

Which Leane is doing. Maybe I'm reading too much into it but did she really need to carry that cup around just to toss it in Egwene's bucket? We see cups left all over the place throughout the episode, yet Leane makes a point to take hers to Egwene.

That she ignores Egwene while she tosses it is classic Aes Sedai behavior. Think back to the books - Moiraine conditions the boys after they've been away from her for too long by getting them to do chores until they don't question it.

By ignoring Egwene, Leane is able to both check on her and also help work on breaking her down a little. It's not malicious - it's just how they operate. Had she remained by the time she was Accepted she would have craved their approval and notice, and would be very loyal to the tower. That's just how conditioning works.

Madeleine Madden does a great job of showing all of this on her face and with her body language. She's a kicked puppy, arms crossed, curled in on herself. This isn't what she wanted at all. Why don't they notice her? Didn't Moiraine say she was special? She needs to work harder. Do better.

We next see her in Alanna's room, basically being treated as if she's invisible. On the one hand, it's shocking to a fairly sheltered country girl (Which Alanna very much knows - she tells us later she wants to get Egwene to be less uptight later in the weird meeting they have after the kitchen scene), but again, it hurts her feelings and sets her off-balance. Alanna does give her some notice, but Egwene is so uncomfortable she books it.

The first clue for the audience that she's missing out on the subtle ways she very much is being watched is after she passes the novices watching the warders. There's two blue sisters just casually talking in the hallway. As a viewer you might think that's normal, but why are they there? There's plenty of places to post up and they just happen to be in Egwene's path? Both of them take notice of her immediately, and presumably begin discussing her once she passes.

To Nynaeve she defends the Tower policy, even if she doesn't believe it, she's trying to believe it. And naturally all the spies in that kitchen happily report that back. (Liandrin later actually gives away the game, though Egwene is too upset and angry to realize Liandrin is saying outright she's being watched.)

Another way they're trying to break down Egwene is by using Nynaeve as a really big convenient stick. I dislike the term break because I feel like it comes off as negative, but I don't mean it that way.

To be an Aes Sedai she needs to be able to control her emotions, to hide what she's thinking. Right now she's too obvious and that's a weakness. (Although I think they want to break down her pride so another reason - she needs to accept that she's a baby compared to them and has a lot to learn. She doesn't have anything to be proud of just yet in their eyes.)

So, yeah. I don't think Egwene is nearly as invisible as she thinks she is to the women in the tower, she's just too young and not really away of the games going on around her yet. And I like that she doesn't notice, because she shouldn't. Not at this point in her life.

#wheel of time #wheel of time tv series #egwene al'vere

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airenyah · 1 year ago

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Reasons Why I Need a Sexy JoongDunk BL

If you know me, then you’ll know that it’s actually kind of funny that I’m asking for this. Me. A sex-repulsed leaning asexual who, for the most part, tends to stay away from (overly) sexy and/or horny series. And yet I really want a sexy JoongDunk series. A messy, Only Friends-type of series even, perhaps.

Make no mistake, though. I don’t actually want it for me, oh no. No, I want a sexy JoongDunk series for them, for their sake. Because I feel like they’d have a whole lot of fun with it.

And here’s why I think so:

Reason #1: Dum Dum

Definitely the most obvious reason, but the LOL Fanfest Dum Dum performance: the fact that the choreography was like That. And the fact that it was their idea to switch up who bites who for day 2:

Not to mention the fact that Dunk actually bit Joong for real:

I'm just saying, they wanted “hot and sexy”, they chose this:

Reason #2: “We’ve never done this before”

The way they kept bringing up how Hidden Agenda is more mature than Star in My Mind and how there were scenes that they’d never done before*, it seemed to have been a big deal for them.

*see here for some eng subs (this video is unfortunately heavily edited)

Reason #3: “Favorite episode of Hidden Agenda? Episode 8!!”

The way Joong immediately said episode 8 was his favorite, smiling expectantly at Dunk...

...and then was very adamant when Dunk couldn’t decide between episodes 7 and 8:

Considering their comments of how “episode 8 is special” because they’ve “never done anything like this before”... Well, dare I bet it’s their favorite episode because of the ending specifically. Unless maybe they were particularly excited about the stalker story line. I don’t think they’d done that before either.

Reason #4: Ep8 watch party live on Instagram

The way they actually sat down and went live on Instagram in order to watch, react to, and comment on the entirety of episode 8.

And considering Dunk’s comment at the beginning of this live about how it’s “something we've never done before” I’m absolutely convinced they chose ep8 to react to specifically because of the ending lmao. Unless, of course, they were extremely hyped about the stalker plot. There were no creepy stalker plots in Star in My Mind, nor do I remember any significant stalking in Joong’s other works. Or maybe the two of them were referring to the scene where Zo bites Joke’s arm. I don’t remember any biting from Star in My Mind, so who knows, it might be that. What else was special in ep8? Oh right, Joke punched the stalker. That can’t have been the “we’ve never done this before” thing, though, considering Joong was literally in a Mafia series before. Also, he punched Pepper in Star in My Mind. My theory still stands.

Reason #5: “It was more intense than this”

In that instagram live they also dropped that a lot was cut from that scene and that it was supposed to be more intense than this. Uh, boys...? What kind of choreography did y’all on set come up with for this scene exactly??

(I can’t stop laughing at Dunk's face when he agrees with Joong saying that a lot was cut. He looks like he suddenly bit into a very sour lemon lmao)

In conclusion:

Clearly they had a lot of fun with the Dum Dum performance and it seems that they were very excited about getting to do something more mature with Hidden Agenda, and also getting the the chance to do something that they’ve “never done before” in ep8 specifically. So my point stands: I think they’d have a blast playing a sexy series together. I want it for them.

Bonus: Vampire BL

Bonus points if this sexy JoongDunk BL that I’m asking for is a vampire BL!! Here’s why:

You can find a more extensive list of vampire mentions in my JoongDunk Vampire Mentions Masterpost here.

#actually i think they'd have a blast on only friends ngl #i think they would totally have been up for it #airenyah plappert #joongdunk #adrm #sexy joongdunk vampire bl #i actually meant to upload this on sunday but then i ended up much longer than expected with my uni assignments rip #at least i've managed to get this done BEFORE gmmtv2024 tho so that's something i guess #also it doesn't actually need to be in 2024 tbh #i'll take one 2025 too #i'd also be excited to see them work apart from one another in separate projects #but. i need this at some point in the next 3ish years #@gmmtv do you hear me? ได้ยินไหมคะ #justice for joongdunk #edit: i made this post BEFORE gmmtv 2024 part 1 #so waaaaay before part 2 dropped the announcement for the heart killers #and can i just say...#you know how i'm using only friends out of all shows as an example here in this post?#i mean... did i speak jd being in a jojo show into existence with this post?? did actually i manifest it???? LOVE that for me ngl dkfjdjfjf #i hope they get to have some fun during the shoot <3333 #i mean we DO know that august 22nd 2024 was an unforgettable day for them and dunk did drop they were filming sth spicy that day so!! djjdjf

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coraniaid · 2 months ago

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Some scattered thoughts on rewatching Hush (Episode 10 of Buffy's fourth season).

As I said a few days ago, Professor Walsh would make a lot more sense to me if the writers didn't pretend she was teaching -- or that Buffy or Willow would want to learn -- undergrad pyschology. The opening dream sequence of this episode (much of it, presumably, resembling things the real Walsh might say in one of her lectures, or perhaps is saying in real life while Buffy is dreaming) is a prime example of this. Nothing she's saying has anything to do with pyschology as such. It's explicitly about language and communication ("not the same thing", as the episode is quick to remind us). So make her some kind of English professor! That's the subject you set up Buffy as liking last year and it's also the subject that actually works for the speeches you want her to give! (And yes, it has nothing to do with Walsh's double life as a military officer and demon-dissecting scientist, but crucially neither does rambling about Jung and Freud while pretending to be teaching pyschology).

I also continue to be more than slightly confused about how old Riley Finn is meant to be. He describes himself as "a pysch major" in this episode, which supports the theory that he's an older undergraduate student who happens to be a TA as well. And, bolstering this theory further, at the very beginning of the next episode he'll tell Buffy that "somebody should speak before one of us graduates". So he's a pysch major who's yet to graduate, right? But in that very same episode, Buffy will literally describe him as a "pysch grad student"; and although undergrads acting as TAs and marking papers isn't unheard of, it's something that's far more common for graduate students to do. And I don't really see how Riley could have the leadership role in the Initiative he does unless he's been a member for a while: was he recruited while he was still in high school? (For that matter, how long has the Initiative been going? Are we supposed to think they were active last year, while the Mayor was still around? Or did they only move to Sunnydale a few months ago? I realize these are the sorts of questions you're not meant to ask about Buffy, and yet...)

OK, multiple people get their hearts cut out by grinning monsters while lying in their beds and unable to scream for help this episode, but by far the most horrifying scene is sill the one where Willow goes to the college Wicca group where she'll first run into Tara and tries to talk to its leaders about doing actual magic. It's all very well done (and quite genuinely hard to watch), but it does rather undermine Willow's claim last year [in Season 3's Choices] that she wasn't just going to stay in Sunnydale for Buffy's benefit and that Sunnydale was a particularly good place to learn magic. (And she doesn't even try going to this group until she's been in school for months!) Again, I realize that expecting tight continuity between seasons of this show is missing the point a little, but ... well. Sometimes I like to miss the point.

Speaking of Tara, I'd remembered the scene where Willow insists she's "definitely nothing special" and Tara overcomes her stutter to earnestly assure her that "no, you are". But I'd forgotten it happened so soon in their relationship. This is Tara's first episode! This is their first actual conversation!

Anyway, Amber Benson is great as Tara right from the beginning and I only wish she'd appeared in the show earlier. Does anyone know for sure if Tara only got written into the show after Seth Green's Oz was written out? It certainly seems that way to me, but perhaps I'm wrong. (Supposedly Whedon claimed that one of Willow and Xander was always going to come out this season, but I find that pretty hard to reconcile with what we see on the screen.) It's fun to imagine an alterate version of Season 4 where Willow went to the Wicca group and met Tara as early as episode 2 (and where as a result we got to see Tara in episodes like Fear Itself or Beer Bad or Something Blue). (It would also have been great if Oz had stayed on the show and had to find a role in the narrative beyond being 'Willow's cool and non-threatening boyfriend'.)

Equally I wish this wasn't the last we saw of Giles's "old friend" Olivia (or at least of the real Olivia: the actor comes back one more time for Restless). She's a frustratingly underwritten character in a lot of ways (in part of course because she only actually appears in two episodes) and it's something of a mystery to me how and when she and Giles are meant to have met. But the episode spends a lot of time paralleling Buffy/Riley and Xander/Anya and (to a lesser extent) Willow/Tara as having relationship problems that they struggle to resolve with words (and, indeed, feelings that can't really communicate in words). So it's kind of odd how Giles/Olivia almost deliberately subverts that: Giles has been talking to Olivia and he did try to tell all about the supernatural [and again, note that this very much does not comply with the rules he tries to impose on Buffy; she can't use her calling to impress "cute boys" but this is never something Giles seems to worry about himself] but despite being an "old friend" Olivia just assumed he was making it all up (somthing she was weirdly relaxed about). Anyway, at least the show manages to not literally kill Olivia off, which is honestly better than I'd have expected. (I'm told she comes back in the comics, which would be fun if I thought anything that happens in the comics mattered.)

I know it's mostly just there for a silly and ultimately harmless gag, but Riley and Forrest getting into a secret elevator they know requires voice activiation to work safely (and apparently not knowing the override codes?), despite both of them knowing they can't speak and so won't be able to provide said voice activation, does not exactly suggest they are competent adults who should be trusted with military hardware. Then again, if I was going to list everything that was stupid about the Initiative I'd be at it for years, so let's not even bother.

Overall I think that Hush is a very well made episode and I enjoyed rewatching it. I definitely think it's the strongest episode of Season 4 so far, but I'll confess to not being quite as taken with it as a lot of people seem to be. It wouldn't ever have made my top 5 episode list, and rewatching it now I'm not sure it would have much chance of making my top 10 either. I'm not sure exactly why that is, but I can think of three reasons that all contribute at least a little.

One is that, to be frank, I just don't care about the overall season arc enough to be all that impressed that this episode manages to move that arc along while also introducing and resolving a stand-alone monster of the week plot.

The Initiative were never a good idea and they're still not compelling here (we still don't really know what they think they're up to!). I can't quite persuade myself to care about Buffy and Riley's self-imposed relationship problems. The show still hasn't done anything to convince me why the gang are letting Spike stay with them beyond "Seth Green left so it was imperative we add somebody else to the opening credits as soon as possible ... no, no, we can't add Amber Benson, it has to be a man obviously". And we know that Olivia isn't ever going to come back after this episode, so there's a certain pointlessness to all her scenes with Giles. I guess I'm just not invested in the wider story that's being told here. (Apart from the Willow and Tara stuff, obviously. That's great.)

Another issue is that I think the episode somewhat lacks faith in its central premise. For an episode whose selling point is meant to be that nobody can speak, there's an awful lot of on-screen talking.

Compare this to similiar concept episodes like Season 3's The Zeppo or Season 6's Once More With Feeling, or with this season's own Restless.

The Zeppo's gimmick is that it's a Xander POV episode. And in that episode, immediately after the opening credits, we begin with a scene with Xander [and no other Scooby Gang member around] trying to impress the school jocks with his football catching prowess. The episode only goes back to its usual approach in the final scene, with the rest of the gang talking about how -- in the more usual episode we didn't get to see more than a few partial scenes of -- they closed the Hellmouth and "no one will ever know" how close the world caming to ending, about a minute and a half before the credits roll.

Once More With Feeling is, of course, the musical episode. This is something it keeps up from the (suitably revamped) opening credits to the very final curtain fall. Buffy is singing about going through the motions before anybody's said a word of dialogue. Even after Sweet is defeated, the cast are still singing the question of 'where do we go from here?'.

Restless's gimmick is that it's the dream sequence episode. And, sure enough, everyone is soundly asleep on the couch within two minutes of the opening credits, and they'll only all be awake again about two minutes before the episode ends.

But in Hush? Well, the characters are all still happily chatting away more than ten minutes past the credits. They only lose the ability to speak about a third of the way into the full episode, and not only that but they're all talking again with almost five minutes left to go (time enough for three separate conversations between Willow and Tara and between Giles and Olivia and [at the least the beginning of one] between Buffy and Riley).

It would be more impressive, I think, if people lost their voices earlier, but they can't because the episode still has a lot of work to do to set up its various arcs -- and despite the premise it can't do that without words!

There's a quote I read by Joss Whedon [cited in, among other places, Mark Field's Myth, Metaphor & Morality] where he says he wanted to make "a show where people didn't talk [...] where I would have to tell the story only visually". And, well, okay: by that metric Hush is unequivocally a failure, right? Per J Freedland's data, the average episode of Season 4 [excluding Hush itself] has 762.74 seconds of dialogue. Hush itself has 346.41 seconds. That's obviously a lot less -- less than half as much, even -- but just as obviously Hush is not remotely an episode whose story is told "only visually". It's a story whose second act is told (mostly) visually, but that's not the same thing at all.

Finally -- and this is really the least important element - while the Gentlemen unquestionably look very visually striking and impressive, their big plan is ... not actually very interesting to watch.

Why do the Gentlemen need seven hearts, and what happens if they get them? Why does it take them more than one night to collect them all? Where did the original fairy story about them come from? Well, the show says, it doesn't matter. And it doesn't seem to matter how they get defeated, either. Buffy asks Giles at one point how she's going to get her voice back, and he can't tell her. Then the answer turns out to be "just get Riley to smash that fragile unguarded wooden box you conveniently dreamed about at the start of the episode". No doubt this is all very symbolic of something or other, but it's still a little underwhelming as plot resolutions go. Though honestly I'm not sure what I'd suggest instead except "not that".

#btvs #buffy rewatch 2023 #(yes I know 2023 is the wrong year)

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elliespuns · 8 months ago

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how would you feel if the episodes in the show were completely linear, unlike the game

ex. the museum scene isn’t a flashback

This is interesting because no one knows what they'll decide for. It kind of scares me how quick they were to shoot the winter dance scene with Joel already (judging by the Joel photo that came out a few days ago) because it really makes you wonder about how much screen time Joel is going to get. Plus, will the winter dance scene happen at the beginning of the show, or were they just quick to shoot every Joel scene in advance without planning to add it in the first part of S2?

We know that in the game, the story starts with Ellie admitting she kissed Dina (so the winter dance scene can be easily put before this scene). It would be interesting to see this scene happen at the beginning instead of the end, but then again... will it have the same emotional effect on us this way?

Because, speaking of the museum flashback... what was always so special about watching the flashbacks was not only the relationship Ellie and Joel wrapped us in during those scenes, but also the fact that we were watching it after we already knew Joel had died. Basically everything we were watching during those flashbacks, we knew happened in the past when they were on good terms, happy, laughing, and enjoying each other. We knew it happened when Joel was going out of his way to make her smile with little things. All the while watching these moments, we knew they were from the past, something that happened and will never happen again; the bittersweet feeling of knowing this was all Ellie had left now, just the memories of what a wonderful person Joel was. That made it so special.

If you ask me, I think that screening the scenes linearly and not adding them as flashbacks won't give people THE heartwarming yet empty feeling they are supposed to feel.

I'm not saying that not making the museum scenes a flashback will suck, but it won't be as special. We are supposed to mourn with Ellie; to see it through her eyes, to feel it with her. If they play the museum scenes before Joel's death, it won't have such an impact.

#the last of us #tlou #ellie williams #ellie tlou #joel miller #joel tlou #ellie and joel #the last of us game #tlou game #the last of us part 2 #the last of us hbo #tlou hbo #elliespuns answers

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gaywatch · 1 year ago

Text

So I started watching the first episode of The Sign, right? I'd had it on my computer for a couple/few days and couldn't immediately remember what it was actually about, but I knew it was a new Thai BL genre mashup thing I'd seen on my dash and that's good enough for me.

A team of special agents infiltrate a big warehouse/facility place at night. Okay. Cool. There are bombs and a hostage? Sure. One guy tells other guys what to do, so he must be the leader, and he tells a few guys to focus on the bombs and the others to find the hostage. They encounter bad guys when they get inside, and some of the fight choreo is cool and some of it is absurd, but I'm just happy to be seeing an action-oriented BL series and I've seen worse crimes committed by a low budget, no big deal.

But it's been a few minutes into the first episode now, and I'm starting to wonder a few things. We have stakes, technically: there are bombs and a hostage--it would be bad if the bombs went off while the team was inside because they would get hurt or killed, and by default we don't want to see a hostage harmed.

But we have no context. At all. I'm five minutes in and I know nothing. Who's the hostage? Who are the bad guys? What do the bad guys want? Why do I care? I'm assuming this is like some quick action-y beginning and we'll cut to a main character at some point to see the "real" first scene of the show, but now it's been like seven minutes and we're still here in this warehouse place. If the special ops team are supposed to be the cast, I haven't heard a single scrap of dialogue that wasn't about the task at hand. I haven't even seen anyone's face yet.

Tagging @bengiyo, @lurkingshan 'cause they were interested in a side comment I made about this in some tags.

Even when they finally start to pull up their masks and talk, it's all immediate business (which is somewhat understandable given they're in danger but we're still lacking important context). Who am I rooting for? Who are these dudes? Why is this one sequence taking over ten minutes without giving me anything or anyone to latch onto? Are they assuming I read a blurb on the premise of the show and then immediately hit play? Because that's a cardinal sin--you never assume that everyone who watches your show or reads your book will know the premise, even in this day and age. You always lay in the necessary exposition/context to immediately anchor the audience into the premise and main character (or cast). (The only time you can assume everyone already knows at least the broad strokes of a concept is in fanfiction, but even then there could still be changes you made that you need to clue people in on from the get go. )

Then Tharn got his first premonition about Phaya, and I was like 'ohhhh, this is a story about a guy with some form of precognition who's in some sort of special forces. I wish they could have brought this up ten minutes ago, but okay.'

And finally, the big reveal: it's all a test! They're trainees, not officers! Well, that certainly explains why we got zero context all this time, because they didn't want to give away The Trick. Except it didn't feel like a clever rug pull at all. Worrying that the audience will clue in to what's going on doesn't mean you get to just Not Tell Them. You mislead them instead. The team could have easily rattled off the necessary details and context about the mission--after the training reveal, we would have chalked it up to practice mission prep. And with no context or reason to care about anything, I sat there for fifteen minutes only to be told that I didn't have to care anyway because it was all staged.

I would have taken any context, even something super cliche and ham fisted. "Okay boys, remember: our old mission commander is being held hostage in there and they'll kill him unless we hand over their psychotic leader. It took us weeks to track them down to this warehouse, and if they escape again it's game over. Don't let me down!" or something, anything for me to latch onto besides Dudes Doing Things. It's okay to mislead the audience, in fact you pretty much have to in order to pull the well worn "it was all an exercise" trick in the first place.

And fifteen minutes to pull all that off was a rather astonishing waste of screen time. The opening scene in the 2009 reboot of Star Trek establishes a handful of characters, makes you care about them, takes them through an amazing high stakes action sequence, and has you in tears at the end as we watch a guy we've only known for a few minutes sacrifice himself to save what's left of the crew as the film's protagonist--his son--is literally born, and it does all of that in almost half the time.

Compare that to The Sign, where in fifteen minutes we know: dudes in black fight things, one guy has premonitions, and actually they're trainees. No complexity, emotional stakes, or context beyond that. I was floored.

But what really made my jaw drop came after that.

A first episode has a lot of heavy lifting to do. You're introducing a world, a cast, promising the type of fun that's to be had, kickstarting the central relationships, etc etc. One of the most fundamental aspects to all this set up is to let us know why the main character/cast is here, what they're trying to do, and why it matters if they fail. And the entire first episode of the sign doesn't have that. At all. Period.

Oh, we're introduced to characters, the harsh training, Tharn's gift, Tharn and Phaya's initial dynamic, but once again we're given no context or emotionally relevant exposition. Who are these dudes? Why are they training? Why do they care about becoming special ops? What's their motivation? Goals? Obstacles in the way of that goal? Motive/Goal/Obstacle is the engine of story, and we're not given a single one until--and this is what blew my mind--almost halfway through the second episode.

In episode two we finally get a line from Tharn's bff about how if Tharn doesn't get onto the special ops team he won't be able to investigate his dad's (parents? can't remember) mysterious death.

A goal! A reason to care about Tharn's training! Emotional investment! Except it's coming way, way, wayyyyyyyyyyy too late. We should have known about this in the first five minutes of episode one. They should've found another fake hostage, Tharn should've lifted his mask and said "shit, if we fail this I'll never have what I need to find out how dad died." THANK YOU, now I have a reason to care.

I was shocked at such a massive oversight, like I'm gonna remember it as a cautionary example for a long time 'cause that's just wild to me.

#The Sign #critical #GW Essays

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