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variousqueerthings · 10 months ago

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We were going to see them all. But he was too busy burning them. I don’t think she ever saw anything // No stars. I hoped there’d be stars

OKAY IT'S HAPPENING IT'S FINALLY HAPPENING! WE HAVE WATCHED world enough and time/the doctor falls

alright, let's keep the yelling to down below (EDIT: yeah these rambles got looooooooooooong)

sexism rank objectification (female character is ogled/harassed/turned into a sex joke by the doctor and/or a lead we’re supposed to root for and/or the camera): 9/10

sexism rank plot-point (lead female character is only there to serve plot, not to have her emotional interiority explored, or given agency to her emotional interiority): 6/10

interesting complex or pointlessly complex (does the complexity serve the narrative or does it just serve to be confusing as a stand-in for smart, this includes visually): 7/10

furthers character and/or lore and/or plot development (broader question that ties into the previous ones, at least two of these, ideally three should be fulfilled): 9/10

companion matters (the companion doesn’t always have to be there, but if the companion is there, can they function without the doctor– and overall per season how often is the companion the focus or POV of the story): 4/10

the doctor is more than just “godlike” (examines the doctor’s flaws and limitations, doesn’t solve a plot by having it revolve entirely around the doctor’s existence): 6/10

doesn’t look down on previous doctor who (by erasing or mocking its importance, by redoing and “bettering” previous beloved plotpoints or characters, etc.): 8/10

isn’t trying to insert hamfisted sexiness (m*ffat famously talked a lot about how dw should be sexier multiple times, he sucks at writing it): 9/10

internal world has consistency (characters have backgrounds, feel rooted in a place with other people, generally feel like they have Lives): 7/10

Politics (how conservative is the story): 6/10

FULL RATING: 76/100 (if I can count….)

I'd have to check, but this might be M*ffat's highest-rated finale (of course there is the finale that comes after this one, but um... that one will definitely be rated lower). I genuinely like quite a lot of what's going on here. and then there's some things I'm going to poke with a stick...

also at this point we confirm: Gomez!Master is simply perfection, she is this era to me!

OBJECTIFICATION: I note that Simm!Master is pretty darn sexist throughout this episode and yes, Simm!Master was definitely a misogynist in his original tenure too, it's just taken to an extreme degree in this one I think, specifically in a strange sort of "see how far we've come now" way, that feels echoed in the next episode with the first Doctor

I'm not sure if this is just me, but it felt jarring and a little out of character, but perhaps he's just reverted to the most extreme type after being a dictator on this spaceship for x amount of years idk. he was generally a little flat for me, but that's something we'll talk about further down

I wish Bill had been allowed to smack him or something at least, because oh boy was there a lack of satisfaction in that part of the narrative in my opinion

PLOT-POINT: okay I was writing this down in "politics" and maybe it is, but the blur is very big in this episode in many ways, so I've decided to put this up here instead -- ALSO THIS IS A RAMBLE TO TRY AND ORGANISE THOUGHTS BE PREPAAARED

if I had a nickle for every time steven m*ffat turned a Black character into a cyberman after being basically killed by a random happenstance that's never addressed again and then they decide to essentially commit suicide rather than keep living as a way to end their stories I'd have two nickles, which... I mean I don't know. it's weird that that's been his go-to twice, possibly not as a conscious choice, and maybe this doesn't even belong under politics, so much as a bit lazy in the absence of signs of it being an intentional callback or recurring thematic event (I mean this may be more about the fact that Danny Pink is a hard done by character as well)

I do think this is one of the worst things to happen to a companion in nu!who (the worst? hard to say, that's subjective, but in the sheer detail of its depiction it's certainly brutal), and I can't say Bill is offered much in the way of agency in the narrative, and listen, I like a tragedy, I like "you missed her by two hours," I like characters feeling so so sad, but I do feel like these episodes dropped the ball on being about Bill, rather than Bill being a cog in Simm!Master's ongoing game with the Doctor (and I'm not even entirely onboard with Simm!Master's characterisation in this episode as being much more than a prop to make Gomez!Master seem better or something by comparison? or maybe John Simm was just up for coming back and they were trying to make him fit in there), and I think that's a shame. I can't place it very easily, but it's kind of a letdown for a character that did feel very go-gettem throughout the season

in these episodes things happen to Bill and around Bill, but not really because of Bill or with Bill driving anything, with the exception of one moment (which we'll get to over in companions matter), and while we do have Bill reacting to those things toooo some extent, I personally don't feel like her emotional interiority is given much focus

in the first one she's more central and there's promise in the second episode when she wakes up and discovers she's a cyberman, but after that she fades into the background for me, which is wild, because she's gone through something so violent and has been betrayed so badly by the Doctor in favour of the Doctor's fucked up little dance with the Master, but she spends her time waiting around and being spoken to with incredible cruelty by Simm!Master and treated with suspicion by everyone else and it's just not even about any of that, except for how it convinces her to die

it's an interesting comparison to, say, Clara whom the Doctor fucked up the universe to save (and Bill's not even dead), but perhaps it's because the Doctor also wants to die/give up and Bill at this point was the big factor stopping that from happening. a lot of her saving him was specifically related to his being self-sacrificial and now she just accepts that death -- but then at the end she begs him to not be dead, but also we don't really see her during the proper battle scenes, which was an odd choice

if she's the Doctor's protector, as she has been often, including at the beginning of this episode, I think she should have been very visibly so

this is very rambly, but I think what I'm getting at is simply that Bill fades into the background of part two of this, in a way that feels particularly sad for the fact that it's such a violent fate

BUT WAHAIT! we do have Heather then coming in to save the day, and I personally like that. Bill was going to head out with her eventually, so I'm pleased. I think one thing about this season as a whole is that I think Bill deserved two and/or more episodes off the back like Martha for example had, but I know this was the final season. this is probably another post, but there's so many interesting underlying things to Bill's story that deserved more space (as it were), but also do I think m*ffat could have done all of that justice? (no)

so with all that in mind, I'm glad she went with Heather (let's hope next episode doesn't undermine tharthjgdksjdflkfjhöjsdlkfjgshjdf)

(my other note, which may also be politics, is that both of the Black female protagonists had the essential function of saving the Doctor from himself, and while Bill also got to be held somewhat by the Doctor in return, ultimately she wasn't the focus of this story as much as the Master was -- which I do think s3 balanced the Master/Doctor madness while also allowing Martha some development, but we may be coming down to subjectivity)

COMPLEXITY: the first part of these episodes is a rare example of a bit complex on M*ffat's side without being too stupid and indulgent -- there's a mystery (in the sense that you might recognise the Mondasians but Bill doesn't know them and the Doctor doesn't know), there's the slow creeping dread, there's the Master. I wish there had been more scenes of Bill trying to escape or figure out what's going on, because ten years and she just hung out there??? and accepted that this was what everything looked like??? no exploring??? really????? (this is companion matters actually, but it does stretch suspension of disbelief on my part)

second half is then a simple "getting attacked trying to stop it" story in which the cybermen are hyper-developing while this little farming community has to be prepared in a very short space of time, which is all fair enough. I think the second half overall is weaker than the first, and I couldn't tell you exactly why. I think a lot of it is quite good, but ultimately some of the character-work gets lost for me, even though it does nail it at the very very end

and I think a reason I'm overthinking a lot this season is because it's the final season -- it's m*ffat's last companion writing, Twelve's (second) last hurrah, Gomez!Master's last outing (and Simm's) and so it feels like I'm not just looking at this episode but how well everything built to this episode, which may not be quite fair, but also... such is the fate of a final-ish episode

it's a good episode. it's also a bit of a microcosm of some of the core Stuff in m*ffat era (although not as much as the next episode will be) -- it ends on a lot of very fun, interesting points, but it's a bit of a rocky road to get there that struggles to give the companion much to do. it feels like this season as a whole was getting to a pretty good place on a lot of these points (if one looks at this rating's system it jumps this season) and it feels like this development was cut short

I can't believe this me making the case for more of the M*ffat era, disgusting. hateful. this isn't who I am I promise!!!

CHARACTERS/LORE/PLOT: I mean yeah! boy ohhhhkay let's list!

Simm!Master returns, reveals he was killed by Gomez!Master and that she in turn was killed by him, but if she remembers that then I'd hazard that's how she survived that, but I don't think we've ever been told how. I love how many blank spots there are in the Master's history, this isn't a complaint. the master just comes back, that's what the Master does

Bill is turned into a cyberman, then Heather pulls her out of the cyberman and they go travelling together

the Mondasian cybermen origin story

the Doctor is going to regenerate but maybe refuses to!

Gomez!Master calls someone a bitch, which I had no idea where to place, but this was my note when it happened: CALLS HIM A BITCH!!!!???!!

(which on that note, that blue guy never returns, he just shoots Bill, gets flipped on his back and disappears from the narrative entirely, feels like a bit of a miss, considering how all of this happened because of something essentially pointless... shot by some random dude... the other main link between Bill and Danny, both seem to be random events, and I'm not sure M*ffat is a deep enough writer to be doing this intentionally for any thematic reason, because Danny isn't that important in the end RIP)

COMPANIONS MATTER: there's a lot I covered in the earlier point about Bill, but she does do soooome stuff, specifically she saves the Doctor's life in the beginning of episode 2, and also pulls him out of the debris at the end and into the Tardis somehow (sidenote, I really feel like the Tardis is so fond of Bill, in a very particular way. the Tardis has favourites and Bill is one of them I believe!)

I think. those are the two main things? otherwise she acts as bait, and then as... I suppose plaything to the Master in a way? summed up like that it's a bit bleak

“GODLIKE” DOCTOR: okay I wasn't sure where to write about this, but let's talk the Doctor and the Master! because this episode is attempting to do three stories, fundamentally

the origin of the Mondasian cybermen

Bill's final story (sort of)

wrapping up this era's exploration of the Doctor and the Master

and of these, I feel like the third is, funnily enough, the least compelling to me in the second half of the story (the first half, where the Doctor is convincing Bill to travel with Gomez!Master, I liked that!)

I actually wasn't a big fan of Simm!Master in this episode for the most part (not the whole part, I liked some of it too -- Gomez and Simm kind of wanting to get it on but also wanting to kill each other feels good, feels right), I felt like a fair amount of the writing wasn't quite... right for his character or went for his most exaggerated traits without any nuance. which, Simm!Master was absolutely a misogynist in his original s3 run (and then just mostly unhinged in the specials), so it's not out of the way that he'd be casually cruel to Bill especially, but Idk. I felt like the dynamic between Simm!Master and the Doctor was minimised to make Gomez!Master seem like her desire to try to get on the Doctor's side is somehow shocking (which I may be reaching but that tying into the continuous derogatory comments at WoMEn didn't sit right with me, like she was "more" emotional or less rational or more prone to Empathy/Feelings than before because of the regeneration, one episode after we've had the line about being past gender concerns), whilst in the same breath stripping Simm!Master of some of the stuff that made him fun to watch and the nuance specifically of his relationship with the Doctor back in the day, because now Simm!Master seems to just not care for the Doctor at all

it's not just cackling and evil-doing that made Simm!Master fun, in a similar way to how the first Doctor wasn't enjoyed despite apparently constantly talking about how women needed to be dusting in the Tardis (did he ever do that, I don't remember that ever... next episode questions, don't jump ahead)

now why do I talk about this in this section -- it's because of how it feels like there's a lot of heaaavy lifting- straaainingly heavy lifting to get the Doctor to make some philosophical points and have some growth and for Gomez!Master to figure out her moral stance that meant that potentially compelling ideas around the Master and Bill (Bill saying she's afraid of the Master in the first episode, Simm!Master pretending to be her friend before selling her out, the cruelty at her after she's turned) weren't realised

and it didn't have to be Simm!Master and Bill as such, but I noticed how excessively cruel the Master is to her without any sort of impact on the plot or the Doctor's relationship with the Master or Bill herself

this episode suffers from trying to get to this point with the Doctor, and with the (as anyone who's been reading these rambles of mine) compelling relationship between Gomez!Master and the Doctor, in a way that flattens Simm!Master into purely villainous and has Bill's emotional journey fade into the background

It's not entirely all the time, but when the Doctor makes a big speech about kindness at both Masters and Simm!Master reacts by saying he wasn't paying attention, it was kind of a letdown. it didn't feel like the big moment I think it wanted to be, and it also felt like everything was building towards giving us this era's Doctor and the Master relationship conclusion and it didn't quite land for me on the Doctor's side (Gomez!Master was great though), because of how lazily Simm!Master was written and a few quite big threads being dropped

I also feel like there was a bit of lack of continuation of the Doctor and Master relationship showing the Doctor's flaws, going waaay back to the 70s when the Master offered to rule the Universe together -- and in nu!who the Doctor's mourning the Master in s3 while the Jones family and Jack and Lucy grieved for themselves, the Doctor promising Bill it'd be fine, despite the Doctor knowing what the Master is capable of, and then Simm!Master doing all of that to her. there's just some... missing puzzle pieces where they're trying to make the Doctor look good, but it doesn't all work for me and as consequence the Doctor's emotional and philosophical journey doesn't land

PREVIOUS DOCTOR WHO: on the one hand super into the Mondasian cyberman origin story, on the other hand the disrespect towards unhinged Doctor/Simm!Master of yore!

on the third hand this line from Gomez!Master at Simm!Master that did feel like the vibe: "I loved being you. Every second of it. Oh the way you burned like a sun. like a whole screaming world on fire" self-destructively destructive is exactly it!

“SEXINESS”: okay so Simm!Master and Gomez!Master being horny is allowed. I actually wish they'd been more horny, specifically about the Doctor. can't believe you dropped the ball here m*ffat I was gonna be okay with it this time! I was giving you a pass! let them be even fuckin weirder!

I also want to note here because of bathos that Nardole is still there mostly doing comedy in a way that annoys me, and I now stand firm on the opinion that this whole season could've functioned without him. I put in my notes that I didn't mind him as much in the second half, but he's just not a character I enjoy

INTERNAL WORLD: I think the concept of the ship is very cool, with down below goes very fast versus up above going very slooow. it does fall a teensy bit apart with some of the journeying, I'm confused about the lifts, especially in the "we can't make it to the Tardis" part where I feel like some of the scifi ideas were streeetching to let the plot happen in the way the writers wanted it to happen, and this also a bit in the development of cybermen and what the timeline was there, but hey, maybe someone has done a rundown of parallel timelines and it all fits perfectly and I'm wrong

do like the idea that Simm!Master went into the downstairs world and completely fucked it up, sowed the seeds for the cybermen there and convinced them that up above was dangerous to the extent that no one did another mission to the up above since the first one. I almost wish that these two episodes had been supplemented by a third one (cut some of the dead wood from the middle-season 3-parter and make that a two-parter) to explore these societies more, give Bill more to do in this world than wait around for... ten years

ten years!????!!!!

but that says something to the fact that I thought these ideas were pretty cool and they made the famously silly-seeming Mondasian cybermen into something quite creepy

POLITICS: so is there anything I could add here that wasn't covered before? Unclear about the choice of sexism in this episode, think it was ill-conceived doing the "character becomes a cyberman" plot with Black characters twice, like that lesbians came into the fore at the end (there's a separate post where I'd like to ask how people feel about Heather in general, but in principle at least I do like it, and I think it's very much a "if only more time had been given to the plot and to Bill!" for me on the whole but I do like it)

*deep breath*

what about the rest of the episodes? technically not that political in feel? there's a dystopian choking society down below that's being tricked into being converted into cybermen, which is deeeply fucked up, there's a farming community up above that's not really explored much as a structure... I think that's it?

there's sort of an ethos about "helping people out of kindness" but I think that part is a bit rushed, but that's Doctor Who-ish. I would love some discussion on the ethics of the Doctor being like "Bill I respect your choice to self-sacrifice, because I will do the exact same"

a few little questionmarks is what I'm saying

FULL RATING: 76/100 (if I can count….)

AGAIN CLAP FOR MICHELLE GOMEZ! TRULY THE MOMENT!

AND ANOTHER CLAP FOR PEARL MACKIE WHO DID SO MUCH IN SUCH A SHORT SPACE OF TIME!

highlights: those two doing Acting, especially in their respective final sequences, spooky origin story and a few Neat scifi concepts, does feel like it emotionally wrapped up this era of DW, some beautiful speeches and lines, gomez!master and the doctor were beautiful

low points: didn't feel the Simm!Master inclusion on the whole, didn't feel like the Doctor entirely worked throughout in terms of feeling his development, Bill didn't get enough to do in the stories themselves

AND NOW! WE'RE DOWN TO ONE! WILL WE END ON A HIGH???

#the measurement #im watching nu!who #im watching capaldi who #episode world enough and time #episode the doctor falls

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hikarumkns · 4 years ago

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Sk8 episode 7 (Reki & Langa)

So again I would like to apologise for posting this up a bit late but it's so worth talking about. I won't really mention tricks since there was hardly any. This episode hurt y'all for many reasons.

Spoilers for episode 7

I love the way the this episode started. There's the chemistry we see with Langa and Rekiz; the admiration, the friendship and the wholehearted vibes we get from these two. If it's anything I can say is that, despite everything else, this episode made me realize that yes, I'm watching an anime. And although that may sound strange, it's because this show has done an excellent job at keeping these characters real and extremely relatable.

By the way, Langa is waxing the bottom of his deck so he can grind on rails and stuff. Street skaters also apply wax to ledges and rails to grind on them so their boards don't skid or get caught on something that can potentially cause injury. Just so it's smoother going down.

You knew something was gonna happen when the episode started with the opening rather than giving us a little something something on what the episode would be about. There's a lot to unpack.

Reki and Langa have a great friendship. They have common interests and they have a basic understanding of one another but they lack core communication and this episode proves it. For one, I was really heartbroken when I heard that people acknowledged Langa but not Reki. Who did they think introduced Langa to the S course?? That was extremely rude and to have him hear that they actually disregarded him really did a number on me.

I would want to mention that from this point forward I'll be splitting this into two sections.

I'll start with Reki.

To start off, I knew this would happen at some point with Reki. From the minute Langa went up against ADAM, I knew Reki would feel left out or that he would think he's not worth it which is totally not the case. Reki doesn't know his worth and while it may have taken him longer to grasp the basics and so on and so forth of Skateboarding, that doesn't make him a horrible skater.

I think Kaoru kind of said it perfectly but maybe didn't word it properly which just added more to the turmoil Reki feels. The fact that Langa has been snowboarding for a long time, not to mention had a good teacher who I assume was his father; his body had developed. It's much easier to get used to Skateboarding after snowboarding. The reason for that is that with snowboarding, your feet are actually in binds hence why Langa taped his feet onto the deck. With Skateboarding, you can easily jump off. There's mobility and there's more freedom. Though because of this, tricks are harder but it's faster to get used to. So of course Langa picked up relatively fast.

A good example of this in real life would be Shaun White. He's a pro snowboarder who went to win, I'm not sure if several, gold medals in the X Games in Skateboarding. AND in Vert. I mentioned this before that at some point in time we'd see Langa doing vert and lo and behold he did. Shaun White also did vert. It's not that Reki is bad, Skateboarding is difficult and some people pick it up faster than others and that's where I think Kaoru might have messed up because he explained Langa's skill too technical which Reki took that into account. What didn't help were those guys who mentioned he was a loser.

THEY SHOULD TRY MAKING A BOARD TO FIT SOMEONE LIKE LANGA

...

ANYWAY. Reki is great at what he does. He's innovative and the support that is needed to keep the group going. If it wasn't for him, Miya wouldn't be there with them. He's the glue to the whole group. Reki, despite his issue still cares about Langa and holds nothing against him. In fact, he takes the burden without pointing blame which really proves this boys character. I do understand where Reki is coming from and I wish he would've tried to kind of explain it to Langa at least or what's worse, Langa explain why he wants to go up against ADAM. Which brings us to our next boy.

I do want to point out that Langa isn't an adrenaline junkie. From what I've gathered and based off my opinion, I think after his father passed away, he never touched his snowboard. Meaning all those years of training, all of those years of practicing and snowboarding (these things become apart of you when you're doing it on a daily basis) he threw it away. So I believe what we see both when he goes against ADAM and when he's going through this moment is him trying to get that exhilaration back.

After idk how many months or years of not snowboarding, he probably decided never to do it again but then met Reki, he became interested in Skateboarding and he realized that he can gain something from it. I believe in this case, if I'm right, ADAM will be the one to awaken his true skills in this sense and get him back to where he was if not further.

Langa is a professional or at least, can be as stated by Miya, Kaoru, Joe... He has the ability to push himself. He has the ability to be to grow from a challenging situation. What happened with ADAM was exciting to him because he's being challenged, he's being pushed to think outside the box. That's why he finds those who are good, regardless of the situation, amazing.

I loved this episode so much lol

Reki doesn't understand that because he doesn't know what that's like and Langa doesn't know how to explain it because it's a feeling he himself doesn't understand. It's hard to put into words. They're both not communicating with each other well and can't figure out how. Watching Reki try to do a wallride was hard to witness. There's so much in there that he can't really understand about Langa.

Not to backtrack, but the reason why Langa can go high is because the boy is used to it. You get a lot of air snowboarding and in Skateboarding that's not really necessary but in snowboarding it is. Langa is also tall, his board is longer and if you want to count his arm span, Langa can reach it no problem.

These boys need a hard sit down. Reki, sweetie, you're not talentless and Langa it's okay to talk about it. Please y'all making everyone HURT.

WHEW

I'll probably make another post because ADAM...I haven't forgotten about you. You make me upset!

#sk8 spoilers #sk8 the infinity #sk8 #Reki #Langa #gifs #I swear #THIS POST IS SO LONG I'M SO SORRY

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purplerose244 · 4 years ago

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My thoughts on Seabound!!! 🌊🌊🌊 (4/4)

Here we are! What a journey, and while perhaps this season wasn't at MoM level it was REALLY good, with great new villains/allies, great little throwbacks and an awesome story! 🤩

How to get this was very good to great? Give me a very good ending Seabound!! 💕💕

Alright, here we go!

GENERAL THOUGHTS

I genuinely got too much into this remaining four episodes and forgot to put any general thoughts 😅 So you'll see me rambling at the end, see you there 😉

THE CALM BEFORE THE STORM

This title really summarize my feelings so far, like, I'm seriously wondering how it will move on from now, but I do expect the outcome to be CRAZY 🤯

Aaahhhh, yep, the one in Shintaro is a fake 😅 I wonder when did the change happen? How did Kalmaar pulled that off, wow

I'M SORRY WHY ARE WE PUTTING THE TITLE SCREEN WITHOUT THE INTRO?? THAT'S A FIRST EPISODE STUFF AND IT HONESTLY SCARES ME??? It reminds me of Winds of Change too and that episode was WOW 😭😭😭

Heeeeyyy, it's youuuu... huh... *watch scribble on hand* google snake guy, huh... Glucose... yep, good old Glutine and everything 😅

Are we having a "I may have made a mistake being evil" with this guy?

Jay: ah, Prime Empire! I was in that game you know! I fought for my life and the ones of all of Ninjago and I've seen my best friends and the love of my life die before my eyes... good times 🙂

Jay and Nya having fun at DDR has to be one of my favorite thing, they are so in sync and so lovable ❤💙❤💙

DID THEY ACTUALLY PUT THE JAYA SHIP NAME INTO THE SHOW??? OMG GUYS THE FANDOM IS TAKING OVER THE SHOW AT LAST!!! 🤯🤯🤯 The electric Jaya, heeeyy, niiicee 😎😎😎

HOW CUTE CAN YOU BE

MY SHIP 💙❤💙❤ They even gave each other high gives... this is neat, and it means something awful will happen right 🙂

Commissioner: he's saying something about a giant snake... and the end of the world... didn't we already have something like that?

Okay yep, he did the trick while fighting Nya, dang Kalmaar is sneaky! Not too shabby... but I gotta say, the summoning of the Great Devourer was a lot more dramatic 🤣🤣 Props to the serpentine, still my favorite snakes 💪💪

Wojira seems to be a little smaller than the Devourer maybe? His head way bigger than the bounty, while hers is not that massive even in comparison with Kalmaar

I might be wrong but at first glance, I stand by my opinion and by the superiority of the OG giant snake 🤷‍♀️

Yep Glutine guy did have a change of heart, better late than never 🤷‍♀️

You're telling me that Jay doesn't do engineering anymore, okay... HOW IS KAI A BETTER SOLUTION??? 🤣🤣🤣 Lol look at the messy brothers, love Lloyd and Kai so much I miss them interact ��❤💚❤

Thank you Kelly for the alert 😗

It makes me wonder if they actually do have simulations of evacuations often, it would be pretty smart considering the city 🤷‍♀️

OKINO IS THERE HI DUDE!!! 😍 I hope he's doing great! 🥰🥰

Gail Gossip! Been a while!

WOW, this is going Deluge like, my first Spinjitzu Master! 😱 How... how do we go with three episodes from here? Like, I'm guessing Nya will have to do what Nyad did before her (which TERRIFIES me), so are they going to struggle trying to find another way? IDK BUT I'M IN LET'S GO!! 🤯

ASSAULT ON NINJAGO CITY

Alright, pretty straightforward title, let's see what we got here!

Tourists?... that actually makes sense, I mean, I would want to visit all the places where history was made on this island 😍 Aww nice to see they remember the battle against Garmy of Hunted, also that it is known that Jay was the one who faced Unagami 👍👍

DARETH!!! 🤎🤎🤎

Where have you been you knucklehead, I've missed you! 💕 I think I've last seen him in a commercial from the Fire Chapter?

This is a terrible guide 😵 Not knowing the brown ninja? Owner of the dojo the Green Ninja had trained in? Brief commander of the Stone Army? Master of makeup and puffy potstickers? Unforgivable, someone fire this woman ASAP 😡😡

LOOK AT DARETH TAKING CHARGE!!! 🤩 He's right, he should get involved every once in a while, come on guys!

Ah okay good, I'm not the only one struggling with that google snake name 😂

Yay Bentho is fully integrated with the team! He is a great addiction, like, I know he'll probably take the throne at the end or something but I do hope we'll need his help again in the future! 💙

Sometimes I forget how much I love Kai and Zane interacting 🤣 The brainiac and the airhead 🤍❤🤍❤

Oh right, Cole came back from Shintaro! So... now in this extremely secret city there is a fake amulet hanging into a highly secured place... how is it always Shintaro the keeper of flukes? 😂😂

A bath as a boat but it has a whole 😂😂 I love this show's randomness

What ears are they supposed to cover 😅

I LOVE THIS ATMOSPHERE!!! 😍😍😍 Between the gray sky of storm and the sea underneath, this is the perfect scenario for Wojira and it's not even forced! I love how they are handling backgrounds for Ninjago recently, I really hope it gets as good as in the finale of Prime Empire 💙💙💙

AAAAAAHHHHHhhhhh okay for a moment I was scared Wojira was going to eat Jay 😅 After The Island this is already the second time Bluebell risks it... STOP

WHY THE CLIFFHANGER!?!?

NUUUUU WHAT NOW??? 😱😱😱 We have two more episodes, how is this going to end? I DON'T KNOW AND I REALLY WANT TO PLEASE GIVE ME A GOOD FINALE SEABOUND!!! 🙇‍♀️🙇‍♀️🙇‍♀️

NYAD

I AM SCARED FOR MY WATER LILY OKAY

Daaaang she can just float on that? She got super good at controlling water! Now I want her and Kai just randomly flying around with their powers 😂😂 Kai got missiles in his hands come on 🔥🔥🔥

JAY CAN YOU LET ME WORRY ABOUT YOU GUYS ONE AT THE TIME??? 😱

What would Kai do? WHAT WOULD KAI DO?? DID YOU DECIDE YOU WANT TO DIE JAY WHY WOULD YOU THINK OF HIM??? ... although technically Kai is the only one with Jay who didn't straight up die before coming back to life in a dramatic moment... huh... Kai might be the most reasonable choice after all 😅

We grew up from Ninja never quit to NINJA AREN'T IDIOTS AND KNOW WHEN TO GET THE HECK OUT 😎😎 Even our motto got a character development 💪

JAY NOOOOOOOO 😱😱😱😱

BENTHO YAAAAAAASSSS 🥳🥳🥳🥳 Did I ever say that I love shark boy? BECAUSE I FREAKING DO!! 💙

Master prankster Wu once again, take that empty ship Calamari head 😎 Although the poor bounty doesn't deserve to get destroyed as many times as it did until now, it's my favorite ship... pun intended 😜

Ah more ninjajan, wait a moment

"Auto Pilot". Fair enough, although I was hoping for a "psych" or something 😂😂

NO WAIT NO WHAT THE HECK!!! I THOUGHT JAY GOT SAVED HE INHALED WATER??!? BLUEBELL NOOOO!!! 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

But Cole running to his best friend immediately? HECK yes 🖤💙🖤💙

NYA CARRYING HER BOYFRIEND BRIDAL STYLE THIS IS THE RIGHTEST THING I'VE EVER SEEN!!! ❤💙❤💙❤💙❤💙 Gosh this season gave me amazing Jaya moments, I've been fed 👌👌

Okay Lloyd pacing back and forth? Kai already mad at their enemies? All the guys eager to help Jay? MY FAVORITE NINJA FAMILY BABY!!! 😎😎

I NEED A MOMENT 😭

Oh... oh gosh I knew Nya doing the Nyad thing was meant to happen, but this way? My heart is melting already 😭

I remember a post that said that Jay told Nya that he loves her many times, while she never did. Tommy reponded that she lets her actions speak... boy do I see it now, I see all of her love 😢😢

I never felt such conflicting emotions for a villain like I do for Kalmaar, like, he caused so much pain to Nya... but he is voiced by Giles... but he is the reason Jay is hurt... but that startle gag 😂😂😂

Okay this? Is adorable?

What the HECK? The police in this city is generally not very helpful, but the Commissioner is very wholesome 💜

Nyaaaaaaa 😭😭😭😭 I didn't think it was possible to love her even more, she was ignored for so long during the show, but now we finally see all of her. She is an amazing warrior, a selfless person, and a real hero 💪💪 And coming from such a mature girl that doesn't like to act irrationally, this means so much more

Jaya grew up so much, it went through some very questionable phases yes, but what they have here? It's the result of all they had lived together 💙❤💙❤

I have chills, this is amazing so far, I'm legit scared of going further 😱

SHE SAID IT!!! 😭😭😭😭😭😭 Okay this moment, everything, EVERYTHING, is absolutely marvelous. Nya said I love you without a voice, alone, showing again that she values the actions more, but still her feelings are 100% truthful. Then the transformation (THERE IT IS HER BEAUTIFUL WATER FORM 😍😍😍), Jay getting saved, the realization of what she just did from everyone... DANG IT IT'S ALL BEAUTIFUL HOW LONG DID IT TAKE TO THINK OF THIS SCENE???

*slow clap for Bragi, Tommy, and the Ninjago crew*

Jay and water Nya with their hands together gives me big The Form of Water vibes... LOVE THAT MOVIE WHO'S READY FOR AN AU??

Jay wants to help her, I had no doubt 💙 They always help each other in these BOUNDs seasons 😍😍😍

Kalmaar: where are the ninja??

Commissioner: I don't know, they are ninja!

FINAL BATTLE INCOMING AAAAHHH I HOPE THIS WILL HAVE A GOOD ENDING OMG BRING IT!!! 🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩

THE TURN OF THE TIDE

Oh, curious title? It feels a little vague, I don't really know what it could be

YES GIRL GO GET HIS CALAMARI BUTT HECK YES!!! Just how cool can you be for walking slowly while the attacks go straight through you? 😂

Hey Nya still recognizes Jay! 😃😃

HEY NYA GOT VAPORIZED WTH 😱😱 It's too early, I don't believe that's it!

WHOA JAY WENT BERSERK JUST NOW!! I don't think I've seen this before, this is the coolest thing! 💙💙💙 I just love when he shows how strong he is, you can be a comic relief AND kick butts 😎

FIGHTING ANIMATIONS MAN I LOVE THESE SCENES!! 😍😍😍

What the- was... was that a cameo of the lightning chicken? Ninjago what the HECK I love your randomness 😂😂

BENTHOMAAR TAGS IN!!! Showing off why he is best boy of the season 💙 These fightings are very cool but I can't help imagining Wojira just chilling while there are midgets getting very angry at each other onto her head 🤣🤣🤣

WHOA, CALAMARI BITE! Kalmaar got the Pythor treatment... might change color by next season if he returns 😅

(Please return I loved having Giles' voice in this season 💙💙💙)

NYA IS A DRAGON!!! I REPEAT NYA IS A DRAGON!!! 😍😍😍😍😍😍 I was wondering where the dragon moment was, this is Ninjago after all 🤷‍♀️

Head empty, just Jay smiling softy at Nya because he loves her 💙💙💙

IT'S RAINING NYA, HALLELUIA IT'S RAINING NYA, HEYE!! ☔☔☔ This fight is MASSIVE! We had finales with big creatures before but now one of the ninja is big enough to face them and that's 🤯

NYA DID IT!!! 🤩🤩🤩 ... now onto the angst that I KNOW it's coming

Kai being unbelieving is tragic, and Jay's "don't leave me" broke my heart. Please end this misery, where is the deus ex machina that solves everything?

Wait she left?

...

WAIT SHE ACTUALLY LEFT??? WHAT THE HECK THEY AREN'T ENDING IT LIKE THIS

...

OH MY GOSH

ARE THEY?!?

AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH 🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯

Omg the grief in this is beautiful, nice to see Jay and Maya so close to each other! Also Kai leaning onto his mom while Cole is comforting his best best friend? Amazing, they really do these scenes great 👌

EVERYONE SHOWED UP I LOVE THIS CITY SO MUCH 😭😭😭 Aww Ed and Edna, wasn't this such a sad situation I would be so much happier to see you guys 🥺

Master Wu even mentioned that she built Samurai X, you really want to make me cry now do you? 🥺🥺

MAYA AND RAY 😢😢😢😢😢😢

Omg look at Cole being there for his best friend, he is amazing 🖤💙🖤💙

I have such Rebooted vibes from this... is it hopeful? That Nya comes back like Zane? She's no nindroid but still... oh my gosh they got her symbol on the vase I just noticed, I need more tissues 😭😭

"In loving memory of Kirby Morrow". Always in our hearts 🖤🖤🖤

...

Wow

WOW

THEY ACTUALLY DID IT I NEED ANOTHER MOMENT 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭 WHAT IN THE WORLD THIS IS THE BIGGEST CHANGE THEY DID IN A WHILE!!!

AND NOW WHAT??? 🤯🤯🤯

FINAL THOUGHTS

I'm speechless... like that's true, have A LOT to write over here 😅

This type of plot twist reminds me of our early seasons. Zane sacrificing himself, Garmadon giving up his life, those moments that made me so curious and excited about the following. I have no idea what will be the outcome for this, but I can't wait to find out

With that out of the way, AMAZING SEASON 😍😍😍 I think this finale beats MoM's, just because it was really unexpected and opens up a SEA of possibilities... yeah too soon 😭

I'm still shaken, my world, they did something HUGE and I do hope it will be a good shake to the entire Ninjago plotline. Nya is "gone", we still don't know about the person behind all that vengestone, we haven't heard from Garmy in forever, there are so many good ideas out there now that they've set the ground for more 🤩🤩

Voice acting was *chef's kiss*, not only for the villain which I already stressed enough about, I think Kelly reached a new level of emotional intimacy with Nya and I'm so happy she showed her skills 💜💜

Animation is TOP, there's little to no point into saying anything else since they showed it very clearly in the latest season ☺

This was the emotional, witty and engaging writing I was looking for! Good jokes, meaningful dialogues, emotional scenes, everything was really good and I'm gonna rewatch some scenes especially for that 😍

It turned out having Maya and Ray back was kind of a distraction to fool us all 😅😅 Well played actually, and it was very cool seeing them again in any case 🙋‍♀️

And now? Jay lost his love, I have no idea if the show will work on him getting over her or hold onto her memory (thinking of Jay probably the latter, although I do think that handling the first would be an interesting idea). KAI LOST HIS SISTER 😢😢😢 I have no doubt he's gonna beat himself up for it, like he did when Zane was gone too. Everyone lost their friend, she had become such a vital part of the team and now she is not here anymore it will be hard...

They are back with the four plus one green savior formation, I sincerely don't know how I feel about that 😅 I'm always happy when we get the OGs, but this is about going on without Nya... maybe Skylor will be called? Or Pixal will be more active? That could be interesting to see, who knows 🤷‍♀️🤷‍♀️

Gosh, how are they going to handle the next season? It will have to give A LOT of answers to the millions questions we all have right now. Man I can't wait, it could be anything!!! This is a Ninjago revolution!

But if I have to mention a little complain, and I'm a fangirl so I absolutely have to, Kai didn't show much of a reaction to Nya's "departure". Okay, she didn't straight up die like in Skybound (I'm gonna fear all BOUND seasons from now on 😱), but he's her brother and he loves deeply his family. Either we're gonna see him go all out next season, or the writers really did only focus on Jaya. A tiny bit salty... but you got me a fantastic finale so I'll move on 👍

Outstanding, I'm blown away. Whenever I think I'm used to this show they do stuff like this. I'm so glad and sad you guys 😅 But mostly happy that despite everything I still get very strong emotions while I watch this long time favorite show of mine 💜💜💜

What else can I say at this point? ONTO NEXT SEASON!!! 🤩🤩🤩

Thank you for reading me freaking out over LEGO spinning ninja as always! It helps me calm down but this time it might be harder thant the others... *sobs*

I need to lay down and process all of this, I'll be on my way 😂😂 BYE!!! 💜

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pluviophile-bookworm · 3 years ago

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High School Musical: The Musical: The Series: The Rewatch pt. 1

I realised earlier today that I have nearly no memory of season 1, so I thought it necessary to fix that. And since I'm obviously not going to get any work done today, here we are!

Now, I did post my thoughts on episodes 1 and 2 way back when they were new, but I will still be commenting briefly on them from my present perspective - it might even be interesting to compare my thoughts then with my thoughts now.

Ok, now, without further ado, it's time to dive into season 1 of HSMTMTS! (Gosh, I'm excited like it's my first time watching!)

1x1: I think I kinda... remember why I had the opinions I had way back when

Wait... were those Ricky and Big Red bumping into Miss Jenn on their way in? I never noticed that the first time... then again, I didn't know them the first time. This is exactly what rewatching is for.

And here we go again... well, I guess, here we go for the first time — Ricky is totally ignoring the amazing friend he has because he's obsessing over Nini. Will he ever learn? Anyway, from a writer's point of view (not that I am really a writer), this is a really good Establishing Character Moment for Ricky.

And here goes the Rini awkwardness... why did I ship them again? I genuinely don't remember.

'Did I talk about Nini the entire time? Absolutely!' — I mean, it's like you don't have a personality beyond her, Rick. Get a grip!

This rewatch is making me realise the superiority of the season 2 soundtrack... putting things into perspective, I guess.

Listen, I was all for Kourtney 'dismantling the patriarchy', but, first of all, she didn't really do much dismantling in retrospect, and second of all, she has no right to talk to my boy Reddy like that! No one has.

I still don't get Carlos' thing about the HSM sequels. I mean, I heard it was supposed to be a joke about how they don't really take place at East High, but... in-universe, what are his reasons? I mean, I think, nay, I know he would have loved I Don't Dance.

Also re: Carlos, I can totally relate to the fact that he basically attached himself to Miss Jenn's side because he had no friends and she gets him... I was like that in most of my school days, including an embarrassingly long period in my last year at school. It's sad in retrospect, but back then I was having the best time.

'Is there somewhere you're supposed to be?' — 'Broadway.' — this was the moment I knew I would be a Carlos stan. Even if I'm feeling kind of conflicted about it now, in light of his recent actions...

I mean, you'd forgive me if during Nini, EJ and Kourtney's conversation I was paying attention only to Seb and Natalie in the back, right? Because that's what I was doing.

I can't with Ricky! Like, Big Red is literally discussing Ricky's problem, not even bothering to try talking about himself this time, and Ricky is still snapping at him. Like, we get it, you've got issues... but it's not Reddy's fault! It's just weird... there's something that draws me to Ricky (guess it's the relatable fact that he's got issues and he talks about himself all the time — though please tell me I'm not quite like this), and yet if I were rooting for him right now, I'd have to be doing Big Red very dirty. He's done nothing to deserve being ignored like this.

'The one person I go to for advice'... oh please, Ricky! If there were just one person you go to, then who is sitting beside you and listening to you moan and sigh right now? Gosh, I feel bad admitting it, but I hadn't really given Big Red much thought until 1x3 — and now I can't stop thinking about him. Guess the writing wants us to forget there are characters other than Nini and Ricky and maybe EJ at this point.

'But we hate musicals' — forgive me, Reddy, but I've got to laugh here. You? Hate musicals? Try again, dearie. I mean, look at me — back when I was watching this for the first time, I wouldn't have given Big Red a second thought (because the script didn't really seem to want me to) — and now he's literally one half of my patronus visualisation, quite literally helping me survive and stay sane (or as sane as I can be). This is what rewatches are for.

The way Big Red words the plot of HSM... it makes me feel like he's hinting at Ricky and himself and Nini. Gosh, the poor boy is just trying to make himself heard without being pushy about it... maybe he should be a little pushy.

I just realised that neither Ashlyn nor Gina has been given the slightest amount of focus yet... they do not deserve to be ignored. Shine a bloomin' spotlight on them, please and thank you!

We've got to appreciate Gina's character development, though. S1 Gina would have chewed Lily up alive. I kind of wish we could have seen something like that, but... I love Gina 2.0.

Ahhhh it's Ashlyn time! You know, I didn't want to slip into personal stories too much in this post, but... the way Miss Jenn seemed to stare into her soul just reminded me of my favourite uni exam I've ever sat. So, personal story time, I guess: It was my first semester and the exam was one of only two oral ones we had (fortunately; I hate, hate, hate oral exams); it was in British Modernist literature and each of us would be given a work to talk about. I was really nervous because I hadn't had time to read up on everything we'd covered, so you can imagine my relief when, as soon as I walked into the exam room and my favourite prof ever just kind of... looked me in the eyes and, much like a Sorting Hat, as if reading my thoughts, said 'Lord of the Flies'. Now, you don't know this about me, but that is literally my favourite book we did that semester. I was in my element. I absolutely aced that exam. In the other oral, Literary theory, I didn't do nearly as well. So yeah, end of personal story. The point is, I don't know what Miss Jenn did just then, but she totally nailed Ash's casting!

Also, I just noticed that, when asked about playing the piano, she was like 'I dabble.' I remember her saying that about something in early s2, though for the love of all gods I can't remember the context of that. And, well, does she ever dabble — in everything!

Ok, but Nini would have made a very fine Kelsey, all things considered. Just saying.

I said it back then, and I'll say it now — I love EJ, but he's way too polished and technical to be Troy. Ricky, on the other hand, didn't even need to act — he was being Troy at that moment. Too bad the same method did not work for the Beast... and yet he still got the part somehow. Oh well, he's still got time to get a grip on himself and deliver. I hope and pray he does.

'Troy would have arrived on time' — ermmm, Carlito? Did you and I watch the same HSM, cos I don't think we did. Troy literally rushes in after Mrs Darbus says auditions are closed. And then he gets the lead. So I'd say that was pretty in-character on Ricky's part. Idk, maybe you need to watch the movie again? 38th time's the charm, or something...

Miss Jenn needs to stop spilling her coffee all over the place.

Ricky's audition speech is so emotional, it makes me laugh instead of cry. Go figure.

And I just remembered why I loved Ricky. It was because of this scene. Like, you can really peek into his soul. If I were Nini, I would have got back together with him right then and there. Hey, I just realised why I was a Rini shipper. It all boils down to Ricky's audition, I guess.

'She thinks I'm a Chad?' — Iconic. Absolutely iconic. But why did I just have a vision of Seb going like, 'She thinks I'm a Chip?'... yeah, I will not shut up about this.

#hsmtmts #hsmtmts: the rewatch #ricky bowen #nini salazar roberts #gina porter #ej caswell #big red redonovich #ashlyn caswell #carlos rodriguez #seb matthew smith #hsmtmts miss jenn #kourtney greene #jnk

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taeminfucks · 3 years ago

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did not fit in askbox :(

you wrote that creative development as an idol is weird and out of order. Would you elaborate on that? You don't have to of course/ Because while it is not typical for modern pop acts I think (they are presented as more "these are my original ideas" from the start), but I finished music school for more classical music (even though I also performed contemporary music, it just wasn't pop) and "idol path" makes so much sense - first you learn the classics and do it to perfection, no choosing the pieces, just the execution, this is similar to how idols (usually) are given tracks to perfrom, next is choosing from pre-selected pieces to perform, and lastly - your own projects with original ideas, but only the first one is considered necessary for a musician. Overall I think k-pop has a lot of communalities with traditional art schools, especially the ones I'm familiar with, like SM is basically Vaganova for pop music. You focus on visual more (I think??? it seems that way from your blog), so maybe that's not how you see it, just interested to hear you thoughts more on this.

Sorry to submit instead of an ask, but it got too long and English is not my first language so if any mistakes were made or it seems to agressive or negative I'm sorry.

As a consolation prize, heard you like women (its Lee Hyori singing english song braught to you by jpop.ru) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XF0wHuxvKDE

😲😲😲

I actually didn't know that about the parallels between classical music and idoldom!! I'm not a music person and I've never been to any kind of artschool, but when I think of developing creativity I think of making a LOT of stuff, and most of it being pretty shit. You draw and paint a lot a lot and eventually you start making stuff that's actually good and that you won't hate after a month. Even as an experienced artist, you should come up with at least 3 different versions of an idea before you develop it further, even if you think your first idea is perfect. It requires a lotttt of churned out bullshit, that is essentially how you develop your taste and figure out what is good and what you actually like.

Idoldom seems out of order to me because they basically don't have that private time to churn out garbage and start picking out the gems. They start flexing creative skills *after* becoming famous. Irt to Mark, he's been writing his own lyrics for a long time but idk how much songwriting he's done, and I don't know if he's recorded a single throwaway bullshit track that is entirely his own, before being given the budget for CHILD. For me, I think of creativity as being deeply personal and self motivated. Making your own art is very different from fulfilling a role given to you (one is not better than the other, they're just different). Mark is good at fulfilling the role of idol and performing, but I don't know how much practice he has at being the generating force behind art.

Another element is that when idols start solo stuff and showing creativity, they already have a base of fans who will lap up everything they do and tell them they're amazing and perfect and Mozart born again. This is creative poison. As an artist you NEED criticism. Admittedly criticism from the public (whether they love it or hate it) probably isn't helpful but you deffo need criticism from other artists and people who's opinion you respect.

All in all I don't actually know much about the idol industry, and I definitely don't know anything about making music, so take this with several spoonfuls of salt lol. I think my perspective is that of an amateur artist, which you can be for any medium, either musical or visual. I'm realizing there's such a huge difference between amateur artists and like professional art systems and schools, wow

#tysm for this!!! i never even thought of that #ask

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justapoet · 3 years ago

Note

hi!! have you watched the new episode yet? what are your thoughts on the season so far?

Hey, you! I haven't, no; sadly, I'll have to anxious about it for a few more hours. I'll be honest and say I'm not really excited, though ― and I also don't know what to expect at all, because people seem to have very different opinions about it.

When it comes to the season, I'll repeat what I've been saying so far ― I'm disappointed. Not with the storylines themselves, but with the general part of it (and it doesn't even relate to Buddie).

The storylines are just... Messy. Not only that, but they're rushed and the characters seem to trip over their own development and whatever they have going on. And, look, I completely understand that 9-1-1 is a drama show and, therefore, it needs drama ― but a bit of development surely wouldn't be bad.

So far we've had, what, seven episodes? (I really don't know, I get lost with numbers) and we've had enough storylines for at least twelve (we can even add the last two from the last season) with no actual development. The writers make a fuss over some things and then they just... Don't do it. Idk what goes on with that.

For example, the blackout. Man, that was a huge, awesome oportunity to develop so many things, so many calls, so many storylines ― and nothing. We got nothing. Not even closure, because they threw the hackers thing and then just ended it with no further explanation. Nope. Nothing. Nichts. Nada.

And I'll be honest, I was so excited with the blackout possibilities that it was a punch to my stomach how they didn't use it for a goddamn second.

Then, we have Maddie. I understand they had to get rid of her because JLH wouldn't be able to be part of the season, but they could've done it better. I mean, developing the PPD a bit more wouldn't hurt a soul. Explaining it, either, giving awarness. No. They threw it on us, vanished with her ― and then with Chim ― and I don't doubt that will be the last we'll hear of her struggle. I hope they will, but I doubt someone will address the problem again.

Same with Eddie, his panic attacks, and the aftermath of the shooting. Will they address any of it? Hardly.

I won't even get started with Athena's storylines because, Anon ― it fucking pisses me off. I hate it. I hate it. I hate it. They just took any sense they had and threw it in front of a car with broken breaks and set on fire. Driven by a blind dog. In the middle of the desert. Nothing about it is good or makes sense, and there's no chance someone will make it out alive or harm-free.

But, I do have a good feeling for the Halloween episode! I really hope we have some funny calls and that old, chilly spooky feeling even!

Also, season five brought us Ravi Panikkar and I am the first one to be honoured about it. Just *chef's kiss*.

In general, I'm definitely disappointed. Feels like they're just throwing things around to have the impact, but as they do that, the writers forget they should also develop such thing because, y'know ― it's a TV show. You gotta actually follow a timeline. And think before doing stuff.

Hopefully this episode will be good, though! I'm choosing to be a little more positive, and yet keep my expectations a bit low. And, who knows? Maybe 5B will surprise us all!

#911 season 5 #911 #911 show #fandom discussion #anon ask #asks #mary talks #ravi panikkar #because he deserves a tag for existing #911 s5

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malfoymuch · 5 years ago

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“Rivals Don’t Look At Rivals That Way” pt. 2 [draco x reader]

Pairing; Draco x Reader

Genre; ANGST, with uh, some fluff

Prompt: Part 1 Inspired by “THAT WAY” by Tate McRae

Word Count; 4k+

A/n: Hey everyone, I just wanted to say I’m sorry for posting this WEEKS later, after the first one. To be honest, things are getting a little hectic and the workload for school is only increasing (it’s insane really, at least to be). Anyway thank you for all the love and support you gave to me, especially for the first part!! It may seem a bit rushed so I apologize, and it is a lot of ANGST, so yeah...thank you guys and love you!!

Warning; idk major angst, and it’s a bit rushed so i apologize (there also may be a few grammar errors but i always miss them)

Part 1 || Masterlist

_________________________________

Previously:

“Rivals don’t look at rivals that way… rivals aren’t supposed to feel jealous when the others dating someone else…” you droned on, ignoring the look of astonishment Draco had. “I don’t think we’re rivals, because if we were, then I’ve read everything wrong. And so are my feelings…”

So you looked back up to him teary-eyed, clutching his robes and pulling him closer to you.

“Tell me the truth, I want to know whether or not there was a possibility we have something… tell me if you feel absolutely nothing so I can stop-- there’s no point of me continuing on if nothing’s going to happen so tell me, Draco. Do rivals look at rivals that that?”

_________________________________

Now:

He felt comatose, not from your hinted confession, but the reality he cloaked suddenly unveiling. Complexion faded, his lips quivered and his throat unbearably tight. It had only tightened more as he watched as your face begin to form tears, sniffles already beginning. He was always a malefactor, wasn’t he?

“I can’t,” Draco lamented, inspecting your deepened expression.

“The last thing I want is for you to be mocked by all these students…” a frog caught in this throat as the three next words passed his lips. “...from my father.” His eyes widened as he left a cool drop fall stream down his face and drip off his chin, landing on the ground. The sudden moment he couldn’t restrain his emotions… he didn’t even know he felt even an ounce of melancholy.

“So you admit that we’re more than rivals?” You whispered, stirring Draco from his unsettling behavior; a frown quickly cracked through, despite his oblivious state.

“I never said that, don’t put words into my mouth. Plus, you know better than anyone that we couldn’t possibly--”

“What’s stopping you?” You grilled, quickly overlooking his (weak) counter, stunning him for a moment. “Why is there always something stopping you Draco? Someone?”

The interrogation seemed to madden him. Out of the blue, a harsh growl erupted from his throat; harsher than he’d ever done before. Of course, he knew what stopped him, what always stopped him. Merely the thing that daunts him every day, makes him question himself and his actions…

“Nothing...” Draco snarled, laced in displeasure.“Nothing is stopping me.”

“There is something...” you pressed on. In this exact moment, you could’ve been deemed the antagonist, forced to alienate everyone around you.

You didn’t want to, but you knew that the exterior front he seems to maintain isn’t his true nature; you knew that deep within, everyone is a bit broken inside, and there was a nagging feeling in you that he was much more broken than anyone you’ve ever seen… maybe even more than you.

“I know there’s something Draco, whether or not you want to tell me about it.” You didn’t want to, but if making him angered was the only way to see his genuine emotions, you’d do it in a heartbeat.

Draco’s jaw clenched at your words, resisting the urge to snap. He should be open, he wanted to do nothing more than surrender. To you, to everyone, he trusted, to everyone who deserved it. He’s done already to you, partly. Accidentally, but was it worth it? It was, it always was, so... why can’t he go further? Why were so many things prohibiting him? And why were they all linked to the same thing?

“You don’t understand, you don’t see the world I do (Y/N). You’ve managed to see through people, and believe that every person should have a chance. I didn’t get to, you haven’t seen this school as I have… being a Malfoy. People change, and not for the better, sometimes... You can’t fight for me for too long, (Y/N), you’ll end up giving up too.”

His eyes glistened with fresh pools fell down, uneasy hands bringing themselves up to cradle your weeping face. A thumb, calloused, guardedly moved higher, pushing the water threatening to flood. He watched as the spark in your eyes dim, and he knew he’d done it again; he’d break another one. It was heart-wrecking.

“You mean more to me than anything, (Y/N). I mean it…” he started, stepping closer and bringing you to his chest; shielding him from seeing the agonizing expression, guilt beginning to already eat him alive.

“The last thing I’d ever want to see, is for you to be shattered… and for it to be all my fault,” he choked out, knowing very well you were already tattered… much less than what could happen later. His hand slowly went up to place itself on the back of your head, soothingly rubbing and playing with the strands. Not to calm you down, but for him.

With his words, time seems to stop, as well as your heart; no words formed.

How could he?

You’d known for some time rejection was an option, but it was before his feelings… before the pain knowing how close you were; seeing the light at the end of the tunnel, reaching for it, grasping what it seemed to be it, and falling through the seams.

Blame is all that seemed to loom him, clouded by what he convinced himself to be responsibility.

How do you persuade someone damaged like that? Reassure him that he didn’t have to worry about your well-being? About the world around him?

That simply having him near and embracing you, knowing how he truly felt was all you needed; his mere existence was enough, his worth didn’t need to be proven. That the feelings were both mutual, was all he needed. The world’s view shouldn’t matter, because it was the two of you… not them.

He didn’t need the world to love him, because you did. And even if you weren’t enough, he’d have others, family, friends… but did he really?

For once, in your entire life and being, you felt… defeated. Taunts and arguments were small failures, but resulted in your victory… for the first time, you didn’t know what to do… how to make a comeback.

“So there’s nothing? We’re destined to be stuck like this?” you sobbed, arms encircling his torso, pulling yourself into his chest deeper, a habit to muffle the cries escaping from you; a tactic you developed as a kid. Draco only pulled you closer, silent; chewing on his lip hard to the point he could begin to taste the metallic fluid oozing from it. “I don’t want it to end… anything at all is fine.”

He knew what you meant or what you were getting to… It was either going back to being the world’s little display of chaos or having a secret little love affair.

Now usually, he’d be head-over-heels at the idea, the moments of cuddling or secret rendevous in the garden or past curfew. Stolen times under the moonlight or just with the two of you, it sounded like bliss.

But there was a possibility that it could all end in an instant. The moment he’d become extremely attached, to the point where a mere sideglance from another male could send him unhinged. Or someone catching the two of you, unfolding the curtain for all to see; backlash was his first thought.

The thing was, he was untouched. Draco Malfoy was taken to such a high degree that most didn’t want anything to really do with him-- get on his bad side. The only people who’ve ever given him a run for his money was the Golden Trio, other than that, he was fine.

You were the complete opposite. Yes, you have held a stable title of being strong, a determined and bright-minded individual. But people would still gossip, attempt to enrage you, simply because they could. You would fight back, that was definite… but there’s only so much you could take. Only so much before you either become numb or do something near expelling-worth.

He didn’t have the courage. Call him a wimp all you want, but Draco Malfoy wasn’t going to hurt someone else ever again. He’s already done enough to himself.

Cut ties, to have you blame him and move on. Hate him, mock him, he’d heard it all before-- but with time, you’d be happier. It would hurt, more than anything, but he’d rather have it from you now than having it all, still brawling students will a weak caliber. God, he’d never forgive himself for that. His selfish acts weren’t going to be at the price of your glee.

“We can only be what they see us as of now,” he retaliated, hearing another choke from you; the heartstrings pulling excruciatingly tight. “For both of our sake, for your sake, especially.”

“Draco--”

“Please, do it for me. Stop trying to reason with me, because I’m doing what’s best for us, for everyone. For you.”

Anger.

For you… for you… why was it always “for you?”

Why was it that everyone’s decision revolved around what’s best “for you?”

No one ever asked, but it was always with the best intention “for you.” But who knew if they left before they could?

The saying made you sick to your stomach, but you couldn’t retaliate. Instead, with a shaky breath, you took everything left of you and removed his hands from you, already missing the warmth from him. You didn’t need a second opinion to know you were an absolute wreck; the feeling already weighed you.

You held onto his hands in yours, just blanking out, staring at it. The sheer touch of his hands made butterflies explode within you, the frog trapped within your throat refused to budge. The grooves of his hands were intricate, you could hold onto it for forever, intertwining it with yours. Instead, a few more tears plopped from your eyes and onto his hands. What a silly thought…

Holding his hand out to him (with yours in it), you pushed it towards him, staring at him. This was your last attempt. Draco’s eyes bore into the hand holding his, signaling you were complying while saying,

“If you truly feel that way… take these back too.”

Draco didn’t want to… it was too nice. It felt right, like home. A safe one. Maybe even an escape. But if it didn’t, and let his heart voucher for him, all that he’s said, all he’s done, would’ve been for nothing; the struggles.

So, he made his decision.

As his hand withdrew and landed to his side, you had sprung forward. Grabbing the collar of his robes, you pull him down and peck his forehead. Draco’s body turned crimson, his body hot; if it was possible, steam would’ve been blown out from his ears. Just as quickly as it happened, it was gone.

Putting on the best smile you could muster, which you knew wasn’t much, you pulled away with another few inches of distance; the wood creaking beneath your feet. You didn’t know why you did it, maybe for once, you wanted to be selfish… you wanted to take something, a memory before it all ended.

“I should go before someone comes to check out the books in this section.” You didn’t want to leave, his eyes were telling you to stay, but if you did your heart would’ve split into two. You made your lips smile wider, almost maniacally, as more tears cascaded down your face; everything you could see started to blur. Turning away, you scurried off, resisting the urge to turn back.

Something overcame Draco. He sunk onto his knees, against the bookcase, ignoring how loud it must’ve been. He leaned against the bookshelf, his lip quivering more than ever as all his emotions poured out; by himself, once again. His knees came to his chest as he flicked his wrist with a series of words. Books encompassed him, cloaking the withering Slytherin, finally expressing his emotions… with no one to hold.

_________________________

You stared off into space, elbow digging into your thigh, despite the thick robs above it; you rested your head on your chin as everything around you seemed to be in a blur. You were so wrapped up in your mind the stem of your apple was barely between your fingertips, dangling.

“You shouldn’t look so glum, people might get the wrong idea,” Dean teased, nudging your shoulder as he stole the apple from you, taking an enormous bite out of it. You gasped and punched his arm, screaming at his stupidity for eating your food, and finishing it off. Grinning the best he could, he threw the apple core to the side and folded his arms over his chest, making a sad face.

“Now what’s the problem?” He questioned, in a childlike manner, his bottom lip popping out to create an (almost) irresistible pout. The action made you roll your eyes, giving Dean his answer.

“Geez, it’s the same thing… well, if you want, we could do something to get revenge.” You gasped in exaggeration, eyes blown wide as a hand came to your chest. “Did a Gryffindor just suggest revenge? What’s the world coming to?”

“Oh, put a sock in it. You’re simply just rubbing off of me too much for my own good,” he mocked back, smirking. Shaking your head a bit, you stealthily grabbed the sketchbook from him and flipping through the pages. His eyes bulged.

“What are you doing?! Are you mad?”

“You know...” you trailed off, scanning through the context. “You really shouldn’t draw people without their permission. Especially if you’re drawing the same person.” You taunted, displaying the picture of Ginny. Dean’s face grew red, taking the initiative to take the book back and hide it under his robes. He groaned aloud, revealing it once more.

“First off, I don’t only draw her, I draw all my friends.” He muttered, flipping through the pages irked until he found it. “I drew you too,” he finished, displaying the specific drawing.

Honestly, you were surprised. Shockingly enough, Dean Thomas was in incredibly talented kid, believe it or not, especially in art-and-crafts. You never belittled his talent, unlike the other Hogwarts students, you just teased him from drawing his little crush for an unspeakable amount of days, months. But seeing you made you crack a smile, even with the thought of Draco’s denial.

It had already been two weeks. Fortunately for you, Dean was about the perfect person you needed, a supportive, caring friend. It was well reciprocated, it seemed Dean was completely in love Ginny; he didn’t even talk to her much. He had tried countless times, but there were a few moments filled with stumbling over his words, walking off embarrassed. You didn’t know if Ron had noticed Dean’s fascination with his sister, you just hoped he wouldn’t chop Dean’s head off.

“Why draw me? I mean, that sketchbook’s pretty much occupied with one person inside. You could dedicate the entire book to her.” Dean rolled his eyes, clutching the sketchbook against his chest tightly. “I draw everyone I hold dear, (Y/N). And if you didn’t know by now…” Dean’s voice began to come softer, leaning close. “... you’re apart of that list now.”

“You’re too goofy sometimes,” you laughed. Both of you smiled brightly as laughs were exchanged, gaining the attention of a few students, who began to babble. Dean stopped before you did, gazing at everyone.

“Hey, don’t listen to them. They have nothing on you,” you whispered, ruffling his hair. “Entitlement only gets you so far, you need brains to get anywhere, and a majority of this school doesn’t really have any.” You continued on, knowing that a few students must’ve heard.

“You’re going to get in trouble for saying things like that, y’ know.” He whispered. “It’s the truth, and maybe for once, the school would shut up and mind their own business.” You spoke a bit too soon because a bundle of boys came trudging their way over.

“I heard (Y/N) and Dean are really together, look they’re all touchy and--”

“Crabbe, Goyle. Do me a favor and put a cork in it.” Draco sneered, leaning against the pillar as he watched people from a distance.

Yes, most would find it creepy. But Draco was much more observant to the people around the two of you rather than just you. Keen to people’s words, the way they spoke hollow lies, yet it seemed it mattered more than the value of truth. Deception and myths blinded people, false hope. He stares too often, but it’s mostly the people around rather than the person. He did it with Potter, got him in trouble more times than he could ever count.

But Draco knew the truth, he did it to help him. It was the only time he could ever see you, without other’s wandering eyes. He just didn’t feel the overwhelming need to do anything or desire. Crabbe and Goyle still praised him, always as countless other Slytherins, but it didn’t help that he himself felt guilt. Felt like a complete blistering idiot for rejecting probably the best opportunity he could’ve had, but he made his word of it to never come in contact if there was a chance of it down spiraling… if things were to get out of proportion.

You made sure to give the biggest grimace to the leader of the boys, looming over you as he shifted his weight on his back leg.

“Heard you two were together,” he jeered, his misshapen finger pointing accusingly at Dean. “the muggle-born.” The attempt to belittle your friend made you scoff aloud, unlike Dean, who’d kept his head down to avoid the spur of conflict.

“Obviously you’ve heard wrong because we’re not together. That or you’re just plain stupid.” The male looked baffled before he stomped closer to you, a poor attempt of intimidation. “What did you just call me?”

“(Y/N), quit it.” Dean tried to reason, finally looking up from the ground.

“I think you heard me, or are your eardrums clogged? You know what, don’t answer that, we all know the answer to that,” you taunted. “The latter one, if you didn’t already know.” You saw red. That and the sudden silence of everyone nearby, practically gawking at the scene before them; it even caught Draco’s full attention, making a beeline straight for you.

The boy suddenly grabbed the collar of your robes, his other hand reaching down to reveal his wand, you let out a maniac laugh.

“Are you that embarrassed that you attack a woman? Especially one unarmed as you reach for your--”

“Oh shut up!” He screamed, his wand pressing against your chin, making an indent on your skin. “You just wait and see you--”

“I dare you to finish that sentence,” someone grunted; a wand pressed against the male’s head, who shivered. You didn’t need to look twice to know it was Draco, though you were more irritated that he came to help you now than relieved.

Doesn’t give you a glance and suddenly came to act like your knight in shining armor out of the blue?

“Go on,” Draco rasped, “get on with it. Finish what you were going to say before I came here.” You felt the pointed piece of wood disappear, a slight tremble in his hands as he placed his wand to the side.

“I can’t...” the student croaked. Draco’s furrowed his eyebrows and twisted his face, adding pressure. “And why can’t you? Don’t tell me you’ve suddenly chickened out, have you?” He remained silent before Draco finally released him with a quick click of his tongue. “Beat it, coward.”

As if on cue he scurried away, not once looking back. Draco gave you a steady look, scanning your face for any sign of injuries, mutely.

“If all you’re going to do is stare, I’m going to leave,” you said, patting down the wrinkles in your robes. Draco didn’t say anything as he grabbed your forearm, tugging you along to who-knows-where. Stopping in front of Goyle and Crabbe, he growled.

“By the time I get back, I demand to know everything about that tosser, clear?” The compliant nods cracked a small smile from Draco, before whispering something to the boys you weren’t able to catch. He turned back to you and gave you a hard stare, turning around and yanking you with him.

The walk overall was uncomfortable. You were petrified to try and break the heavy silence, knowing Draco was still full of steam. The doors to the library swung open as he made his way inside, his grip as vicious as a viper, tightening at the slightest struggle.

“Are you always trying to get yourself into trouble?” He snapped, pushing you towards a bookshelf, and trapping you with his arms. You hated this. Being stuck beside him, near him, when he hinted there was nothing he could do to change anything between you.

“I don’t want to talk to you, Draco. I have nothing to say to you, so let me leave.” You ordered, searching for a way to flee.

“I don’t care if you don’t have anything to say to me, because I know you’re lying and I have things to say, so you’re not going anywhere until we sort this out.” A pained laugh followed from his words finally decided to stare up at him and into his eyes.

“I think we’ve already sorted it out, you established that weeks ago, if you’ve forgotten,” you chided, ignoring your shaky breaths. “There is nothing to sort out, ‘cause we aren’t any--”

“Don’t finish that sentence.”

“And why not, huh? Afraid it’ll hurt your ego if I might?” You wanted to stop, you really did. You didn’t understand the words coming out from your mouth, but in that second everything within you just broke.

“We are nothing, you made it crystal clear, Draco. Don’t tell me you’re suddenly backing out on your word--”

You felt something on your lips. Something soft, wet.

He was kissing you. Draco Malfoy was kissing you. It wasn’t happy either, it was vulnerable. His hands intertwined with yours desperately, assertive and fragile. It wasn’t until then you realized he had been crying from your words, his actions.

When he pulled away his head hung low, ashamed.

“I’m sorry. If you still hate me you can hit me, do whatever you want. I just wanted to tell you I’m sorry, for everything.” His eyes pierced into yours, another tear forming on his tear-streaked face. “You deserve much better than me.”

Again, you were in a tight spot.

Could you accept him? This time?

You got what you wanted, he finally decided to open himself up to you, after months of trying, months of failures. But now… you didn’t know. He was so distracted by everyone around him, would it work? The two of you?

Weeks ago, you would’ve been all for it; ready to face the world if it meant he was by your side every time, both thick and thin.

But now you were thinking, actually taking the time to think it through… were you going mad? You loved him to death, without a doubt, but what would happen if his father did find out? It would be an emotional hell for him.

What if you weren’t enough for him, and he realized that?

“(Y/N), nononononono don’t you ever discredit yourself… ever.” He panicked, taking your face into his hands and raising your eyes to him. You didn’t even realize you voiced out your thoughts to him.

“You are everything, (Y/N). Nothing would change that, you did nothing wrong. I did it, okay? It’s my fault.” And there it was...

It’s my fault.

“Why are you so persistent in everything being blamed on you. Why do you intentionally make people blame you?”

“Because it’s easier to have everyone hate you then knowing your true intentions… your true feelings. It’s been easier, until now,” he explained, muttering the last part under his breath. “When you asked what was stopping me…” Draco trailed on. “...It’s been me. I know, it’s stupid but… I don’t want to be broken again, (Y/N). Not again. So I tried to push you away, evidently, that didn’t work.” He joked, stroking your hands.

“I’m not asking anything of you, (Y/N). I just wanted to say I’m sorry; I won’t ask for your hand, just know that you mean more to me than anything. Whether we’re rivals or more.”

He said gingerly, a little grin forming on his face.

You thought again.

Was it really okay for him? Was he really all right with everything? With the thought of you hating him and moving on? Being nothing more?

“Draco…” you whispered, you didn’t believe the words coming out from your mouth. “Will you go out with me?”

Draco was speechless for a while, before kissing the top of your forehead. “Only if you’ll have me.”

You’ll take a chance, if he was willing to, you’d take it any day.

_________________________

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I think that’s everyone, thank you for reading and I hope you all are healthy and safe !!!

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calliecat93 · 3 years ago

Text

ST: TNG S6 Watchthrough Episodes 14-17

Face of the Enemy: Troi has been kidnapped and forced to look/pose as a Romulan officer. Why? The one responsible isn’t saying, but to say that she’s unhappy would be an understatement. As it turns out, Troi was abducted by a part of the resistance from Unification and they need a Starfleet officer in case their current plan goes south. They even mention Spock… IDK if I can see him approving of an abduction but maybe they just forgot to mention that he disapproved that part… then again I guess it makes logical sense. Eh, whatever. So… this is by far the best Troi episode that they’ve done thus far. She was kidnapped yes, but she is NOT playing the damsel-in-distress. She’s not victimized. She’s not sexualized. She’s not forced into a poorly conceived romance or undergoes anything gross/f*cked up. She has to act the part of a cold-hearted authoritarian among a ship of Romulans and she is freakin’ badass. Especially when she decides that she’s had enough going and thoroughly tells off her kidnapper N’Vek and that he will listen to her. 100% perfection. They even managed to make her empathic abilities useful. Did putting her in the uniform cause this? Did they get it out of their systems in Man of the People? IDK but I am all for it! It was also an awesome look into the Romulans and the going-ons on their ship, something we haven’t really gotten since TOS’ Balance of Terror, and all the Romulans are done very well. N’Vek kidnapped Troi but he did it for his cause and is a great morally grey character, and the female Romulan Commander Toreth is an excellent antagonist. Plus it’s nice to see more of the resistance and to see them within the Romulan ranks. It was an excellent episode and I freakin’ loved it~! Thank you show for giving Troi the badass episode that she deserves (even if it was this late in the show's run), now keep it up! 5/5.

Tapestry: Two Q episodes this season? Hell yes~! So… Picard dies. Welp. Q decides to take this to give Picard an offer: go back in time and undo his greatest regret, the incident that caused his artificial heart that he told Wesley about in Samaritan Snare. Back when he was a hot-blooded rebel who got himself into a fight that got him stabbed in the heart. In doing so, he now has a chance to correct all the wrongs and settle all he regrets in his life since that day. So up to this point, Q’s episodes since Q Who, while still entertaining and interesting, had been more light-hearted. Q still came off as an all-powerful being (Deja Q aside which him not being was the plot point), but his antics had been more comedic or light-hearted in comparison. In this episode, he’s acting like a trickster as per usual, but again more with the purpose to teach Picard a lesson. Why isn’t made very clear aside from maybe he just likes Picard (take that however way you’d like), but it’s nice to see this version of Q again while still utterly stealing the show. Picard got to undo the event… but would it have really turned out any better had it not happened? Would not making mistakes, having regrets, and making all the supposed ‘right’ choices when he should have had truly made a better impact in his present? That’s the funny thing about life, it’s easy to look back and go ‘if I had done this one thing differently, it would have been better’ and te desire to correct it is very powerful. But with mistakes comes the ability to learn. To grow. To mature. You’ll always have guilt and regrets, but you have to accept that this is what you chose and go about your life. Picard is a man full of thrown-away opportunities, pain, and so much more… but it also caused him to become a strong leader, intelligent, a risk-taker, and even with all his faults become a better person in his present day. Now obviously he doesn’t actually die, but he sure as Hell learned the lesson. The life he would have lead would have been unsatisfying, his old regrets replaced with new ones, and been unfulfilling for a man like himself. Now he can truly value the one that he has and the people in it. This was a fantastic episode. It’s crazy how Picard went from one of my least favorites to now one of my absolute favorites. His development and growth from a strict, aloof authoritarian to a much more reasonable father-like figure and much more humbled man and the captain has been excellent, and this episode just helps further that. The only real complaint is there’s not much time devoted to showing how his crew ended up without him, but that’s minor and doesn’t take anything away at all. Very well done~! 5/5.

Birthright: Okay, guess we got a second two-parter… and apparently it crosses over with DS9. Didn’t see that coming. But alrighty, I’m game~!

Part One: So the crew is on Deep Space 9 to assist in repairs of some incident involving the Bajorans and the Cardassians that I guess I’ll find out about when I get to the show. While there Worf is approached by an alien who informs him that his dead father? He may not be dead after all, having been kept in a Romulan prison. Worf doesn’t take it well. He ain’t the only one having daddy issues. While working with DS9‘s CMO Dr. Bashir, Data gets knocked out has a vision of Dr. Soong (a much younger one than in Brothers). Normally Data can’t dream so he’s pretty taken aback by this. So as a first part, this was pretty good. It sets up Worf’s plot well with him deciding to break into the Romulan camp to find out the truth and rescue the Klingons there. Data’s plot is overall nice. He’s never dreamed before so him trying to track down why is very understandable, especiallya after Picard suggests that he quit going through facts and try a more creative outlet to get his answers. So what happened? As it turns out Dr. Soong made it so that when Data reached a certain cognitive point, he would obtaint he ability to dream and he made an AI version of himself to talk to him. I guess he would have explained this to him in Brothers had Lore not shown up/had he not died. It was a really touching moment. Soong’s still not exactly the most ideal parent, but his AI copy seemed legit proud of how far Data’s come. Is it out of ego, legit parental pride, or both? That’s up for you to decide. As this is my first look at Bashir… so far I don’t have too manys torng opinions. he seems to act more liek a Science Officer or Engineer han a CMO, but he is cute and so far liekabe. He’s curious about Data, but doesn’t dehumanize him like Maddox in The Measure of a Man did, if anything he notes Data’s more human-like elements like being able to grow hair than any of the nuts and bolts. He seems pretty well liked from what I’ve seen int he fandom, so I’ll see how that holds when I reach DS9 but I like him so far. I do have some issues, but that more impacts the Overall so I’ll save it for there. So we end with Worf discovering his father’s true fate… and he’s informed by the Klingons there that he’s never leaving the camp. Welp. How will Worf get out of this one in Part 2? We shall see. 4/5.

Part Two: So what the heck is going on? Well, Worf’s father is infact dead, but there were captured Klingons. As they weren’t able to die with honor nor could they return home as it would dishonor their families (Klingons prefer death to capture), they chose to remain in the camp and live out the rest of their lives there. So now Worf is among multiple Klingons, the vast majority of which know nothing about their heritage, culture, and customs and had it outright demonized. To them, the lives they have are the norm and they have no desire to change it. Worf may have been out of touch with Klingons due to being raised on Earth, but at least he can explore it and get in touch with it. The ones in the camp? They can’t do that. They’re essentially in a gilded cage. Yeah, there's the argument that they achieved peace between Klingons and Romulans… by imprisoning said Klingons and demonizing their culture to them with the older Klingons allowing it. Though it seems it’s also because of broken spirits and the dishonor they’d have faced otherwise which is worst than death to them. There’s even one girl, Ba’el, who is half Klingon, half-Romulan… and despite what gets said I don’t get the sense that her parents' union was a fully consensual one. This was pretty good. Worf has found a group that like him were out of touch with their heritage, and he is now able to educate them and guide them. With all that’s happened and his struggle to be a true Klingon and find his way, this was really nice to have. He’s still clinging onto his hatred of Romulans and this episode isn’t going to help it dissipate, but at least it was addressed and Ba’el being upset at being judged due to how she was born was very much justified. Heaven knows that the themes here are still very much relevant in today’s time. Worf’s guidance pays off in the end and at last, they can be free. The younger Klingons have a rough road likely ahead of them since we know that Klingon society isn’t exactly the easiest to get through, but at least they have a chance at freedom. It was a very strong Worf episode and it was great to see~. 4/5.

Overall: Okay, so overall… it’s pretty uneasy. The Worf parts are good.. As I said, it was nice to see him in a position to give guidance to a group even more out of touch than he is. It was very wel done. The issues are mainly with Part One. We have this plot where they go to DS9… and we are barely there. We have Dr. Bashir… and only him. None of the other characters. We don't even see O’Brien despite him having transferred to DS9 at this point. Maybe the actors were busy sot they could only pick one but it kinda makes doing a crossover cheap. Bashir doesn’t even get a lot to do, you could write him out and very little would change. On the upside this means that viewers who haven’t watched DS9 won’t be confused nor would DS9 be required viewing, but it also kind of defeats the purpose of bringing DS9 in. It’s essentially just window dressing. Data’s plot, while nice, is completely dropped in Part Two. It feels like they were required to do a two-parter, didn’t have enough of the Worf plot to fill it out, and came up with the Data dream plot and using DS9 to fill it out. The crew also don’t really do anything in either part. As such, aside from getting Worf into the place he needs to be, Part One feels irrelevant. As such, I can’t give it a perfect rating. It was still good, but as a two-parter Part One bogs it down, but still allows for Part Two to happen. Overall, pretty good. 4/5.

#st watchthrough

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legolas-is-a-himbo · 4 years ago

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Thoughts on Tauriel...

So I know a lot of people don’t like Tauriel, and I understand that. She was added into the Hobbit movies partially for the purpose of creating romance/ a love triangle, there is a lot of misogyny surrounding parts of her arc, and her involvement changed the tone of the story (and obviously she isn’t book canon).

However, I like her a lot. I haven’t always, though- I thought everyone was supposed to hate her because she was a “bad” character, and I watched the movies through the lens of her being a highly problematic and unnecessary addition. This was largely fueled by Emily Edwards’ FBOL- a podcast I listened to (LOTR episode: https://open.spotify.com/episode/3qFsuoVeGIkuwpgmpaxbTY?si=tzpsmvZqRd-LjxRRIKKt_A beware though, she says a lot of things about LotR that are... not all that great, nor all that researched).

But even with all that, I couldn’t help but kind of like her. And I thought more about it and read more things, and now I really like her. And here is why:

Firstly, I love the concept of her character. The captain of the guard of Mirkwood, a woman (do we still call elves women? is it “female elf”? Idk) who defies what she has always been told in pursuit of what she wants, against the backdrop of Middle Earth and the turmoil of the BotFA. I love her as the guard captain, and- while being a really cheesy trope- I think it can be said that it’s empowering how she risks it all for love and figures out what she wants. (Also maybe I’m just a sucker for the “forbidden love” trope but. Still.) Plus, she and all her action scenes are just really cool. Now, this idea was executed rather badly. They (PJ, etc.) created this really cool idea of a character, and then didn’t do her any justice, giving her little if any of a character arc and deeper personality. But this concept I think can still be appreciated- I would LOVE to see her character done well- and that is where things like fanfiction can come in to redress the wrongs of the movies.

Secondly, there is something to be said for how Tauriel + Kili parallels with Bilbo + Thorin. I don’t know if this is true, but I read that PJ set this up intentionally so that the scenes at the end of BotFA where Tauriel is crying over Kili and Bilbo is crying over Thorin were aligned to further solidify the relationship between Bilbo & Thorin and hint their romance. Regardless of whether intentional or not, these parallels are rather obvious, and the inclusion of Tauriel/Kili is not only a potentially interesting relationship within itself, but a vehicle to show the relationship between Bilbo/Thorin even if the film industry and all that would make a fuss if there was actual solid gay representation (which is a whole other and much larger problem all together).

Also, we can’t ignore Evangeline Lilly’s amazing performance. Tauriel’s character was not executed well in its creation, but Evangeline clearly brought everything she had to the role and compensated as much as possible for the flaws in the writing. The emotion she had made the films (specifically BotFA) that much more devastaring and heartbreaking, and really draws the audience in. Now I know this also contributes to the breaking away from book canon and shifting the mood of the story to be darker— yes, this is definitely it’s own problem which should be acknowledged in this dicussion, but at this moment I am analyzing how Tauriel fits into the new canon of the movies.

To also be noted (most unfortunately) are the solid bad things about these movies. I am very mad about how Legolas was portrayed and how they put him into the love triangle. They turned him into a bigoted asshole and totally broke away from how he is characterized in canon. I love book Legolas and LotR film Legolas with my whole heart, he’s honestly a great character for so many reasons. But here, they completely changed him (and also made him look kind of weird??) without including any sort of character development between the two completely different portrayals of him (yes I know he starts off LotR not entirely the best but changes in Lothlorien, bur this is far more significant and way way worse than he was at the beginnint of Fellowship). That is, for lack of better words, very bad. Also, the love triangle was completely unnecessary. In my opinion, Tauriel and Kili’s relationship was lovely and Legolas’ involvememt and causing of further complications really lessened what could have been a more beautiful thing (not that it wasn’t at all, it just could have been a lot more). I would have loved to see Legolas being friendly towards, even helping Tauriel (that is, with more than just fighting), and being how he was in LotR.

So, all in all, there is a lot wrong with the Hobbit movies- much more than I’ve covered here and extending way past Tauriel. I know that and recognize that, but nevertheless I can’t help but like them. I love Bilbo and Thorin and Bard and Tauriel and so many of the other characters. It’s all so bittersweet and the ending is so emotional. I love the scenery of Mirkwood (+elves!!) and Erebor, and Bilbo’s scenes with Smaug are fantastic. And I am glad to have more movies about Middle Earth. There is a lot wrong with them, most definitely, but I still enjoy them. These two things can coexist, I think- it is very important to recognize the faults in a story, but it can still be appreciated once they are recognized.

One last thought:

Am I mad that it has to be “I like the concept of this character but not the execution”/“I like this relationship, but that messed it up”/“This story would have been good if __”? Absolutely. Especially with female characters, it seems (sexism!) there is a lot of bad execution (and not just women, but when any minority/underrepresented group is given a representation). And especially as Tolkien has so few female characters (yikes, massive sexism, we all know) this is a big problem here. It is bad, really bad, and it makes me angry. I hope that it gets better as time goes on, and while it has improved a bit in general, there are still so many badly done characters. And I will never be an apologist for these kinds of things- what I’m saying here is you have to recognize the flaws to appreciate the character, and you have to recognize the flaws to understand and appreciate the whole story (obviously within reason. some things can never be appreciated- I’m talking about things like Tauriel where it’s far from good but not downright offensive. Another point to be noted also, there are much bigger problems within Tolkien’s works and the film adaptations with regards to racism and other forms of bigotry, but I feel I am not qualified to speak on those, though I do my best to reblog other content speaking on these issues). I am very mad about this within the Hobbit movies, and this problem in general, and it is deeply frustrating how pervasive it is. Still, I find ways to enjoy the movies for what they are, and watch them time and time again- and of course read lots of fanfiction that fixes up the movie canon :)

Apologies if that was convoluted or made no sense, I just have a lot of thoughts on this and I wanted to get them out and see what other people think about it. (Also I was debating over whether or not to include Thranduil in this, but I decided against it as this is already long enough and I haven’t thought about all that nearly as much as all this)

#it’s me i said something #the hobbit #films #tauriel #kili #evangeline lilly #bilbo baggins #thorin oakenshield #mirkwood #hobbit movies #peter jackson #legolas #tolkien #text post #meta

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emeraldskulblaka · 4 years ago

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On Bootlegs

There's no "read more" option on mobile - sorry!

The Bootleg Discourse™ comes up again and again, and I could have very well posted this post three, or even four years ago. It's not a new topic, but recent developments have really hit a nerve with me.

It should suffice to say that a Broadway performer

(1) criticised a fellow performer for "posting and condoning" bootlegs featuring themself

(2) publicly called out a fan who argued that they cannot attend any Broadway show because of where they live

(3) claimed that bootlegs lead to shows closing.

It's irrelevant who said it - these arguments aren't new and have been repeated over and over again for years.

From an objective viewpoint, the debate is pointless: it's illegal to record bootlegs of any kind, and therefore, you shouldn't actually be able to watch or listen to them.

Once you employ different arguments, your opinion is bound to be subjective.

Let's look at the classic (subjective) arguments against bootlegs:

"Recording bootlegs disturbs other audience members"

Recording audios definitely doesn't. And when an experienced master records a video, it's most likely that no one else will notice. It's the would-be filmers who are the real problem here + people taking photos + arriving late + leaving early + chatting + coughing + singing along + heads in the way. There are SO MANY other factors that influence one's experience of live theatre, and I've never personally seen anyone filming anything (except for the curtain call).

"Recording bootlegs disturbs performers"

Unless there's a blinking light or a flash, performers should be able to ignore it if they happen to notice a camera. They're professionals.

"Bootlegs influence ticket sales negatively"

Oh boy. No, definitely, definitely not. 95% of the audience consists of people who have never heard the term "bootleg" before. The general public just doesn't watch/listen to bootlegs. Most people watching a show are tourists. Yes, there are exceptions - celebrities will attract fans, and there will be lots of Broadway performers and fans in the audience for special occasions such as first preview, opening night, closing night, a performer's last show, muck-up matinees, etc - but these are exceptions.

And even looking at the 5% at most who are involved in some kind of fandom/have watched bootlegs - does watching bootlegs really affect which shows I see? Yes and no. In my case, however, that's always turned out positively for the shows in question.

The first bootleg I watched was Wicked (2013 with Donna Vivino?? Idk). I hadn't known the show before, but the plot had seemed appealing, so I watched it. And LOVED it. AND bought the cast album. I've watched several bootlegs since then, and I would still have seen the show live two months ago (then: lockdown happened) - the only reason why I didn't go see it earlier is because you can only watch a limited number of shows on a fixed number of days. PLUS I would have travelled to Hamburg to see the non-replica production that was set to open this autumn. Would I have become a fan if I hadn't watched the bootleg? I don't know. But now I know exactly what I'd get to see on stage, and I know I'd LOVE it. Maybe I wouldn't have bothered to listen to it all the way through if I hadn't watched the full show? There are other long-running shows I've never listened to, like Chicago. Bootlegs helped expand my knowledge of musicals.

Let's take this last argument even further:

"Bootlegs lead to shows closing"

Do they now? There are thousands of bootlegs of Les Mis, Phantom, Wicked, Hamilton, Dear Evan Hansen and guess what? They're still selling really well! So are shows with fewer bootlegs available: The Lion King, Mamma Mia, Starlight Express (Bochum). Maybe bootlegs don't actually affect ticket sales, huh?

And what about shows that have already closed? Watching bootlegs of those doesn't leading to closings, obviously. On the contrary - they help keep the fandom alive!

"Bootlegs are not live theatre"

No, they aren't. And I truly believe that everyone knows that and would happily trade a bootleg for a ticket to a live show. But more often than not, it's not possible to see the show you're interested in in person. I'd love to be able to travel anywhere in the world whenever I like! But I'm not. I just can't afford it, and yet, I'm lucky because I live in a country that has several major production companies, a country in which musicals are actually A Thing™, a city with its own theatre that offers special student discounts, and I have parents who support me and my hobbies. Many people don't enjoy that privilege. And right now, live theatre simply isn't possible (with exceptions as of this week). People would love to see live shows, but sometimes they just... can't.

I completely understand performers who are upset about being recorded, I do. If they decide to report a filmer to the ushers, I can relate to them. And I don't expect anyone to publicly announce their support for bootlegs, even if some performers post recordings of themselves - Jonas Hein and Kim Folmli, for example - both understudies in the current German production of Tanz der Vampire. They do that in the hopes of getting fans to watch the show on their dates and further spread the love. That's the exception, though.

But lashing out at fans and fellow actors does more harm than good. I make it a rule to unfollow people who are openly aggressive towards fans mentioning/posting bootlegs. Note: aggressive, i. e. they lash out at them when the only thing fans wanted to do was say how much they love said performer.

Good examples of performers dealing with bootlegs:

- Kelly Mathieson and Rachel Anne Moore thanking fans for their love via comments under Instagram posts

- Aaron Tveit posting a screenshot of Hairspray captioned something like: great memories!

- Laura Michelle Kelly re-posting a story post: aww thank you! Did you record this? Sneaky :)

I don't expect anyone to admit they're looking for bootlegs or trading them (Hyoie O'Grady, Ben Platt).

The fact is: bootlegs have existed for decades, and I can't imagine a future without them. It's simply not happening. Pro-shots won't help much - that's just one cast, one production. They'll be popular, but they can neither replace a variety of bootlegs nor the experience of live theatre.

Attacking and shaming fans for watching bootlegs is the worst possible way of dealing with them. Yes, they're illegal. No, they don't really affect ticket sales. Most often, they lead to new fans of performers and shows (and to more artistic content maybe??).

Here's what fans and bootleg watchers shouldn't do:

tag performers in bootleg posts

upload bootlegs publicly to streaming sites

mention bootlegs to the cast / crew

ignore trading rules

There are always two sides of a coin, naturally. But I do believe it's not necessary to have the same debate over and over again.

Feel free to add/comment your opinions! I've read several other people's takes on the topic, and I'm aware that my arguments aren't original or special in any way. But I felt like I needed to state my opinion publicly.

#emskulblaka #bootlegs

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lideria · 4 years ago

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Lost in Yesterday. | Jeno (POV shift)

Request: helllooo!! i just read lost in yesterday and it so heart-wrenchingly beautiful that i must ask; is it possible for you to make the same fic but in jeno's point of view?

Author’s Note: I tried and I’m not mad at it! Keep in mind that I’ve done a write-the-same-fic-but-from-a-different-pov thing for the first time ever in my life, I’m suggesting you take this piece with a pinch of salt please and thank you! Plus, this was kind of hard to write? As in, I had a clear vision of Jeno’s character and feelings but when it came to expressing them it was really difficult. (and that’s on my alexithymia lads)

Important: If you want this piece to fully make sense, I’d highly suggest you read the reader’s pov and the backstory.

Warnings: Swear words, brief mentions of suggestive themes, mentions of war, mentions of heartbreak, mentions of family distress/unhealthy relationship, themes of manipulation, themes of confusion. English is my second language so there might be errors, please let me know if there is more that I should add!

Word Count: 4.003 again, like the first part, idk why but that’s so satisfying to me.

Genre: MUCH ANGST SUCH WOW, royal!au, rivalkingdoms!au, loverstoenemies!au

Hope you all enjoy it, loves! And anon, I hope this lives up to your expectations! Stay safe and healthy, and take care of yourselves for me 💚

Jeno gets done with writing his notes down with an exhausted breath through his nose.

The conference is stretching out and it is only the first day out of the three. There are demands from every monarchy aimed towards him and his rule. Every single letter that leaves his mouth is a step on the mighty thin ice that is the peace between the nations, one that must be protected at all costs, and he recognizes that. And he tries to meet everybody’s needs and wants. Figures that is the least he can do to ensure the continuity of this peace.

But in reality, he knows most people in the room would like to tear his monarchy apart in pieces if they were given the opportunity. That intimidates him even though he tries to hide the fact that it does.

As years go on after the war he expects the requests to get lighter. But they do not— if anything, they get heavier and even more challenging to provide. Even though he gets further into his life as the primary ruler and collects more experience.

And if there is anybody that gives him a particularly difficult time, it is you.

He has to watch you every year. He has to watch you stand up from your seat and take a deep, heavy breath as you link your hands and shut your eyes momentarily before proceeding with your speech. He has to see you do anything and everything to avoid looking at him as you speak up about what the monarchies and the governments must do to ensure the safety of peace the upcoming year, word out your opinion on the political problems that are the agendas for the session and your share of possible solutions that are up for a debate, and see the way you look forward frozen in place as you talk about the matters that regard his kingdom specifically. Even when you talk about the espionage, and the soldier you still could not hand over to his rule since his judicial process was yet undecided, you would not look at him. Never. Not a single time in years.

Yet, he cannot take his eyes off of you. Not for a single second, watching you as you act like the powerful and strong monarch he always knew you would come to be. It makes him proud.

The only thing— person— that pisses him off is the King. The man that took your hand in eternal marriage months, almost a year ago now, that was once your personal guard. The King that was once his friend, the only man outside royalty and his staff that he could share a laugh with, as well as a heart-to-heart conversation. Jeno does not hate him. But he hates the fact that Donghyuck gets to sit next to you and deliver speeches with you in this conference, and he hates that he can do it so well— matching your, a person who was born into the royal world, level of knowledge and confidence after such a short amount of training and education when Jeno had to pave the way for himself with his nails and teeth from day one. He hates that he gets to eat with you and see you from the moment you awake to the moment you go to sleep.

But when he finishes taking his notes and the conference goes into a break with the tired sighs leaving nearly everyone’s mouths, he can see you make your way to the doors opening to the balcony after a couple of words with your husband. Who, to his great surprise, does not accompany you because, to his great pleasure, a representative starts speaking to him.

Jeno knows this would be the right moment to talk to you. To tell you. Because you deserved to know.

So he follows you promptly, grooming his attire before making his way out.

The palace guards open the door for him, and he can already spot you, leaning on the parapet slightly. Your hair sways with the ocean breeze. He takes a second, not more nor less, to watch the way it does, because it is the most peaceful sight he has seen in a long time.

And then he walks over to you with his hands placed on his back. There is a growing tension as he does, he can feel it, but he feels fine. He is in control of every atom in his body. You, not so much. He can basically see the way you stiffen up when he stands beside you.

So he tries to ease you into the conversation. Jeno puts a smile on his face, partly because he finally gets to talk to you after all the years. “It’s a pretty day here,” The contentment is apparent through his words. He does his best at trying to sound welcoming but it still feels weird to be talking to you directly after all this time.

“It is.” Your voice sounds colder than the winter nights he spent traveling through the roads to get to you and your secret meetings. The signal gets across— you do not want anything to do with him. Hell, you sound more enthusiastic in the conference room doing politics.

Jeno knows you do not want to have anything to do with him. If it ever came to your defense, you had made that much sure when you spit the words take your men and never come back with all the disappointment and spite onto his face years ago, on that faithful night that ultimately caused all of this to happen according to the butterfly effect. But he does not give up on the opportunity to speak to you. Even if it will make you feel uncomfortable.

Because he knows how it feels when you do not get the news beforehand.

With a breath for starters, he turns his head to face your profile. You look so familiar, he smiles. “I need to tell you something, if you would hear me out.”

Either his words hold a weight to them heavier than he would ever like to make them out to be or you are so sick of him that you want him out, out of this area of peace or out of this world; out of your eyesight and out of your heart and mind because the way you breathe is almost concerning. That is, if he had not known you like the back of his hand still. You nod, and Jeno sees your eyes fixed on the harbor, where a carrier ship is being loaded. He can remember setting foot onto the pier during the war with his father.

It was the very place his father had smiled to him genuinely for the first time, and had landed his heavy hand on his shoulder, before telling Jeno how proud he was of him and his strength. He remembers having actual conversations during dinner for once, about what they would do with the land and how they would develop the towns and such without his father shutting him up even once. That very harbor was the first place Jeno’s father had listened to him and what he wanted. The first place he had acknowledged him as his son that needs to be heard rather than the Prince who needs to be educated and trained until he is perfect, and it was not even their home.

And then Jeno had given the city up as an area of peace once the war had ended shortly after his father’s passing. It seemed like the right thing to do although he knew his father would not have liked it.

Lost in the nostalgia of everything, the need to look into your eyes grows bigger. “Can you look at me as you hear me out then?”

Although he is very impatient, he relaxes the words as he speaks them out. He wants you to know that he respects your choice, even though love is not prominent in whatever it is the two of you have. And if your choice happens to be pretending like he is not there as you let him speak to you, that is fine too.

But you turn your face to look at him. Like the good monarch you are. Ready to face the past and the present and, as being a monarch demanded, the future.

But he sees something falter immediately. Truthfully, he sees many things falter immediately. He sees doubt and longing and nostalgia that is much like the one he had been experiencing just now. The look in your eyes are like ancient ruins to him: it looks so familiar, he knows what it means, yet it is impossible to make it into what it once was. Jeno chuckles even though he tries to help himself not to, because he sees it.

There is some sort of care in you for him still. Even after everything.

He almost feels this giant lightness, something so big it can swallow him whole, wash over him, but he brings himself back to the world so quickly that it is like the feeling never even existed. If anything, this made things harder to tell.

It is a pity that he cannot bring himself to care all that much, but he internally justifies it by telling himself you had not showed him half the mercy he has been showing you, months ago. “I’m to be wedded this winter.”

Shock covers your eyes. The kind that tells him you are clearly dumbfounded. But that only lasts for a few seconds before he sees it shift into hurt, and your breath hitches as the look in your eyes shifts. “Oh.”

The shaky response pulls a string on his heart only you can pull and it is hard to not give into it; maybe, just maybe, he would have given into it, had you not turned your face away from him back to the harbor before he could. It gets him feeling somewhat angry, though. He was being considerate of you, and he was being considerate of what you two had in the past, and he was being considerate of your right to know. All three of which you had not been considerate of when it was him that should have listened to you, and now you would not even face him after facing him. After showing him you can do it. He cannot understand that. “With all due respect, your Majesty, haven’t you been married for months now? I cannot understand your response,” He calls you out with every bit of frustration in him, laughing lightly in the hypocrisy you seem to be showing. “Especially when I’ve taken the time to tell you about it.”

“Everything was over with, I wasn’t obliged to tell you.” Your attacking defense comes just as he finishes what he is saying, but he can tell that even you do not believe yourself all that much. There must have been a mutual respect. Jeno would like to believe that you too had loved him magically and wonderfully like he feels he had loved you, and if you did, then there should not have been an excuse for him to not know until it happened.

With his own fair share of hurt now, he turns to look back at the town he once ruled, with his once-lover. But he does not dare drop his hands, or his shoulders, or his smile— like his father had taught him. If you stand straight enough, you will be strong. If you keep your head high enough, you will be stronger. And if you smile long and hard enough, nothing and no one will be able to break you, my son.

As he looks down he wonders if the shoemaker remembers him, because he is wearing his shoes today. Actually, he is wearing the pair that used to be his father’s. He had never used them or cherished them the way his son did, whereas Jeno had made sure he wore them until they lost any shape they held.

“Who are they?” His ear perks a bit at your question, and he looks at you from the side of his eyes, smile widening ever so slightly. “A princess,” He figures you would like the answer instantly. “From one of the state kingdoms. You must’ve seen her at least once, but I hardly think you know her name.” Maybe you did, but he would not bother telling you. You would be learning about her soon enough.

“Do you love her?”

Everything stops. You stop breathing, his heart momentarily stops beating, the world seems to halt.

Do I love her the way I loved you? No. Never. That is really hard to do, and for that matter, I do not think I will ever be able to love someone like I loved you. I may have kissed her, but never have I once ever got the same sparkling feeling on my lips or the warm feeling in my chest like I did with you. I may have hugged her, but not once did I feel like she would be able to catch me the way you did if I fell. I may have sobbed in front of her, but I never gave her the key for the lock on my mouth and just let her hug me into her chest as I kept everything inside— sometimes you inside. I may have danced with her, but only because she makes it easy to dance with the way she moves around. I may have let her sob in front of me and listened to her struggles, but no matter how hard I tried, I could not listen to her struggles as deeply as I had done with yours. I may have shared my body with her, and accepted hers, but only because she is in love with me and has told me herself that she is ready to accept me the way I am; once too in love to ever be in love again. But I care about her enough to take her hand in marriage and have children with her, because she might be the only one to love me ever again, and I respect her for it. “I presume we can say that. She’s the bearer of my child— the heir to my throne, after all. That must mean something.”

Jeno only looks at you again because of the deep, aching breath you take and the intense inhaling sound it makes. Your face is once again turned away from him, not even looking at the harbor anymore, just anywhere but him. Your body shivers only for a short amount of time, maybe a few seconds, before it stops and when it does, he can see your eyes from the side.

He knows that look. He would know that look anywhere at anytime, even if he forgot his own name. It is the same look you had given him when you looked at him for the last time. Hurt, broken, betrayed and so, so disappointed. And this time you would not look at him. “We could have been amazing.”

The way you say it, and the way your head tilts slightly in disappointment before going back to how it was, makes Jeno feel like a monster.

Because he feels the same way. You really could have been amazing.

He could have been the one to properly ask you to marry him, because with Donghyuck he was sure you had asked first, even though he once asked you in private, and you had asked him also. He could have been the one to hold your hands at the altar and to tell you he would love you day and night and in sickness and health and would have meant it. He could have kissed you in front of the thousands of guests, he could have been the one prompting the thunderous applause that followed, the one that he had learned from one of his close friends that cared enough to call him to tell him about it— your wedding. He could have cried after seeing you in your beautiful attire.

Jeno could have taken the oath with you. He could have taken a knee before you with the cape around his shoulders and the crown on his head. He could have hosted many royal balls with you, to dance with you again and again until you hated dancing. He could have gotten lost with you in palace gardens to reminisce the old days. He could have imagined the idea of having heirs with you, and he could have grown old with you.

He could have made you happy. He could have taken you to the forests he knew you loved more than anything, he could have played snow fights with you in the never-ending snow, he could have gotten lost in the library countless times with you as you read novels. He could have played guitar to you, and serenaded you with moonlight hitting your cheeks. He could have dragged you to the palace kitchen and the two of you could have made your own meals with all your staff, making them laugh with the way you act— dancing, singing, laughing, smiling, kissing, putting sugar instead of salt, stupidly in love— and at the end you could have had grand meals with your staff and their families. Could have established a festival celebrating your love and the unity of the two of the biggest reigns.

But that is the point. These are things that could have happened. Amazing is something the two of you could have been, not what you were supposed to be. He had his duties, and he had his family, and he had his people that he had to protect. The same went for you. And during the war, your stances were different from one another.

So it was maybe for the best that what once was ended when it did. Maybe, if what could have been actually came to be, it would have gone worse, like his father had suggested him. Maybe the two of you would have used one another, like his father had suggested him. Maybe you would betray him, like his father had suggested him— and you did, because you acted like he never existed. Did not tell him anything, did not look at him, threw your experiences out the window just like that.

Maybe, just maybe, his father was right.

Yet, if he was, why did Jeno feel like the world was against him and he was all alone? Truly, and utterly alone, save for the soon-to-be queen?

He watches a tear run down your cheek, and sees you biting at your lip, and he thinks why? Why are you so upset by this? Are you really all disappointed? Did you have the right to be?

Jeno keeps on smiling. If he smiles long and hard enough, nothing will be able to break him.

The balcony doors open, and he knows who it is that is coming. This scenario has happened many times already, before he was the King but a guard, and usually he would tell you either that he had spotted royal photographers nearby and that you have to move, or that things were starting to get suspicious, anything of that sort. But now he did not know what Donghyuck might say or do, which is unsettling to him.

Without even making his presence known first, Donghyuck places a hand at your waist, and Jeno notices how you do not get surprised. “Dear,” He does not see even a bit of the discomfort on your face that you had on your face when he first approached you. Jeno is incredibly envious of that, and he must be glaring at your husband, because he turns to look at him in such a way. He can feel Donghyuck accusing him of screwing everything up yet again, and he can hear him asking what is wrong with him, what part of ‘never’ do you not understand?

Donghyuck looks at him only for a flash, but Jeno understands what he has to say.

He sees you lean against him slightly. “Shall we go inside? We can go get you something.” No, do not go yet, not now. I want to make things right with you.

If he only knew that he would never be able to do it.

You actually nod at Donghyuck without much consideration, which is almost bad enough in itself, but then you hold his hand, which seems to just emphasize everything Jeno did not like— and everything that once made him feel bad. And it infuriates him to see.

But it should not. Because he does not love you anymore. You cannot break him if he does not love you anymore.

He watches as you leave, wanting to be relieved, yet not quite able to feel that way. And he hates to admit it but there is hope in him, flickering in his chest much like a candle light in the wind, when you turn back around to him with Donghyuck.

“Send an invitation for us, too,” You say to him. Gentle and kind, and strong, despite your disappointment and hurt. Slightly, he sees you raise your chin a little to keep your composure as well, and he thinks of his father’s words. How true they are. “Our monarchs must be better than abandoning each other on their best days. Let us host you in our palace once honeymoon is over, which I hope is enough to make up for my mistake.”

It is not, he thinks. It is not enough. How do you expect me to come to your palace, where so many of our memories of love— kissing, hugging, listening to each other, seeing each other, looking deep into each other’s eyes, whispering sweet nothings and sometimes all that we know will keep the other one going, hiding from the photographers and the guards and your family and anyone who can catch us, adoring each other, cherishing each other, making love to each other, dreaming of the future will haunt the two of us, and be there with my wife that knows I will not love her fully like I did with you, and your husband that you have a deep enough relationship with that you give in to his support? How do you expect me to sit at the same table with you, knowing you told me to never come back and yet you invited me back? Knowing you would not even look into my eyes after all this time no matter how much you try? How do you expect me to look at you and see you when you will not do the same for me and expect it to be enough in return for your erasure of me and our memories?

He sees you smile, and once again you are eye to eye with him. “And if you do not, then I wish all the happiness to you and the queen, your Highness.”

You blow the flickering light in his chest.

Not your Majesty, no. You do not call him that, the title for the Kings and the Queens, and any primary rulers, but instead you call him your Highness. The title for the heirs. The name you would be calling him years ago, before he did any of what he did, before the two of you became what you have become.

You remind Jeno, with a sure and firm voice, that you do not, and you will not recognize the person he is today.

And when you turn your back and proceed with your way inside amongside Donghyuck, he cannot help himself as his shoulders drop— ruining his perfect posture for the first time since whoever knows how long.

Suddenly, Jeno cannot find it in himself to smile anymore.

#nct imagines #nct scenarios #nct x reader #nct dream imagines #nct dream scenarios #jeno imagines #jeno x reader #nct dream #nct jeno #lee jeno #jeno #it's a jeno fic we get it honey you can stop now #donghyuck #lee donghyuck #haechan #nct haechan #fic: lost in yesterday

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variousqueerthings · 1 year ago

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This is a dangerous mission and you look like a schoolteacher

and we're going "Into The Dalek." it's quite a different sort of outing for M*ffat, and I've heard a lot of mixed opinions on it, buuuut... let's see

sexism rank objectification (female character is ogled/harassed/turned into a sex joke by the doctor and/or a lead we’re supposed to root for and/or the camera): 10/10

sexism rank plot-point (lead female character is only there to serve plot, not to have her emotional interiority explored, or given agency to her emotional interiority): 7/10

interesting complex or pointlessly complex (does the complexity serve the narrative or does it just serve to be confusing as a stand-in for smart, this includes visually): 6/10

furthers character and/or lore and/or plot development (broader question that ties into the previous ones, at least two of these, ideally three should be fulfilled): 7/10

the doctor is more than just “godlike” (examines the doctor’s flaws and limitations, doesn’t solve a plot by having it revolve entirely around the doctor’s existence): 7/10

doesn’t look down on previous doctor who (by erasing or mocking its importance, by redoing and “bettering” previous beloved plotpoints or characters, etc.): 9/10

isn’t trying to insert hamfisted sexiness (m*ffat famously talked a lot about how dw should be sexier multiple times, he sucks at writing it): 10/10

internal world has consistency (characters have backgrounds, feel rooted in a place with other people, generally feel like they have Lives): 4/10

Politics (how conservative is the story): 6/10

FULL RATING: 73/100 (if I can count….)

well this is by far the highest rated episode (co)written by M*ffat. and in fact is the only one that has broken into "good episode" territory. let us peruse...

OBJECTIFICATION: well, genuinely nothing to say here. both Clara and Blue are just... well not vibing, they're having a terrible time, but at least they're not also facing misogyny on this outing

PLOT-POINT: Clara's still at the school. I remember last time I was watching this I was kind of done by this point and wasn't really interested in the Clara narrative as it had popped up. And yes, it did pop up a little bit out of nowhere, but not too much + it's consistent

amazing how giving someone a job consistently rounds them out and offers space for narrative. Clara has met a guy at the school who's an ex-soldier-turned-teacher with some clear signs of PTSD and it plays into the A-plot of the episode a little in how Clara reacts to some of the Doctor's lowkey unhingedness in this little outing, because this episode is all about soldiers (sort of, we'll get to that)

I'm also interested in the things Clara is reacting to. Eleven in my opinion was a messy bitch, who'd veer wildly from one emotional high to another and often used people for their own ends, not because they didn't care, but because they considered themself to be the final authority and expert on everything, and so their means were justified (this was at times undermined by the plot genuinely agreeing with that idea quite often, but sometimes it felt like an intentional exploration)

this Doctor is going "hiiii I could do these things and maybe that's bad, idk, can you let me know?" but in the shape of a grumpy-looking Scotsman who really does do these things and then puts a bunch of pressure on Clara to do emotional work that she may not be feeling up for, understandably. we'll see how that develops...

COMPLEXITY: considering similar attempts by M*ffat, this is downright simple! dalek broke, get in there and fix it up, oh no dalek bad, try and sort-of break dalek again. open up to exploring morality and the Doctor's past with the daleks and that sort of thing

I think the issue in this is in some of the characters being quite lightly fleshed out. shockingly... this episode may want a little more complexity 😂 oh M*ffat you can't win. Blue is interesting, and I appreciate finally having something military that's being given weight

I don't know if the actual structure of said military is quite the right shape for what the episode may be critiquing, since it's not so much an organised military as it is a struggling-to-survive resistance, but if we take it from the character of the Doctor having a need to totally distance themself from anything that can be considered army it works better. not convinced that's 100% intentional, but I'll take it

to the Doctor, right now, a soldier is a soldier regardless of context, and anything else that Blue is or has the potential to be is not something that the Doctor can engage with right now. that's quite sad, in the end, and the big emotional context for this story, and I like it

CHARACTERS/LORE/PLOT: we have the central little thesis of this era introduced in this episode: Am I A Good Little Alien Because I'm Having A Weird Time With Morality 👉👈

and yeah, I like that, considering Nine and Ten were going through the motions of Not Losing Their G*ddamn Minds From PTSD, Eleven was being a Childish Eldritch Tantrum, and Twelve is looking back going... wait, have I at all managed to get back to the Point of what the name "The Doctor" is meant to be about?

it's like you got so good at masking and then had a massive slip and a break and now you're having to recreate Being A Person from old flashcards and you're obviously not getting it right, going by the way some people are looking at you (and also Clara giving him a slap -- I rate this slap by the way, there's too much slapping in this era on the whole, but usually it's "sexy" based slaps, whereas this one is an actual character moment)

so when the Dalek calls the Doctor a good Dalek, I think of it in this context, moreso than yet another reminder that ooh the Doctor is so edgy and like a Dalek, which we've had a million times since Nine did it best. will get back to the way this episode does Daleks in a sec though

and again, Clara and that new guy. wonder where that's going to go (could be death)

oh and the mysteeeeerious- it's the Master the Master is back again in the underworld!

COMPANIONS MATTER: Yeah, Clara's doing a fair bit in this. she's labelled in this episode as the Doctor's "carer" (she cares so I don't have to), which is interesting

this could go badly from a writing standpoint -- positioning Clara purely from the point of view of what she can do for the Doctor, but so far she's having her own thoughts about this whole setup and it's hinted that it could clash with her outside life on top of that

“GODLIKE” DOCTOR: the Doctor, as has been stated, is having some Emotions About Things, and then there's a Dalek, and the Doctor doesn't like Daleks, as we know, so there's a lot of Doctor and Dalek interaction and the Doctor is having some morality issues, so this episode is tailored to give a little dig into that

does it quite work with the Dalek being that framing? sometimes, yeah. on the whole I don't hate the idea of it. I suppose it's a bit much very very soon in Twelve's run, and it suffers from M*ffat's tendency to have every episode be a constant breathless rollercoaster, when maybe there's a quieter entry into these themes. I don't hate this episode, but for sure we've hit Dalek Fatigue, but also we had some Low low points in previous seasons and this is a much better entry

EDIT: should also mention the Doctor is a bitch about someone dying in this and it's called out (hence the slap), and is then brought up again later when another person dies, and it's got some upsides and some downsides in my opinion. not the idea that the Doctor is relearning how to be the Doctor and it doesn't come naturally to this iteration, but there's also some questions it brings up about how the entire M*ffat era handled death in a very up and down way, and also this episode's entire thing with soldiers

it's an interesting bit of plot, now let's see if it gets follow-through

PREVIOUS DOCTOR WHO: this episode references both Dalek and Journey's End, which... which... does sort of make me compare them. I think though since I'm comparing them to those episodes, I should also compare them to how the Daleks were done in Eleven's era, and I think this is definitely much much better than that

it's a bit complicated on the whole, my thoughts about this. I don't hate the "you're a good dalek" bit of this episode. I think it was considered to be a bit soon in this run (this is Twelve's second episode), and it's been reiterated moooore than a few times over the course of the show since Nine's iconic Moment!

has it ever been done as well as that? Absolutely not, and the Dalek Fatigue at this point and the pacing of the episode doesn't quite get us to that point as expertly as some previous episodes, and yes, it's fully Episode Two, but that being said...

Twelve is coming off of their aforementioned messy bitch era into a time of asking whether they're actually good or not, so this isn't coming out of nowhere in the way, say, Victory of the Daleks or Dalek Asylum did

“SEXINESS”: free at last! possibly

INTERNAL WORLD: the internal world isn't entirely my favourite thing in this episode. there's a resistance we don't know much about and I don't think we'll ever meet again, and are framed in a way that's kind of unfair considering who they're resisting against (and where did these particular Flavour of Dalek come from?)

there's the inside of the Dalek also. dunno, it's fine. the Dalek antibody deaths seemed very painful, and I quite like the metallic interior. it may be nitpicky, but I almost wish it was more difficult to get around in. more climbing and crawling and sliding, which whenever that happened was my favourite part! but yeah, really just make me feel like this is a machine

POLITICS: I acknowledge I have rated this quite middly, despite it actually having an opinion on something, and it's because of the conflation between resistance and military making some of its points and tensions less defined than they could be

however I appreciate there actually being some point to things and that it's connected to the story, and I'm always into an almost-companion who meets the Doctor at the wrong time in their own or the Doctor's life. Blue's story seems to be one of being raised into a resistance (against the Dalek's no less), and like the Doctor says she's probably kind (I'd say considering her brother got killed on the same day and defending the Doctor and being very upset about the others getting killed, it's more than "probably"), and definitely brave, but they can't deal with the violence

contrasting this to something like The Doctor's Daughter where she's similarly raised into a form of (in Jenny's case) pointless violence, and she figures out she doesn't want that -- in this case it seems Blue comes to the same conclusion, although in this case it's actually a different traumatic upbringing because what can you do against the Daleks, and the Doctor rejects her, not because she's a "soldier" but because the Doctor currently can't help someone else

it's kind of tragic, and I think if the episode had been clearer about the way this was actually the Doctor's limitation

FULL RATING: 73/100 (if I can count….)

I think this era is so far shaping up stronger than the last one. it's setting up some conflicts that have the potential to be very interesting in future, giving us more Goddess Gomez, and Clara's set-up continues to be relevant, rather than being written out

M*ffat still struggles with single-episode world-building, and while I appreciate there's some actual follow-through on politics in this, it's missing some complexity

#im watching nu!who #im watching twelve who #episode into the dalek #the measurement

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goofnuggetkarlaa · 5 years ago

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Long OFA Quirk Theory Post, BNHA ch 257 Spoilers

Also I apologize now for anyone on mobile where the read more isn’t working properly and you have to scroll through this whole thing. It got way longer than I intended. I won’t be upset if you block me so you don’t have to see this post anymore lol

Alright so I was really hoping All Might would at least briefly say the quirks of the previous OFA holders he found (or have a quick panel showing them in the notebook or SOMETHING), but sadly we’re gonna have to wait a bit longer I guess...

However, he and Bakugou said the same thing: all of their quirks are relatively weak, since AFO was basically controlling the quirk world and taking all the strong quirks for himself or his “army”

It makes me curious though about how weak the quirks really are. Since idk about yall, but Black Whip seems to be an incredibly strong and versatile quirk (even taking into account that it was weaker back then compared to Midoriya using it now).

We also know that quirks in general get stronger the more generations go by (not just in OFA, we see this in the children the remedial course “fights”), so it makes sense that none of the quirks in OFA are particularly great compared to current times, given that quirks were still developing (tho... like I said before, I really doubt that’s the case. They may be physically weak quirks in combat, but I’m sure Midoriya will find a way to make them all incredibly op).

Another reason why I’m kinda doubting the legitimacy of the whole “they’re all weak quirks” thing is because of what AFO says about Nana. He calls her weak, a useless successor, etc. Now, I suppose having a quirk that lets you fly might seem like a weak quirk. It’s no muscle enhancer, explosions, lazer beams, etc. Though Nana herself was clearly ripped as all hell (like bro I’m so gay wtf)

Ahem, anyways, maybe he was just saying that to taunt All Might, to break his spirit or whatever. Typically evil villain stuff. But also... AFO doesn’t seem to be the type of guy to do that. To just call someone weak even if they weren’t. (altho he also uses a flying quirk, so make of that what you will) BUT ANYWAYS this just leads me to think her quirk was probably the “weakest” out of all the successors he had faced so far. I would probably think the same if the successor 2 people before her had something as interesting as Black Whips.

So what kind of quirks are they? Unfortunately my theories are only based off of their appearances, and AFO. I’ll mention the bit about AFO first, since it feels more solid than the bit about their appearances.

It’s a theory I’m kinda believing less and less with the information we’re being given, but I wonder if AFO could have taken their quirks before they died. Sort of like a way to taunt future holders. Like “haha look I’m using your master’s beloved quirk how does that make you feel.” And I mean, yeah, he can’t take OFA, that much has been established (altho that seems like it’s gonna change soon... hmmm shiggy what you up to?). But what about after they’ve passed OFA on to the next person? They still should have their original quirk, since OFA seems to work kinda like a copy-paste system. So would AFO be able to take it then?

I’ll use Nana as an example. In the short 2ish minute special, All Might Rising, we see Nana’s last fight against AFO. At this point, we know she must have passed the quirk on, because the last thing we really see is her pointing at All Might as Gran Torino carries him away. We don’t actually see her death. There could have been time for AFO to take her quirk. And we know he has some sort of flying quirk, Air Walk, which could have been hers (although we won’t know until the official translation comes out. However the current fan translations are calling Nana’s quirk stuff like Levitate or Hover)

Unfortunately that’s about where that bit of my theory comes to an end. With ch 257 saying the quirks are weak, I doubt AFO would have been using them in his fight with All Might. Gran Torino also mentions his quirks and fighting style were totally different from the last time 6 years ago, so that also kinda tears this theory apart. At least the bit where the quirks we got to see were any of the successors’. He still could have taken them and passed them on to the nomu while he waited for Shigaraki to be able to use them himself.

As for the appearances and quirks themselves... well, we really only have 2 that we can take a guess at. I know people have the time travel theory that Bakugou was the 2nd wielder, but I don’t like that one very much. But that’s a post for another time.

Also, from here it’s really just my opinions, and not a lot of solid or even jello-y theories. Like sand. It’s just a mess. Just a jumble of observations and ¯\_(:/)_/¯ materialized.

So here’s the closest thing to a full body shot we have of them, the 4th on the left and 6th on the right.

The first one I’m gonna talk about is the 4th holder.

The first thing I noticed are the two marks on his face. They don’t seem like scars or some other kind of injury. They’re not drawn lightly the way Midoriya’s or Todoroki’s scars are, they’re really dark and crisp. So I’m thinking either some kind of tattoo, or (more likely) something to do with their quirk. Sort of going with my AFO theory above, it reminded me a lot of the forced quirk activation quirk he was using, though looking further into his appearance, I don’t think that’s right.

He has very contradicting vibes in my opinion. His clothes make me think something to do with water or wind, or some sort of spiraling energy like Nejire’s. But based on his face, body, and stance, I would lean more towards a physical quirk. He seems like a solid dude. Originally, I had believed he had a wind type quirk (thinking about Inasa’s appearance, he felt similar somehow), but now that Nana’s quirk is confirmed to be some kind of flying ability, it feels like having a wind quirk (that could also theoretically make you fly) would erase the point of Nana’s, and I doubt Horikoshi would want Midoriya to have quirks similar to each other, thus limiting how badass he could be (and lets be honest, this is a shonen jump manga. protags gotta be as op as possible, especially in a series like this which just SCREAMS the very essence of shonen manga. not that I’m complaining btw, I love op characters)

So anyways, I’m currently at a loss for this guy, the only other hint I feel like we have for his quirk is the color associated with him in OFA, blue, which doesn’t help much, seeing how the 5th with Black Whip is red and Nana’s with flying is yellow(? can’t really remember)... None of it seems related

Which leaves us with the second wielder we know little about, the 6th user.

And let’s be honest, there isn’t much to work with here either. Since I just mentioned associated colors, I’ll just point out right away his color is a purplish-blue. So do with that what you will. (I’m going to get into it in a moment, but I theorize a mental/kinetic-type quirk for this guy. Purple is maybe associated a bit more with kinetic-type abilities? idk look at Shinsou)

Appearance-wise, I definitely get a more mental based quirk. He’s kinda small, seems reserved, so that’s just my gut feeling. You can see some bandages around his arms, though, which might mean... something? Perhaps it has to do with his quirk, maybe he just got injured (maybe he got injured because of his quirk..? hmmm)

Honestly, his appearance just reminds me of Kageyama from Haikyuu!!, so my brain keeps unhelpfully jumping back to that, making it hard to come up with good stuff for him. If I had to guess at random, I wanna say pyrokinesis. This is partially because of a long-winded, very very VERY unlikely theory that he could be related to Nana who could VERY UNLIKELY be related to Inko, so ya know, probably some big family tree of kinetic-type abilities (since, assuming AFO isn’t his dad, which is a theory I’m a big fan of, it would be possibly pretty emotional for Midoriya, seeing how it COULD have been his quirk if he were born with one, since it’s a good mix of his mom and dad’s quirks) The other reason is just cause I thought it’d be cool. lol.

Though to be fair, part of that “it would be cool” has to do with the idea of “how op can Midoriya get?” which involves having a large range of abilities to be able to be effective in any situation. so far he has super strength as the base of OFA (which is always good in a fist fight), restraining with Black Whip, and eventually mobility with Hover. It would make sense for him to also have more rescue-type abilities, seeing how so far most of his skills are geared towards fighting rather than saving, which is the opposite of Midoriya’s personality. So I thought of natural disasters: earthquakes, tsunamis, typhoons, floods, mudslides, and volcanoes are listed as common disasters in Japan, and fires are more-or-less common anywhere. So having an ability that would be beneficial in those situations would be ideal, such as pyrokinesis to stop a fire, or something like hydro/aquakinesis to rescue those in a flood/tsunami.

Sooooo tldr I have no idea what the fuck their quirks could be but I love to theorize random shit so please come talk to me because I’m bored and dying for more content so I’m doing all I can to keep sane while I continuously wait for more updates :)))))

also I’m sure my thoughts were all over the place and made no sense, I’m sorry, I really tried to rewrite stuff over and over to make sense, but I might have made it worse, so if you don’t understand something or think I missed something, please let me know. I probably either worded it strange, or thought of it and didn’t remember to include it. BUT IF YOU THINK OF SOMETHING I ACTUALLY DIDN’T I WOULD REALLY LOVE TO HEAR IT PLEASE!!! SO DON’T BE AFRAID TO CALL ME OUT ON SOMETHING! not if it’s about the time travel theory though, I’ve had enough of that right now lol

small edit: I went back to watch the movie again (in 4d this time) and realized I had messed up the colors of the AFO holders. Also, they appeared slightly different in each shot (in one, the 5th holder was pinkish purple, but another shot was a deep red?), so I’m basically ruling out that colors have any meaning at all. Not like I think they had much basis to begin with though...

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lemoncakepanda · 5 years ago

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Top 50 NaLu Anime Moments {Pt 3}

I am so sorry it took me so long to write this! This week has been a roller-coaster to me, especially since Tuesday. I got so busy, and every time I would log into tumblr, I would only look at my dashboard and have absolutely no energy left to write. Without any further delay, let me show you guys the rest of my top 50, and today we’re covering moments 30 through 21.

Part 2 can be found here.

30. “I’ll be lonely, you idiot!” (Ep 265).

This moment still makes me so emotional. Like... i’ve said this before on my previous top 25 moments, so there’s nothing much to add, but I love this moment because it shows how much Lucy began to rely on Natsu. How much she needed his presence around her, despite always kicking him out and scolding him. And then to lose all that? Just like that? To be filled with such a huge sense of security, the certainty that someone will always be there for you, and to have that ensurance taken away from you? That must’ve hurt. That must’ve broken her heart and it’s no wonder she’s so upset with Natsu when he comes back (again, I get why Natsu had to leave and I’ve already given my thoughts on it, but I also get Lucy’s side) and must’ve stung extra harder bc she’d just lost Aquarius, something she also never thought would happen. But yeah, this is why I like this scene, despite it being sad. It was great character development for Lucy, showed the development in NaLu, and it also pushed the ship forward by giving if conflict and separation, which only resulted in bringing them closer in the future. Also, I also like how Natsu only left a note to Lucy and no one else. She really is his most precious person, along with Happy.

29. “Let’s save the tears for when we win.” (Ep 159).

As a big sucker for moments where Natsu comforts Lucy, this one’s gotta be in the list. Despite being in a team of 5, despite her whole guild being there, only one person came to pick up Lucy and lift up her spirits and that was Natsu. It could’ve been anyone, really. Erza or Gray. But Mashima thought (and I agree) Natsu would make the most sense, because of how deep the NaLu relationship runs, to showcase how they’d grown even stronger since Tenrou Island, and it worked! Natsu, who’d once called Lucy useless to her face, coming up to her and telling her she was amazing, even though she lost? Lucy, who was always so annoyed with Natsu and his fighting, looking up to him with tears in her says saying “i’m all fired up”? That’s the kinda development we strive for.

28. “You’re Lucy of Fairy Tail, aren’t you?” (Ep 23).

I swear, this ship makes me want to scream. And here we come back to a time when Natsu and Lucy were still growing as a team, and still didn’t know each other that well, but already had so much faith on one another. This, I feel, is the first time (after, you know, the tower jump) where it showed that they actually cared and understood each other, mostly Natsu, in this case. Everyone else told Lucy not to cry, not to blame herself because of what her father did, meanwhile, Natsu merely reminded her of who she was. Where she belonged to. And like Lucy said later in the arc, she believed her mother would want her to follow her heart and do what she wanted, and this was probably the first time someone other than Layla showed Lucy that her choice was hers to make, and hers only. Like i’ve said before, what Natsu said, what he did for her here, helped shape Lucy into the person she is today, as well as it’s what also helped Lucy to start relying more on Natsu emotionally, whereas she relied mostly on him physically, to protect her.

27. “Lucy!” (Ep 303).

This moment... is much lower on my list here, whereas it was so high on the first one, but that’s mostly because my opinion has changed, as well as new moments have arrived that I loved much more, and some other moments too I now realize I took for granted, and took a high spot in my list. But nevertheless, it’s still a very special moment. And despite my problems with the animation, I have to admit that I like the desperation in Natsu’s eyes as he holds onto Lucy for dear life, after almost losing her (big sigh bc we know what happens a few eps later); and he even forgets about the other people around them: Mest, Brandish, even Happy! I like how she came first here to him, how he didn’t even hesitate before grabbing her. Now, how he came from that position to groping her boobs with all his might later, I can’t even explain, just... you know... Mashima.

26. Natsu and Lucy versus Jacob. (Ep 299).

Listen, this... this is one of the funniest fights I’ve ever watched on anime. While I like the pacing better on the manga, I really liked the execution of it in the anime, and hearing Natsu and Lucy’s “dirty talk” was one of my dreams coming to life, lmao. Natsu and Lucy once again showing how great they are at teamwork, and why they work so damn well together, how their thoughts align and how their trust on each other plays a huge deal on their victory. Plus, hello, it’s this moment which gives Mavis the inspiration to defeat Zeref, so it’s an extra big moment, i’d say, despite being severely underrated. Still on topic, I liked how when Lucy was undressed in front of him, Natsu was like “how is this supposed to be hell?” and say what you want, but just because he didn’t blush didn’t mean he wasn’t enjoying that view.

25. “Thank you for protecting our future.” (Ep 187).

Not really a NaLu NaLu moment, but still a very sweet NaLu moment. In case you don’t know (and for that reason, you should not be reading this list), the one in the picture is Future Lucy, and what makes this moment so special is that, even though that’s not present Lucy, it’s still his Lucy. He trusts her word completely and understand she effort she’s made, and all the horrors she’s been through, and he kneels down to the ground, craddles her head and presses his forehead to her, to express how grateful he is for what she’s done, and to show that he appreciates her, even if she’s not from his time. And this must’ve meant so much to this Lucy, because she lost her Natsu; she watched him die (the anime even does a little flashback), and she is back at the warmth and the softness only one person could give her, and she thought she’d never have that again. And then there he was, right in front of her, still the same man she’d always known. Still believing in her. Also, a small bonus: present Lucy is watching all this with a sweet smile and a soft blush on her cheeks.

24. “Don’t worry me like that.” (Ep 310).

And now we’re back to me wanting to scream because of these, bc hey... look at this! How come these two f*ckers started a goddamn a relationship and not even realize it? Like, it’s not even possibly platonic at this point in the story! There’s no friendship that can explain this, especially when it’s purposely being parallel with Gruvia, a canon romantic ship, and especially because we know what led up to this moment. And then you have Lucy holding onto Natsu, so relieved that she found him and squeezing him closer to her, despite not knowing what happened to him or what he’d just done, and Natsu whispering her name, listening to her voice once again when he thought he’d never listen to it again, having her so close to him when he thought he’d lost her... and you want me to not ship that? You want to tell me that’s platonic? I can’t even. I literally can’t even. That’s all I have to say about this.

23. “I want a piggyback ride.” Drunk Lucy round 1. (OVA 4).

While I love Lucy jumping on Natsu and wiggling her body onto his during the christmas ova, I have to admit this moment here has a special place in my heart, which makes it higher on the list. Maybe it’s because it was the first time we saw Lucy drunk, and was still a time when we started to really get NaLu moments, and Lucy’s feelings were still 50/50 to us, and then you get this, and Drunk Lucy is all f*cking over Natsu; she has hearts around her when she’s happy because she saw two Natsus, she makes him omelet (how? idk) and wants to feed it to him, is upset when she thinks he rejects it, wants him to make her purr... this alone should tell you a lot, is all touchy-feely with him, and basks in how warm he is, with her eyes closed. And Natsu, my boy... you coulda just run. You didn’t have to stay there and you didn’t have to obey her, lol. I bet he was freaked out because Lucy had never given him this much attention before, so he didn’t know how to deal with it. Always nice to see some Lucy > Natsu action, so let us all thank Mashima for the existence of Drunk Lucy, who makes this more possible than regular Lucy bc she lives in denial, lol.

22. “Beautiful”. (Ep 73).

A classic moment, and one that is immensely loved within the NaLu fandom, and rightfully so! Not only is this the most beautiful tree i’ve seen in anime, but also gave so much more depth to Natsu and Lucy’s relationship, despite being a simple omake. I’ve mentioned this before, but after Phantom Lord arc, there was very little development on NaLu, and most of their scenes together were reapeats of things we’d seen before: them reuniting after the team is separated, working together to solve it, reuniting again, trusting each other, yada yada. Very nice, but still, mostly just friendship and nothing that really stood out. This moment here, where Natsu uproots a tree for Lucy just because she was sick and couldn’t come to see it, then putting it into a boat so it could float all the way over to the front of her house... can be seen as a platonic gesture, and probably was made with that intention on Natsu’s part, but the thing is, these kinda things only happen with them. Yes, Mashima could have given this moment for someone else like Erza or Mirajane, or even Wendy, who was new to the series and probably didn’t even know about this: so why didn’t he? The answer is quite easy, and y’all know it. Development. Growth. Natsu was upset Lucy couldn’t come and join them, didn’t even crack a smile during the whole festival, but he wanted Lucy to be able to, even if he didn’t get to see it. He wanted to make her happy. That’s very special of him, and I think there was already a little of romance there, he just didn’t know what it was, so he just followed his feelings and went for it. Okay, enough gushing and analysing, time to end this list.

21. “What do I look like to you?” round 1. (Fairy Tail: Dragon Cry).

Please, don’t kill me for not having this on top 10, I wanted to put it there, because HELLO, LOOK AT THIS PICTURE, I NEED 911, I- HOW CAN THEY STAND SO CLOSE TO EACH OTHER! MY BOYFRIEND SAW ME GIFFING THIS AND ASKED “IS HE TRYING TO KISS HER” AND I JUST FREAKED OUT, SOMEBODY SEDATE ME! Mashima, what were you trying to do with this? Were you trying to kill us? Like, why does Natsu want to know what he looks like to Lucy? And why he’s gotta stand so close to her that their noses are brushing, just to ask her this? AHSIAHSJJAOSJAAKA, I KNOW THE ANSWER, BUT I STILL NEED ANSWERS! Okay, I was able to calm down a little. I really truly love this moment (love dragon cry in general), and I love how Wendy interrupted them and knew immediately she’d walked into something intimate, the poor thing, lmao, I wish that was me. But really, this is just Natsu taking any excuses he can to stand super close to Lucy even when it doesn’t make sense, because we all know he’s just got it real bad for her.

Will try to post part 4 tomorrow, but no promises. My baby niece is staying over and she takes up all of my free time, lol.

#sorry for any mistakes i've been awake since 6 am #nalu #natsu x lucy #fairy tail #top50nalu

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