#i was losing my mind over this parallel as i watched a holy mess but i couldn't possibly put my thoughts into coherent words just look at h | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

melonsmessymusings · 3 years

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Just seen a post about S6&S3 parallels and @rachaeljurassic made some super interesting points in the tags about Giles’ departure and how INFURIATING it is that I really want to expand upon, so I guess this one’s for you :) I get it, the mentor figure needs to be gotten out of the way in order to progress Buffy’s own arc, that’s fine. It narratively makes complete sense, but it was handled badly.

@rachaeljurassic suggested that maybe we could’ve gotten him out of the way with a coma. I vibe with that. Let’s have the head injuries catch up to him and have him totally incapacitated. Big battle, dire injuries, that works. We could still have Buffy spiralling after, but this time she’d be blaming herself because Giles got hurt as a result of her being the Slayer (even though he’d never blame her for it and it isn’t her fault except for like twice). That also works better because it would be more in character than having Giles go “I know you can’t even breathe right now but I’m gonna flake because you need to be a grown up. Even though when I was your age I was raising demons, doing dr*gs and having orgies so like lmao.” Plus, have a couple of gratuitous scenes of a very injured Giles being visited by someone to pepper throughout the season that were pre-recorded so we don’t get confused as to why they wouldn’t be sat there with him at least every now and then to make us cry. Imagine a scene with Buffy in a hospital room watching a ventilator force air into her Watcher to keep him alive and pouring her heart out because she’s terrified with no idea what to do and he always knew and she needs him and just cries. You could even have it where he’s like slowly deteriorating or something and Dark!Willow uses her magic to cure him so that would explain how he just got better and was like... fine.

I also love the idea of him having a total breakdown after Buffy’s death. I absolutely thrive off him becoming a completely numb droid (he probably was and only bothered to put on façade for the Scoobies but that’s for another day) and the Scoobies decided it’d be better for him to try and find a new purpose in life by sending him to England. We could’ve had like the first episode of them helping him settle with the Coven or something and it’d have been AWFUL to watch, but it would make sense and then when Buffy gets resurrected, they just don’t tell him and they tell Buffy that the grief killed him or something like that? idk... or having them explain that Giles isn’t Giles anymore and he’s doing better (because Tara gets updates from the Coven) but being in Sunnydale was killing him and they never told him that Buffy was resurrected. That wedges the group dynamic enough tbh and would cause Buffy to turn to Spike because he’d have had no clue about anything except that Giles had gone off the bloody rails big time and it was good he was away from this hellhole.

Family emergency? Let’s be honest, the Giles family are probably scum so I’d buy that way less but it’s still more convincing than what actually happened.

Another suggestion was having the Council snatch him. I also adore this. That would make sense. But let’s have them make it look like they killed him because I love that. So they send in a team, take him away but make it look like he’s been completely murdered.

My idea is that they put a glamour or something on a vampire to make it look like Giles (but the audience don’t know this yet) and so Buffy drops by and finds a body that is in every way identical to Giles in a destroyed apartment and just breaks and is like clutching at him or something and there’s blood and its horrendous. Then you could either have swoopy Council guys come in and take Giles away when he ‘wakes up’ as a vampire because “there’s a procedure to this Miss Summers” or have her stake him herself then and there because after Angelus she’s taking no chances. Could you imagine the emotional payoff of that? She then has to go and tell the others, who don’t believe her but they all see the apartment, bloodstains and pile of dust and they all have to cope with the grief of losing him throughout the season in addition to everything else.

But wait! There’s more. Travers ends the episode with a folder in front of him, a report from the team that carried out the operation and smiles saying something evil like “I warned her of dealing with grown ups” so the audience all thinks that Giles got offed by the Council.

BUT REALLY Giles was taken and held in a like prison facility thing, very much alive. Then we get like a showdown of Giles chained to a chair in this cell being forced to watch the video footage of the whole operation and Travers telling him that it’s over and his oh so precious Slayer will end up killing herself with guilt/grief and the Council can have a new start because they’re going to off Faith too. And the last shot is Giles crying in a dank hole.

As far as the audience goes: imagine having Giles showing up at the end of S6 if THAT had been the departure? It’s already an “AAAAAHHHHHH HOLY SHIT!” moment but it’d be magnified tenfold. Then Buffy being completely confused because “I killed you!” then having that moment when she ends up hugging him and he’s warm and breathing and not dead. And Dark!Willow being really confused but trying to kill him anyway because if he was alive all this time why didn’t he come back? That’s when we get the scene with Giles watching what happened on the monitor. Everyone is confused and Giles explains that the Council kept him in one of their facilities and now Buffy feels sick because she’s like “they tortured you... for months!” and Giles is like “Well yeah but it’s fine because I’m here now and I’m so sorry for abandoning you all.” Still can have Evil Willow being evil and Xander saving the day. I don’t care that much but we could’ve had this worked in.

Because the Council would’ve tortured him for fun. Not necessarily physically but they would’ve paraded him around as the example of what happens if you don’t toe the line. They could’ve completely humiliated him and it caused like cracks in the Council because some of them hate that Travers is abusing his power like this on one of their own and others finding it good that such a strong message is being sent. At which point, Travers would give the order for the Special Ops team to start the beatings. Of course, Giles is used to having the seven bells kicked out of him, but to be used as a training dummy by other human beings? They’d practice on him and that’s as far as I think the physical side of it would go, the rest would be mental/emotional torture. Or having hexes/curses tested on him and all the while, Giles genuinely wants them to kill him because everyone he cares about already thinks he’s dead so it makes no difference if it’s the reality. All the while, he’s being kept vaguely up to date with the events of Sunnydale so that he can hear how his Slayer is edging closer into just giving up and it breaks his heart. So Giles spent a year either being locked in a cell translating texts or being used as a punchbag to teach the S.O. team how to interrogate people. That’s how I see it going anyway. We could’ve seen like flashbacks of parts of it in S7 or something idk.

That would explain why he’s so distant in S7. Because he was kept prisoner for almost a year by the people who practically raised him (because the Council kind of did) and how that would mess anyone up and the First tormenting him about how he should’ve gone through with any attempts to end it instead of being a coward because Buffy doesn’t need him and she already thought he was dead.

I dunno if this is actually what you were going for but it’s where my mind went and it would’ve given Tony Head something really juicy to do by playing a slightly crazed version of Giles who freaks out if there’s more than five people in the room because a year of living on your own in the dark drove him mad. He would’ve completely nailed it. Way better than sitting there going, “I’m headed back to England, and I plan to stay indefinitely”. Ugh we were robbed.

#btvs #rupert giles #s6 has a few unforgivable moments and this is one of them #rachaeljurrassic this is for you #sorry im such a crackhead #meta #alternative s6 giles departures #i have an armada of them tbh

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theexecutionerssong · 4 years

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I want to ask you as spn expert hdbfbdj i heard that destiel made creators/actors uncomfortable and they banned mention of it at the cons? And made anlotbof writing decision to keep dean and cas characters from each other in the show? So how do you think what changed and why the decided to make deancas canon (bad as it is but canon) in almost last episode when they could just not do it jrbfkf

Hi! Oh damn I hope you’re ready for a long ass answer because I have 13 years worth of memories to answer this question dfghjklm

So, your first question, when you say creators, you have to keep in mind that the original showrunner stepped down years ago and since then, there’s been several showrunners who each had a different view on where they wanted to take the story, which explains the disparities in writing quality from one season to another, in my opinion. Of course the orginal showrunner is still around and would chime in from time to time but he went on on working on other shows (which flopped, besides The Boys, tbh), and we definitely didn’t see it that way in 2005.

Then comes the writers team, that has also seen many changes over the years. I truly believe some left because they wouldn’t make Destiel happen, among other things like the treatment/lack of representation of female and POC characters. Robbie Thompson definitely left because they killed Charlie in the most horrifying way, and Charlie was his baby, and he got better opportunities elsewhere. I remember over 7 years ago when Bo Berens (the writer of last night episode) joined the team, my whole dash was full of people screaming because holy shit the new SPN writer is gay!!! and wouldn’t that change things??? Well it did. He wrote, along with Robbie Thompson, some of the most explicit Destiel episodes that they could get away with. I don’t believe this was ever queerbaiting, not from them, and I think they took advatange of the other writers just not seeing it, or not wanting to see it.

For a very long time, the showrunners and writers were kind of oblivious to the shipping, they didn’t take it seriously because it wasn’t how they had thought it could be interpreted. As time went on and the shipping only grew and as the cast and crew actually started to see what we were seeing in their own damn writing and acting, they started to be more aware and careful around it. Some were downward enjoying putting down fans, like fucking Guy Norman Bee gloating on Twitter and engaging with fans over it. A mess. He left 5 years ago that one, good riddance. It was also the time when actual canon queer ships would appear on TV - keep in mind that in 2010-12, Destiel was as explicit as it could get. We had nothing else, so of course we would latch onto that. But we started getting more and more actual explicit representation with Shameless, Shadowhunters, Eyewitness, Skam, HTGAWM, Orphan Black, etc around 2013, and shipping Destiel got very frustrating.

The actors have always been another story, and I saw a lot of comments being made today towards Jensen so I’m gonna copy paste my answer to an ask I got last year : “I think he was just extremely “protective” of Dean and would get actually mad and shut down every conversation about Destiel because that’s not how he sees his character. Like, proper pissed off. He would get uncomfortable about pride flags during photo ops. It came to the point where people would walk on eggshells at cons. 2012-13 was hard on the fandom on this point. He would never speak up about lgbtq related topics in politics either. Liking a tweet like Chris’s 10 or even 5 years ago? Never. He used to say that people in highschool would bully him for “looking too gay” because of his pouty lips and big eyes. I think he didn’t want to care about it but bullying leaves scars. Getting married to Danneel, meeting Misha, who are both very outspoken about lgbtq matters, opened him up, and he’s said himself that having his first daughter changed him deeply. He had a whole new perspective on unconditional love. Now, he’s enthusiastic about posing with pride flags, to sign fanart, he’s always so supportive of lgbtq fans at cons, hugs them, gives them words of encouragement, etc. Years ago he said “my father told me that there’s no manly way to drink out of a straw” and now he’s out there being crowned King at the Mardi Gras parade in New Orleans, posting rainbows on his social media, having makeup sessions wit his daughter, etc. He was very outspoken about his support for Beto in Texas last year, he goes to rallies, posts about it on social media, etc. And yeah maybe that’s the bare minimum but he wouldn’t have done it years ago but now he does and that’s worth something. He’s not a Destiel supporter but now the topic isn’t banned at cons anymore. He jokes about it, he understands better where people who see Dean as bi are coming from, even if it’s not his take on the character. He’s much more comfortable with himself and has come a long way. I’m happy for him.” That was my reply last year to somebody asking if Jensen was homophobic and while I obviously don’t know him, it’s what I gathered over the past 17 years or so. I was already a fan of him beofre Supernatural soooo, I’ve been around a while. Yes there was this moment, over 7 years ago at a con, where he let fans boo other fans for asking a question about Destiel, and he shut down the question, then the questions about Destiel were banned. That’s not the case anymore and it hasn’t been that way for years. Misha on the other hand as always been supportive of the ship, his “You’re not crazy” tweet from 2013 fueled us for years, and the fact that he went back to like it and bring attention to it today is the biggest I Told You So he could have given us.

About your question, making decision to keep them away from each other, yes, that has been a pattern for years, something would go in the script, and then they would change their minds - “the only thing we have left, Dean and I, is each other” in 5x04, the “A part of me always believed you would come back” in 7x17, the “I love you” in 8x17, Castiel’s heaven being just pictures of Dean everywhere, etc. The decision would come from either the actors or the writers and they gave tons of reasons but I won’t get into that. And every time we would have a Destiel heavy episode, it would be no Cas for weeks. Their reason for that is that if Cas was always around, what with how powerful he is, then there would be no plot for monster-of-the-week episodes, because he’d be able to fix the situation with a snap of his fingers. So they gave him storylines that would weaken him and/or keep him away from the Winchesters. But I also think they would give us crumbs to keep us hooked and then backtrack because it wasn’t the end yet.

Destiel is the only ship I’ve really invested in that wasn’t canon. Yet. Because, to me, it’s been canon for years. And I am absolutely convinced that had Supernatural ended with season 10 as planned, it would have been canon then. There were tropes and parallels that nobody could ignore. The whole of season 10, with the Cain/Dean and Colette/Castiel thing was so obvious even my Dad picked up on it. But the series got renewed again and again and they pushed it back, because The Powers That Be at the CW didn’t want to lose their homophobic fanbase, I guess. Isn’t that great :)))) Now that it’s ending for real, who cares? They don’t have anything to lose anymore. It must be quite an unpopular opinion but I think making Deancas canon at the end of the series has been the plan for a while, but it got pushed back with every renewal.

To me they have been canon since season 8 thanks to a few selected writers, and as infuriating and sometimes hurtful as it was to keep watching for all these years when it could have been so much better, I’m still ecstatic they finally did it. Maybe for the wrong reasons, definitely not in the right way, but 1. the show isn’t over, and 2. this was my first real big ship when I had nothing else, and to be able, after over a decade, to hear that I love you, with no room for doubt that it was meant romantically, is making me happy.,

#gaelle parle #spn #you asked for it sdfghjkl #honesly the way i could talk SPN for hours and hours and hours...#sigh #Anonymous

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classysassy9791 · 4 years

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When a job goes terribly wrong, the Fairy Tail guild is left to pick up the pieces. Mourning the deaths of their guildmates, Lucy can't seem to find the strength to move forward. But she comes to realize one person understands. His madness was her mercy, and she finally began to hope that maybe he could make her heart beat again.

Fandom: Fairy Tail Genre: Adventure/Tragedy Warning: Character Death(s) Ch. 1 l

Chapter 2 Word Count: 4,700 Can also be found here

Humming her herself, Mirajane swept a cloth over the bar top, cleaning up the remnants of the party that had carried over from the day before. Some of her guildmates still hung around, most passed out drunk in various places, but a few, like Cana, were still lively.

“Another round!” the card mage called from the end of the bar, where her and a drunk Macao sat.

With an airy laugh, Mirajane moved to grab another drink from the tap. “I think Macao has had enough,” she mused, setting a mug down in front of Cana. “He may already be passed out.”

An incoherent grumble from the elder mage was her only response. The brunette grinned. “See? He’s not down for the count yet!”

“Oh goodness. Romeo is going to be so upset with me. I promised him I’d watch his father’s drinking,” Mirajane deplored.

“What are you, his keeper? Come on, it’s a celebration! Let him slide.”

“The celebration started three days ago back in Crocus.”

Cana pouted. “Way to kill the party, Mira.”

Suddenly, the guildhall doors burst open, slamming into the walls behind it, and startling the few patrons who were still somewhat conscious. Mirajane’s blue eyes rose, a smile on her face, expecting to see Team Natsu arriving back from the job they took that morning, but what she saw made her freeze in her tracks, a hand covering her mouth to suppress a gasp.

Loke stood in the doorway, his normally clean-kept suit tattered and torn, with an unconscious Lucy draped in his arms. Blood covered her face and clothes, soaking into the lion’s white shirt. Beside them stood her other spirit, Virgo, with a barely conscious Gray settled on her back.

“We need help!” Loke shouted, his wide eyes shifting over what remained of the Fairy Tail mages at such a late hour.

Mirajane pushed down her fear and took charge. “Bring them to the infirmary!” she commanded, pointing down the hallway.

“What happened?” her little sister, Lisanna, asked, bustling out from the back room at the sound of Loke’s cry.

“No time,” Loke urged, already moving down the hallway. “We need Wendy!”

“On it!” Lisanna disappeared out the door toward the girl’s dormitory to fetch the sky dragon slayer.

“I’ll go grab Master.” The barmaid was gone in a flash.

Loke heard a shout from Cana before she disappeared out the guildhall doors as he stepped into the infirmary. He laid Lucy down on one of the beds, brushing a few blonde strands of hair out of her face. Adrenaline pulsed through his veins as his mind ran a mile a minute. This wasn’t supposed to happen! This isn’t how it was supposed to be!

“Big Brother?” Virgo called from where she had laid Gray on another bed parallel to Lucy. “What are we going to do?”

The lion spirit shook his head, hazel eyes looking at his mage forlornly. “It’s going to kill her,” he murmured, his brows knitted tightly together. “It’s going to kill both of them.”

She folded her hands in front of her, blue eyes peering wistfully at the blonde. “They’re going to ask about them.”

“Then we don’t tell them,” he affirmed. “At least, not yet. Not until they’ve healed some. Let Wendy work her magic; let Lucy and Gray be oblivious for a while before they have to face what happened.”

Virgo nodded, giving a small bow. “As you wish.” In that moment she understood her assistance was no longer needed, and the drain she was placing on Lucy’s magic had become an impediment. In a flash of golden light, she was gone.

“What happened?!” Wendy shouted as she dashed into the room, dressed in her pajamas and blue hair an absolute mess. She stopped in her tracks as she took in the sight of Gray and Lucy - both battered, bloody, and unconscious. Her brown eyes wide, her hands flew to her mouth as she gasped. “Oh, no!”

“My word,” Charle chimed in as she flew in behind Wendy. “What on Earth happened here?”

Lisanna appeared beside them with a deep frown. “Where’s Natsu and Happy? And Erza?” she demanded.

Loke ignored her. “Wendy, please.”

She glanced between her charges before finally settling on Gray being the worst of the two. “I-I’ll do my best,” she assured, hands hovering over the wound in his abdomen and igniting a soft glow.

The youngest Strauss sibling turned fierce eyes on Loke. “They were only gone on a simple mission! How did this happen?!”

Just then, Makarov Dreyer entered the room, followed by an anxious Mirajane. The small man shuffled over to where his adopted children lay, worry lines creasing his brows. “They were on a mission to capture some bandits in the next town over,” he said, his expression grim. He turned accusing eyes on Lucy’s spirit. “Explain.”

“Let’s allow Wendy to work,” Loke instructed, gesturing toward the hallway. He, Mirajane, and the guild master exited the room, closing the door behind them and leaving the others to anxiously watch over Lucy and Gray. Loke exhaled deeply. “I’m not sure of the whole story,” he admitted quietly. “Lucy didn’t call me to her aide until the battle was already in full swing.”

“Battle?” Makarov echoed. “What battle?”

Loke leaned against the wall, folding his arms over his chest. “I don’t know what happened, but when she called me out, three demons from the books of Zeref were ravaging the town. There were fires and explosions - complete chaos.”

“That’s not right,” Mirajane said, shaking her head. “How did a mission to capture bandits turn into fighting demons?”

He pulled his lips into a tight line. “I don’t know. What I do know is that I was no match for whoever they were. Lucy was already low on magic energy by the time I was summoned. It seemed like they were giving it everything they had, but I could tell the fight was wearing them down. I didn’t last long before I had to go back to the celestial realm.”

“What of Natsu?” the master questioned. “And Erza?”

Loke dipped his gaze, his hands clenched tighter around himself. “They’re dead.”

Makarov stayed quiet for a moment, tears falling down his cheeks as he tried to discern the news. “My-My children…”

Loke’s voice quivered as he spoke. “Th-There was nothing we could do,” he whispered. “They managed to kill one of the demons off, but lost their own lives in the process.”

A hand flew to Mirajane’s mouth, tears springing into her eyes. “N-No!” she gasped, her legs giving way as she collapsed to her knees. “They-They can’t be-” She drew in shallow sharp breaths, her body trembling. “H-How can you be sure?”

“When… When I was finally able to return with my own magic to make sure Lucy was okay, I found her kneeling over Natsu and…” He took a deep breath to steady himself and cleared his throat. “Lucy found Erza, too.”

Makarov choked back a sob, his eyes full of fury. “How could this have happened? I don’t understand! Who dared to hurt my children?!”

Loke adjusted his glasses. “Like I said, I’m not entirely sure. The threat had gone by the time I returned, and I don’t know their whereabouts. I’m sure Lucy and Gray could tell you more, but I don’t think we should tell them anything until Wendy has done what she can. They need their rest. Let them live with ignorance for tonight.”

Blue eyes swimming with tears gazed up at them. “Wh-What are we supposed to do?” Mirajane whispered, her heart constricting painfully in her chest.

The master exhaled deeply, swiping tears from his eyes. “We need to bring them home. Let Wendy work her sky magic. I’ll send the Thunder Legion.”

“What about the rest of the guild?” Loke asked.

“There’s nothing they can do right now.” He sniffled, gathering his composure. “Allow them one last night of rest. Tomorrow…”

He let his sentence trail, not daring to finish it. He pushed his way back into the infirmary. Mirajane shook her head from where she had crumpled to the floor, her eyes wide and vision blurred.

“Erza… Natsu…” she whispered, squeezing the cloth of her dress over where her heart beat. Her body felt like lead, her tongue tasted like cough syrup, bitter and unwanted. It felt like deja vu, like the night she had lost Lisanna right before her eyes, leaving the guild broken and destroyed. They had lost one of their youngest mages, and it had rippled through everyone, leaving a scar upon their home.

But this… Losing two of their most treasured wizards in a single night… How could they survive this? Natsu… Erza… They were the forefront of the guild. They made everyone laugh and feel whole. Now who would pick up the pieces? Who would be there to make them laugh again?

Mirajane peered up at Loke, her body numb with the thoughts threatening to drown her. “Loke,” she mumbled earnestly, needing him to wake her from this nightmare.

The lion spirit slipped his hands into the pockets of his slacks. “I’m not going to tell you everything’s okay,” he mumbled, averting his eyes. “It’ll be a long time before it is again.”

With that, he disappeared, leaving a glitter of golden light to rain down on what remained of a disheveled and broken fairy.

...

The battlefield lay quiet, for now it was a graveyard for the unburied. Their corpses lay among the crumbled buildings and forget-me-nots. The sun had only risen and the wind still blew, but somewhere, families waited in vain. It seemed as if the majority of the townsfolk had not survived, leaving the rest to escape into the countryside.

Wide amber eyes swept over the wreckage. He heard a small gasp beside him, and a murmur of “holy hell”. They had been sent on a rescue mission, but from what they had been told, it was more of a retrieval - to bring their fallen brethren home.

“Fan out,” Laxus ordered, his voice cool and collected compared to the dread eating away at his stomach. “Search the area. And stay alert. We don’t know where the demons have wandered off to.”

Although hesitant, the Thunder Legion gave their nods of assent before each taking off in a different direction. Laxus began stepping over the wasteland, recalling the path in which Loke had described, where he was almost sure to find a pink-haired dragon slayer in his eternal slumber.

The thought made him sick.

How could that feisty kid, with so much fighting spirit, be bested by some demons? It just didn’t seem plausible. Laxus had called Loke a liar, refused his grandfather’s insistency, until he decided he needed to see it for himself. He could never believe Natsu was dead unless there was a body to prove it.

“Come on, kid,” he grumbled, his eyes sweeping over the expanse of the battlefield. “Where are you?”

It took almost an hour for Laxus to find Natsu, just passed the town square. He lay in a pool of his own cold blood, his eyes half-lidded and his face ashen. Nausea swirled unrestrained in Laxus’ empty stomach. His head swam with half-formed regrets and his heart felt as if his blood had become tar, struggling to keep a steady beat.

“Natsu…” Laxus almost choked on his name, falling to his knees beside him. He pushed the concrete off his chest and curled an arm around the dragon slayer’s head, feeling the ice cold of his skin, the stiffness of his limbs.

The bastard had died with a smile on his face.

His vision blurred with tears, and he suddenly couldn’t breathe. How… How had this happened? The Salamander, the Fire Dragon Slayer, dead…? He couldn’t wrap his mind around this new reality.

A piercing scream tore his gaze away from the boy in his arms to the direction Evergreen had wandered off in. He carefully wrapped Natsu in his fur-lined jacket and pulled him to his chest as he stood. The walk to where he heard his comrade scream from seemed like a lifetime, his footsteps heavy and staggered.

Evergreen knelt in the middle of the rubble, her body trembling from her sobs. Freed and Bickslow arrived just as Laxus did, their wide eyes glancing between the bundle in the thunder mage’s arms and the corpse Evergreen cried over.

“It-It can’t be,” Freed muttered, taking a step back as if he had been punched in the gut. “It can’t possibly be.”

Bickslow pulled his helmet free from his face, his mouth dropping open in an expression of stunned surprise. “No way…”

Evergreen turned to look at their leader, dark brown eyes overflowing with tears. “T-Titania is gone,” she cried. “The Qu-Queen of the Fairies is dead!”

Laxus didn’t need to check for himself. Just the image of Erza’s broken body was enough to confirm that she was gone. He clenched his jaw, trying to keep the tears at bay as he gripped Natsu tighter in his arms.

“Cover her,” he instructed quietly, nodding to the coat Evergreen wore. “Let’s bring our family home.”

“Wh-What about Happy?” Freed questioned, his voice breathy and uneven, as he remembered the blue exceed was still missing. “Has anyone found him?”

Everyone shook their heads. “I’ll go look for him,” Laxus offered, placing Natsu gently on the ground. He didn’t need to voice to his comrades that it was doubtful the cat had survived. If he had, he would have been by Natsu’s body, or with Lucy upon her return.

That morning, there was nothing but black smoke to line the glare of the sun.

...

“They’re going to be suspicious.”

Makarov focused his attention on the woman who entered his office. Mirajane looked exhausted, her eyes red and swollen, as if she had been up all night crying. He was sure that she had been. He hadn’t been able to sleep either.

“I know,” he replied to her comment, clenching the pen tighter in his hand. He had mindlessly been signing off on paperwork half the night, the only thing keeping his buried anger in check. “But Loke said-”

“To hell with what Loke said,” the take-over mage spat, her eyes fierce. “Erza and Natsu are dead. Happy is missing, meanwhile you leave Gray and Lucy, their teammates, in the dark?!”

The master furrowed his brows and gave her a hard stare. “It’s not only my decision to make. They need time to recover from their wounds.”

“What about the rest of the guild?” she argued, tears gathering in her eyes. “Are you going to leave them in the dark as well?”

He sighed, dropping his pen and running his hands over his balding head. “What am I going to say to them? I don’t have all the answers. I don’t even know what exactly happened or who was behind this.”

She took a deep breath to reel in her anger. “We are a family.” Her voice quivered. “We… We have just lost two of our own. There is no avoiding that pain. This will tear the entire guild apart. We need each other!”

Makarov averted his gaze to the window, watching as birds flew by. It was still early, but most of the guild would be arriving in the hall for breakfast. As is, he wouldn’t be able to hide the news of their family for long. There had been other members at the guild last night, albeit drunk, but they would be wondering what exactly had occurred. As far as they knew, something terrible had happened and the Thunder Legion had been sent to help.

“I hate to see my children suffering.” He felt his throat tighten as he drew in a breath. “It kills me to see it.”

Mirajane choked back a sob. “We-We need you, Master,” she cried, folding her arms around herself. “We-We can’t get through this without you.”

The old man stayed quiet for a moment. Regret washed over him, the what-ifs and should’ve-beens running through his mind. How he longed to go back and take a different path, to stop them from taking that mission, tell them he would cover Lucy’s rent so they could rest properly. But now… it was impossible. There was no way to turn back the hands of the clock. There was no way to make it right. And he knew the guilt would eat away at him for the rest of his days.

“All right,” he finally agreed quietly. He reluctantly stood from his chair and made his way to Mirajane’s side. “We’ll go inform Lucy and Gray first. Then the rest of the guild.”

She swiped at her tears. “Of course.”

“I’m just not sure how I’m supposed to break the news.” He sighed deeply, folding his hands behind his back.

“Do what you always do. Speak from the heart.”

“What could I say? Something poetic and beautiful?” He shook his head. “I can’t about this. Some situations are too hard to glorify.”

And a man whose stature was so large in every sense of the word… suddenly looked so small.

...

The sky was dark and explosive.

“This isn’t time to falter!”

Terror widened her bloodshot eyes.

“Please, just hold on a little longer!”

She felt burning in her chest and electricity in her veins.

“Lucy!”

She stood frozen, lips half open, as ash fell from the sky in flakes of grey.

“Lucy?!”

...

“Lucy?”

Her eyes rolled open, blinking blearily to clear the fog of sleep, only to be met with a look of concern. Wendy hovered over her bedside with her hands clasped gently around her own. Apparently she had been restless in her sleep, the sheets tangled around her and soaked with a cold sweat.

“Where…?” she tried to ask, her voice hoarse. She licked her dry, cracked lips.

“It’s okay. You’re at Fairy Tail,” the dragon slayer explained with a reassuring smile. “You’re safe.”

Lucy’s chest heaved as she breathed heavily, her nightmares fading as she focused on the stale walls of the infirmary. Her head whirled as she struggled to sit up, leaning against the headboard behind her, trying to remember how she had gotten there in the first place.

“Ow,” she groaned, wincing and curling an arm around her waist, which had been wrapped in bandages. Her entire body ached, and no matter how she moved, it was impossibly painful. “That really packs a punch.”

Wendy frowned. “I’m sorry. I’m still recovering from everything that happened in Crocus. I wasn’t able to do much, but Porlyusica has been helping me.”

“Porlyusica’s here?” the blonde questioned, furrowing her brows. If their medicinal advisor was here, they must be in pretty bad shape.

“Yeah, Jet brought her back last night.”

Brown eyes turned to the other bed, taking in the unconscious Gray. He didn’t seem much better off than she did. “Is he all right?”

“He’ll be okay,” Wendy promised. “He just needs to rest. You were both so depleted of magic energy, it’ll be a while before you regain your strength.”

She grasped her celestial keys from the nightstand, fiddling with them curiously, and feeling them warm with comfort from her touch. “What happened? I remember going on a job, but…”

Wendy shifted her feet nervously. “I’ll go let Master know you’re awake.” She quickly scampered out of the room, leaving the celestial mage alone.

Alone.

Lucy swept her gaze over the infirmary once more. Usually when she was injured, she’d have a pink-haired dragon slayer religiously at her bedside. Not often did he leave until he knew she was okay and out of danger. Where was he, anyways? Or Happy and Erza for that matter?

And then flashes from the night before came back full force, making her gasp for breath - the job, the bandits, the sudden appearance of Zeref’s demons, and the long fight that ensued afterwards. She remembered waking up after the entire town had been destroyed, finding Virgo and Gray, being comforted by Loke…

Because Erza and Natsu…

Hot tears sprang into her eyes as Lucy shook her head in denial. There was no way! Erza and Natsu couldn’t be dead. They were Erza and Natsu! Some of the strongest mages in the guild! No way could some monsters be the end of them.

“We’ll bring them home, Lucy.”

Loke’s soothing words replayed, and she felt her heart ease. That’s right. He promised he would bring their friends home, where Wendy could heal them. She smiled. Of course. What had she been thinking? Erza and Natsu were probably already in the hall eating. The two of them bounced back quickly enough.

She pulled her lips into a tight line, drawing her attention to Gray. His ashen complexion and the sweat beading his brow spoke of pain. She only hoped it would pass sooner rather than later.

Suddenly, a wave of exhaustion hit her and she sighed deeply. The battle they had been in really did a number on her. She had called on nearly every spirit in her arsenal, including Gemini to perform Urano Metria after she ultimately had to call on Loke. Even the Magic of the Stars hadn’t been enough to destroy the demons.

But a nagging thought pulled at her, the image of a fire dragon slayer coming to mind - a silly grin, blood dripping down his chin, an apology, and a shuddered breath. She swallowed thickly, remembering a bloody halo framing a queen, a cry of denial from her comrade, and the comforting embrace of a lion.

Every breath she expelled felt hollow in her chest. Her eyes turned as the door to the infirmary opened, revealing a small, elderly man and a silver-haired barmaid. “Ah, it’s good to see you awake,” he greeted.

Makarov’s expression spoke volumes, and her heart dropped to her stomach. “Master… Mira…,” Lucy mumbled as tears came to her eyes. Her chest constricted painfully, breathing becoming hard. She didn’t want to ask - didn’t want them to confirm what she already knew.

Their master stood at her bedside, his usually warm eyes hardened with grief. “Lucy, my dear. How are you feeling?”

She shook her head dismissively, wide eyes staring at her guildmates with building panic. “He’s… He’s gone, isn’t he?” she whispered. “Him and Erza and Happy…”

Mirajane sat on the edge of the bed, taking her hand gently, She rubbed soothing circles over her skin with the pad of her thumb, but stayed silent, giving Lucy all the confirmation she needed.

This isn’t real.

“I should’ve never let you take that mission. The outcome is my burden to bear,” Makarov explained, knowing his words held little weight if he could even begin to suspect what Lucy had witnessed. “I don’t want you to blame yourself for what happened. It wasn’t your fault.” He sighed deeply, wanting to further ask her exactly what had transpired on that battlefield, but seeing the crumbling expression on her face, he knew it wasn’t the time. First, they needed to grieve.

The emptiness in Lucy’s heart began to consume her. Brown eyes welled up and tears fell down her bandaged face, lips trembling.

This can’t be real.

Mirajane folded her hand over Lucy’s tighter, tears spilling down her cheeks. “Natsu, Erza, and Happy,” the takeover mage spoke, her voice hitching. “They didn’t make it. They all died in battle.”

At first there was silence - a misty haze upon the horizons of Lucy’s mind. That’s where she kept her emotions bottled up. That was… until now. She could feel the hard, painful lump in the back of her throat as the tears fell faster. Slowly, her breathing hollowed itself and a small, but intense pain struck the top nerve in her head.

Her upper body and shoulders wracked with every sob that forced its way out, chest rising and falling unevenly as she gasped for breath. She squeezed her eyes shut, covering her mouth with her hand as the tears dripped between her fingers. Before she knew it there was shouting, it was hers, and yet it seemed too distant. Time had fast forward. She couldn’t remember the briefest of moments. All she saw was her own fists grasping at her celestial keys for comfort, her tear-stained sheets. She even recognized her own voice repeating, “No, no, no!”

Then there were arms around her and she was being smothered by the scent of cake batter and alcohol. She faintly heard a soothing voice in her ear as her body shook with heartache.

Please don’t let me believe this is real!

It couldn’t have lasted long though, the screaming. A rushing sound filled her ears and all she knew were her hysterical cries that shook the infirmary walls. Deep down, she had known Natsu had died. He had taken his final breath in her arms with a smile on his face. But she hadn’t wanted to believe it. If she didn’t believe it, it couldn’t be true.

But here was someone else, someone else outside the realms of her mind that confirmed one of her deepest fears. Natsu… Erza… Happy… Their teammates. Their friends. Their family. They were all gone.

It took awhile for Lucy to finally calm down, for her to lift her face from Mirajane’s chest, which had been soaked with her tears. She glanced between them, their expressions twisted into one she was sure mirrored her own - filled with grief and despair.

And then her gaze landed on Gray, who remained blissfully unconscious through it all. “Wh-Where are they?” Lucy croaked, her voice hoarse from crying.

“The Thunder Legion just brought them home,” Makarov explained. “They will have a proper Fairy Tail send off.”

“Send off,” she echoed, scoffing bitterly as she pushed the tears from her cheeks. “Sounds like they’re just leaving the guild.”

Mirajane squeezed her hand affectionately, her own face red and blotchy from crying, as she turned her attention to Makarov. “Everyone from the guild will be arriving soon,” she reminded quietly. “They’ll have questions.”

He nodded solemnly. “I’ll have to make an announcement. I’ve already started on the arraignments.”

Lucy hiccupped, feeling a new wave of tears sting her eyes. “I-I can’t…”

The barmaid looked at her with concern. “Lucy, I’m here for you. I can stay with you if you want.”

She shook her head, blonde hair falling over her shoulders, as she pulled her hand free from Mirajane’s grasp. “No, you need to go with Master,” she reasoned. “I… I want to be alone.”

There was hesitation, and then she nodded robotically. She opened her mouth to speak, but they both knew there was nothing to say.

This was when the heroes, armed with the strength and courage of old, dueled against the ancient evil…

And lost.

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hermionegranger56 · 4 years

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ok lads its time for my breakdown of folklore, something absolutely no one is asking for but here we are!! this album. thIs ALBUMMMM. dear GOD. the intersection of my two favorite things, taylor swift and indie folk???? i feel like i’m dreaming. when she announced the surprise drop i literally burst into tears and evidently for good reason lol.

anywho here’s the thing. Red has been my all time favorite album for 8 years now. it holds such an important place in my life and i never thought anything she did could come close (though Lover almost did). but this. THIS IS BETTER THAN RED

the lyrical genius is unmatched here. taylor isn’t just writing songs here, this is POETRY. every song is nuanced, intricate, devastatingly beautiful, with words that’ll haunt me for a long time. and the fact that it’s stories, literal folklore, no longer just about her own life is incredibly creative and is executed so well for someone who has interwoven her life into her entire body of music thus far. folklore blends facts with fiction so seamlessly and is a true exhibition of taylor’s power as a songwriter.

and the vibessss!! from haunting heartbreak songs, to ethereal lost-in-the-woods vibes, to a comforting return to her old self, this album has everything. taylor is without a doubt one of the most versatile artists of our generation, having success and skill in multiple genres and folklore only solidifies this fact.

ALL RIGHT KIDS LETS JUMP IN

the 1: hell yeah explicit tswift give it to me lol you ARE on some new shit!! ok when i first listened to this i hadn’t read her statement about the other perspectives and i was about to RIOT about her and joe breaking up (like they could ever lol). this is such a catchy beat, such a casual?? look at such a painful feeling? a really good start to this album. the part where she goes another day waking up aLONE killlllllls me wow

fave lines: “in my defense i have none/for never leaving well enough alone”

cardigan: (don’t get me started on the mv it’s gorgeous) YES THE TEENAGE LOVE TRIANGLE suchhh a good concept!! the melody of this song is unreal, the chorus makes me want to scream it’s so beautiful, the i-i-i is SOMETHING ELSE. it’s crazy how just the melody makes betty’s pain so palpable, but so enchanting at the same time. it’s bittersweet and cinematic and i’m in love. PETER LOSING WENDY GOD. easily top 5 song here

fave lines: “when you are young they assume you know nothing”, “cause i knew you/ heartbeat on the high line/ once in 20 lifetimes i” “you drew stars around my scars/but now i’m bleeding”

the last great american dynasty: watch hill!!! her watch hill house!! i live near there!! oh i think this song is so clever and i love how it ties into mad woman as well as harkens back to starlight. i LOVE the way she ties her self in, “and then it was bought by me” like ughhh her mind? and its catchy AF

fave lines: “i had a marvelous time ruining everything”

exile: YOU KNOW HOW TO DO AN INDIE ALBUM??? BRING BON IVER INTO THIS SHIT!! wowww this song is haunting and is definitely the “i’m you but stronger” version of The Last Time. the overlap of both of them singing and their parallel lines are flawless. i could play this on repeat for hours and contemplate my whole existence

fave lines: “you never gave a warning sign/i gave so many signs”

my tears ricochet: ok somehow a track 5 with tears in the title is not the saddest song here but DAMN is it good. I love the visual of someone watching over their funeral and reacting. the music is stunningggg here. ALSO i am pretty convinced this is about the whole scott/scooter drama, like the lyrics fit so well? and she said it was the first song she wrote so the timeline kinda fits?? geniusss

fave lines: “I didn’t have it in myself to go with grace”, “and if i’m dead to you/why are you at the wake?”

mirrorball: ohhhh this one is so pretty!! it just makes me want to dance around the kitchen with the person i love??? its comforting, ethereal, happyyy ugh i love it. I also think it could be about her relationship with her fans? like her music shows us different sides of ourselves idk? or just absorbing into a relationship?

fave lines: “on my tallest tiptoes/shining just for you”

seven: i’m gonna call this now: this is going to be the most underrated song on this album. it is STUNNING. POETIC. HEARTBREAKING. the music is so hauntingly nostalgic. and the lyrics, holy absolute shit. they’re a delicate testament to childhood, memory, and innocent love. it’s gut wrenching and i love it so so much

fave lines: “i’ve been meaning to tell you/i think your house is haunted/your dad is always mad/and that must be why”, “and just like folk song/our love will be passed on”, “before i learned civility/ i used to scream ferociously” ALL OF IT

august: and now we get the girl james cheated with’s perspective, which i think is great. its sunny, wistful and sad underneath all that beautiful production. when she slides from the chorus to the “back when we we’re changing for the better” and hits that “mineeee to lose” GOD, it just fills your chest. i feel like even if you never have, this makes anyone feel like they know exactly what a summer fling feels like. one of my faves

fave lines: “august slipped away/like a bottle of wine”, “cancel my plans just in case you call/ and say meet me behind the mall”

this is me trying: the slow pacing of this melody serves to show these EXQUISITE lyrics here. this is so intimate and personal and i feel like everyone can relate to this feeling of just trying to hold on and put on a brave face?

fave lines: “they told me all of my cages were mental/ so i got wasted like all my potential”

illicit affairs: ok all you need to know about this one is a) I’m obsessed b) this is the closest she has come to creating a bridge that makes me feel like the All Too Well bridge has, like scream sobbing in the car type vibe??? its unreal. and this song makes me feel that shitty feeling of: “this was supposed to be casual but oops its very much not” hmmm maybe that’s where the scream sobbing comes from hahah

fave lines: “don’t call me kid/don’t call me baby/look at this godforsaken mess that you made me/you showed me colors you know i can’t see with anyone else”

invisible string: this. THIS is probably her most stunning love song. like. i thought it was Lover. i was wrong. this one is confidently from Taylor’s perspective, about Joe and dear lord i want a love like theirs. and shit does this song put the folk in folklore, the music is so simple and gorgeous and harkens back to her country roots without losing this new sound she has. and the first few notes remind me of Mystery of Love by Sufjan Stevens so instantly im sold. this and betty are tied for my number 1, it’s just too beautiful

fave lines: “time curious time/give me no compasses/give me no signs” “isn’t it just so pretty to think/all along there was some invisible string/tying you to me”, “cold was steel of the axe that i had to grind/for the boys who broke my heart/now i buy their babies presents”, “hell was the journey/but it brought me heaven”

mad woman: FUCK YOU FOREVERRRRRR!!! yes taylor said fuckkkk ugh i LOVE this vibe, the revenge of the mad woman that the town cast out is so eerie and powerful, i’m obsessed. it ties back into the maddest woman of TLGAD and it feels like a spiritual sequel to The Man, the same feminist thread weaving through it. the lyrics are razor sharp and biting, i love it

fave lines: “and you poke that bear/till the claws come out/ and you find something/ to wrap your noose around”, “it’s obvious wanting me dead has really brought you two together”

epiphany: so uhhh THIS is the saddest song on folklore. fight me. the seamless comparison between wartime and the pandemic and waiting for some epiphany that could make sense of all the horrors surrounding the both. idk man, as someone who’s been a covid nurse since March, i just….this one HURTS. similar to Soon You’ll Get Better tbh

fave lines: “hold your hand through plastic now/doc i think she’s crashing out/and somethings you just can’t speak about”

betty: OH I LOVE IT WITH MY WHOLE HEART! this is such a TRIUMPHANT return to old taylor, it is so joyful but sad at the same time?? the harmonica?? the last part of the love triangle?? it sounds like Taylor Swift and Fearless all grown up and it makes me ache for back then, but love where we are right now. tbh the first time i heard this i sobbed through the whole thing just out of pure nostalgia. she’s back but at the same time she never left. this feels like a love song to original fans and it. is. incredible. my favoriteeee goddd

fave lines: THE WHOLE CHORUS BABYYYYY

peace: it’s gorgeous, especially the guitarrr ugh. this feels like delicate’s quiet older sister. i think it’s definitely about joe and how taylor, despite loving him, still has these insecurities and fears about what a relationship with someone in her position could be like? like there will be struggles, but he’s her family and she “would die for you in secret”. stunning

fave lines: “i’m a fire and i’ll keep your brittle heart warm”, “the devils in the detail/but you’ve got a friend in me”, “give you my wild/give you a child”

hoax: i’m surprised she ended it on a sad one (but we still have the lakes!!) but this song is hauntingly beautiful WOW. every line of this absolutely floors me. i think this one will also be largely underrated, but it is pure poetry and deserves so so much hype

fave lines: “stood on the cliffside/screaming give me a reason/your faithless love’s the only hoax i believe in”, “it still hurts underneath my scars/from when they pulled me apart/but what you did was just as dark” “my kingdom come undone/ my broken drum/ you have beaten my heart”

ANYWHO TAYLOR HAS PRODUCED HER BEST WORK TO DATE AND IM READY FOR SAD GIRL AUTUMN

#taylor swift #folklore #tswift #folklore the album #taylor swift folklore #ts8 folklore #folklore era #betty #august #cardigan #exile

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yannsscarf · 5 years

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A personal selection:

every favorite shot from every episode of Skam France season 3.

episode 1: the moment when lucas made up his mind and took the first step.

to me, its a hard one between the moment when eliott walked in le foyer and that facial expression lucas made. it's like a hit to the head and something was growing inside from that moment. but again to me the story of lucas begins here. he chose his fate, his instinct. he hesitated, swallowed, yet he still walked forward. i just love this moment so much.

episode 2: the moment when lucas becoming the Polaris of eliott.

specifically this shot. lucas looked back and its almost like he was searching for acceptance. its so telling with his careful, longing, slightly doubted face. he cut himself open and presented his heart to his crush, it's so bold of a move but it's so beautiful, heartbreakingly beautiful. and you can see eliott’s eyes, they are lightening up like there’s nothing brighter than lucas.

episode 3: the moment when they challenged each other.

where do I begin? or do I even need to? lucas’ eyes are telling everything. if there’s any moment that they are confirming things between them, this is the moment. lucas is challenging, eliott is challenging, they dare each other to take the first move. the tension, the desire, the nameless butterflies flying around in the air. name one stronger eye contact in tv history I’ll wait.

episode 4: ‘i’ve watched your project.’ ‘guess we have to marry now.’

this particular shot is hands down my fav in this season. just how it resembles the dream of eliott, how it shows that lucas is definitely the polaris to eliott, how brave and beautiful it is for lucas to take a lead and show his pure admiration and love to eliott. at this moment they stopped questioning, they stopped guessing and teasing, they found each other. I might be the weirdest person but to me, locking fingers is waaaaay more poetic, sensual and significant than other physical contacts. and this moment completed me.

episode 5: the ending shot.

how do you say, disappointed, hurt, brokenhearted, numbed and despaired? this ending shot tells you how. I don't know where to begin or how to begin to describe the feeling that I had after this scene. or how much it is enough for me to appreciate the cinematography in here. every time I watch it I'm always amazed by that certain amount of blurriness in the ending shot, as if its seen through the eyes of lucas, blurred out from time to time, losing focus every now and then, crushed by rage, despondency, and hopelessness.

episode 6: utter vulnerability, emotionally raw, and friends become family.

I love how lucas is being the one who comforts people in the beginning and tried so hard to get himself together, yet failed in the end. the whole blue in this shot, tone-wise and emotion-wise, is thoroughly conveyed. somehow in the mood of sadness and sorrow, we felt the warmth. in the moment of taciturnity, sadness was flowing under, and the tears were their way out.

episode 7: a fascinating dance in the rain of oil paint.

I probably rewatched this episode 200 times before i made my decision. what can say besides the fact that this clip is not only a tribute but a poem of its own. the way they swing, how they hold onto each other, the holy intimacy, and colors are everywhere as if we just walked into someone’s dream. the shot is so perfectly done it almost feels sacred to me, and nothing there should be violated. hold your breath, stop whatever you are doing, drop your phone, take a seat, and enjoy one the most beautiful shots in tv history.

episode 8: lucas’ ability to love people.

episode 8 is probably the hardest one. too much has happened and too many need to be remembered. i actually made a final 5 and then ditched them all, come up with this one. funny thing is that no matter how many times i watch this clip, especially this scene, i can't tell if its an improvisation or its actually in the script. but either way, they have given a whole new layer of lucas’ character, his ability to love. he stares at eliott until he has gone from sight, he blows a kiss to him even no one is there to catch. this moment is when i go, this boy is far gone in love, its so silly so pure so heartwarming yet so full of strength. he has the world’s strongest empathy even tho he’s gained less during his childhood. this level of devotion and loyalty made lucas the most loveable, angelic and relatable. (btw the tip of his nose bounces when he blows kisses I’ve watched it for two hours no regret.)

episode 9: remember stopped and lucas whispered, ‘T’es plus tout seul.’

kudos to the editing team because how many of us had goosebumps when remember was put on hold, as if the whole world has stopped and all you can hear is lucas’ mad heartbeat, following the line, ‘you are not alone anymore.’ its so simple, so heartwrenching, yet so powerful. they way lucas put himself in a lower position, forehead against eliott, hands cupping eliott’s face, you don't need to hear it to know how much he loves him. its written on his face.

episode 10: the tears of Juedi 17h32.

lucas has cried many times during this season. too many times to the point some pious, mindless people started to complain about it. I’ve said it before but I gotta say it again, be grateful, be devoted, it really is a privilege for us to sit there and witness them all. his emotions through his tears in this season are priceless. and how amazing the whole crew is because they aren't afraid to show it to the audiences. society tells men that its a shame to cry, and most of them act along. lucas said, fuck it, I’ll cry whenever I feel it. and isn't it just the most beautiful, important thing in the world? to me, episode 10 has blessed us some of the most accurate, sincere, on-point reactions. eliott’s honest monologue about his mental health, lucas’ overprotective status and his strong empathy showed up everywhere in those little details. but nothing hits me harder than this shot. the bus drifted, then the camera started pulling away but remained closeup, lucas’ emotions was poured out, everyone is feeling it through the screen. his tears are shed for sadness from parting, happiness from love and tenderness from eliott. his tears are the proof of living the moment, that lucas is living in the moment and feeling everything. and it has to be in our recognition that no one should be reserved from showing basic human emotions.

I specifically took some of those out and highlighted some frames just to show that I really really love them. it’s not ranked, its nearly impossible to rank them. I already had a hard time choosing between scenes. again it’s only my personal taste and some might not seem to be important at all to others. but they are truly my favourite, cinematography wise, symbolism-wise, just anything.

I can’t even say its a tribute or anything to season 3 because it’s just my simple modification of the original work. I only picked them just so I can show my genuine appreciation to the whole crew. they are the real MVP. they have to know that I for one appreciate every second of the season and every piece of transmedia content. I laughed, I cried, I got upset, I became furious, I smiled, I rolled my eyes, I looked into the void, I sighed, but most importantly, I learned.

lucas lallemant, being the little hero he is, really had me fall hard. i don’t even know how to use my pale, plain, tasteless words to describe how much i love him. i love him knowing that i could never reach his level of bravery, and it doesn’t matter. i have thousands of words for him yet somehow I can’t say anything.

I guess if parallel universe does exist, maybe I’ll meet him, hold his hands, might even say thank you even if it sounds strange as hell. but I do thank him.

thank you lucas, for you being you, for always choose love. Thank you for never quitting, for never stop fighting. Sometimes I take a look at you and I tell myself, somewhere in this universe you exist, and that’s such a bliss. I don’t know what did I do to deserve you, such a gentle soul, such a golden heart. Thank you for just, your whole existence. I take a look back of the teenager me and seeing the things that I’ve missed, people who I’ve been wronged. And there’s you, lucas, there’s you. You did things that i never had the guts to do, you choose the one that I’ve lost a long time ago. And I’m so happy that you did because you deserve all the love.

You are my little hero and always will. It’s been such a short amount of time, if only I knew parting was this hard, I would give up anything just to live through these all over again, just so I can meet you one more time, just so I can see your beautiful goofy smile, hold your hands, and give you the biggest hug in the whole world, and say a proper goodbye instead of being a mess and totally out of breath because of all the tears.

I’m gonna miss you so much.

Goodbye Lucas, I love you so, so much, I really do.

Until next time.

#skamfr #skam france #i've never met a 16 yrs old teenager boy who is braver than you #i made myself cry when wrote those #but all because i love you so much #your life continues and i know its gonna be bumpy #but you can do it #somewhere far away from paris im rooting for you #i always do

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daturanerium · 5 years

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while i’m on the topic, one of the most important things to me in astrid and the rest of the blumenkrew’s story is their age. a lot of people (understandably) tend to focus on the trauma part of their story, but don’t recognize just how young they were when they went through their traumatic experiences. as someone who is their age, i guess i felt like i could really understand their reactions better than someone who’s older. when i picture the blumenkrew story, it’s not a tearjerker trauma porn (no offense). it’s a teen coming of age story, because that’s how it was for them---they fully believed they were doing the right thing, even if it meant mutilating themselves and separating themselves from the rest of society. that’s not to say that i erase their trauma! i definitely try not to. but to me, it’s much more tragic (and realistic) when you have good mixed in with the bad, because then you have something to lose. they were kids. they were teens.

i actually have this idea, because i’m either dumb or an overachiever, of what the movie or tv show would look like. i’d want it to be filmed like a magic school teen romcom. golden light filter, happy times, stressing over finals due dates, sneaking out of dorm rooms at night to mess around in the city. getting recruited by one of the teachers who’s on the council, holy shit. i want the audience to believe, just like they did, that there’s nothing wrong--in fact, i want them to belive that everything is going better than planned. and then, as it progresses, i was little background events mixed with hints throughout the main storyline (and visual cues, like slowly removing the golden filter towards the end. maybe. not set on that one specifically but definitely visual cues of some sort) making the audience start to question what’s going on. the blumenkrew don’t really question onscreen, but the audience watches them go through with the crystal process and thinks “wait, this is actually kind of fucked up, right?” and the longer it goes, the more the audience realizes that this is all sorts of wrong, and the more they have to watch these kids go through with it, completely oblivious (or uncaring) to the truth. and then, at the end, the climax. their families are traitors! oh no, what are they going to do? our heroes have to put all they’ve learned in class to the test as they go through with their first on-field mission. trent’s memory-altering is still presented like a plot twist, but it’s really not--the audience has been suspicious for a while. and when bren breaks, as astrid goes through with the feeblemind spell while eodwulf holds him back from firing again, i want it to be clear to the audience that bren lost two familes that night: his birth family and his best friends. that, i think, is the tragedy. i want the switch between coming-of-age and horror/tragedy to be almost seamless. i want there to be no distinct point where you can pinpoint where things went wrong. i might even lull them into a false sense of security sometimes, just to keep things parallel to what the kids are experiencing.

i could go on and on about that. i hope my little daydream doesn’t come across as minimizing or overdramatizing their trauma--i know a lot of people love the blumenkrew because they’ve experienced similar trauma, and the last thing i want is to make them feel uncomfortable or spoken over. their age is just something that’s really important to me, and this is my way of conveying that importance. hopefully that makes sense.

anyway, word-v*mit over. that was kind of fun, writing that out. i’ve had it in my mind for ages.

#shut up emmy #soltryce 3 #blumenkrew #this is SUPER off topic but i learned a couple of weeks ago that everyone in the blumen-blank community has been using a different tag #and that's why i haven't been able to find anything #lmfaooo #clown noises #anyway i might go more in-depth on this later. writing screenplays in my head is fun especially when i have no idea what i'm doing

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theshijlegacy · 5 years

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Rise of Skywalker ramblings

Saw RoS last night and loved it.

I’d seen the mixed reviews and was a bit apprehensive going in, but was pleasantly surprised in a lot of ways. It kept some of the spirit of TLJ that I liked while still delivering a lot of the “safer” Star Wars story that I expected. Being part of a super enthusiastic opening night crowd is always fun too. And it’s nice to see that I’m not the only person who liked the whole 7-8-9 trilogy!

Spoileriffic thoughts below.

--Rey Palpatine was one of the theories I’d kicked around, but it would have been nice if she really was nobody, like the Force doesn’t care who you’re related to. Timeline-wise she would have been better off as his great-granddaughter but I completely buy Sheev having lots of kids and/or having some later in life.

--I’d been running with the “Skywalker is the new name for Force user” theory for a while, but I’m OK with Rey adopting it as her last name. She doesn’t have to be a Palpatine and the name of the family that saved the galaxy is continuing.

--HOLY CRAP FINN IS FORCE SENSITIVE. I would love it if that was what he wanted to tell Rey. (Best answer from Reddit: “I’m in love with Poe and don’t know how to tell him!”)

--Ben Solo didn’t make it to the end! I was convinced he’d get a redemption arc and live happily ever after. Props to JJ/whoever for going in that direction, especially with the Jedi fadeout.

--The opening crawl getting right to "oh hey the emperor isn't really dead.” So happy they didn't drag out the “when-do-we-see/hear-the-emperor???” mystery

--Sheev Palpatine and his motherfucking contingencies for contingencies, plans-within-plans shit. This guy was a thousand steps ahead of everyone else, all the time. Got a glimpse of that in Empire’s End too.

--LOL the tank of Snoke clones. Sheev loves his clones, in both canon and legends!

--Poe’s lightspeed skipping. Poe being an ex-spice runner. Poe and Zorii! Poe in general. Poe is great.

--Luke/Leia training flashback!! Leia's lightsaber!!!! Which she presumably built herself!!!!!

--3-way Finn/Poe/Rey hug. And the sound of a thousand fanfics being composed…

--More First Order defectors who had been kidnapped as children. (Also a plot point in Empire’s End, complete with a 6-year-old-ish Armitage Hux ordering around a group of kidnapped-and-brainwashed child recruits)

--Hux being the mole, not because he agrees with the resistance, but because he hates Kylo Ren. I bet he was hatching a plan as soon as Snoke was killed.

--Force-healing onscreen! And it wasn’t just “Force magic” (which I also would have been OK with), it was actual taking life from one to give to another.

--Rey was noticeably better at lightsaber fighting. She was… not great in TFA. Only slightly better in TLJ. Her year of training really shows and I like that we’ve seen a pretty clear progression.

--Rey stopping that transport with some Kyle Katarn shit and Kylo trying to get it back and OH SHIT REY SHOT OUT FORCE LIGHTNING

--Palpatine: GLADoS edition has been added to my recent “horrifying scene that works but really gives me the creeps” list (also includes flashback to Coulson resuscitation/brain surgery with him repeating “just let me die” on Agents of SHIELD, Brainy getting rebooted on Supergirl)

--Aside from his GLADoS-esque support arm complete with wires, I liked undead-Palpatine's look - missing fingers, whited-out eyes, and his transformation after he stole life from Rey & Kylo. Especially the red-lined robes.

--Got serious Endgame vibes at the end with all the ships showing up. Husband unit also pointed out the parallel of “I am inevitable”/”I am Iron Man” and “I am all Sith”/”I am all Jedi”

--OMG ALL THE JEDI SPEAKING TO REY. I didn’t recognize everything at first but I heard Obi-Wan (young & old), Yoda, Mace Windu, Ahsoka(!!!!!), and Anakin. Per the credits, voices also included Qui-Gon(!), Luminara Unduli, Aayla Secura, Adi Gallia, and Kanan Jarrus(!!!!!). Two notable absences: Cal Kestis and Ezra Bridger. I can accept Cal’s fate as TBD since Fallen Order just came out, but this is really good news for Ezra. I am now super super interested to see where these two have been.

--Kept the Rey/Kylo force-connection deal. It weirded me out in TLJ but I’m really glad it was kept here.

--Wedge coming back for one last ride! (and aging pretty well, wow)

--RIP Snap. :-( I’d grown a bit attached to him after the Aftermath trilogy, but I think Norra and Brentin would have been proud.

-- ForceGhost!Luke has a new attitude; I guess being dead for a while tends to mellow you out. I am still 100% OK with his character in this trilogy.

--Kylo not being as good at fighting after he dropped the dark-side allegiance – specifically the 6v1 fight against the Knights of Ren before he got the lightsaber. Like he'd been into it so deep for so long he forgot how to fight without it.

--Han coming back one last time for some Ghost Dad Advice

--THANKS FOR NOT KILLING CHEWIE!! I was seriously worried

--Rey fights herself!

--Where can I buy a replica of that Sith wayfinder? I do like shiny force-user crystals/holocrons/etc

--Rey finally builds her own lightsaber! And it’s yellow.

--TAKE THAT REYLOS: Oh you want a kiss huh? There’s your kiss! AND NOW HE’S DEAD.

--That whole scene. Kylo staring at dead Rey. Kylo force-healing Rey and bringing her back to life. And now they’re staring at each other, and I’m thinking don’t kiss you idiots, don’t fucking do it. FUCK they did. I actually booed out loud. (I will not deny being a little bit happy that Kylo died immediately after)

--All of the “are you happy Ep 7 & 8 haters???” stuff: Rey is super powerful because she’s Palpatine’s granddaughter, someone bringing up a “why don’t we Holdo this” argument and getting shot down with good reason, showing Leia’s Force powers with a flashback to being trained by Luke AND having her own lightsaber

--The urgent timeline got kind of.. muddled? Forgotten? They had 18 hours or 12 and still had time for all those spacejumps and Lando gathering friends from all over?

--A bit too on-the-nose with some of the ROTJ parallels. Lando in disguise saving the day on a desert planet! Speeder bike chase! Emperor taunting Our Hero while their friends are losing a huge battle outside! A Skywalker dies so Our Hero can live!

--Also wondered if one of the writers played SWTOR: Emperor who really isn’t dead uses Super Mega Force Lightning and tries to jump into Our Hero’s body to take over their mind.

After chewing on this for a day, here’s my ranking of Skywalker/Palpatine saga films from best to worst:

5 > 8 > 9 > 4 > 7 > 6 > 3 > 2 > 1

And including Solo and Rogue One:

5 > Rogue One > 8 > 9 > 4 > 7 > 6 > 3 > Solo > 2 > 1

tbh I’m so far into the “inject all Star Wars content directly into my veins pls” territory that I can’t say I hate any of it, and even the cringiest prequel moments are leaps and bounds ahead of a lot of other junk I’ve watched/read/played. So much about Star Wars is just FUN, and I will gladly handwave away most of my nitpicks (SpeedForce, I ain’t gotta explain shit) for the sake of enjoying the story. Even the ridiculous stuff that I poke fun at is still a part of the whole mess; it can’t all be great or even good or OK and that is fine with me. [NOTE: I have not watched the Holiday Special but the husband unit is weirdly enthusiastic about me doing so; it may happen yet this year.]

I really like this comment from the A.V. Club. More cynical than my overall take on the whole shebang but I totally know with where they’re coming from. I don’t agree with all the responses but it’s a pretty good discussion.

#rise of skywalker spoilers #episode 9 spoilers #spoilers

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chattegeorgiana · 5 years

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Gotta give it to you, watching/reading Boruto after the shit show Naruto was and analyzing the story... Holy shit, I'm still upset with how things went after many years of following and I'm unable to bring myself to read/watch the sequel or want to. I wonder how the shitty sequel makes you feel after everything that happened with the shitty original.

Welp, I must admit that being “freed” from Naruto and its canon, helped me a great deal in this matter. That’s why I am able to read Boruto with no problem.

I am no longer attached to it, therefore I can easily just get through the new phase. I was too attached like many others in the fandom to the old story. Maybe a little bit too much. Buuuuut that’s who I am, quite passionate when I am really taking a liking into something. And Naruto made it there. I don’t get attached to many things, I have about one story to each phase of my life. For example, for childhood Sailor Moon tops everything.

Same with games. I am a gamer, but not that idk fanatic type. You can count the games I played on the fingers of your hand. It’s quite simple: all Need for Speed series up to Carbon (VIVA MOST WANTED!), Diablo 2 and 3, Starcraft Brood War and Starcraft 2, Sacrifice aaaaand I think that’s about it.

With Naruto I gave in because it seemed something else aaaaand due to its great symbolism. I have to admit I am a fool for love, ahem, symbolism. Even in school when we studied it, I was all over the subject. You wanna have my heart? Give me a story with mythology and symbolism and I’m all yours. That’s why I have great interest in astrology as well.

But anyway, getting back to the subject because I have derailed a bit once more (sorry for the bad habit!).

How does it make me feel? Curious. I have a curious mind and that curiosity of mine can be both a blessing and a curse, depends how someone wants to use it, haha. Guess it can be used for my own benefit or against it.

I’ve said in the past that I am done with Naruto - and I am, nevertheless. It’s not a story that I will recommend due to the illogical paths it took from a development pov and character development pov. After Pein arc it suuuuuuure went crazy. Imo, up to that point Naruto as a story was gold. From there on, the whole mess started if you ask me.But I still watched it and still gave it a chance because I thought Kishimoto would end it in a somewhat satisfying end for the story. Of course, he was never gonna satisfy everyone, that’s for sure. You can never do that because we’re 8 billion people on this goddamn earth and we each have our views and taste. However, I wished he would’ve stayed true to his intentions, to his authorial intent.

So what if Hinata grew popularity without doing nothing? Keep that damn Sakura development going on, damn it. Aside for everything else, this is something I will never be able to forgive Kishi for. Pairings aside, plot aside, everything else aside. I don’t care about them in the end, life moves on. But for this move, I’m like.. nah, bro. Ain’t doing it. This is the reason I’ll never ever ever support any Kishimoto written story ever again, nor I will forgive him.

Of course, not that he needs my forgiveness anyway. I’m a mere human continents away, he’s a world renown writer who wrote his story. But that’s the thing here. Naruto was his story. He should’ve stayed true to it. Not change it at the last minute on the whims of a loud fanbase. It’s that resilience against external forces that makes you who you are, and the way you respond to it. Apparently, Kishimoto gave in.

And you know what’s funny about it, in the bittersweet sense, of course? And imma throw a little pairing shade here. People were quick to jump the bandwagon that “Naruto didn’t give up his love for Sakura”. But I am posing a question here… didn’t he really? I mean, think a bit logical here… if we’re to make an analogy, as we all know it Kishimoto always said that he identifies as Naruto. And in the interview with Kobayashi he said that no matter how much he tried to write about Sakura, he saw Hinata’s popularity grow inexplicably, so then, in the end he gave-up writing about Sakura.Therefore, in a parallel way (like he so much liked to build his story on), couldn’t one say that “Naruto gave up on Sakura”?

Kishimoto always said how he’s fond of Sakura in her own way, because she was the normal one, she represented the human weakness.

But you know what the problem is? She was that mirror, Sakura was that mirror to our humanity, and thus to our weakness. In a world full of powerful ninja-gods, we didn’t like to see a human girl trying to attain her own worth through her own trials and errors, while showcasing human weakness at doing so. Why? Because she brought-us back to reality, out of our “genjutsu’d” way of living in that story. In that very story we all liked to live, where we had powerful Uchihas, Hyugas, Senjus and Uzumakis who were offered everything on a silver plate from birth, here came a girl who had nothing, no support, no special ability, nothing more but her brains.

And that girl was human, and humans are weak. And we are humans. And we don’t like that we’re weak. So of course, we had to take her out. By all and any means. And they did so. The loud fanbase whose name I won’t be naming right now did so.

And thus, Kishimoto, the Naruto of our story, saw himself forced into a corner to give up on his love for Sakura. Of his fondness of a character that was something else, than your usual god-like powered ninja. So in the end, yes… Naruto gave up on his love for Sakura. Take it shipping wise or authorial-character relationship-wise, however you wanna take it, but it’s the truth.

And that is my beef with Kishi. He could’ve made this open-ended, he could’ve made this like it is but with different development, a normal and in accordance with his story one. And I would’ve been just fine with it.

But he didn’t. He preferred to throw all that into nothing, throw Sakura away for the popularity of this wretched story. He took the short way out. And for someone who preached different in his story, boooy it so seems wrong.

However, I’ve made peace with it. I moved forward, accepted that this is the way he chose to deal with the situation. Now only my curiosity is peaked in seeing how will they deal forward with the story and how many retcons will they build over and over again in order to rewrite 15 years of development, for that “shock value” of the finale.

As someone who aspires to write her story one day, and who happens to work in marketing and thus knows the know-hows of how you advertise a product, for me at this point as I said, this story became a case-study from where I’ll be drawing my own conclusions on how to and how not to. Even if things didn’t fully went the way I predicted them (though funnily enough 80% did so and even do so in the current story with Boruto - which is odd - but alas), and one could argue that I am bitter because of the pairings and because I lost and whatnot, I am at peace. It was never about the pairings - though one could argue so because most of my writings were NaruSaku centered. It was about the characters themselves, the relationships and dynamics between them AND their development. A cornerstone in every well-built story. But alas…

In the end it’s as the old tale says: You win or you learn. You never lose.

#naruto #boruto #masashi kishimoto #narusaku #sakura haruno

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crescentmoonrider · 5 years

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so uh, i was telling @ishibooty about my daydreams and the fact that somehow in two of these scenarios, marcus ends up joining libra, and all of a sudden it was 5am and i had 3k words of summary of marcus’ arc for one of them

there are two parts to it. this was supposed to be a side-plot. why am i like this

anyway enjoy my ramblings i guess

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Mushroom arc

Marcus and Leo meet at the hospital (Daniel came to visit/interrogate/make fun of Steven and kicked Leo out of the room) and leave a good impression on each other. (“So uh, are you also a cop ?” “Why does everyone assume that ? Is it my name ??”)

Later, Libra investigates on a drug ring. Because the drug seems to incorporate magic in its fabrication, making it as potent on humans as well as all sorts of beyondians, Leo is sent alongside Zapp to get a sample and get a closer look and maybe identify the spellcaster or something. Marcus is in the club and makes himself known, and it turns out he is part of the gang. Zapp and Leo get invited to a private room and meet some of the higher-ups (Marcus included), buy their sample, and are then asked to breathe into a container, of which they are assured it is perfectly safe, just a security measure. Since murdering clients seems like a pretty bad business plan for a drug ring, the duo does what they’re asked. They pass out and wake up in the club, with no memory of the past 30 minutes.

Later, Leo is greeted by Marcus at Diane’s Diner and they have a chat, during which Leo feels like he met Marcus recently but can’t seem to place it ? Marcus makes fun of him, asks if Leo has been hanging with Mushroom beyondians and at Leo’s confusion, mentions the amnesic effects of their spores.

Leo comes back to Libra all “MOM HOLY FUCK”, and the team decide to investigate that memory-erasing spore thing. Also one of Steven’s “contacts” discouraged him from looking deeper into the drug ring geez I wonder why that might be.

In parallel to that whole investigating, Leo goes to eat out with Nej, accidentally bumps into Marcus, and they somehow become a trio of burger pals ? (“wait what do you mean you sold Nej burgers for profit” “it’s money my dude”) Hanging out together during lunch break regularly, all that jam. At some point, following Leo and Marcus complaining about their respective workplaces and co-workers (preluded by Marcus being all like “work ? like, part-time ? aren’t you in high school ?” “… I’m 21…” (quietly) “what the fuck”), Nej mentions having an actual job but can’t seem to remember it. Cue laugh track I guess.

Plot twist it’s not funny it’s actually tragic because the place Nej works at is the spore extraction factory that serves as the center of that Mushroom traffic. Chain, Zapp, and Leo storm the place, Leo gets beaten up, Nej is traumatized, the Mushroom beyondians are evacuated, the building is burned down and so are the spores. Meanwhile, Marcus is allowed for the first time into the laboratory, meets the spellcaster, looks around the place and asks non-suspicious questions, he’s just curious and enthusiastic and kind of dumb in his cleverness but that’s just how Marcus is haha look at him, such a good and loyal guy (we hope).

Someone caught Leo and Zapp on tape while they destroyed the factory and since Marcus is friends with Leo, it’s a bit uhhhhhhh suspicious ? Marcus is all “do I look like I have control over whatever every single one of my friends does ?”, the Chief goes “okay well, would you fucking mind getting that kid over here so we can know where he learned about the spore factory ?”, and so Marcus goes to do just that.

Except he doesn’t. What he does is go see Leo at the hospital, offers to go on a walk in the hospital park, covertly gives Leo a vial of his own blood, and tells him to act like they’re fighting and then run away and bring the vial to Daniel. He then makes as if to grab Leo to take him with him.

Leo knees him in the dick and books it. The gang guy dispatched to make sure Marcus actually did his job watches and comes to the conclusion that Marcus is on their side because, like, yeah.

When he gets the news and the blood, Daniel calls the narc brigade to start the tracking, grabs Leo, gets in the car, and starts driving. The “tracking” is actually blood magic, the vial of blood Marcus gave Leo reacting to sigils he left at the lab and even on the spellcaster and forming spikes in the direction of it all. Turns out Marcus was an undercover narc looking to get his hands on the spellcaster (drug labs are rather easy to make, having a magic user able to apply their knowledge to that kind of craft is a lot less common).

Of course when magic is activated, it risks being picked up on by other magic users, so any intervention needs to be swift, and also Marcus seems to have been under some suspicion (why else would he ask Leo to serve as a middle-man) so things need to move real fast. (“wait so you’re going on a drug busting operation with a civilian in your car ? I know I said I wanted to know what the hell is going on but that’s kind of, like, uhhh” “you’re holding the vial and giving me the directions, I can’t do that while driving”)

Anyway, most of the gang is arrested, Marcus ends up in the hospital because he saw some kids crossing the road without watching and jumped in to save them, ironically saving him from being exposed as a cop to the underworld, and Leo later apologizes for kneeing him in the dick. End of arc

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Boss arc

Marcus takes advantage of his old gang being disbanded, and of him still looking like a regular crime guy, to join another, bigger group. The Boss welcomes him with open arms because 1) Marcus sells himself really well (“yo my brother’s a lieutenant of police, I got some intel”) and 2) they actually knew each other before the Collapse, and while Marcus never worked for him, the Boss has a lot of respect for him.

The burger trio still hangs out together, and sometimes Marcus also hangs out with Leo alone. It’s a nice break from work for Marcus honestly, Leo is a chill guy, and it’s great to not have to pretend to be someone else, with someone who isn’t Daniel, for once. And for Leo it’s also a nice break from the usual Libra madness. They share wacky stories, some gossip, one time Marcus arrives like “LEO HOLY FUCK” because he spotted Steven at Daniel’s flat and they both lose their shit. They also get a little more real sometimes I mean, both of them have some heavy baggage, and Marcus doesn’t have a lot of emotional support outside of his brother (who is married to his work and not great at emotions himself). In short, they’re friends.

Anyway, Leo may or may not be developing a crush – whatever the truth is, Zapp has decided to go on Big Brother mode and drag Zed along to stalk Marcus and make sure he’s an okay guy. (“are you sure this is necessary ?” “this is HL, and this is Leo, he’s like, a trouble magnet ! and if things turn out badly, guess who will have to deal with the fallout ?” “… you actually care, don’t you” “shut up !”) Of course, Marcus publicly performs as a Crime Guy, so that’s a little… well…

Zapp and Zed follow Marcus to a shady pub where Marcus has a meeting with the Boss (“wait isn’t this guy like, a crime lord” “god fucking dammit”), get spotted, but since Marcus isn’t about to out them as Libra if he can avoid it, he just ironically buys them a drink. And that’s how a hot mess and a merman end up sharing a table with a Crime Guy and a Crime Lord. Zapp, always the diplomat, asks Marcus to break up with Leo. Marcus is obviously very confused because, like, they’re not ??? A thing ??? So Zapp instead tells him to not start a thing, while Zed sits there nervously and very obviously tries to not look at the Boss.

Marcus laughs it off, but he ends up a little shaken by the encounter honestly, not because Zapp said anything particularly clever, but because it echoes doubts he’s been holding about himself for a while now. He’s been doing his job for quite a long time, has done quite a lot of shitty things to keep his cover up, and he – he isn’t quite sure he’s really helping. Sure, he’s lead to the dismantling of some drug rings, but was it worth it ? If he looks at what he did for the past years, how exactly is he different from the people he targets ?

Also there’s like, Collapse trauma, which in his case is also closely related to that whole issue. For three days, Marcus walked around with a suitcase of “merchandise” from whatever his gang was at the time, doing his best to survive and get that thing where he was supposed to get it and not lose it and not act like a servant of the people who would actually help, or try to help at least. Marcus made it out of the Collapse with his cover intact, his gang mostly dead, and a suitcase full of shit he didn’t know what to do with because the people he was supposed to bring it to died and he did it all for nothing. He let people die for nothing.

And he does feel a kinship with some of his “co-workers”. He’s friend with some of them. He slept with one of them, at a time when he had just lost whatever purpose he’d had for the three days the Collapse lasted, at a time when he couldn’t get in touch with his family and make sure they were alive and he was just so desperate for someone he knew, for some human warmth, for whatever comfort he could get. And the Boss (at the time not his boss, but someone he knew and who made business with whoever he used to work for) was kind and praised his determination and good work and just held him with no judgement.

Marcus enjoys the Boss’s company. What happened after the Collapse was a one-off thing, but they’ve been in touch ever since, drinking out sometimes, sharing some quiet comfort together. The Boss introduced Marcus to a new group in exchange for his merchandise. The Boss keeps on vouching for him, trusts him, and Marcus almost feels a little guilty.

He feels guilty a lot, he finds, whether that be when he enjoys drinking with his co-workers or when he works at home on a spell that would identify the caster in charge of their drug.

One time, Steven comes to the Boss with a deal, information for whatever price the Boss gives and Marcus sits there, at the Boss’ right, watches Steven and the apparent friendship between him and the Boss and thinks “ah”. Same fucked up hat, same dilemma, same constant walking a line you can barely see.

At Daniel’s place (Steven has been there a lot more often lately, and Marcus a lot less, but they still end up meeting at times), neither of them mention that moment of recognition. But Marcus mentions being a little tired, and Steven half-jokingly offers him a place in Libra, should he ever want a change of pace.

And Marcus thinks maybe, just maybe, this would be better. Maybe he could help, really help, the way he wants to. He just needs to finish this job. Just this one job.

It’s not that he means to isolate himself, he just really needs to figure this spell out, and anyway Zapp was exposed as Libra and that brought suspicion on Marcus because of the whole “don’t date my friend/colleague” incident and while the Boss trusts him, there’s this one guy who has some amazing instincts (and maybe holds a grudge for that time Marcus beat him up for trying to sell stuff to kids), and that means hanging out with Leo is probably a terrible idea. And he has work. And he is so, so tired. He has nightmares, too, a little more than usual. Maybe more than that.

It’s a good thing that there are spells offering protection against nightmares, really, a good thing there are spells that provide energy too. Marcus has a rule against ever consuming something he sells, but he’s been so tired lately that he gets close. But there are spells for sleep that work better than alcohol, and spells for energy that work better than cocaine, with none of the less appreciable side-effects, and it’s a shame the only magic he knows is blood magic because drawing blood to activate them is a pain, literally. But it’s a small trade-off for the ability to keep it together and finish his work.

Leo actually seeks him out once, and while the encounter is short because Marcus can’t afford to hang out with “most definitely Libra” and tells Leo that (and also mentions Zapp and Zed’s visit because he is petty), it’s also nice to have Leo be all “if it’s because you’re afraid of getting me into trouble, friendly reminder that this is HL and that I am Libra” at first and just. Miss him, apparently ? Marcus will have to treat him to lunch once he is done.

After that, after his eyes pick up on the weird magic going on over Marcus’ shoulder, Leo looks up spells by shape, and if he was worried about Marcus avoiding him before, he is now worried for an entire different set of reasons. Square-shaped spells are reinforced exponentially, and there’s no way anything stronger than a level-1 energy spell (the equivalent of an espresso) can be healthy. Also he is going to kill Zapp.

And finally, finally, Marcus gets his breakthrough. He finalizes his identification spell, drops a little blood on the powder in the middle of the circle, and gets a signature. He can track this caster. He grabs paper, a pencil, writes down the signature sigil, calls Daniel to tell him that he got it, and – and there was a defensive spell inside the drug because of course there was and Daniel needs to come here right now.

At the time, Daniel is wrapping up a case with Klaus and Gilbert nearby, and there is no question what the fastest vehicle here is. The others can manage without him. Daniel reaches Marcus’ flat in record time, Klaus on his heels, and they find Marcus unconscious on the floor, left arm injured, in a state that seems much worse than it should be.

Daniel grabs the paper Marcus is holding, Klaus compresses the injury and carries Marcus to the car, and Gilbert drives as fast as possible in these conditions. Calls are made – to the narc brigade, sending them the signature so they can do whatever it is they need to do with it and so they can prepare to start the tracking of what Marcus left for them to find, and to Steven, who is currently free and can absolutely help in the capture of the higher-ups of the gang (Leo definitely helps spot anyone who escapes).

Luciana welcomes them with the same determination she has at all times, and the slight annoyance she always expresses at seeing Daniel, and hurries Marcus inside. “What did he take ?” she asks, and Daniel could strangle her. Marcus doesn’t take anything, he is a professional, how dare she – but he is overdosing, Klaus was the only thing keeping his heart beating during the drive there, and the powder on the floor of his flat seemed weirdly crystallized, like it had solidified and broken. And there was no weapon that could explain Marcus’ injuries. And the conclusion Daniel and Luciana reach is. Bad.

He answers Luciana’s questions, asks for a small sample of Marcus’ blood, shouts at whoever he has on the phone at the time, and goes for the car. Luciana is baffled, Gilbert readies to drive, and Klaus says he will stay at the hospital and call if anything happens. It’s not a pretty arrangement, but the look on Daniel’s face was one that promised death to anything that tried to stop him, so.

I could go into length about the capture, about the way Daniel almost killed the Boss for his words, about the return to the hospital and the gruelling wait for news, about the way the Luciana on coffee break duty told Daniel off for criticizing her devotion to her work when he isn’t much better himself, about the relief Daniel felt at it being personal, a revenge of sorts, instead of something he’s heard much too often about his being heartless. He isn’t, if Marcus died it would break him, but he simply doesn’t know any other way to deal with these emotions than drowning them in work.

Later that night, after Steven has dragged him home to make him catch at least some sleep, he will tell Steven about the death of his grandfather, back when he was a kid, about Marcus crying for an hour, about himself not shedding a single tear, instead finishing the model boat the three of them had started because he needed to do something. It will be the first time they have that kind of discussion, the first time it feels like whatever they have going on is a serious relationship. But that is a story for another time.

When Marcus wakes up, a few days later, he asks Daniel to transmit his resignation letter. His recovery will take time, months even, to get back to a functioning state both physically and mentally, but that is the first step towards that. Another step will be to buy Leo and Nej lunch when he gets discharged, reconnecting with them. And another will be to ask Steven if the job offer was serious, and to accept it.

Marcus joins Libra as a blood mage with some background information on drug dealings, and he thinks, for the first time in forever, he can help.

(Also he hasn’t told Daniel anything about that last part and he is not looking forward to that conversation, at all.)

#kekkai sensen #blood blockade battlefront #marcus law #leonardo watch #yumi writes #note : blood magic and blood fighting techniques are not the same and actually dont have much in common #yes i actually made some magic theory for this. its. somewhere in my unscanned sketches #my naming conventions for most characters are. terrible. if i dont know your name ill just call you by your job #idk if read mores are still as buggy as they used to be on mobile but it they are im very sorry #body heat AU

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sieben9 · 6 years

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“the final battle” impressions

{Quick request to anyone reading: I’m watching OUaT for the first time, and I want to avoid spoilers. So, if you want to discuss something spoilery, I’d be grateful if you could start a new post for that. Thank you!}

Ah Once, what am I going to do with you?

I mean, this episode was definitely an Experience™, that much is certain. Just… ::sighs::

Look, if I try to sum it up, I think the best I can do is “this was twenty minutes of a really good finale stuck inside a rushed ninety-minute wtf-fest. Also, those twenty minutes belong to a totally different season.

this is the sort of thing you’ve got to foreshadow at least a LITTLE

The acting was pretty damn good, though.

(Fair warning: don’t open this on mobile, there’s a ridiculous amount of pictures under the cut)

OK. So. Couple of things that I really liked up front, so I can gripe in peace later on. (And readers can skip whatever part they wish ; )

First, and I realise this is a weird thing to enjoy, but I loved how utterly despicable I found Fiona in this one. She may have hung around like a bad smell for most of the season without really doing much, but she sure stepped up her game for the occasion.

Seriously, if Rumple hadn’t killed her, I would have found a way. “Our son”, indeed.

Though, please, have some pity on the poor guy. At this point, he has killed both his parents, and one of them twice. That can’t be good for anyone.

oh look the wall robots are still there

And speaking of Rumple… dang, that was a good scene in the mines. What I loved most about it was that this was literally all him. Nobody would ever know what he did in there if he didn’t tell them, except for himself, and he still made the right choice. Despite being offered everything he ever wanted, despite being under the influence of his curse just as much as ever…

before you ask, yes, my mind did go Places

…and more literally than it’s usually shown. Well done, pal. I should probably be more excited about this, but despite the tense buildup, I feel like the scene kind of fizzled as a whole. Maybe because he already made the exact same choice earlier, and was just confirming that he really meant it, too. Still, it was a good moment, and I was very proud of this walking human disaster by the time it was done.

Some more on the topic of Rumple: congratulations on his acting skills. Rumple’s, not Robert Carlyle’s, specifically. Because there’s no way in hell I could have seen these photos…

…and kept a straight face. Honestly, I’m half convinced that they were a test by Fiona to see if he was awake after all.

Oh, and the book!

The book made it across! And you know why? Because Belle and her son have True Love, even if Gideon cannot remember that, because Fiona is The Worst. And Rumple worked so hard to make Gideon remember; it was heartbreaking to see. I mean, he had to do that for… what? Five hours? And he still couldn’t stand the thought that Gideon might believe his mother didn’t love him. It was a good scene, OK?

On a sillier note (but still unambiguously positive): Emma’s wardrobe came back for the finale!

I don’t know, it’s just nice to see.

Other things I loved a lot:

Any and all interactions between Regina and her now-settled other half. Just. Pure joy, even in the midst of the wtf-ery. And with the obvious standout-moment when the Queen goes and sacrifices herself to give the others that tiny bit of time they need to get back to their world and help Henry (and Emma, but I think we all know who the priority was in this case)

Just… damn. I’m still worried about this woman’s self-destructive streak in general, but this was a good moment. (It also helps that she got better. ‘cause that could have been really depressing otherwise.)

Oh, and since we’re speaking of Regina (or the Reginas, plural), I absolutely adored the speech she gave Emma. Just… I mean, I expect the hope speeches from Snow (and that one was pretty good, too), but this? I mean… wow. Please compare and contrast with season 1. Except you don’t have to, because Regina already did that, and it was beautiful.

Then we have an actual mirrored TLK (see below for a botched version…) in this very good moment:

Like, yes, I love bookends, and this was a great one. Calling back to the “holy crap why didn’t I see this coming” kiss in s1 worked surprisingly well, considering how little interaction Emma and Henry had this season, but there’s enough material in the show in general to make me buy into this. Like I said: sucker for bookends.

In general, I feel like this episode was at its strongest whenever re-focused on the family relationships between the characters.

And to close it out, the ending montage.

Just... it’s like Snow said. They get to live their happy endings now. Snowing finally have the time to be a proper family (and David got a dog!). Regina is accepted and loved by her people (and the Queen gets to have a completely “new adventure”, as Robin so aptly put it.) Snow can do what she loves and doesn’t have to fight all the time anymore. And Emma finally has a place in the world; one where she can settle and be comfortable and doesn’t have to be alone anymore... and I’ll just leave it at that. It’s a good ending.

And no, I haven’t forgotten it--obvious special mention to this bit here:

Yup. Killed me dead. And I died happy, thank you very much. They’ve been through so much bullshit, and now they can be together, and raise their son in peace, and won’t be really worried when he doesn’t stop growing, either.

I also want to give a special shoutout to the five six people who immediately made sure that I knew that 1) the kiss wasn’t scripted and 2) we, as a fandom, are extremely lucky to have Robert and Emilie. (For those who haven’t seen the interview in question, it’s here, and here)

The finishing dinner was nice, too, even if I’m not sure what the whole Last Supper imagery was supposed to do.

Listen, I’ve been going “just let them be happy!” for way too long to complain much when they finally are. Also, I could write an essay on the range of emotions Rumple goes through when he comes through that door and people are actually happy to see him and his family. Or about that look that passes between him and Regina, because I caught that and it made me cry! I don’t think either of them ever imagined they would really be this happy again when they first met and they’ve been through so much crap and just... guh. I like this. It’s a good closing shot.

And now, the rest.

Because frankly, this wasn’t a great finale. It wasn’t even that good of an episode. It was everything wrong with the 4B finale, only more of that.

For example: What was the deal with making Emma lose her belief? Since when was her belief required for the magical realms to exist? The only person who’s ever had even something approaching that function was Henry. She didn’t need to believe in magic to keep it alive, she needed it to break the curse.

And this was never set up as the Black Fairy’s plan. Not even a little. This came so out of left field, it wasn’t even in the same stadium! And it’s so frustrating, because this wasn’t a bad plot, as such, but there was no build-up, no real payoff, nothing. Or, let me put it differently: this was a perfectly fine plot resolution, it just had no business being attached to this season.

Everything felt rushed, there were about five dozen plot points, none of them with any time to breathe and somehow, we still got that terminally boring climb up the bean stalk.Sorry, David, you know I love you, but what was the point of that sidetrack? Nothing happened. There was no try-and-fail cycle (because there wasn’t time for one) and honestly, if you needed a handwave for how they got back from the magical realms, maybe you could have gone with a less time intensive one?

And that moment where Snow kisses David back to life? Yeah, unearned, again. And dear show: the cut-in from the first episode worked for the split-heart curse, because you were subverting it. But here? It just didn’t do anything. This wasn’t a parallel. David wasn’t cursed, he was crushed by a beanstalk.

And speaking of things that don’t make sense…

For the love of fuck. Her ankle? Really? This is such a cliché that even the slasher genre doesn’t do it anymore. And it’s a dumb cliché, too. It’s rooted sexism and it makes it look like you didn’t have any other ideas. I get it, you don’t want Belle with Rumple at that final point so she doesn’t influence his decision. Here’s a thought, then: let her stay behind for a good reason! Or, hell, if you don’t want to write a scene for her (the writers sure seem to be allergic to giving Belle any screentime), let there be a fork in the road! They don’t have the time to check each one, let Belle go one way and Rumple another. It’s still a lazy plot excuse, but at least it’s not the stupidest cliché in the book.

And one more thing…

::sigh:: I have such mixed feelings about this?

Because on the one hand: Gideon had a life that nobody would want. He was kidnapped, imprisoned, kept in the dark and abused for all of his twenty-eight years, and even if he got free, he would never get that time back. Nobody would ever choose that for themselves.

At the same time… Gideon died. The person I got to know over the last half-season is no more. He’s gone. And he never had any say in the matter. Hell, he didn’t even get to say goodbye. It’ just such a messed-up way to get a wonderful thing.

(Also, while I’m on that topic… yes, I did notice that Rumple didn’t recognise his very tiny son at first, and I realise that it’s because he’s never seen him before. It prompted a particularly long “oh noo…”, too.)

And finally…

… that cliffhanger/teaser, though, huh?

I have so many questions. Why was Henry in that monster forest? Why is he now in an apartment and doesn’t remember his daughter? When did he get a daughter? (Also, who with? Enquiring minds would like to know.)

So. I know, like, three things about s7, and one of them is the cast list. Please try not to spoil anything else, because that’s already way more than I wanted to know going in. Seriously, I’m a reasonably grown adult. I can deal with a couple of surprises.

#ouat #once upon a time #ouat the final battle #sieben watches ouat #sieben talks #ouat writing critical #anti cs #anti hook #(by implication mostly)

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sparda3g · 7 years

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Tokyo Ghoul:re Chapter 122 Review

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A million dollar question can shock a person enough to feel trapped. After the question that Touka asked, it's no wonder the mood begins in an awkward environment. However, it results to a tender and a heartwarming moment that you would forget that there's a bigger task to work on first. As compelling the chapter can be, it can leave you terrified easily.

As expected, it starts off in an awkward mood; can you really blame Kaneki though? Not only it's a relatable moment but it's also great to see Kaneki in his old self being lost in the shuffle. He has been working too hard and has less time to be himself. It is only with Touka can stir him up and that makes this moment charming.

It's hilarious that Kaneki drops his coffee and Touka casually ask him to wipe the floor. It's like she has two different personalities in one sitting, but that's how she is. Kaneki makes it funnier with his train of thought going all over the place. I love how he was begging for Banjou or even Ayato to pull a cliché and interrupt it.

It gets "heated" up with Touka practically offer her body to him, or at least that's how I read it. Kaneki is still lost and trying not to think you know what. My favorite part is that he dropped his coffee yet continuously takes a sip from an empty cup. That's one way to maintain cool. Funny that he never answer the question. I guess it's still up in the air. Shame...

It finally becomes serious when Touka asks him on why he continuously leaves her behind. I guess you can say that this is her true intention though it was pretty amusing to watch Kaneki getting all flustered. It's a sign for later on though. The mood then changes to more of a serious yet charming atmosphere, and this is where I remember why I am behind this pairing.

I don't need to be a shipping fan to like this moment; everything from this point on is heartwarming. Kaneki's argument is valid in a way because Touka is rash when it comes to problems, so she always goes out headfirst. It doesn't help that she always looked strong in front of him, though she is Touka. She's great like that. It was at Aogiri Arc that convinced him that he can't have her continuously fight when she can put herself in grave danger. In fact, it was when he told her that he will be sad if he loses her that transpired to his decision.

It's a sweet irony that hits hard at Kaneki that everything he has done made Touka feel exactly the same. In other words, he shouldn't think he's the only one to feel that way. The role has been reversed in some way; maybe now, they can get together and work things out. It's no wonder why she thought of stopping him at any means necessary, which same can be said for that virginity talk. Touka with her tee hee should have made me mad but I just can't...

The best part and pretty much a strong shipping moment is when Sasaki at the time actually shown visible signs of interest to Touka. She didn't realize that Sasaki was into her until she put the puzzle together. It's the same when Kaneki felt when interested in Rize. Sasaki is Kaneki and that would mean somewhere in there, his feelings for Touka is waiting to express its love. That's a really nice subtle way to say that Kaneki has feelings for her and it didn't bother to point the obvious.

It makes it more charming when Touka addressed that she feels like an idiot to even feel happy when she received that look. It's another subtle way that she perhaps has developed feelings for him, which by this point, it's no wonder. What we have, everyone, are two idiots that don't know how to push forward with their relationship.

Maybe they do but because of circumstances; they feel as if they can't make that move now. It's possible that Kaneki blames Sasaki to give too much away or probably makes things complicated. That all said this was a really great scene that love isn't easy or straightforward as one would like from their wishful dream.

It appears Kaneki was going to make his move until Shuu interrupts it for the right reason. Gone with the shipping moment, it's time for Furuta and his star-making power. It's disgusting to see not only a pile of corpses with Oggai carrying their heads like they got back from trick or treating, but the fact that citizens are celebrating makes it hard to digest. Hooray for body bags! It's stunning that ghoul look human enough yet since they are ghoul, it's perfectly fine. They technically got their version of faces of death.

Regarding back to the last chapter, it comes to my mind that Furuta showed Ui around and ended with the thought of Hairu's revival in order for him to keep his mouth shut and obey everything from that point forward. That's why he is there with him, looking pretty down, yet he must go with it. Yes, he is technically his right-hand man, which is why Furuta needed him to keep his mouth shut as well as have him as his puppet.

I'm hoping down the line, Ui will break away from him, though that would require him to drop CCG entirely. He most likely threw away his ethics already, so I guess it's that or death. Perhaps take Hairu along the way, depending on her position. Right now, he has to deal with this crappy display, including being seen as a pop idol. Furuta got fan girls. Who's going to play Sakura?

The concerning movement is Kaneki tell everyone to split up and meet up the following day at one location. That sends off a creepy vibe that somewhere down the line, one of them may not return. GOAT is being pressured by CCG with their stealth annihilation, so splitting up could end up doing more harm than good. I laugh at Koma stating that this seems to be part of their life cycle. I wonder if that's a subtle hint of parallel...

The chapter begins with a fun segment with Touka just messing around with Kaneki as he was trying to remain collective. There are good amount of heartwarming scenery. Even when it's just two of them in one room, their choice of words and expressions tell a story that their relationship is more than just friends. That coffee cup is blocking their way is a nice metaphor; if only they had more time. It's a swell atmosphere that it's good enough to warm your heart.

But of course, it's Ishida's writing and what way to ruin your head with a terrifying ending. Just when Kaneki was about to open the door, it open by someone else and holy crap! It's Mutsuki. I was drawn to the setting that despite that urgent news, it felt home. Even Touka reflects that leaving :re feels rather sad. Now, we have Mutsuki to stir a fire that I just remember something: we have to wait two weeks! Why!

The chapter sucks you into their environment of fun and tendency of two characters that subtly shows their love. They may not express it romantically, visibly that is, but it's a step closer to their bond to evolve further. Sadly, the more you're into it, the more it terrifies you that something can go wrong and the end justifies that claim. Two weeks of waiting will be hard but whatever you do, don't lose your head over it.

#tokyo ghoul:re #tokyo ghoul re #tokyo ghoul #chapter 122 #review

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imsarabum · 8 years

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Responses to Part 21: Final Chapter - Who Are You? Asks~

Please ‘Keep Reading’ to find my response to your ask ^^ As always, I have copied and pasted all asks into this post in regards to last night’s chapter to avoid clogging up people’s dashboards and to avoid spoilers for those who may still wish to read the chapter. Thank you ^^

Anonymous said: AAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAAAAAAA> TAETAE ANON

*screams with you* I hope you enjoyed it TaeTae anon!

Anonymous said: Im not ready to read it, i dont want it to end

I was sad and kinda feeling empty to end it but at the same time I’m happy that it’s over because I worked so hard on it and it’s nice to see it finished! :3

Anonymous said: SARA IM SO SHOOK ABOUT THE PLOT TWIST YOU DID IN WHO ARE YOU HOLY SHIT

I hope you liked the plot twist dear! Thank you so much for reading :)

Anonymous said: I LOVE THE LAST CHAPTER OF WHO ARE YOU!!!! I LOVE YOUR WRITING SO MUCH!!!!

Thank you so much darling ^^ It makes me really happy to hear that ^^ Thank you for being so kind :)

@loverofskinnyjeans said: Oh my gosh Who Are You was so good! I’m so sad it’s over! Also… a dream?! Are you serious?! 😂 I’m so shell shocked by that, I didn’t even think about it ending that way but it was so cool 😁I don’t really know how to organise my thoughts but that was soooo good and I loved the whole story and just yay! I’m sorry this message is such a mess 😅 your writing is really great and I can’t wait to see what else is going to come from your amazing mind! ❤️❤️❤️

It was the ending I had planned since the start, so I’m so happy you enjoyed it my love :) Thank you so much for taking the time each week to read it and always messaging me with such wonderful words and giving me your thoughts. You’re amazing, love!

Anonymous said: WHAT THE ACTUAL HELL SARA?!? IT WAS ALL A DREAM?!? That is one detailed dream lol. I gotta say, although I’m kinda bummed that she didn’t end up with Jackson, that was a really interesting ending :) I’ve never read a story like that before~ I’m glad I discovered your blog a few months ago ^_^ And can I just say, I’m pretty damn excited for I Won’t Stop You~ Go Tuesday’s! P.S. The new aesthetic of your blog is BEAUTIFUL ;)

*giggle* Yup! It was inspired by an extremely vivid dream I once had that really shook me~ I’m really happy you discovered my blog too! Thank you for reading and enjoying Who Are You? and I hope that you will love the future chapters of I Won’t Stop You too! - and , yay!! Thank you so much for loving the new layout ^^ The words on the header are lyrics from a song I wrote 2 days ago~ heh :)

Anonymous said: SARA I’M CRYING.I LOVE YOU SO MUCH. I LOVE THE ENDING. I LOVEEVERYTHING. BLESS YOUR SOUL

Thank you so much for loving the ending *hugs* That means a lot to me! Thank you a million times ^^ I love you more!!

Anonymous said: Omfg im a dumb sht i don’t get the last part of the last chapter. is it like jackson was just at his room?

The last part of the chapter is Jaebum with the reader in her room - watching her as he sleeps and thinking about how much he loves her. And we can also see Jackson in his OWN bed back at the DORMS (I have written this in the chapter ^^) and he is looking at the readers picture and wondering about his own feelings. It’s a mirrored image between the two boys that is a direct parallel of the love triangle experienced when we put their two dreams together.

Anonymous said: That ending caused me to unfollow you

Bye bye darling!

Anonymous said: Oh I feel so stupid right now.. I totally overreacted last weak. You’re ending is painfully perfect! I’m still so sorry about what I said last week. This ending is genius! Wish you a happy new year and lot’s of love btw! <3

Don’t feel stupid! And don’t be sorry at all~ It’s your opinion and you were 100% entitled to it :D Thank you for reading my love ^^ I hope you have a happy new year too *hugs*

Anonymous said: What the actual fuck

*cries*

Anonymous said: You need Jesus in ur life

I already have Jesus in my life. He goes by the name of Im Jaebum *wiggles eyebrows*

Anonymous said: That was absolutely amazing. A worthy ending for such a fantastic series. I am so, so proud of you. ❤ X -P.S. : Happy New Year!!! 🎆🎉

Thank you so much! Ahhhh I’m smiling so much while reading your message c: c: c: Happy new year to you too my love!

Anonymous said: Girl I and everybody reading Who Are You needs an epilogue of Jackson meeting the girl of his dreams and having cute babies cause he did not deserve that ending 😢😢😭😭😭😭 but the series was soooo good congrats on finishing another great series 💙 (cont.) I also think you should seriously write a book like if you had a pro read the series and tie a few loose ends then your story could be a legit book and I’d buy that ish so quickly 😫 again good job 👍💙

Ahhh I seem to have broken a lot of Jackson stan heart’s :c I apologise for this! hehe, but thank you so much for saying all those wonderful things ^^ I think it might be expensive to create a book! TT And I write for free~ I would feel really bad about putting a price on my writing when I just wanna have fun lol >< But thank you so much for telling me that anyway! *hugs*

@armysyehet said: Thank you so so so much for ‘Who are you?“ Because of timezones, I was always excited on Mondays just because of you and this story. I cried, I laughed, I truly enjoyed this. Thank you, Sara

I’m glad I could make you cry and laugh throughout my series! You’re welcome, and thank you so much for being amazing *hugs*. I truly appreciate it!

Anonymous said: I AM SHOOKT WTF

Good shookt or bad shookt?!

@moonlighthollow said: OMGGGGGGGG IT’S OVER BUT OMG WHO ARE YOU? IS SO FUCKING GOOD I SERIOUSLY LOVE YOU! It was all a dream! That’s such an amazing plot twist❣❣❣❣ you’re amaziing ahhhhhh 😍😍💕💕💕 (sry for fangirling like a fucking Weirdo😅) oh and happy new year😅💕🎇

Yes it’s finally over aaaaaahhh! I love you more dear :D And yes! Well, it was all just 2 dreams~ Jaebums dream about himself cheating and Jacksons dream about marrying the reader in the future lol ^^ You’re not a weirdo! I love you very much c: haha~ Thank you for reading the series and for always being so wonderful! I hope you have a happy new year too my dear ^^

Anonymous said: HOLY CRAP I WASNT PREPARED FOR THAT OMG OMG OMG OMG

i hope you enjoyed it even though you weren’t prepared for it!

Anonymous said: O K A Y FIRTS OF ALL thank you so much you made my sundays so much better, i love this serie and yeah i really wanted her to end with Jackson BUT now that it was all a bad dream and jaebum wasnt an asshole i loved the end💜💜 keep the good work sara

I’m so happy that I could make your Sundays better! And yes >< I realise that a lot of people would have wanted her to end up with Jackson~ But at the same time, Jaebum only had a dream about himself cheating and Jackson was the one who dreamt about marrying the reader! heh ^^ Thank you so much my love :) I’ll keep working hard!

Anonymous said: sara, tbh I’m so fucking confused about the ending. would you mind explaining it to me??? bTW THE WHOLE SERIES WAS LIT ♡

I’m not sure which part about the ending you’re confused about! But i’ll try my best to condense it for you ^^ Jaebum had a dream about himself cheating on the reader. His dream ended when the reader decided to give him a second chance when they were both sitting in her living room. He had this dream for two reasons. 1) he took strong painkillers for his back and went to sleep, but the painkillers caused him to have crazy, vivid dreams. 2) He is terrified of hurting/losing the reader - so his mind automatically went there in the realm of his nightmare. When it comes to Jackson back at the dorm (Jaebum was in the readers apartment) - Jackson simply had a strange dream about marrying the reader and having kids with her in the future. In the last chapter, Jackson thinks to himself that it’s weird bc when you put the two dreams together, it feels like a story. And so the last part of the chapter is Jaebum with the reader in her room - watching her as she sleeps and thinking about how much he loves her. And we can also see Jackson in his OWN bed back at the DORMS (I have written this in the chapter ^^) and he is looking at the readers picture and wondering about his own feelings. It’s a mirrored image between the two boys that is a direct parallel of the love triangle experienced when we put their two dreams together. Thank you so much for reading it and enjoying it! I hope I could help explain it for you :)

@hi-chew97 said: Sara, I can’t believe it’s finished. It was such a great story and I like the little angst kind of ending. I love the "who am i?” In italics. I kind of guessed Jaebum would be dreaming this entire time but Jackson having the same dream? That hit me hard when Jackson started questioning things about his feelings. With the angst ending, I thought Jackson might do something in the future because his dream felt so real filled with love. I hope (more like wish) Jackson gets the ending he deserves! (cont.) Other than that, I’m glad Jaebum highkey reflected his love with Y/N and going to keep it strong even if it was a nightmare. It’s true though at times, when you’re in a relationship, nightmares like that do happen and honestly I had something like that and I just cried tremendously… it was the worst feeling but waking up to my “significant other” comforting me was the best. These kind of stories I live for!!! —-wait there’s more to say LMAO (cont.) FINALLY/- anyways, I really hope you make another one like this. It lifts my mood every Sunday ❤☺💕 Thank you for the hard work you’ve done for yourself and readers. Take a rest Sundays now for a bit ❤✨ (cont.) And happy new year my love~~~~

Thank you so much for this long and detailed message! I really appreciate your thoughts and analysis of everything that went on. You understood it perfectly~ And I know what you mean! Those kinds of scary, vivid dreams are quite common when you’re in love with someone because it’s what you fear a lot within a relationship. I will definitely be writing another GOT7 series in the future! But I’m going to focus on my Jungkook Vampire series and my requests for while now~ And yes, I will take nice rests on Sundays too heh ^^ Thank you so much my love, and I hope you have a happy new year too ^^

@memento-moree said: you deserve it ! I’ve just finished reading and I totally understand the ending. I am in no way upset with the way you wanted to end this. I feel sad for Jackson but then again, it’s nothing but fiction, and the story belongs to you <3 ! Do you plan on writing more got7 stories ? Btw, I crave for way too many bodies in got7, please judge me and put sense into my head lol I guess we’re not that far from each other, since i’m from France hehe Good job again author-nim <3

Thank you so much my love, thank you for understanding the ending and respecting that it’s my choice to end the story whatever way I wished haha ^^ And of course I plan to! Now that this series is over, I have more time to focus on my scenario request queue~ Which is where I write how other people want me to write! haha ^^ Ahhh from France c: I’m in the UK! Thank you so much my dear~ (ps I really love your account name~)

@trdemistakes said: i love !!! the last chapter of who are you? it’s so good! i definitely didn’t expect this ending but it’s probably my favorite chapter, it’s so well written!! good job girly! love you and all of your works :)

Thank you my love! I’m really happy you enjoyed the series :) I love you more and i hope you have a wonderful day!

@barefaced-k-idols said: Omg Sara the ending was great!!! I’m glad that y/n didn’t end up with a cheating scumbag but with a man who realized how important she is in his life (cont.) And Happy New Year!!! ��

It makes me really happy that you enjoyed the ending ^^ And yep! Sometimes, dreams can teach us valuable lessons that we can incorporate into our own lives ^^ Happy New Year and thank you so much!

@wonderful39530 said: 😭😤 I can’t believe it’s over!!!!😤😭 Who am I now that “Who Are You, Im Jaebum” is now over??😤😭 HAPPY NEW YEAR Sara!!!🎉🎊😭😤At least I still have Tuesday’s!! Will you be putting a new story in place of Who Are You,Im Jaebum?😤

Happy New Year to you too my love! Thank you so much for always reading and liking what I post ^^ I will continue writing my scenario requests queue for now and updating my Jungkook Vampire AU! But I won’t be starting another series for a few months :D

Anonymous said: I’m crying I feel so bad for Jackson 😭😭 This has been the most emotional and most detailed series I have read so far its amazing. Bravo Sara! i really look forward to any upcoming series’ and the story of 'I Wont Stop you’

Aww i’m sorry that it made you cry! But it makes me happy to hear you say that it was emotional and detailed :) I tried very very hard! Thank you so much and I’m glad you’re enjoying I Won’t Stop You, too! ^^

@deangetoutofmyspleen said: I CANT IM SCREAMING AND CRYING AND SCREAMING IT WAS ALL A *spoiler* IM AFKRKSKDLFLKRKWKSKXKCKGMFJAKSKDKFF I LOVE THIS STORY AND YOU SO MUCH

Ahhhh thank you so much babe! I love you so much too (’: I’m really happy you loved the story! Thank you so much for reading it :D

Anonymous said: As a JB biased girl I have absolutely enjoyed Who Are You sooo much! That ending 😍 amazing! You gave me something to look forward to on Sundays and now that it’s over I don’t know what I’ll do with myself😆 it’s been a privilege to read your writing and look forward to your future stories! Thank you and I can’t see what you write next!💕

I’m glad it made you happy since you are JB biased ^^ It was always going to be a Jaebum x Reader story, and I had planned it to be that way ever since I began writing the series :D Thank you for reading it and enjoying it! I’m currently writing a Jungkook Vampire AU series so I will continue to focus on that and my scenario requests queue for a while! Thank you for all your wonderful words ^^

Anonymous said: I actually didn’t suspect the story to end that way. I thoroughly enjoyed it all and applaud for doing what you wanted to do 👏 I’m looking forward to what you have in store for us in the future

I know there will be some people who will think i’m awful for ending it the way I did - but just as you said, I did what I wanted to do. I will never play things safe just to please people. Because you can’t please everyone in life ^^ Thank you for reading my story, I really appreciate it!

Anonymous said: Can I just say that I absolutely lOVED THE ENDING TO WHO ARE YOU!! I JUST READ IT RIGHT NOW AND I FEEL HAPPY AND SAD BC y/n IS HAPPY AND JB DIDNT REALLY CHEAT BUT JACKSON AT THE END BROKE MY HEART . You are an amazing writer and I love your fics!! Please don’t stop writing!!

Thank you so much for living the ending :) I’m glad I could make you feel all those feels! heh~ I will keep writing, so long as it is fun for me :D Heh~ Once again, thank you so much - you’re really awesome! Have a wonderful day my love ^^

Anonymous said: “i cannot please everyone” I love this sentence. And yes, i don’t like the way a story can have 2 endings you know!!!

Exactly~ There is no single way to please everyone. So, I will just do what makes me happy! ^^ Thank you so much!

Anonymous said: Sara, Happy new year!! I’m one of the biggest fan of your scenarios :) The first thing I wanna tell you is thank you for updating the last part of 'Who are you?’!! And I really like the way it ended as being Jaebum stan ;)))) Since JJJ(Jaebum, Jackson, Jinyoung) is my favorite trio, I enjoyed the whole stories so much!! Can’t wait for your next scenarios, I will support you forever XD Hope you have happy winter holidays!

I’m so so happy that you enjoy what I write ^^ I really appreciate that lovely. Ahh so this JJJ part of the story was great for you! I’m glad it was about your favourite trio heh :) Thank you so much, and I hope your winter holidays were wonderful! ^^

Anonymous said: Today i read the chapter 20 because i couldn’t the last sunday BUT if you would have ended the story in that chapter i wouldn’t have liked it… So yes, i loved the chapter 21, i loved the story and i love how you think about second opportunities

Thank you for reading and liking the story my dear ^^ And yes, this ending leaved us with the impression that there could be some tension for them in their world in the future ^^ heh~ Thank you again, and I hope you have a wonderful day!

@fano2001 said: Omg it was a dream!!..I’m so happy that nothing actually happened phew! Thank you sooo much for sharing your beautiful writing in this blog,you are really good i felt that i’m in the story like you said some details it was soo good I loved it.. Keep your good work and i hope that i’ll see some good series for yugyeom too haha.. Have a nice day/night and thank you again

Well, it was 2 dreams! Jaebums dream about him cheating and Jacksons dream about him marrying the reader heh~ I hope to write series about all members in the future! So I hope you’ll enjoy them too c: Thank you so much for reading what I write my love ^^ I really appreciate it. I hope you have a good day/night too! ^^

Anonymous said: You get a lot of anons, so it probably won’t be easy to recall. Last week I said that if this all turned out to he a dream, I was screaming and deleting. You really did me in (positively). I was like, “…i cant be mad at Jaebum anymore? What the hell? B-but Jackson” 😂 even at the end I was like, “b-but Jackson…”. Needless to say, I’m so glad you chose to end it the way YOU wanted. Haha, hope Jackson gets some love soon b/c this and 'A Heavy Heart’ (my request) were just brutal for him (½) and i see you have more Jackson angst coming up 😢. He ain’t even my bias, but I love him so. Why are we so mean to fiction Jackson? But I digress, I cannot thank you enough for all the work you put into this series. You are such a wonderful writer and beautiful person. I look forward to everything else you plan on contributing to this fandom and hope 2017 treats you well. Happy New Year! 2/2

I remember you! Don’t worry c: I remember a lot of what people say to me. I see everything that everyone says about/to/concerning me. I can even see what people say about me on twitter for very few people know who I am *shifty eyes* heh~ Thank you for respecting my choice to end it the way I wanted to. That makes me incredibly happy ^^ And ikr! a lot of people always request angsty Jackson fics and it breaks my heart >< But I chose to do Jackson very dirty in this fic, so I am not innocent either hehe~ Thank you so much my love and I hope 2017 treats you well too! Happy New Year :)

@aurora-vii said: Yeah you rock my world sara! 😙 finally #teamjaebum.. you make me squeal in front of people like some crazy woman… omg 😱😍😘💑

I made you squeal ahhhh I’m sorry! It’s okay, I know you’re not some crazy woman lol ^^ Thank you so much for reading the series, and I’m so so so happy that you enjoyed it ^^

Anonymous said: HOLY CRAP SARA!!! THE LAST CHAPTER OF WHO ARE YOU IM SCREAMING I WAS IN A FIT OF ANXIETY THE ENTIRE TIME I DONT KNOW HOW TO FEEL ?????

I’m sorry for making you scream in anxiety! That wasn’t my intention hehe~ I know you don’t know how to feel, but thank you so much for reading nonetheless c:

Anonymous said: SARA WTF WTF DID I JUST READ??? I NEVER READ CHAPTER 20 AND AND AND I WENT TO 21 THEN I I I SCROLLED DOWN TO SEE THE LAST COUPLE OF WORDS AND I SAW TOO MUCH AND AND AND *faints*

OH NO DAMN YOU PLAYED YOURSELF >< Ahhhh I’m sorry that happened to you :c

@is-this-username-available said: I am speechless!! The plot twists, what happened overall, the ending!!! all incredible❤️! I’m a little sad to see it end… The story literally had me in tears! It made me sad, it made me happy, and it always left me wanting more😅 you truly are an amazing writer 💜💜

Thank you so much for enjoying everything from beginning to end, it really makes me so happy and I am truly appreciative of this ^^ I’m glad I could evoke all these emotions from you in some way ^^ Thank you again, and I’m very thankful that you read it and liked it, too :D

@yumygeom said: Bro this one got me crying

*dries your tears* it’s okay now, shhhh~

Anonymous said: OMFG VDIABDSKJS “WHO ARE YOU” WAS SO FREAKING AMAZING!!!! Seriously, I had no idea how u would write te final chapter, and u just surpassed my expectations I LOVE IT and also all those 'who am i’ and 'who are you’ references JUST AAAAAAAA SO GOOD

I’m so happy that I could surpass your expectations ^^ I’m glad you picked up on all the Who Are You references. Actually, throughout the entire series, there were small references to the whole thing being a dream. But people only started picking up on them once I deliberately made them bigger and easier to spot ;) Thank you so much my darling!

@coppertopging said: How dare you play with my emotions this way?! I’m a hot mess!! Damn you and your talented writing!!! I can’t handle this…

I apologise for playing and toying with your emotions my love >< But, thank you so much for reading it! *hugs*

Anonymous said: SARA! HOW DARE YOU PLAY WITH MY FEELINGS LIKE THIS! WHY END IT WITH A DREAM! WHYYYYYYYYY!

Why end it with a dream? Why not? ^^ It’s just a story! lol :) Thank you for reading!

Anonymous said: So all was a dream 😂😂 lol yass jaebum WIN

It was all 2 dreams~ Jaebums dream about him cheating andJacksons dream about him marrying the reader heh ^^

Anonymous said: I- I just read your entire JB scenario… you’re lucky I was so hooked that I didn’t even think about saying my reactions as I went along- just… dang… that was intense. In my heart I want to bug you into making a sequel series, with Jackson as the love interest, building up from the end of this one and how random crap happens and she ends up with Jackson (IT WAS A JB FANFIC WHY AM I SHIPPING HER W/ JACKSON?!?!) but I don’t think my heart can handle it… PLEASE DO BUT PLEASE DON’T I CANT bro

Awww I’m sorry she didn’t end with Jackson :( But!!! I have nice Jackson scenarios planned for the future, so hopefully they can mend your broken heart a little ^^ Thank you for reading it regardless my dear!

@callmessam said: I love the ending Sara! What a twist that JB and Jackson were the ones dreaming! But ofc, I love that she ended up with JB 💓 I really am going to miss this, but I’m also glad that JB is no longer feeling miserable. Thank you for this amazing series!

Thank you so much for loving the ending! That really makes me happy that you enjoyed it :D And yes, JB is no longer feeling miserable but Jackson is thrown into a world of doubtful emotions ;c Thank you for reading it my love! *hugs*

Anonymous said: Happy New Year sara ❤ I’m the exam girl HAHA anyways I thought I should introduce myself because I never did wtf but I’m dee and let’s get straight to the point! 'Who Are You’ finally ended T-T that was so amazing?? really amazing??? I’m really happy about the ending btw hehe but I’m just curious on what alternate endings you were going to make tbh! the whole series caught me off guard, I’m so glad I came across this and hopped on the train ride :’) thank you so much for everything, I love you ❤

Hello Dee! It’s nice to finally put a name to your anon ;) Thank you for loving the series my dear! The alternate endings would have been 1) where she ends up forgiving Jaebum and stays with him and 2) Where she ends up not forgiving Jaebum and gets with Jackson. But I just decided to do my own ending in the end ^^ I was only making those other endings to please everyone else - and that’s not the reason I write. I DO write scenario requests that are tailored to what people want. But this - this ended how I wanted it to end ^^ Thank you so much my dear, I love you too!

Anonymous said: Sara~~! Wow, who are you is finished omg. I really really love the ending! Thank you for your hard work even on sundays and holidays. ^^ also: damn, our birthday is coming up! XD happy 2017! -unnianon

Hello unnianon! And yes, it’s really finished now! Thank you for loving the ending and for reading. And yes! Our birthday is soon ahhhh and so is Jaebum’s! I’m being pathetic and baking him a cake he will never see lol *cries* Happy 2017 to you too my love c:

Anonymous said: You are such a talented writer. I’m so sad you turned such a wonderful story into something so terrible with the ending! But of course it is your story so it’s your choice and your talented either way! I will just focus on the good parts before the ending. I feel like a good story needs closure for all parties in the end and maybe an explanation as to why the dreams were so vivid. Also you did Jackson dirty!! Please don’t take this as hate but constructive criticism. Just something to work on

Thank you for saying that I am a talented writer. I really appreciate that. But I can’t help but feel sad when you say ‘something so terrible’ lol it just turns your compliment into a backhanded one. But, alas - you are entitled to your own opinion, as am I. But I am confused at you saying there was no explanation as to why they had vivid dreams. Jaebum had this dream for two reasons. 1) he took strong painkillers for his back and went to sleep, but the painkillers caused him to have crazy, vivid dreams. 2) He is terrified of hurting/losing the reader - so his mind automatically went there in the realm of his nightmare (as I explained in the story, it’s possible that you missed it because you hated it so much! TT) And Jacksons dream, well, don’t you ever have strange and vivid dreams that you can’t understand? I once had a dream about me killing tiny puppies and rubbing their blood all over my walls. Why did I have that dream? Your guess is as good as mine, my love. I understand that you’re not hating, but it is MY ending, and I can’t please everyone and I won’t apologise for something like that ^^ Thank you for reading it even though you disliked the ending, and I hope you have a wonderful day!

@mintiie-ice said: So it was all a dream 😶 and not one she was having but rather Jaebum and Jackson? That’s a pretty good twist 🤔 I’m somewhat glad I began reading Who Are You before it was finished because when I come across completed series I have a habit of skimming the last chapter to see if it’s one with a happy ending. But anyways so Jaebum’s dream gives him an insight as she said it’s 'something he’s afraid of’ and now he’s certain it won’t ever happen but at the same time it raises a question like (1) Jacksons dream where it a question of 'does he have those sort of feelings for her?’ I interpret the end the end to be the same like their dream… it’s a question with an open end that’s left to our imaginations. Was the dreams they had brushed off, mostly in Jackson case because Jaebum with be monitoring Jackson with her, or was the conclusion the same as the dream because his last line he stutters(?) as if he’s uncertain that, that is really all he is to her… but the main point is… (2) Jaebumie really didn’t cheat! 😭 it was just his own nightmare and fear, although it is kind of weird to dream of yourself cheating on the person you love and can’t live without 🤔 but dream are mysterious and weird that way so… 😶 I wrote an essay just now >.< wow…

It was all two dreams ^^ Jaebum had the cheating one and his ended with the reader agreeing to try and give him a second chance. And Jackson had the dream about him marrying the reader in the future and it ending with the reader dying on the plane ^^ Your end deductions are something I always enjoy reading! And i’ll certainly miss them now that the series is over ^^ And also, have you never had a dream when you see something from someone else point of view? I have those dreams a lot actually! It inspired me to do it this way c: And remember, he took super strong painkillers so that’s probably why his dream was so awful. Again - since I take a lot of strong painkillers, I experience this too ^^ There are a million and one different ways to interpret dreams, but I believe that always trying to find an answer to your dreams can drive you to the brink of insanity lol (again, I have experience in this too haha!) Thank you so much for your message and thank you for reading each chapter too. I hope that you enjoyed it, for I really enjoyed writing it and posting it for everyone to read :)

@nathjaebum said: I’m very emotional rn sara. You and your story Who Are You are masterpieces. I’m not disappointed with the ending you made cos it’s really the BEST. Honestly, I was surprised with the plot twist, PLOT TWIST INDEED! you are so talented and so nice.

I’m really happy to know that you enjoyed the plot twist! I’ve never done a story where it was all ‘just a dream’ (or in my case, two dreams lol) so I’m happy that i got to do that in this way! Thank you for your kind words about my and my series :) And thank you so much for reading as well ^^ Have a wonderful day!

Anonymous said: THE ENDING OMG I DID NOT SEE THAT COMING I NEED TO GO SIT DOWN AND COUNT TO 10 BC WTF

*counts down with you* shhhh, it’s okay my love - deep breaths now, okay? That’s it~ heh^^

Anonymous said: Can i say that ur Who r u series is the best story I’ve ever read! And I hope u continue doing what u love bc u r an amazing writer! Fighting! Can’t wait for many more! ^^

Thank you so much! I’m really happy that you enjoyed it ^^ Have a great day/night my dear! ^^

#Responses #Asks #imsarabum #Who Are You?

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planbeeeee · 8 years

Text

Belief is Better- Life of Pi

IT’S PI DAY! Worldwide March 14 (3/14 = 3.14 = ‘π’) is annually celebrated as Pi Day. The day is usually celebrated with a feast of pies at parties. I say, let your minds feast on this………

Admittedly, I am 5 years late on this post but it’s been sitting in my drafts for far too long so I figured, no better time than now to break down my favorite movie of 2012: Life of Pi.

The Life of Pi was originally a book by Yann Martel that was released in 2001. In November of 2012, the film adaptation which was directed by Ang Lee was released. It remains the only PG rated film to win Best Director in the last 30 years! No, it’s not on Netflix, so if you’re not about that Kodi life, you can rent it on Amazon video for $4. Do it! The naturally befuddled feeling after watching the ending scenes led to a satisfying quest to peel apart the layers and find its purpose. I can truly say the journey was great, but the destination was even greater. Join me as we breakdown: LIFE OF PI

****************SPOILER ALERT****************

DO NOT GO BEYOND THIS POINT IF YOU HAVEN’T SEEN THE FILM! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!

_____________________________________________________________

The story WITHOUT the Tiger was TRUE! The ending to Life of Pi begs its viewers to answer the question: “Which story was true?” After telling both the long-winded story with the Tiger and the story he gave to the Japanese officials, Pi asks the novelist in his home, “Which do you prefer?” To which the novelist replies, “The one with the tiger, that’s the better story.” "And so it is with God,“ says Pi. God and religion were mentioned early in the movie but for the majority of the film there was no mention, explaining in-part why the statement is so unexpected and profound. "And so it is with God.” Essentially it means that choosing the Tiger Story means choosing God. That God is the “better story.” However, the question of truth still remains… Which story is TRUE? And the answer, I believe, is… IT DOESN’T MATTER! In the original story there are a few details that are far-fetched or, as the novelist calls it, “incredible."

"Bananas don’t float.” One Japanese official calls out a discrepancy in Pi’s tale where he claims the orangutan floats to the boat on a pile of bananas. Pi sticks to his claim and says “Sure they do, try for yourself.” As minor a point as it is, the issue seems to be brought to light with some purpose. Questions the validity of the story.

An island with an unlimited supply of vegetables growing from the roots of trees and meerkats covering every square inch while an acidic lake eats away at night?! Doubt it.

Finally, the elephant in the room. How can a boy actually survive with a tiger for 227 days??? (By the way, 22/7 = ~3.14…. BOOM!)

On face value it seems like Pi is just trying to appease the Japanese officials in their quest for a story that is “believable” when he tells the story of his mother, the happy Buddhist, the cook, and himself stranded on the boat. He seems to just be replacing the animals in the original story with people in the new story in order to suffice the officials’ inquiries. The story seems made up because of its parallels to the story we (the viewer) saw unfold, however, I believe there was truth permeating through that story. Although I loved the film from beginning to end, the growing pains with Richard Parker seemed to drag on a bit too far. So if you have not heeded my SPOILER ALERT and are reading this without having seen the film just use the following Life of Pi Chart as a replacement for watching the “at sea” portion.

At a young age, Pi was searching for God. He was introduced to Hinduism by his mother. Then he was introduced to Christianity by a priest after going into a church to drink the Holy Water. He was introduced to Islam after attending a prayer service. Finally, he is introduced to atheism or agnosticism by his father who tells Pi “Religion is darkness.” Recalling his quest for truth, Pi tells the novelist that “None of us know God until someone introduces us.” Basically, we are introduced to organized religions from external sources. Stories of Vishnu, Muhammad, and Jesus are experiences each of them had a long time ago and are not experiences of our own. However, these stories are passed down from generation to generation and are applied to our lives to give our lives meaning.

Whether its Yashoda seeing the universe in the mouth of Krishna, Muhammad’s Hijra, or Jesus in the wilderness, each experience significantly affected their lives. Their experiences pointed them towards a relative truth. Some beliefs can be shaken and some can be strengthened through the experience. Like the juxtaposition of Pi’s father attributing 'Western medicine’ as the cure for his polio versus Pi’s mother using religion as her cherished connection with her displaced family. For Pi, surviving at sea is the experience that significantly shapes his new found worldview.

This is the key: In order to fully internalize a worldview or religion we must experience it for ourselves. Like Pi’s uncle who named Pi after the Piscine Molitor swimming pool where “a single swim there changed his life.” Experiencing the pool himself changed his life.

Upon landfall, Pi is seen with his face buried in the shore. Narrating from the present day, Pi says he was starring down Richard Parker as he slowly walked away from Pi and the boat. Before entering into the wilderness Richard Parker stopped. At this moment Pi was hoping for a final acknowledgement of their time together. A roar or even a look-back. But he got nothing and Richard Parker entered the expanse of the wilderness never to see Pi again.

Just as the story was interpreted by the journalist, Richard Parker represents Pi.

This sequence is a representation of Pi’s new self leaving his old self behind. Upon entering the “wilderness of water” he found truth and no longer needed to search for meaning.

What Really Happened at Sea?

Well to put it plainly… Cannibalism.

From Pi’s second story to the Japanese reporters we know the happy Buddhist, the cook, his mother, and he are on the boat after the shipwreck. The happy Buddhist was wounded and put out of his misery. Eventually, the cook, being the “resourceful” man that he was, ate the remains of the happy Buddhist. After a few days, Pi’s mother and the cook got in a fight and the cook stabbed his mother and cast her overboard for the sharks. All this much we know.

Now for the presumption… In the retelling of the story Pi says that the day after the cook killed his mother, he killed the cook. He goes on to say…and hear this out… “I did to him what he did to the sailor [happy Buddhist].” He follows with the statement, “He [the cook] was such an evil man, but worst still, he brought the evil out in me.” What the cook did to the sailor was kill him AND eat him. That’s what Pi did to the cook.

The film sets out to establish that, along with his mother and brother, Pi is a vegetarian. At the dinner table with his family his father takes a bite of the lamb curry and says it’s the best dish on the table and everyone else is missing out. Also, when his father gets in a fight with the cook in the mess of the ship it is because Pi’s father requested a vegetarian meal for Pi’s mother and the two sons (This is when the happy Buddhist comes over to offer his rice and gravy). Although a minor point, Pi’s vegetarianism is highlighted to be a stark contrast against his cannibalistic behavior to emphasize his struggle to survive.

The sustenance from the mysterious island was symbolic of the fruits of his cannibalistic acts. It was not until he encountered a human tooth (paralleling the tooth in the seaweed of his story) that he felt the guilt from what he was doing.

If that hasn’t convinced you:

The name 'Richard Parker’ is associated with real and fictional stories of people being shipwrecked as well as individuals being cannibalized.

In 1846, an apprentice by the name of Richard Parker was among the 21 victims of a shipwrecked Francis Spaight.

In Edgar Allen Poe’s only novel, The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket, published in 1838, Richard Parker is a mutinous sailor on the ship Grampus. After capsizing in the storm, Parker suggests he and the three other lone survivors draw lots to see which of them should be killed and preyed upon. In a turn of events, Parker himself gets cannibalized by the others. Oh and by the way, the main character of the novel, Pym, has a dog named Tiger.

Not convinced yet, how about this…In 1884 a yacht by the name of Mignonette sank. Four people survived and drifted on a life boat. The cabin boy named…you guessed it…Richard Parker, was cannibalized by the other three. If that wasn’t enough…the yacht made a cameo in the movie! This is a PlanBeeeee exclusive screenshot you won’t see anywhere else…

Life of Pi is an epic tale and visual masterpiece that sets out to essentially describe Pascal’s Wager. Pardon my oversimplification of it but here’s the basics:

God exists or God does not exist

If you believe in God and he exists then you’ll have an infinite reward and if God doesn’t exist you’ll lose very little in your life anyway.

If you DO NOT believe in God and he exists then you’ll receive infinite punishment and if God doesn’t exist you’ll have gained very little.

Therefore, it is rational to believe in God

***DISCLAIMER***

The following is my interpretation of the desired message of the film, it does not represent my own personal views:

The film adaptation of Life of Pi is telling us that life sucks. Death and tragedy are some of its only guarantees. We humans need something MORE. Something to give us hope. We need a story that will be better than our reality. We need a BETTER STORY….”and so it is with God.” Belief in the story of God will improve our own quality of life since we are winning at Pascal’s Wager and betting on what is the “rational” choice. The truth behind whether God exists or which god is the right God, is irrelevant. Life of Pi says, beyond all things, BELIEF IS BETTER THAN TRUTH.

My Takeaway

Pi gets caught following his crush Anandi after their dance practice. Here’s their exchange:

“Pi Patel: None of the other dancers did that. What did you mean? The God of love is hiding in the forest. (Referencing her interpretive dance moves)

Anandi: No, that also means the Lotus flower.

Pi Patel: Lotus flower is hiding in the forest? Why would a Lotus flower hide in the forest?”

This is an analogy of the message. The Lotus flower is tangible, it is the cannibalism story, it is the tragedies of your present circumstance. While still somewhat hard to believe why the Lotus flower is in the forest, or how Pi survived, or how YOU have been down on your luck, it’s still a smaller leap of faith than the alternative.

That alternative is Richard Parker, the orangutan, zebra, and hyena. That alternative is a mysterious island and floating bananas. That alternative is BELIEF. It is the God of love hiding in the forest.

The Life of Pi taught me that God is out there. We must seek God, in order to find Him. True belief has a foundation in experience. Every one will encounter a time in their life when they as the all important questions:

“Who am I?

Why am I here?

Where am I going?

What can I do to help?”

The story is yours now … The God of Love is hiding in the forest, go find Him for yourself!

#lifeofpi #movies #piday #bmdb

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