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beanghostprincess · 1 year ago

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My take on OPLA's "Arlong Park" as a Nami kinnie with a lot of things to say

I have a lot of complaining to do about how OPLA wrote and directed the last two episodes and, generally speaking, Nami's character and dynamic with the others. However, and as I said the last time I wrote one of these posts about my takes on OPLA, I understand that it's really hard to make a Live Action of something so iconic and long as One Piece. However, I do think that there is some stuff that could have been done better without it being a problem with the lack of time and all that.

That being said, please enjoy my thoughts on Arlong Park and Nami's character. This will be completely messy and chaotic but it's just that I'm too lazy to organize my ideas properly.

Pre-Arlong Park

For starters, I don't like how they introduce Nami's character arc. I understand that to get attached to her character and show that she's growing fond of the crew you have to make her like them and be friends with them. And that's great! I really liked her interactions with them and it really shows that she cares deeply about all of them but she just can't get too close or else she'll put her mission and them in danger. She can't get too attached out of self-hatred and fear and she can't be herself, even if sometimes her true personality shows whenever she gets too comfortable. And it's beautiful, especially with Luffy.

However, the little hints about her past and current situation felt forced. Perhaps I'm just picky with the script, but I think it would've been way better to show us that she's enjoying her time with them but for some unsaid reason, she refuses to open up. And then, the whole thing with Arlong happens. No hints. No deep trauma-dumping with Zoro. And, please, no verbalization of her ongoing situation that she's literally trying to hide.

The thing with OPLA is that they don't let the characters show their feelings without speaking. They don't let the actors express what the character's going through with silent acting. They have to explain everything verbally as if we, the audience, were stupid.

So I have this feeling that the foreshadowing and hints for Arlong Park were forced and out of character, especially because they wanted to rush Nami's friendship with them (for no reason, since you can do that simply by showing us that she's having a good time but she doesn't let herself actually stay with them or just be herself). You can be friends with somebody and love them without knowing shit about their past or suffering (Luffy in the manga is a great example, but I'll talk about that later) so the friendship they were building between Nami and Zoro could've worked anyway without that drinking game (obviously used as a plot device to foreshadow Arlong Park).

Nami befriends them too easily, in my opinion. She obviously cares about them and wants to be with them, but she can't. That's why canonically she steals the Merry and leaves them there on their own the moment she has the chance to do it. And she cries. And feels like shit because she finally found people who genuinely wanted her and liked her, but she can't be with them. She can't because she thinks she'll hurt them. Because she thinks they'll hurt her. Because she doesn't let herself open up to anybody but herself. Because she has a mission.

OPLA could've easily done that, but for some reason decided to make Nami openly tell Zoro to not fight because they're friends (she probably would think so, but would never say it out loud. Plus, she knows better than to try to stop Zoro. That scene is bullshit) and then stay to see the fight after regretting trying to leave them because they're friends. And it's bullshit, once again, because, despite her feelings towards them, she would never let herself be happy like that. Canonically she hates betraying them, but she has to do it. And yet the live-action decided to make her say all of her feelings out loud when her whole character is about refusing to express her pain out loud.

Good job Netflix (this said with a very sarcastic tone, by the way).

One of the things that bothers me the most, too, is how she blames Luffy after the fight. Not even canon Nami would do that. Yes, she doesn't yet acknowledge Luffy as her captain, but she knows he's the one who has the last word. She's aware that it was Zoro's own stupid decision. She knows why Luffy let him do it. She knows they're stupid but they want to get stronger and follow their dreams and she won't be able to stop them even if she wants to. So it doesn't make any goddamned sense for Nami to actively fight Luffy about it. She should be smarter than this.

And yes, you can say that perhaps it's just the frustration of them being able to stupidly follow their dreams when she can't do it herself. It makes sense. She definitely is. But you can show that frustration without her yelling at Luffy for something she knows she can't change.

Also, as I said before, she expresses her feelings and worries out loud. Not even just out loud, but too loud. She yells how worried she is and how close they are now. That they are friends. And I think that their friendship could've been shown instead of just said with her words, because Nami, in the beginning, would've never let herself admit it. Not to them. Not even to herself. Their friendship and care are something she can't afford right now. And yet she's obviously delaying her mission to stay with them? And she's verbally telling them that they're friends? It makes no sense to me.

Then, Arlong shows up at the Baratie.

Not the decision I would've made but, okay, let's take it.

And Nami of course goes with him, but I don't like how they made it happen.

The thing is, Nami canonically steals the ship and goes to Arlong Park because she has her life there. Her duty. You can see clearly in the manga how much she wants to stay with the crew but how her hometown is more important than her own happiness. Here, it just looks like Arlong came for her and she goes with him only because he's there. If he hadn't shown up, she probably would've just stayed with the others as far as we know. Which is, once again, bullshit and out of character.

She goes with Arlong, acts like the villain, and goes away.

And it's pretty much rushed and it feels forced. So, well... Let's say I only liked Baratie because of Sanji (off-topic, but his backstory and scenes were the best. But perhaps I'm just not objective since he's my favorite Mugiwara hehe).

Arlong Park

The crew's reaction

It doesn't make sense. Let's just say it like that.

In the manga, both Usopp and Zoro get righteously angry at Nami because she stole their ship and that's the main reason why they decide to agree with Luffy and go look for her.

However, here, Nami didn't steal anything from them. And yet they're... Mad at her?

Zoro and Usopp know better than to just leave her behind because she was the one leaving them first. I understand that Usopp might be a coward and he doesn't want to get into fights for a girl he just met, so I kind of get why he doesn't agree with Luffy. However, Zoro is supposed to know that she isn't like this. They've had... A lot of bonding scenes together and yet he's like: "If she wants to be left alone, then so be it". And I get it because Zoro is, well, Zoro. But OPLA!Zoro has bonded with Nami. He obviously respects her decision here, but acting like she betrayed them is stupid because she never stole anything from them besides the map (which was hers to begin with, by the way). They don't have reasons to hate her and if they were going to make her go without stealing the Merry then they could've also made the whole crew agree with Luffy to get her back.

No comment on Sanji, by the way, he does great. Great Sanji. Taz I love you (please ignore my blatant favoritism).

They encounter Nami and, once again, I don't like how verbal they are all the damn time. Luffy should NEVER tell her to ask for help if she needs it. He knows she needs help, he just wants her to be the one to say it and he knows she will once she's ready. I liked Nami saying something along the lines of "No, this is the 'me' you want me to be" though. Great line.

Then they meet Nojiko, and let me tell you... I have so many issues with this I don't think I'll ever finish talking about it.

First things first, why the fuck is Nojiko unaware of Nami's intentions? The whole thing about Nojiko is that she loves Nami to death and knows the reasons why she's doing all of this. That's why she's able to tell the crew about their past with sadness but love and care and so much worry for Nami's wellbeing. She meets the crew and instantly knows how much they care about her. That's why she helps them: She wants Nami to finally be free and have more people who love her in her life.

Instead, OPLA makes Nojiko hate her sister because apparently, she thinks she betrayed them. Cool. More unnecessary angst for Nami (sarcastic comment, again).

But that doesn't bother me that much. You know what bothers me? What enrages me?

Luffy hears Nami's backstory.

Why. The. Fuck. Is. He. There.

Literally this was just the writers' choice because they fucking wanted to because there's nothing stopping them from making him climb to the rooftop the second Nojiko starts talking. He keeps saying he wants to hear Nami's feelings from her, and yet he stays to hear what happened to her.

What makes Luffy such a great person and captain is how little he cares about his crew's pasts. He doesn't want to know about how they used to be or what happened to them, as long as they stay true to how they are now. And what makes Luffy and Nami's bond so important and beautiful and strong, is how much Nami hates what happened to her and how little Luffy cares. Nami hates herself for what she did, and Luffy loves her because of who she is now. Perfect balance. Beautiful, precious bond.

OPLA could've just fixed it by making Luffy climb to the rooftop sooner, and they didn't. I don't know why yet. But they didn't. And it makes me so mad...I need to talk to the writers or I swear to God-

That makes his conversation with Zoro not make any sense, but hey! Pretty Zolu scene that I appreciate and it was really beautiful to watch. Not complaining here.

Nami asking for help (THE Arlong Park scene. THE moment. THE straw hat thing)

Despite Emily's amazing acting (God, I love her. As a director/writer wannabe I can easily see that she's a pleasure to work with because Oh mY gOd) I didn't really enjoy the scene. This has to do with the directing and not the acting or script, by the way.

I hate the shots. I just- I just hate the shots they use in this show, in general. Always. But this time it made me cringe in the worst moment because it's supposed to be a heartbreaking, captivating scene.

Diving the scene like the anime does is a beautiful thing to do, but the shots are just TOO. DAMN. CLOSE. So it doesn't look pleasant and it bothers me. Again, maybe I'm just picky.

Also, Luffy should've covered Nami's eyes with the straw hat. I know it seems like a dumb thing to say, but it's (in my opinion) one of the things that makes this scene so special and beautiful in canon. It's Luffy's way of telling her not to cry. He gives her his hat as a metaphor. Simbolism. A promise. Yadda, yadda, yadda. He gives her his most precious and important thing in the world as a way of welcoming her to the crew and showing that he trusts and loves her. As a way of saying "Here. Have this. I will help you and then I will come back for this later and you will be coming with me. You have to take care of it". He's literally referencing Shanks here, guys!!! He did the same with him!!! So it might seem stupid, but it wasn't hard to just use a shot to make it look like he had covered her eyes completely.

Leaving that aside, Emily's acting was outstanding and I can't wait to see her in Alabasta with Vivi because that's going to be insanely good for my soul.

Nami's flashback

I don't have much to say about it besides that the acting was awesome, the setting was really really gorgeous, and it's just how I imagined Nami's past would be portrayed. Lil Nojiko and Nami are extremely cute and talented and Bellemere was amazing.

However, I must say that I did find it weird how Nami is the one asking Arlong if she can work for him. Like I get that her plan was to buy the village back but, like- Just make Arlong interested in Nami first so that way she can come up with the plan and agree to his conditions.

Also, it doesn't make sense to use chains on Nami if she's willingly working for him and was the one to ask first. They treat her like a prisoner for no reason? To be honest they should've just changed that scene to the canon one to make Arlong force her to work with him.

Fights

I'm not an expert and despite being a fan of a lot of shonen animes, fighting isn't really my thing. I just sit there waiting until the actual plot starts again, not gonna lie.

But I must say that the Zosan argument about what Luffy needs (full of jealousy, by the way. Zoro, I know what you are!!) was pretty funny and Usopp was a delight to watch. The fight with Arlong happened a bit too fast in my opinion and they could've been way more creative with the choreography but, again, I'm no expert. I just know that the fight is like only the first 15 minutes and that's a big no-no when it comes to closing plots.

Once again, this is just a product of the overuse of the Marines and their screentime. They could've just changed the whole Garp plot and added more of Arlong Park (we will always miss you, Hachi. You deserved to be with us).

Post-Arlong Park

I don't have much to say about the party. Really cute. They're really sweet together and I enjoyed watching them acting like the family they are. Zoro and Sanji bickering is pure gold, Nami smiling as she looks around at her new life, and Luffy cheering Usopp up!!! That was the sweetest thing ever. I died. I loved every second of that scene because our sniper deserves all the love in the world.

Then Garp shows up and does the most unnecessary thing in the world. Which is fighting Luffy for no fucking reason and then walk away. Waste of time. Doesn't do anything to the plot. Incredibly boring, too. Hope they fix their dynamic and Garp's character (and the overuse of the Marine's screentime) next season. Although I won't complain if Smoker and Tashigi are on my screen 24/7 in s2 because I love them to death and Tashigi is my girlfriend (real).

Overall Opinion

I didn't hate Arlong Park, per se, but as a person who relates to Nami's character a lot (she's extremely important to me for a lot of reasons. I even have her tattoo!!) I can't help but feel a little disappointed at what her arc turned out to be.

That being said, I still enjoyed the last two episodes and I seriously think that the last scene (the crew talking about their dreams) is literally the best scene of all. In every way.

🍊🍊🍊🍊🍊🍊

If you're reading this, I love you for being so interested in my opinion <3 I literally just write these to put my thoughts into words. It's really fun!! But I'm aware that it can be pretty long JKZDBDJKSDHJK (I could talk about this show for hours). Also, if there are any spelling or grammar mistakes, ignore them. I'm too lazy today to read all of this and fix them, ngl.

Tag: @leiatroublecat TikTok editing account where I post my OPLA edits: seraspring

#i swear to god i love opla #i just love complaining about the stuff i love #i have a lot of good and nice things to say about the live action but i prefer to focus my essays on what i would change #nami i love you you're just like me fr #she's our precious weather queen #emily rudd the actress that you are #one piece #opla #one piece live action #nami one piece #arlong park

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nono-bunny · 1 year ago

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Thoughts from watching the ATLA live action!

I initially wanted this to all be one post but. It got too long and also Tumblr accidentally posted it once instead of just drafting as I asked while I was writing it and I had to reconstruct the whole thing so I'm just going to make one post per episode I think.

So, episode 1!

Oh my god the show really opens on just showing the letters "Capital City", genuinely that's kind of hilarious?? I kinda always thought of it as Caldera City collectively because Capital City sounds dumb (very The Hunger Games of them, ngl) but like... I do recognize that it's only technically the rich district- even so I feel like maybe they should've reimagined that one in particular because honestly it's always been confusing for the capital to have two cities in it (Harbor City is the other one, basically the poor people district). Anyway not a big deal overall, just... Kind of funny to not change this

Truly a weird way to start the show with just some random Earth Kingdom revolutionaries, but based on the fact that I've heard they're not in it I'm just headcanoning it to be Haru and Tyro lmao otherwise it's just. A truly bizarre choice

Oh never mind they're??? Opening before the war??? They literally have Ozai in the first season, why wouldn't they just have a menacing Sozin in a war room, with like maybe some very subtle hints to him grieving someone who died disagreeing with him, and him going forward with it anyway? Idk it's genuinely very strange to open a show with such iconic and recognizable characters by focusing on some random mostly irrelevant people you're never gonna see again because the story takes place a hunder years in the future. I mean, it was a cool fight scene (when I could see it lmao, I wish it wasn't so dark- would've looked great in a cinema but this should have been made for people watching on home screens) but?? Why should I care about these people or what they're doing, either as a veteran who knows they don't matter or as someone new to the story who DOESN'T know that they're never going to see them again?

Oh shit wait, AGAIN??? They keep zagging on me lmao this is like. Exactly what I wanted!! I read they started things off with a lot of fighting and showing the war so I thoght this was what it was but no!! The random guy meets non other than Sozin... Who genuinely looks incredible and does a fantastic job at portraying exactly what I wanted!! I think there's something in the eyes specifically? Like, there's a certain sadness mixed with idealism there, which works really well with how determined, calculating and cold he otherwise is. He feels 100% like the sort of guy who'd reasonably be the ancestor to the mess that is the Royal Family we see during the rest of the show, and I'm genuinely really happy about it! Sozin feels like the sort of madman who believes in his own just and it's perfect, like, the exact vibe I got from him in the original!

Is Gyatso talking to Bryke rn or...?? Lmao fr Aang never learned any of the things he mentions which is why he was a bad Avatar, and why in the end I don't like canon OG Aang. Addressing it in the first episode is extremely bold of the LA tbh, but you know I love to see it! Also everyone was talking about how Aang wasn't silly enough, but literally in the OG he was too silly and never learned to take responsibility or work with others so?? This Aang that is already blending a whimsical air with what seems like a degree of emotional intelligence the original lacked is!! Such an improvement in my eyes, actually! I'm hoping they manage to properly resolve these things this time around, but already their direction with him just within minutes of meeting him feels a lot more palatable to me. Also they rewrote that scene in a way that makes Gyatso infinitely more likeable because now he actually GETS it, OG Gyatso was a kind man but in the end... He was wrong, he coddled Aang too much. Here, in a universe where the Air nomads want to help defend the rest of the world, he recognizes that while Aang is needed, he genuinely isn't capable of helping yet which!! Also feels like an improvement in terms of co-nation relations, it feels like there actually used to be a harmony of sorts before! It will help make the Air Nomads feel less out of place and "out of sight out of mind" in the bad way they were in the original. The Air Nomads already planning to get involved also feels like a way to rid Aang of his idealistic and childhish views of his own culture in a much more direct way than the more subtle approach just showing Gyatso surrounded by skeletons of people he likely killed. Also, again, saw people complain aboit the Air Nomads wanting to get involved being ooc and?? Okay, so? Have you maybe considered that them being so insular that their loss was barely felt in the original whenever they didn't need to make Aang have an emotional moment was a bad thing??? Like, I get that it isn't in line with their characterization, but personally? Them choosing not to get involved in an attempted genocide was always a bad look tbh, and as far as I'm concerned, this is a fix and a way to make them look much better than just like. Hermits unconcerned with the world- they care, they want to help! Honestly overall everyone in the Air Nomads looks so much better here, this feels like a net good in terms of like... Idk Air Nomad publicity lmao. Also, showing the different temples coming together to celebrate is!! Incredible, I wholeheartedly love that addition to the lore!

Ngl tbh so far this feels like a fanfic I'd read, in like. Literally the best possible way

Yo the "Gyatso and Roku were friends" theory looking realll possible rn with that "you will always be my friend" line 👀

Ah so I see what people meant about Aang's characterization in this episode being a bit tell-y rather than show-y, that's fair. That said, it was a really nice scene that established the bond between him and Appa quite well imo! Also now I'm genuinely curious as to whether they'll have him get a bit drunk with power like in the original considering the focus they're putting on how much he needs to NOT do that!

To everyone saying Aang running away was important and should not have been cut- no, it fucking wasn't, it was one of his biggest unresolved character flaws that got ignored when the destroyed his character arc in season 3 and I'm fucking glad it's gone. I do find it interesting that here Aang basically only just finds out about being the Avatar before getting frozen rather than having a bit more time to get used to the idea and see how it changes things for him- it makes it that in a way, this Aang has both a lot more and a lot less baggage! Essentially his entire journey of discovery of what it means to be pronounced the Avatar will happen alongside people who never knew him as anything but, it's an extremely finite and dramatic closing of the chapter of his life where he wasn't the Avatar- it kinda shows he has no room for confusion anymore, he must now become The Avatar because that's essentially his people's last request of him. It's a very different sort of vibe from "I wasn't willing", it's "I wasn't ready", and that is much more easily fixable in a shorter show! Also the og literally just "solved" the willingness issue by having him enjoy the benefits and refuse to do any of the work so. Not sad to see it go at all

Battlefield Sozin?! Firebending rockets?! Wilhelm scream?! Cool battle scene all around tbh, really heartbreakin and difficult to watch, which means they did a good job with it! I do still wish it was brighter though lmao

Uhh forgot to type anything for a while because I was crying but. Yeah I generally really liked the portrayal of life on Wolf Cove! There are definitely some very noticeable changes with our two leads here, and I actually don't think they're necessarily bad, they just feel very strange and might take a bit to get used to. Katara actually isn't passive, which is weird considering that's how a lot of people described her? She's just extremely cautious. All of her defining traits feel like they're still there, but some of them do feel like they're lying a bit under the surface due to her situation which! Makes sense as an alternative way of writing her! Sokka genuinely feels like such a big brother here, I like the emphasis on his sense of responsibility and how he doesn't quite know how to be a real leader yet- it goes very well with a Katara who desperately wants to be a fighter but can't and has to try and blend in. Both of them have very clear aspirations and the traits that will eventually allow them to get to where they want to be, but they're very far from reaching them at the start. A lot of the scenes do feels kinda awkward tbh, but idk, I think they do a fine enough job at what they attempt to.

Now, hearing that Katara wasn't the one to break Aang out in a fit of anger wasn't a deal breaker for me actually, but? Honestly the way he gets out is just needlessly confusing here, genuinely unclear if Katara did it or he just... Idk somehow reacted to another bender's presence or whatever. Idk, it felt extremely weird and I think just like? A bit of clarification here as to what happened could've saved this scene without it having to happen via anger if that's the way they wanna go with Katara, and specifically her relationship with Sokka (which, again, does really feel authentic and well done here imo!)

Aang saying that Katara is the only one who tried to fight for him is fucking wild, but I guess that's the impression he got given that Gyatso told him he had to go away and he didn't hear the meeting about him here. Still a wild thing for him to say, felt really weird right alongside Sokka being the bravest person he ever met. Idk that whole exchange was off and awkward and just... Strange

Iroh doing his best to help and teach Aang when he can is very sweet. Idk how to feel about how hard he's already going in on the whole "your daddy doesn't love you" thing with Zuko tbh, because it does make Zuko appear much less lost when he's got someone who's giving him the answers rather than leading him to them, it's kinda a book 2 vibe from them? It's strange. Also a straight talking Iroh feels so strange in general, literally his only "eccentric" quality so far is loving Jasmine tea and very clearly not being down with the war, it's... Certainly A Choice, but not one I'm really enjoying so far tbh

There's something really interesting about Katara immediately relaxing and allowing herself to be silly and mischievous around Sokka here, it's kind of a flip from their dynamic in the original but there's something really fun and sweet about seeing those hidden aspects of her come out around the one person she knows and trusts to accept and protect her just as fiercely as she would him. It's definitely different, but I'm genuinely really enjoying the unique spin they put on their relationship and how it correlates with their own individual personalities and how they perceive and present themselves.

Taking the burden of always being the only one who can bring Aang out of the Avatar State away from Katara feels like a big relief. Also in general I like the way they still kept Aang's attachment to Gyatso and his parallels with Katara, while also solidifying Sokka and Aang friendship which wasn't really... A thing in the original? Having Sokka protect and reach out to Aang feels much more personal here in a way than it did originally, I think maybe the weird scene where Aang praises them kinda worked to serve that? Idk I've read people saying they don't feel like a family but more like friends here but. They never did in the original in season 1 either tbh. If anything there's a sense of everyone being equal here which the original lacked in places, I like how both Sokka and Katara support and save Aang in equal measure here and how they look out for each other as well. Aang is kinda naturally a mess this whole episode but here's hoping he returns the favor for them for once in the future!

Edit: dammit Tumblr literally just did it again I didn't mean to post this yet, but I'm kind of at the end of the episode so fuck it, it stays I don't wanna reconstruct it in the drafts again. If I have anything to add it'll go after this.

#avatar the last airbender #atla #atla live action #avatar the last airbender live action #natla

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justallihere · 11 months ago

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chapter 30 lets goooooo

i looooove how you're making violet miss xaden !! listen as much as i love my men stupid the amount of ppl last chapter that were happy with his suffering made me feel bad !! i feel like xaden needs shooters and i have to step up to defend my man. and it's like ... they're so married it makes me sick. ofc they cant sleep apart when they're under the same roof. it just goes to show that the foundations of the relationship are there and that there's hope !! i also think violet needs time to digest everything and what better time to do that than at night when she cant sleep bc she misses her hubby??

2) Tairn and Sgaeyl paralel with Xaden and Violet you will always be famous. Mr. "humans are too emotional" Tairn and yet he also cant sleep when he's mad at Sgaeyl ... i know what you are.

3) Riorson house needs better guards, wdym violet can just avoid them ??

She was Xaden’s wife. She was queen. Him, the house, the city, the entire country—they all belonged to her as much as she belonged to them. Maybe she should start acting like it.

(i know i use this gif way to much but i cant help it it's perfect)

Oh we looooove a violet that knows how powerful she is, even without a signtet !! she's just understanding she can command the whole country and i love that for her. Xaden gave her the power and i think in the next few chapters we're gonna see both of them understanding that they're more powerful together than apart.

5) Now let's get into Garrick and Liam's business bc there's so much to unpack. For once Garrick can't mind his business to save his life ... he's so gossip girl coded and tbh can't blame him I too am nosy.

the worried glanced they shared when they thought she wasn't looking ... your honor they're so scared lmao.

But now on a more serious note, I loved the conversation they had about the whole affair. Both parties trying to rationalize their hurt and understanding each others sides was important. Garrick and Liam needed to understand that Violet is their ruller alongside Xaden, she's not a flower they need to protect. And if she's to rule she needs to be informed of stuff, they can't go behind their back. And ofc the order came from Xaden but they actively participated in it which is why she's so upset. But Violet also needed to understand that this secret can't just be shared like this and they did the best they thought would work under the circunstances.

I also think Violet knows she just needs time.

“Is there something you want to say, Tavis?” She raised an eyebrow. “Some comment about my marriage you’d like to share?”

Oh she knows people have been talking about her marriage. But I love how protective she is about her relationship with Xaden. It's no one's business and they'll figure themselves out without outside intervention. She knows she misses him, she knows she cares, or she wouldn't be this upset, she just needs to be angry a bit more while they work on it. And she has aknowledged she doesn't want to live like this: hurt and upset, so she knows they need to work it out somehow.

Can't wait till she aknowledges he's her rock, can't wait for THAT moment.

7) Violet and Liam made up !!!

(i could not for the life of me find the whole gif so enjoy this one, you know what comes next)

just like canon Liam is too busy defending Xaden's actions to violet *cries*. But yeah i think we need to have a conversation about nuance. We as readers, can be upset for Violet due to Xaden's behavior while aknowledging why Xaden did what he did. and i think it's what's so beautiful about this narrative. bc at the end of the day i probably would've done what he did. and i think violet knows that too even if she's not ready to admit it to herself just yet.

8) touched starved Xaden enters the scene so ofc angst ensues. His little touch didn't hurt at all ... ahaha ... (you are very mean miss ma'am)

9) Love how Xaden is like: okay you know now so get to work come with me to this drift. like my guy give her a day ??

10) Violent andarna u will always be famous

11) Cat is very pathetic, like omg girl GET UP like i'm embarassed for her. All that over a man ?? a crown ?? bestie don't u literally have a crown at home ?? Violet absolutely destroyed Cat was a highlight and Xaden was turned on.

12) Imogen will always come through !! that's a girl's girl

13)Now while i feel bad for Syrena Xaden is correct its not Tyrrendor's problem they're dying. In fact, he's already doing more than he should bc the moment Tecarus was like: "no luminary for yall" i would've been like "oh sure you're on your own then, say goodbye to the weapons". I feel like Xaden's being too good.

14) and you explained perfectly why Xaden and Violet are made for each other !! Yes, they both have some sort of moral compass, but above all that they're loyal to themselves and to those that they love.

15) The Squad capital T capital S being ride or die will always get me. Liam just takes it my poor boy.

16) Now Cam ... the way you've been here for a month and haven't found anything is very useless behavior. But we forgive, he's a man after all.

17) Violet wants a healthy relationship with Xaden and thats exactly what i asked for !! yes, get to talking like adults. I love how she has childish thoughts of vengence but she's like "yeah that isn't really what i want to do" and doesn't act on impulse.

18) why do i feel like next chapter xaden is gonna be so stressed when he hears of this suicidal plan and also why do i feel like the equivalent of varrish torture scene is coming. you are scaring me.

19) i wanna be you when i grow up alli. the way you release chapters so damn fast ... my readers could only wish lmao. you are literally not human (i mean it as a compliment <3)

Okay this comment is so beautiful and so well thought out??? I’m in love with you??

I don’t have the time rn to respond to every one of these points but just thank you thank you thank you a million times over for the love on this chapter (and the fic as a whole) 🥰🥰

But: yes I’m obsessed with possessive Violet claiming Tyrrendor and Xaden and her own. I LOVED writing that. Whatever problems she has with either of them, they’re hers and Xaden’s to deal with and no one else’s. They are, for better or worse, a team, and no one gets a say in their relationship and she will shut it down so fast if they try

#storm in the quiet

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galvanizedfriend · 1 year ago

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hi, love <3 so, here's a random thought I'd like to share with you.

I always mention how much I would've loved to see The Wolf instead of The original as a TVD spin off, but, even though my though I still stand this statement, I think it would've not been the same.

Let me elaborate:

as I said many times before, your writing is the key of the whole story. Since you always narrates things such as inner thoughts, feelings and point of views, we also get an explanation about why a certain thing is happening ( i.e. the ending smut of chapter 30). However, no matter how talented the actor is, this thing never happens in TV shows, and it sadly leads to misinterpretation (either of the character or their action) and "randomness".

For example: Caroline is my babygirl, but I just know that if people would've *watched* instead of *reading* The Wolf, they would've hated her. Calling her a bad s/o, mother and friend because they would just judge her by her actions without knowing what's going on with the characters, misinterpreting her struggle for bitchness or something along those lines.

In conclusion, even though I would pay MILLIONS to just erase TO and bring TW to live action, I'm also happy to know that my favs are "covered" from the hate they have already received because the shows never portrait them and their issues in the right way.

that's it, just wanted to share this piece of mind that have been floating around my head for a while! lemme know what you think!

Under the cut because I got rambly. 😂

That makes sense. Obviously books/fics/any written content will always be much more dense than TV shows or movies because you get to be inside characters' heads, while on TV content you can only count on actors finding a way to translate these emotions, and some of them don't even have that capacity tbh.

Not to say that The Wolf would've been better than the actual show (I mean, I have my biased opinions, but that's just me 😂), but I think the writing on The Originals obviously contributed a lot to how bad the show was a lot of the time. It simply lacked substance, there were many times when things just straight out didn't make sense. At first glance it might seem like TW and TO are almost interchangeable, but they're really not, and this is a point I have been making over the years. It's not just about the obvious changes (Caroline instead of Hayley, which is a BIG change btw), but it's especially about the more subtle ones. The amount of thought I put into those scenes, characters, dialogues - it might not seem like it, but it's crazy. And so if you read the final product and you think 'wow! this makes sense! it should've been like this!' it's because there were loads of changes done to not only that part, but parts that came before, that suddenly, when put together, paint things under a completely different light.

The problem with TO for me is that it starts off from a place of complete nonsense, so everything that comes after that is building on top of a fragile foundation. I mean, they start off the show by retconning every single character to a certain degree. What can we expect after that? They were more interested in erasing everything that came before on The Vampire Diaries than in doing justice to the characters, so there's no way that could've ever been 100% solid. It had its moments, I can't say that it didn't, but it was mostly scattered scenes here and there, or ideas you could see that were good in theory (like the premise of S3), rather than entire story arcs within the show.

My point is that I don't think the lack of inner monologuing is the main problem with TO. There is a way to have compelling and profound writing even when you don't have narration to compose your scenes, and the fact some screenwriters are incapable of doing that is the reason why so many book to TV adaptations are so crappy. You have to be really inventive to make it work, and the crew on TO simply wasn't. But there were moments!

However, regarding Caroline and the things she does throughout the story, like going back to Mystic Falls in TW2 for instance, or when she leaves the compound in TW1. Honestly, even if that had been written by the best screenwriter in the world (obviously not me), and if Candice King had given an Oscar-worthy performance, people would still call her a bitch. 😂 There's a real edge of misogyny in how people judge female characters a lot more harshly than their male counterparts, especially when the things they do displease the male character, which was the case here. I got so many comments from people who were mad at Caroline because 'she should've just trusted Klaus, Klaus is a hybrid, he's the strongest, he knows better', completely disregarding the fact Klaus is basically a psychopath with trust and anger issues who was by no means a pillar of warmth and sanity a lot of the time. Caroline was, from start to finish, the most reasonable, stable person in that entire story, but there were many times when people were blaming her for things that were just not her fault. She was pregnant, alone, scared, trying to stay alive, to protect her child, and Klaus was at the peak of a downward spiral where he was listening to absolutely no one, but somehow Caroline was the one in the wrong for not trusting that he wouldn't act like a maniac. 😂

I'm not saying that is what you're saying, btw, I'm just saying Caroline would've been judged no matter what. But yes, she probably would've been very harshly criticized if this had been the show. Already she is! There's a lot of people who dislike her for how hard she was on Klaus, like he didn't deserve it. 😂

Having said all that 😂 I do give myself some credit for the fact people were feeling so much for Klaus in spite of everything lol He's very intense and dramatic in how he takes offense. If he thinks he's been wronged (and he thinks he's been wronged whenever someone doesn't take his side in a dispute, whatever that might be), he just goes all out, and he's merciless in how he judges the people around him, alwaus making himself out to be the victmized party. He might regret his actions later (usually because of that darned little thing called consequence), but never initially, and he's also terrible at apologies. So I wanted his POVs to be about how the whole world was against him, and how he knew what he was doing, and he couldn't trust anyone, etc etc, and people bought it. Personally, I was always on Caroline's side, but even though I know people were likely to side with Klaus anyway because that's the way it is, and people are biased towards him, I also think I might have manipulated them a little bit.

But I just reminded myself today that there is a very basic difference between canon and TW that means one could never replace the other which is that Caroline is a witch. 😂 That justifies her getting pregnant, but then it changes her entire backstory.

I hope my response didn't come out as though I'm being harsh or anything. Your pondering just got me thinking, and that's actually something I've thought about a lot throughout the years because I have certainly gotten many comments like what you said. Thanks very much for sharing! I really love reading that kind of thing. ❤️

#yokan answers #feat-peach #i keep forgetting caroline used to be a witch #even though that's going to play a huge part in tw4 lol

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softpine · 2 years ago

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Would it be too spoilery to ask if you can reveal a plot or two that would have gone differently if you weren't worried about people's reactions? I've been so curious ever since you said your characters are meant to be way worse people

oh sure!! it's not always that i'm worried about people's reactions, sometimes it's just because i dropped the ball or had other stuff going on. i just don't want anyone thinking they made me feel this way!!

the biggest one is that caroline and beth were supposed to get a divorce 🥴 back when they were fighting a lot over asa's worsening condition because caroline was adamant that asa was seeing ghosts while beth thought he was having a mental health crisis. but when asa went into another coma, they ended up reconnecting and slowly rebuilding their relationship (mostly because caroline stopped pressing the ghost issue). it felt natural to me and i think it worked out fine, but i wish i had gone with my gut.

my original plan was for them to drift even further apart when asa went into his coma. caroline would've gotten REALLY desperate, like séance / psychic medium kinda desperate, and beth would've gone the opposite direction and start contacting every doctor she can find. finn would've watched them fight and felt guilty for "destroying" asa's family, who seemed pretty damn perfect in finn's eyes. finn would wake asa up as normal, but the damage was already done, so caroline and beth would continue fighting. finn would beg asa to stop messing with ghosts/time travel and focus on his family (of course it should never be a child's responsibility to save their parents marriage, but finn spent his entire life placating his family and feeling guilty for their actions, so naturally he feels this way). asa is stubborn and doesn't listen (like usual). so that actually drives a wedge between asa and finn too. at the same time, danny and mikaela were not on the best terms because danny lied about going on tour. so everyyyybody was fighting 😭

in the heat of the moment, caroline would've suggested they get divorced, expecting beth to disagree and keep trying, but beth went completely silent instead, and it was an "oh shit this is really happening huh" moment for both of them. they would separate for a while, things still wouldn't get better, so they start talking to divorce lawyers. finally, asa steps in and does some light time traveling (lol) and revisits a bunch of his parents' best moments together so he can go back to the present time and drop hints, like "hey mom who taught you how to swim?" "did you guys have a favorite coffee shop?" "is it true you worked at the diner before i was born?" etc. just little comments that make beth and caroline remember the good times without being too obvious. and it kinda works?? caroline is waiting with her lawyer one day when beth shows up in a fancy dress and says "get up, we're going on a date". everyone is like ??? but beth explains that although they've known each other their whole lives, they never really got to just date each other, because asa arrived so soon after they got together. so they go out to dinner but they pretend it's a blind date. and they get really drunk and do karaoke to 'love is a battlefield' because duh. the next morning, they both call their lawyers and say oops never mind about the divorce thing :') and they stay separated / casually dating for quite a while, still building up their relationship. it would've had a happy ending, but it would take much more work to get there!

overall i just thought this story line would be too bleak and frustrating rather than being "fun" drama, but idk... i wish i went for it anyway. it would've been fun to deal with adult drama rather than teen angst for a change. i still have a bunch of leftover dialogue if you're curious!!

later, after they've been fighting for a while:

this was the other option that would've had basically the same function as the scene above:

i repurposed this sex planner discussion here lol:

#sorry this is so long #all the other things i've changed have been pretty small but this is the biggest one #asks #anonymous #nonsims #brandi answers

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enchanted1waters · 2 years ago

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you owe me pt3

Self control for motley Crue was non existent, but when the new offer came up from how much loving publicity was brought by these music videos...it brought on a whole new realm.

So here we are, The boys dressed in leather, spikes, hairspray, eyeliner, heels, and more bondage than usual. They were all joking and throwing around fake rocks when I walked in, they immediately heard the tapping of heels, chains, my legs covered with a million type of fishnet and bondage. My hair teased, a mask like thing above my eyebrows,. Mind you I haven't been able to get ready for the past 20 minutes between hearing one of the boys and my bandmates FUCKING. So I just decided to be happy for whoever sounded like they loved life, and try to tune out the moans and groans. Before you say 'Scarlett you just need to get laid' I already get laid, whether its a girl or boy in my bed, I can't stop getting the hungry eyes of Lee and Sixx out of my rocking head.

As the band's eyes devoured every atom of my body, they were tuned back to reality when the director yelled to take our positions, Katey and Doc smiling as I rolled my eyes and pushed the boys aside. I hadn't been really informed much other than my poor babies, trace and Becks had to be in a cage with a lot of other girls. Almost naked, in the like if the same get up I had on.

But first I had to watch my girls climb over rocks and look around like they were waiting for something to swoop down and eat them. That's when the boys suddenly appeared putting on a show with delicious kinky outfits, hair looked too easy to pull, lips begging to be bitten and- ehm uh torches.. in their hands. I watched as the girls looked shocked into the camera and frantically fell in a huddle with frequent hand movements.

If it weren't for me seeing the girls behind the scenes I would've thought the women were actually scared. They did a great job, it was precious to watch Mick act like a lion behind Trace. They were adorable. Nikki and Tommy and even Vince were hard not find attractive during their predator like behavior. I was trying not to laugh as Tommy picked up Becca, this has to be literally down 5 times over because Becks wouldn't stop hitting Tommy everytime he picked her up and spun her. Tommy is not a Tommy fan for some reason. It was quite funny to watch this happen over and over though. The boys eventually cornered the girls into the cage and put their torches up around it.

The next to film was the band live and holy fuck were they so good it hurt. I had to smoke a cigarette to just barely distract me as Vince's rasp curled through the hair, Tommy railing the drums, flicking his head, and Nikki's hands as they curled so well it made the bass moan. Or maybe that was me internally. Either way I had to cross my legs during this.

Trace absolutely swooned as Mick shredded. Teasing eachother we laughed. The boys eventually started making their way to the girls, a little too enticing. Who was I kidding I was glad I wasn't in the cage, would've made me thing too much entirely about the other night.

Then it was my turn.

*The Boys' pov*

Nikki got completely lost in the music we all did every time we started playing a single chord. though all of our eyes kept darting to off scene, our main girls gazing at us like dinner. Eventually later after wrapped up the band scene, That's when the amazing effects started, the storm like wind, the hot chicks acting as prey. And then suddenly this huge rock started to break and there we saw Viper. I might as well get on my knees and beg for her poison me, hit me, kick me, kill me, anything she pleases. Cause holy fuck every muscle in my body twitches when I saw her. She had this badass shield too. Fuckkkk.

She seemed to be having fun as she looked at us like a villan in a comic, suddenly springing to action and flying sparks from her wrist thingy.

When we were on break the director pulled us and Scarlett over explaining that after she opens the gates for the girls, Vince will follow her into a tunnel. That's when jealousy brewed in Tommy and Nikki's stomach. Vince was a quicky type guy, didn't ever savor or devour shit long enough to let a girl enjoy, he just did it long enough for himself. I didn't give a shit who and how he fucked. Just not Scar. She was different, she deserved different. Not saying me and Tommy haven't been through half the population, just saying she deserves better than a smash and dash. It wasn't her worth.

*Viper's pov*

Next thing I knew after that little game plan huddle of Vince sending me a wink which I rolled my eyes so hard at, I could've sworn I checked out my own ass.

This led to me strutting down a stone tunnel, peering off to the side, a corner. Getting pinned, the camera following Vince who quickly found me and laid his hand on my cheek. Caressing me with a strangely gentle manner. His leg suddenly between my thighs, his hungry eyes and his toned arm pinning me against the wall, before I swatted his hand away after acting as if I was into it. I quicky walked away, swaying my hips as I disappeared in the fog. Him left untouched.

I then was out into another smoke filled room, my eyes scanning as if I had x-ray vision. That's when I heard loud boots behind me, I swiftly turned around to be met with a List filled Tommy, he was towering over me, just as I turned around to run the other direction I was met with a equally starving SIXX. My heart pounded at my chest, and shorts. My reproductive system was practically screaming. Corned by the literal terror twins. I shouldn't have felt the way I did, like such desirable prey. I quickly backed up between the two, trying to keep my thoughts straight, attempting to not cause this video to turn into a famous porno.

My fight or flight chose flirt, I instantly looked eyes with the boys, Nikki's hand on my shoulder lighting my body up like leather on a hot day. Causing my neck be thrown back, back arched, putting on a show. I suddenly felt Tommy's hand carefully holding the back of my head as if he thought I could break by how filthy my movement was. Then as soon as the tension split the air, I moved fastly running.

The next couple of hours was filled with the band playing way too well. The girls and I teasing each other, me watching some extras attempt and some successful in sleeping with Vince. Nikki and Tommy seeming to be spaced out everytime the girls touched or flirted with them. Which I was interesting to watch. Then it came time for me to stand in the four boys which took 30 minutes for something so fricking easy to do, because they wouldn't stop making each other laughing saying they felt like justice league, or talking about running a train or just the most stupid joke coming out one or the others mouth.

Eventually, we did get that music video done, leading to a huge fandom of shipping and asking for us to collab in more stuff. Yet we only had one more music video to film before they were scheduled for four. Which I didn't know what it was, and just so ya don't get too lost every second I've explained of my sad, feral, rocking life so far this chapter has only been a FUCKING week. So this particular Friday night after wrapping up looks that kill, none of us changed and just went straight to a club with a bar, who had tons of people recognizing us. Tommy and SIxx had both offered for me to ride on the back of their bikes to which I declined in respect of any hope I had left of self control.

That was until I got buzzed, and had a conversation that flipped a switch, so let me take you to the moment we walked in the club. My senses were automatically filled with cologne, perfume, sweat, sex, smoke of all kinds, hairspray, alcohol, heat, bright lights, wood, bodies everywhere, loud rock from Acdc to Metallica to the beatles. I found myself sitting on a stool when Tommy and Nikki sat on either side of me. Vince finding a 3rd woman for the night, (he has literally given up on any chance with Scarlett because of how whipped the two mullet wearing GAURD dogs are, constantly threatening him to stay away. Even Mick warning him to not mess with her.)

I raised an eyebrow as I gently rolled my tongue over the straw to my licker. "May I help you boys?" I smirked showing my wrist metal, "any damsels in distress?" Tommy quickly put his hand over his head and went faint, "UGHHH poor me, suffocating-lack of air- needed." He put out a hand throwing it towards me and gasping as me and Nikki lost it. "Musy have kiss- to...besavedddd!" He said smoothly as he began to choke on air.

I stood up and licked my lips, "Nikki kiss the choking man while I'm gone, gonna go dance a little, maybe I'll feel like baby sitting when I get back." I said with a wink before finding Grace and Becks in the floor. We all moved together as 'my kind of lover' came on the speaker, we slowly fell in a line. "Ya know, clearly were into to threesomes, but not romantically and from what I've heard from Mick this is the longest they've gone from hookups. I mean the man literally voted most sleazy has even rejected the hot model on set. Literally. Shunned her from his dressing room. Mick is saying you broke em. They both apparently made the new song with lyrics referencing you."

I scoffed and rolled my eyes, "Yeah cause, Nikki and Tommy The literal FUCKING terror twins can have romantic feelings." At that Becca grabs my hips and slams me back against her. Talking in my ear, "admit it, you're scared. You're scared they're gonna get bored. Boys like that don't write songs and skip models for a single night with you. They don't interrogate every person you know or have even spoken to ever just to try to see or talk to you again. I think you should face your fears. You're Scarlett fucking viper, you look at fear and punch it in the face after commenting how small its dick is. Don't let two boys in high heels stop that streak. If it doesn't work out or if they hurt you me, Mick, Trace and our fans will quite literally kill them. Break a fang, bitch." She said before pushing me away harshly.

With that godly advice in mind, I walked back over to the Bar, seeing a woman with teased hair and a sweet ass between my men. Did I just- nope definitely didn't anyways. I felt anger boil, I quickly walked over and leaned forward pushing past the girl who was squeezing Tommy's arm while touching Nikki's hand. Talking about how if they're good in concert they must be good in bed. She scoffed at my ignorance to her existence as I nudged her shile I grabbed my drink. She furned around and looked at me as I drank the entire pint while raising an eyebrow at her as she had the most hateful look on her face.

She started to talk, I cut her off with a finger in her face gesturing to the bartender, "one second needy, hey excuse me sir, yes can I get a bloody Mary? Great thanks." Then I looked back at the girl and rested my empty glass in Tommy's hand. Him automatically taking it as he watched the bitch at work. Nikki slyly smirking. Them giving each other glances as if they were speaking a secret language. The more I was around them the more I could understand.

That's when I tuned back into the girl rambling about how she was here first and how I was so rude blah blah. I then thanked and grabbed the bloody Mary from the bartender as she continued her lecture. I casually sippedon the drink, toying around with the little umbrella. "Are you even listening to me?" She said crossing her arms. I then looked up at her wife eyed. "Hm?" She then growled, "I SAID BACK OFF BITCH."

That's when shit went silent at her pitchy tone as it echoed through the crowd. I felt those bubbles in my blood start to boil. I knew I had issues, ive been to a doctor about them, them starting when I was a child. stuffing a rock up a kids nose after he snapped my friends barbie in half. Knocking another kid out my age when I was 13 with a log I picked up after he called my cousin a racial slur. Those were the only justified timesbof my adolescence. Most being caused by passive aggressiveness or just teens being teens. Men being men. Either way I always ended up with bloody knuckles or handcuffs on.

Either way, my body at some point had shut down, vision going black. Seeing only red, only acting on instinct.

*The boys' pov*

We have seen a lot of girl fights. Consisting of mud, bikinis, nip slips, moans. We've also seen the kind that happens with a slap or pulled hair. Rarely did we see a punch thrown, that was until we met our walking goddess. What an entertaining strangely arousing sight to see Viper's tongue poke in her cheek, which I've noticed happens before she gets violent. Then the girl said something even more insulting, if I'm being honest, I didn't listen to anything she says, just Her. Lord have mercy on my soul when this woman walks in the room. Next thing I knew my badass lil rocker chick poured her bloody Mary on the girls white shirt. This caused hollers from every direction including Trace telling her to beat her ass.

The girl then went to slap Scarlett and Scarlett caught her hand and looked her in the eye with most devilish smile as she right hooked her, when that didn't stop the girl from trying to scratch her with her bright pink nails, Scar grabbed the girls head and hit in on the bar. When the girl didn't get back up, groaning with a now broken nose, hurt hand, and bruised cheekbone. It was silent when me and Tommy started high fiving each other, Trace and Mick screaming fuck yeah, Vince then finally made it to the front of the crowd and was cursing at how inconvenient his timing was. "ITS ALREADY OVEE?!? I JUST GOT MY PANTS ON." He said with the roll of his eye as the guy was still shirtless. Apparently ran from a hookup after he was told there was a fight.

*Scarlett's pov*

I then snapped back into it as I felt my something wet and warm drip from my hands. I knew that feeling all too well, I looked down to see the girl who had just been in my face insulting me now on the floor groaning. "Oh shit, are you okay?" I said reaching out to her to help her up and she flinched telling me to back the fuck off. I then looked backed at the boys, "I'm gonna need another shot." I said before the boys showered me in affection I didn't deserve for beating up a chick. Didn't make me feel good. It made me feel out of my body when I blacked out like that. I was scared of myself. That's when I could tell the boys noticed. Their consistent jokes became less as their eyebrows furrowed at me as I nursed my drink.

I then felt a hand on my back, rubbing circles. Tommy's. He asked the bartender for a wet rag. Then began rubbing the blood off of my knuckles. The other large hand from the side brushing a strand of my hair behind my ear. I forced myself to make eyecontact with Nikki. My eyes threatened a gloss. He immediately looked at me like I've never seen. When he spoke it was as if I would shatter if he wasn't gentle, his voice slightly cracking at the empathy he seemed to feel for the first time in his entire lifetime. His large hand slightly rubbing it's thumb on the side of my face which I couldn't help but melt into, cracking my walls down.

"Hey.. hey hey, Scar. It's okay, you want me to take you home?." He asked clearly not meaning suggestively. I looked at Tommy as he delicately rubbed the stain off my skin. "Both of you?" They looked at each other and shrugged, "if that's what ya want, we aren't gonna come in or anything so it doesn't matter."

I then sat up and suddenly regain my sea legs, my charm switching back on. I looked between the two of them, "and what if I wanted you two to come in? I mean I could just be soooo lonely." I watched as their eyes transitioned from soft and caring to lustful. Their eyes quite literally burning into mine, Nikki crossed his arms and looked at Tommy, "It wouldn't be right to leave her alone all night, all the bad tears she could shed." Tommy then smirked at me, "yeah, it wouldn't be gentleman like to not give her some good tears in replace."

I then hopped off the stool, "chivalry isn't dead." I said causing them to laugh. I then walked out swaying my hips. I turned around to look at the boys, "who wants to give me a ride?" They both raised their hands and laughed as they pushed each other. "I'll let T-bone have the second ride, c'mon sugar. I'll give ya a fun ride, for now anyways." He said as he swung his leather clothed leg over the black metal made Bike.

#glam rock #tommy lee #nikki sixx #motley crue #mick mars #vince neil #the dirt

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helloandwelcometomariasblog · 5 months ago

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(RE)Review #105: Batman

Nolan's Batman series, revisited and rereviewed.

It's currently 1:58am, I've just finished The Dark Knight, and I must sleep for tomorrow so this (re)review has to be short.

I can't remember exactly how it started, but it took me just one tiny Batman reference for the desire to rewatch the entire series to ignite in a split second. It was then I realized that I actually hadn't watched the first film yet - Batman Begins. And so it began.

I actually really enjoyed Batman Begins. The next day, I tried to rewatch The Dark Knight but couldn't, so I rewatched The Dark Knight Rises instead. Then tonight I finally had the chance to rewatch The Dark Knight. Below are some quick thoughts on each film.

Batman Begins (4/5)

I really enjoyed the film and its story as a whole. It took me through the journey in a very natural way. I wasn't thinking to myself, oh, here's the next act. Here comes the climax. This must be a third into the film. I was fully immersed in the story world.

I always seem to love the training sequences in films. I loved it in this one too, just as much as I loved (and still love) the training scene in The Dark Knight Rises. It was really fun watching Christian Bale and Liam Neeson train together. Speaking of which, I was actually shocked when Liam Neeson turned out to be the master villain. I genuinely was not expecting that, and I felt the betrayal full on. Batman saved you!

I was appalled at Rachel's words and actions and found it hard to swallow the fact that Bruce's one and only genuine friend would say such thoughtless, brutal words to him, and even slap him on the face. She seemed like the kind of person I would never befriend or keep close in real life. I thought to myself, that's probably the kind of character a film needs. It's not realistic and those kinds of words and actions wouldn't result in such a happy ending in real life. I've also started trying to detach my values, morals and just me myself in general from the story and characters in films. I realized that I have to view them as roles in the film, rather than suddenly turn into judge of morals and character.

That's probably the biggest fault I've made with each and every film viewing and reviewing. The inability to see the characters as characters in their own right, with their own lives, stories, experiences, morals, and constantly judging them from my own morals and life and experience and making conclusions about whether they're a "good" character or "bad" character.

Rachel in the movie was a harsh person who had no filter, but she was also incredibly brave and mentally strong. That's just the person she was. And being the person she was, she said those words to Bruce and acted that way to him.

I said I'd keep this short, and here we are, still talking about the first film. So yes, I did like almost everything about this film.

However. If I had to point out some parts that I didn't exactly buy, the first one that comes to mind is the scene where Bruce has his final initiation, with the ninja-like fighters surrounding him and constantly changing places. I found that scene incredibly... bland. As I watched, I thought to myself, this is so unexciting. It felt like a show. I couldn't believe this was the final initiation. It would've been nice to have had that scene a bit more exciting and thought out. I don't mean it has to have violence smeared all over it - not exciting in that way - but I really think it could have been more... smart and suspenseful.

The Dark Knight (5/5)

I still really like this film. I haven't yet read my original review of it, but I'm guessing I gave it 5 stars and gushed about how amazing it was, especially the high stakes.

I still stand by that. The high stakes, the no-nonsense consequences, are still the top highlight of the film. I think I gushed a lot about Harvey Dent's two face and his coin back then, but tonight the scene that stood out to me the most was when the big buff criminal comes forward, talks the officer into handing him the detonator, then just nonchalantly throws it out the window without a blink of an eye.

The Joker is still the best villain I've seen, with a stellar performance. This was a rewatch, and I was still on the edge of my seat, minimizing my screen and lowering the volume from time to time (ㅋㅋㅋㅋ). That's how chilling he is. He's so no-nonsense, and I love that about him. You know he'll do anything he wants and he'll make it happen. He's also incredibly smart, and we all love an intelligent villain that can create situations that force characters to make the most difficult decisions.

After watching Batman Begins, I grew somewhat attached to Katie Holmes' Rachel and had a hard time accepting Maggie Gyllenhaal as the new Rachel. I still wonder what the film would've felt like if they got to keep Katie as Rachel. I think the emotional depth would have been different. For some reason, I had a hard time with the new Rachel's personality / performance. This is something I'll have to dive a bit deeper into and sort out my thoughts.

The Dark Knight Rises (3/5)

It's past 2:30am so I really have to keep this short. I'd say this is my least favorite film out of Nolan's Batman series. The only scene I truly like is the scene where Bruce gives up the rope and jumps. That scene affected me hugely during my first watch and it still does.

This time round though, I wasn't as convinced by a lot of the scenes in the film. If it was so easily to smash the TV, why put it there for Bruce to watch? It doesn't make sense. Bane wanted Bruce to be in mental turmoil for a long long time, which was why he placed the screen there, but after one dose of mental turmoil, Bruce smashes the TV. It was that easy? Meh.

Batman's mouth. Or, would it be Christian Bale's mouth? But I didn't have a hard time watching Bruce Wayne talk, so it really must've been Batman's mouth. For some reason, I found the Batman's lines in The Dark Knight Rises incredibly cheesy - much more noticeably so compared to the other two films. I didn't really feel this way with the other two, but suddenly in this third one I found myself sometimes feeling queasy when he delivered lines and moved his mouth while doing so. I don't know. It was just uncannily cheesy.

Little things. Like, when Miranda (Talia) dies in that car after crashing. Catwoman, Gordon and Batman all stand around her and listen to her talk for so long about her life story until she dies and THEN they turn to the BOMB, which has been on a timer all along. Really? It was hard to believe they'd really do that. These are the things that get to me - when a film acts too much like... a film. When it makes it obvious to its audience that it's a film, it's all a script, made up and fake. No, as an audience member I want the film and the script to feel so real that I don't have to be pulled out of the story world again and again. I want to be fully immersed for the entire time frame. With The Dark Knight Rises, I found myself pulled out again and again by these little things.

I did love the ending though, and I had actually completely forgotten that Talia was the little child and Bane was the protector. I loved how I'd forgotten that, and I loved the surprise I felt when it was revealed. Until then, I had believed that Bane had been the child. Talia and Bane's relationship deserves a post of its own so I won't dive into that here, but I have to say I was amused when Talia called him "friend" while she left him to his death and saved herself. I do think Bane's love for Talia was incredibly unconditional. However, obviously not in the 'this should be shown as an example' kind.

I loved how the officer turned out to be Robin! I honestly did not remember seeing this part during my first viewing, so it was a very, very pleasant surprise. I also enjoyed seeing Bruce with Catwoman nodding at Alfred at the cafe. The ending was the perfectly satisfying wrap up.

#review

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cherrrydragon · 6 months ago

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hiya pooks, i wanted to get to know you more so i have a couple fun questions for you that include my personal answers! (i’m an oversharer)

1) fav media of spider-man?

i looooooove ultimate spider-man. i think it’s so over hated because the kids who watched spectacular grew up and were upset the next spider-man show was a kids show and not an adult show made for them. the fact that there just so much room for cameos from all other marvel media really helped me build a love for marvel as a whole. i wouldn’t know half as much marvel lore or characters without it since i never read the comics. (too poor to continuously buy growing up + can’t read comic panels over screen cause bleh. i think it was our first time meeting miles on screen too, which was awesome!)

it showed me who spider-man was at his core, a good person. and that’s what stood out to me. it also showed me that spider-man was super funny and always had a ‘quip’ lol. bonus points for ps4 spidey for being the first game i played of him and into the spider-verse for literally changing animation for the whole world. straight up best movie ever made.

2) fav media of dc?

gotta be the 2022 batman for me. i was so happy they finally got him right on the big screen! it took so long for people to realize that batman is only fear to his enemies, but hope to the people. they also count have picked a better catwoman! and the fact that the riddler is just some guy? mwah, perfection, amazing, incredible!

side rant; everytime i see someone mention how they thiugtt he robert patterson didn’t play a good bruce i wanna scream. how are we lacking so much media literacy nowadays that we can no longer recognize this is before he gets his whole playboy persona. he doenst even have financial stability! he’s literally just learning who he is. there’s deadass a whole scene dedicated to him trying to go into the club as batman and getting turned away vs being welcomed in as bruce and realizing bruce wayne has actual value to fighting crime.

3) fav non live action character?

sam anderson’s nova is so fun! he’s such a sweetiepie. i know earlier i said i don’t read the comics, but i do listen to them. i really wish they would put him in as teen trying his best with the guardians of the galaxy <3

klarion the witch boy is so silly (especially in young justice. his va is perfect for him.) he literally just terrorizes people for funsies. gotta love the lord of chaos and his cat.

hi hi! i just wanna preface this by saying a lot of media im a fan of i havent actually watch/read/played just because i cant truly sit down and consume content like i used to when i was younger. literally yesterday i watched the second deadpool movie after like, maybe 2 years since watching the first one (and i probably wouldnt have watched it if the new dp and wolverine movie didnt come out LOL) so i can't really answer these as efficiently as id like but ill try my best

fav media of spider-man?

before it would've been mcu spiderman simply because i havent watched the raimi or amazing spiderman ones, but now without a doubt i can say the spiderverse movies are my fav ones! all movies are pieces of art, but the spiderverse movies are truly by and for art kids. the animation and art is beautiful and i think the way it so artistically connects all things spider-man is really cool.

2. fav media of dc?

so... the last time i watched any dc media was when i was way younger LOL. i distinctly remember watching dc super hero girls, justice league unlimited, the flash (tv) and i think arrow (tv)? but like i said, i was young and don't remember much. ive seen from numerous people that the dc timeline is kind of a mess and that + the fact that there's so much content is what's keeping me from consuming it now. on the topic of batman 2022 there's literally nothing stopping me from watching it but i havent LOL i just cant sit down and watch it. i think the brainrot got to me rip.

i think what stops me from consuming content is the fact that i become a fan of it without actually participating. i read so much fanfic that i learn the plot of things through there, and because i already know what happens i dont desire to spend time and take it in. i might be cooked ngl. but anyway, no official favorite dc media from me

3. fav non live action character?

dude theres like way to many to name but one that comes to mind immediately is black cat (i dont think she's been in any live action from marvel yet?) something about those cat burglars man... LOL. i know this doesn't really count but i really like her portrayal in "Dark Matter" by mysterycyclone on ao3 (and amazing peter parker in gotham fic, highly recommend) i truly love the idea of the thief becoming friends with their crimestopper, because like catwoman, they aren't really hurting anybody (at least, from what ive seen)

as for dc... like i said i have not consumed enough media to pick LOL my bad 💔

#cherry's yapsesh #you think im interesting 😍 tysm allow me to serve you for the rest of my life #just jokes. not really tho

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chaosthatsmellsgreen · 11 months ago

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Netflix's Avatar The Last Airbender thoughts part 1/5)

so... atla live action, huh. after finishing season 1, here are my thoughts in bulletpoint format; it's very long and most of it is spoiler-y, so it's under a cut. (and also in 4 more posts after this). fun fact i spent most of my day writing this, clearly ATLA is very important to me

my general opinion is pretty much "not as bad an adaptation as it could've been but not all that much to see here, on its own OR as an ATLA adaptation"

this is also obviously biased, i'm watching as someone who adores the OG ATLA, but in my comparisons, i'm trying my best to stay away from "they didn't did it the same way = bad" and compare the two in their intentions and execution in what they were trying to do and how they made me feel, but i may fail at that here and there because i have strong feelings.

visuals: this is the easy thing to praise; other than the nighttime scenes, the visuals are pretty well done. i mean... it's a lot of cgi, and it looks like cgi. but, well, i haven't seen big panning shots of fantasy cities done irl since LotR, and i'd be proper shocked if we ever saw them being done again. i thought the cgi was alright, the big shots of the cities were pretty. i really liked the bending as well, it had impact, both the moves and the visual effects of it were reminiscent of the animated show. also also, they did the thing!!! in the siege of the north!!! with the fish and the red and the blue and Yue's eyes!!!! yes yes. made me very happy.

tone: as expected, they went for a darker tone; it's the same fallacy as it always is: making something sadder, edgier and more brutal doesn't actually make it more grown-up. we all know how this one goes, and NATLA is no exception. it's a shame, since one of the greatest strengths of ATLA was that it could maintain a balance of being silly, heartwarming, tragic and epic at the same time. this show does have some great moments of levity, and there is definitely a heart that shines through, despite this being a lot heavier in tone, but it's not quite as well balanced as the OG

starting on "100 years ago": while i'm of the opinion that we didn't really need to see any of this, i think it could've been a great choice if used in the right ways; that is to show how Aang's life used to be joyful and carefree, by showing him having fun with other kids instead of being very much either alone or with Gyatso. as it stands i think they focused a little too much on showing the war itself as opposed to Aang and the airbenders

battle of the air temple: i liked the whole "comet festival" idea - i think it's a good way to explain how basically nobody escaped the genocide. i know the comics also give a good explanation, i'm frankly okay with either. the one thing i didn't love about the battle is what i usually don't love about battle scenes these days, even though it's a small thing: in the beginning we're only shown the airbenders winning and then it's suddenly flipped and it's only the firebenders winning. i wish more battle scenes showed changing odds, like we see both sides winning encounters up to a point and then it starts becoming obvious who's faring better. it's a small point but it would've made the battle far more interesting. it is also a questionable decision to make it a battle specifically, even though we know the air nomads were peaceful people - if Aang is to serve as an example, perhaps to the point of fault. however, this didn't bother me as much as i've seen it bother some other people

Gyatso: i loved him. we saw more of him now than we have before, and i thought he stayed very true to who he was shown to be in the original series. i adored his interactions with Aang. the spirit world stuff was sort of a cop-out; i think i wouldn't have minded it as much if it happened later, but part of the tragedy of what happened during the comet is that Aang doesn't get to talk to anyone he lost, he doesn't get to be told that he's done nothing wrong and be forgiven, he has to forgive himself and process his guilt without being able to talk to the people he's "let down". regardless, Gyatso was a very good mentor figure and the show does a good job of showing just how tragic his loss is to Aang

"we want GoT fans to like this": watching some of the scenes in this first section is ringing "we want fans of game of thrones to enjoy this show" bells, i mean i generally don't mind graphic violence much, i just don't super vibe with it in an ATLA adaptation, and they hold no punches here. also it's so. fucking. dark. in the sense of lighting? hello??? can i see the show i'm trying to watch??? pls??? i lowered the blinds and put my monitor on max brightness and i could still barely see details in nighttime scenes, throughout the whole show. very GoT, good job /s

animal companions: Momo is still nightmare fuel. i'm sorry. he's not cute, he's TERRIFYING. and seeing how he's barely in any scenes, at this point they could've just left him out and spare us the nightmares. tbh Appa has the same problem, but Appa looks much less like a sleep paralysis demon and has more cute moments, even though he's criminally underused.

acting: i'm pretty happy with everyone. i'm not saying they're all putting forth the performances of their lives, but they're all serviceable, i see problems in performance as being more in the exact script and direction than what the actors are doing. my favourite by far though is Ian Ousley's Sokka. very well done young sir, good job!

Sukka: i really enjoy 99% of Sokka and Suki's scenes together, they have a good chemistry, they're both so awkward and clearly have no idea how to talk to each other. however, i hate the little interaction where Sokka is cleaning himself up and Suki is like... creeping on him, idk, that one felt uncomfortable. every time i see a scene like this i kind of consider hey, what would people be saying if the gender roles were reversed? well we all know that. anyway, other than that, i loved watching their awkward teen mutual crush. i also loved watching them fight together against the fire nation soldiers. i actually thought they had more chemistry here than they did in the Kyoshi Island episode in the OG show, i always felt that Suki's interest came out of nowhere at the end of the episode in ATLA, and that they only really hit it off from book 2 onward

the state of the world: i like that there is more of a distrust of strangers in this adaptation - these are people who've lived their entire lives in a war-torn world, used to danger closing in from all sides, they'd be suspicious of any outsiders, and a lot of them would be vary, similar to Suki's mom, to the danger that harbouring the Avatar could bring. i also like how they used the situation to emphasize how Aang is pretty much the only person left who knows what it's like to live in a unified, peaceful world, where people travel and know other cultures

PART 1/5

START // NEXT

#natla #natla spoilers #atla live action #atla live action spoilers

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waynes-multiverse · 6 days ago

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I see you've successfully saved the glorious Ross gif 🤣

Ahaha I love this mention! 😂

At least he's feeling well enough to eat again and stopped destroying the office lol

Ha! I love her, she's such a badass.~

Hahaha I was considering if it was too much, but I could totally see her going at it again. She's definitely a "goes down swinging" kinda type lol

Btw, everytime I work in a Friends reference I think of you like "Aww, Alex will get this" 😂🫶

Ugh, she's so much stronger than me. I'd be a blubbering mess on the floor, poor thing. 😭😭

Oooh, I don't know about that. I think we can surprise ourselves in those situations ☺️ (She also had the advantage of sorta being prepared for it due to all the videos she's seen)

But yeah, she'd kill any escape room after this 😂

I love those moments where you as the audience know there's an answer here somewhere, but you just have to watch on edge as the person works it out in desperation. 🥲

Aah, same! I love these little moments where you just sit there, biting your nails, and hope they make it 🙈

And on the flip side, this is torture for Beau, a man of action, to not be able to do anything. To just wait and see if anything changes.

Lmao yes! He was going a bit nutty again when she was just saving her energy till she figured it out 😅

This is so truly intense -- it's cinematic in so many ways, and I'm loving this suspense...

I truly worked ages on this scene 😅 I usually hate writing action and prefer dialogue, but I tried challenging myself with this one lol

GAH! This is the delicious White Knight-saving angst that I live for. 🥹

I loved writing this so much! 😍 We all know reader is clearly a strong badass, but even she needs a little saving sometimes (or big one in this case lol)

Lmaoo this kind of pudding??

Hahaha yes 😂 Exactly what I had been thinking of

Aww in a way I do still feel bad for Randy, but "dissolved;" I think that's the right word for it as well. I love that last line in the scene. 💙

They at least parted on good terms. And yeah, definitely hard for Randy. He lost his wife and his best friend in one day 🥲

But he can move on now and find his own happiness again ��️‍🩹

Awww haha, they're so cute!! I would've loved to see that reunion kiss. 🥹 But I have a feeling these two are finally off to their happy ending...

Haha honestly I completely forgot about the reunion kiss in a way. That whole rescue scene took me tf out. The happy ending kinda became a blurry, blissful bubble afterward 😂

I kinda liked the open ending in the hospital and then showing them in a "sitting on the porch together" kinda way 🥰🥹💕

Lol that is peak Beau behavior there! I love the rambling and the adorable fussing. Makes my heart so full. ❤️ Especially how she's just like, "sit down and be with me, you fool." 😂

Reader was definitely in a super chill, zen state (must be the near death experience) and Beau's fussing was disturbing her peace lol

I also found it very interesting how they both decided to retire. They've clearly been through the absolute wringer, plus the whole matter of Beau probably never feeling safe in that office again, and the reader needing time upon time to recover from all that trauma. It's a lovely new chapter for these two to have a quieter life together, whether or not they have kids down the line (though I love that conversation they had. Beau's line of “Look, I’m already retiring from the job – I don’t wanna retire from life,” had me dead lol). 🥹

There was a lot of "we've done the work, but we know what matters most" weaved into their conversation and decisions. They're just ready at this point to enjoy life and each other and avoid all the other crap 😅 (So happy you liked that line, tho! I thought it was so fitting for him to say 💚)

Thank you so much for all your sweet, insightful, and funny comments and reblogs, Alex!! 🥹🫶 Part of the fun of sharing stories here on tumblr for me is always the theories, the clues, the jokes, the ramblings, and the thirsting (lol) we get to exchange with our peers, so thank you for indulging me yet again 🤍

Polaris – Chapter 13

Series Summary: When Beau Arlen moved to Montana, he left behind a past he wasn’t proud of. But when a series of murders requires the FBI’s help, Sheriff Arlen‘s ghosts come back to haunt him one by one. With a wrong turn waiting at every crossroads, it’s hard to make the right choices and find his way back home – back to you.

Pairing: Beau Arlen x FBI Agent!Reader

Warnings: 18+, major angst, kidnapping, confined spaces, violence, injuries, drowning, CPR, life-and-death situations, the fluffiest ending (If any of these warnings trigger you, stay away ⚠️🫶)

Word Count: 7.4k

A/N: We're here! Last part, babes 😘 Thank you guys so much for sticking with me on this one. I know it was another wild ride, but I appreciated your sweet, insightful, and funny comments throughout 🥹🤍

Ready? Don't forget to breathe 😉

Series Masterlist || Main Masterlist || Tag List

Chapter 13: Sure And Certain

“What’s she doing?”

With a mouthful of Donno’s Special of the Day sandwich, Beau came to stand behind a whole group of people who had gathered around a laptop screen propped up on his desk.

He threw another sandwich wrapped in paper on the desk in front of Randy, who sat comfortably in his chair and nodded a ‘thank you.’ Behind him, Jenny leaned casually against the window sill with an intensely knitted brow. Cassie and Denise, on the other hand, had grabbed themselves a set of uncomfortable, worn chairs from the break room and sat on each side of Randy, staring musingly at the screen.

“I think she’s meditating,” Denise put forth.

“No, I think she’s sleeping,” Jenny said dryly.

“I don’t know…” Cassie’s brow furrowed.

Beau frowned as he stepped forward, stealing a glance at the livestream himself. You were still lying perfectly motionless on the long metal table in the middle of the room. They knew you were alive, though. They had watched you crawl up there and lie down. Sometimes, your eyes were open. Sometimes, they were closed for long periods of time.

“She’s still doing what she’s been doing for eight hours now,” Beau huffed. Honestly, he’d be more worried if it wasn’t so damn frustrating.

“Maybe the poor thing’s in shock after everything she’s been through,” Denise suggested sympathetically.

Beau hoped she wasn’t right. Seeing you give up didn’t sit well with him. He couldn’t watch you lie there alone in the cold until there was no air left anymore.

In all honesty, he had a confession to make: He’d never watched a single of Diane’s videos to the end. He knew you’d probably watched them a thousand times, but he couldn’t do it. He had watched parts of it, sure, but never the bitter end. He didn’t know how you'd done it. He always figured you were a lot stronger than him.

But maybe you’d seen something on those videos he didn’t know but had to.

“Y/N?” Randy scoffed at Denise’s proposal with conviction and shook his head. “No, she wouldn’t give up, and I doubt Turner scared her that much. She put a screwdriver in the guy, for crying out loud,” he argued his objection. “No, she’s thinking.”

Beau hated to agree with Randy but hoped to hell he was right.

“Maybe,” Cassie mused and squinted her eyes at the screen. “I think she’s staring at the light above her.”

With narrowed eyes, everyone drew in closer to the screen and observed you.

“I think Cass is right,” Jenny said and retreated to her old position, smirking.

Beau frowned anew and flailed his arms. “Why?”

Fucking Hal Turner.

He got you with a shovel, tied your hands, hauled you back to the cabin and sedated you.

You woke with a few meager slaps across your face before groggily being dragged through the woods at night on unsteady legs. You slipped in and out of consciousness a few times, but you knew Turner wasn’t strong enough to carry you, so he had to keep you awake enough to walk, but sedated enough to not fight back.

You, however, tried to memorize and plan as much as your dazed mind possibly let you. You remembered how long you’d walked from the cabin to the bunker – about thirty minutes. You knew which direction you’d walked as you’d glanced up at the stars – north. And you knew you had hiked slightly up, but not more than twelve degrees. You remembered the faint sounds of a river splashing close by.

Most importantly, you could still feel the screwdriver tucked into your sock in your left boot.

Turner hadn’t frisked you again – big mistake.

As soon as you’d reached the spot of the supposed bunker, you frowned when Turner removed a pile of leaves, moss and dirt from the forest floor and opened the metal hatch that hid underneath.

Oh, hell no…

You weren’t getting in there. If you hadn’t known it before, you surely knew it now.

You would’ve been fine with the cabin because you knew Beau and the department would eventually find it. He’d get a list of their properties and find it. Denise had been in charge of those, and she’d been meticulous.

You would’ve been fine with an above-ground bunker, or even halfway above, too. Once the team would find the cabin, they’d know Turner and you couldn’t have gone far. They’d find the blood and test it, realizing with relief that most of it wasn’t yours. They’d know you’d be in the general area, and Beau would move heaven and earth to find you.

But this thing? They’d never fucking find you here.

Roughly, Turner shoved you down the tight metal stairway, leading to a room you knew only too well from videos. Now, you were here and saw it all for real, like glimpsing behind the scenes of a movie set.

Why couldn’t it have been the Friends set in Hollywood? Instead, you had to visit Diane Newton’s arts and crafts project.

Hal Turner cut your ties – again. And you saw it as your perfect way to escape. Again.

Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.

With your elbows and shoulders, you shoved Turner backwards and bent down, quickly retrieving the screwdriver from your boot. You spun around and thrust it straight into his left carotid artery.

He gasped a breathless sound, his eyes growing wide and white. You let go and stepped back.

You’d never killed someone before – not like this at least.

But then Turner inhaled a deep breath of air – strained, angry, fighting. And you finally understood where the phrase white-hot rage stemmed from.

The roaring Grizzly kicked you right into your bear trap injury. With a painful scream and a searing pain, you fell to your knees and clasped your wound.

He then fled up the stairs like a rat through a sewer cover, tossing the hatch shut behind him. There was the sound of a thick lock before some shuffling followed. At least he couldn’t have done a good job on covering up the entrance. Maybe they’d find you easier this way.

Better yet, you hoped Turner would succumb to his fatal injury not too far from the hatch. If they found his body close by, they could find you too, right?

At least you’d gotten the bastard…

You wanted to scream till your lungs were depleted of all oxygen, but you didn’t have enough air for a breakdown in this bunker. You took one last deep breath to ground yourself and closed your eyes.

Then, you opened them.

The bright neon light flickered above as your eyes darted around the room. The space was sparse, concrete walls peeling in places, as though even the structure was trying to escape. You didn’t want to think too much about how long you would be trapped here.

You already knew this place by heart and what would happen if you didn’t get out.

At the edge of the corner, sat a row of rusty metal lockers. Shuffling over on your good leg, you opened the shrieking door and found that the lockers held various odds and ends – tools, cans, an assortment of chemical bottles with faded labels, and a single, cracked lightbulb resting on its side.

The other victims had received these items as well but never pieced enough of it together to escape. A few drank the chemical bottles for a quicker death out of sheer desperation. While you unfortunately couldn’t solve Diane’s little riddle either, you swore to yourself poison would never be a last resort.

You’d seen those deaths – they had neither been quick nor painless.

You found a first-aid kit as well and lowered yourself to the cold ground, bandaging your ankle. As you tightened the bandage to stop the blood flow, your eyes glanced up the shelves.

Your breath hitched. In the back of your mind, a vague memory from your 7th grade science teacher stirred – something about pressure, something about triggering a chain reaction. You tried to push it away but the thought wouldn’t leave. Maybe an escape was possible after all. There were things you could use – you just needed to figure out how.

The jar of white powder caught your eye. It was too fine to be salt. The label was half-scratched off, but you could make out the word "sulfate." Next to it, a small container of copper wiring lay scattered across the shelf – tiny, thin strands coiled tightly like little snakes, their sharp ends glinting in the harsh neon light.

You pulled at your sleeves nervously, staring at the broken lightbulb once more. If you twisted it carefully, the filament inside would snap. Maybe. Then there was the sharp wire… You let the idea float in your mind for just a moment longer before shaking it off.

And there was that other thing. Something buried deeper in the corner, an oily rag, half-soaked in a pungent smell you couldn’t quite place. You made a mental note. They weren’t much, but they were something.

If you could just piece it all together…

Tiredly, you heaved yourself onto the large metal table in the middle of the room. It was harsh, cold, and uncomfortable, but it was all you had. You lied down on your back and stared at the ceiling, at the flickering neon light above you. Then, you closed your eyes again.

Think, think, think…

For hours, Beau had now stared at the grainy footage, watching your unmoving form. The neon light flickered overhead, casting long shadows against the cold, cement walls of the bunker. His hands were trembling as he gripped the armrests of his chair, his body taut with the weight of helplessness.

The others had left his office a while ago, scrambling to find a way to get you out. There was a search going on, a team of skilled rescuers turning over every stone in the general vicinity of the cabin. Beau knew you couldn’t be far from there. And still, he feared he wouldn’t find you in time.

Truthfully, he knew the only one that could get you out was you. If you just stopped lying there…

Nothing. Not even a twitch. What the hell were you thinking about?

You were alive. He knew you were, reminding himself of that fact on an hourly basis. But for all the good it did, it didn’t matter. The silence on the feed was more suffocating than any sound.

But then…

A subtle movement. A shift in the shadows, so slight that at first, he thought it was just his eyes playing tricks on him.

His heart skipped.

Your fingers twitched, just enough to catch his attention. And then, slowly, agonizingly, you dragged yourself up, struggling to sit. He watched the quiet shuffle of your body across the concrete floor. You were alive. You were still fighting.

“Guys!” his gruff voice called loudly for the cavalry, but he didn’t wait for them to flood into his office.

Beau leaned forward in his chair, holding his breath. His heart hammered in his chest as you lifted your head, your eyes flicking briefly to the camera – aware. You knew he was watching.

Your movements were shaky, too weak for anything swift, but they were purposeful. You scanned the room with desperation. The broken lightbulb in the rusty locker, jagged glass fragments scattered on the shelf, caught your attention.

You reached for it.

Beau’s stomach twisted. No, don’t…

But it was too late. You pressed the sharp edge against the skin of your palm, wincing with the effort as blood began to bead at the surface. His breath hitched, fingers curling into fists at his sides. The blood flowed in slow, steady streams, painting your hand.

You didn’t flinch.

You moved with a practiced precision, grimly intent. With shaky fingers, you scooped some blood on your pointer finger and pressed the pad to the wall, your arm trembling as you began to write.

Seismograph.

Beau’s eyes locked onto the word, his brow furrowing.

Seismograph?

You were so weak. You could barely hold yourself up, and yet, you were still thinking. Still trying. Then you turned to the wall once more, collecting more blood on your finger as you struggled to form the second word.

3 hours.

You stopped then, your body slumping against the wall, too drained to write any more. You didn’t need to. The message was clear.

The feed cut to static for a brief moment, the camera buzzing with distortion, before it returned to the silent, unchanging image of your still form against the wall. But Beau wasn’t looking at you anymore.

His mind raced, blood thundering in his ears. Seismograph. 3 hours.

A tremor ran through him – an earthquake in his chest.

Seismograph. You were giving him a clue. Something seismic. A signal of some kind. His gut twisted. He was supposed to know what it meant.

3 hours. What did that mean? Three hours before something? Three hours after something?

He didn’t have time to analyze it. You were sending him a lifeline. And whatever it meant, he was going to find you.

“What’s going on?” Jenny was the first to thunder into his office, her heart beating fast in her ribcage. She came to stand behind Beau and glanced at the screen, her brow knitting at the crimson words on the concrete wall in the same way his had. “Seismograph. 3 hours,” the blonde read aloud. “What does it mean?”

Cassie stood quietly in the doorframe, listening and thinking. “What is in those lockers?”

“I don’t know. We never found a bunker before, and Diane sure as hell ain’t telling us,” Beau huffed frustratedly.

“But there are chemicals of some kind,” Jenny pointed out, squinting her eyes at the laptop.

“Maybe she’s building a bomb,” Cassie proposed.

Beau pondered the theory for a beat. Then, he nodded. “We already know the area of the bunker. We could probably find her exact location through the tremors.”

“With a seismograph,” Jenny finished the thought. “Well, let’s hope she doesn’t blow herself up first.”

Beau hoped that, too. He didn’t even know you possessed bomb-making skills, but he figured you hadn’t known that fact about yourself either. This was by far not a thoroughly planned undertaking.

“Alright, get a damn seismograph here. I don’t care where you get it or what it costs. We’ve got three hours,” Beau barked his orders with a racing heart.

Your message had just bought him time, and he wasn’t going to waste it. You were still alive. He could still save you. And he wasn’t going to stop until he did.

Your breath came in short, labored gasps as you hunched over the crude metal table in the dark, sterile bunker. The faint hum of the camera feeding into the livestream echoed through the silence, the red light blinking softly as its lens captured your every movement, broadcasting your quiet panic.

You knew Beau was watching. They all probably were. You could almost feel their eyes on you, their silent judgment, their hope that this would work. They’d see the sweat glistening on your brow, the faint tremor in your hands as you worked on your little science fair project.

But it wasn’t fear that made you shake now. It was the cold certainty that time was running out.

You carefully twisted the wire around the small, makeshift device you’d cobbled together from the limited supplies at your disposal. Every movement was deliberate, every breath controlled, even as your mind raced a marathon. You lifted the device to your ear, listening for the faint click as you tightened the final screw. Done.

The one thing they had to get right was the seismic readings.

The bomb was crude – imperfect – but it was all you had. The plan was simple: blow the door open if you could, cause a seismic tremor, and hope the team could triangulate your location. They would track the explosion on the seismograph, find your coordinates, and come for you.

If you were lucky.

Maybe you should leave another message behind for him. In those hours you had lain on the table and pondered, you had thought about your escape. You had also thought about various torturous ways to kill Diane. You had celebrated your little win against Turner. But most of all, you had thought about Beau.

Simple things. The color of his pine green eyes. The smell of his leathery cologne. The sound of his hearty laugh. The warmth of his large hands. Would you ever see, hear, or feel those things again?

A tear streaked your cheek that you swiftly wiped away. Sobbing would cost you too much goddamn air. You couldn’t afford it.

You stole one last glance at the camera, your face a grim mask of resolve. Then you moved quickly, setting the device in place. You looked at the door on top of the steps – solid metal, bolted shut, impossible to open without the right tools.

Tools you didn’t have.

You hurried down the stairs and pushed the metal table onto its side, using it as a shield from the blast as you hunched down low behind it. It had been a little over three hours. It was time. With a sharp breath, you pushed the button of the remote detonator.

The explosion hit like a fist. The sound was deafening, but muffled in the confined space. Your ears rang as the shockwave slammed into you, throwing you back against the cold, unforgiving concrete wall. Your head spun, and for a moment, everything went black.

Then came the tremor.

It rippled through the ground like a violent pulse. The bunker groaned – metal creaking, concrete cracking. The lights flickered and went out, plunging you into near-total darkness, save for the dim emergency glow above the door.

And then, with a deep, bone-rattling crack, something shifted above you.

You scrambled to your feet, disoriented. What the hell was that?

A series of sharp, cracking sounds echoed from the ceiling, followed by a wet, muffled splintering. Your breath caught in your throat as a large root – gnarled and thick as a limb – suddenly pierced through the bunker’s ceiling, splintering the metal and concrete. The roots of a large tree slithered down – a slow, creeping thing – and it didn’t stop. It tore through the ceiling like it had been waiting for this moment, its jagged edges scraping against the walls.

And then – water. Cold, relentless water began pouring in, cascading through the new hole in the roof, spilling across the floor in an uncontrolled flood.

Fuck.

Your heart pounded wildly as you stumbled backward, the water already rising around your ankles, creeping steadily toward your knees. You could hear the steady drip of water splashing against the cold, metal floor, each drop sending a ripple through your chest.

The livestream camera remained on, the blinking red light still steady, but your mind was running a mile a minute – panic rising like a tidal wave. You had no time. You had to move, had to act. But the water was already rising faster than you could think. The air was thick, the walls seemed to be closing in on you, and the roots above groaned ominously as if the earth itself was about to swallow you whole.

You ran toward the door, your boots splashing through the growing puddle. But aside from causing a giant hole in the ceiling, the bomb hadn’t done enough damage to escape. The root’s tendrils were still creeping down from above, twisting around the ceiling. You could hear the scrape of it, its thick fingers reaching into the dark corners of the room.

The sound of the water filled your ears as it surged up around your waist. You stumbled, falling to one knee as the icy liquid engulfed you. Your chest tightened, panic clawing at your throat.

It was too much. The explosion, the quake, the roots, and now the rising water – everything was converging at once. A part of you knew this was it. You wouldn’t get out. They wouldn’t get here in time to save you. But a small flicker of hope was still alive in your heart.

You clutched the camera’s wire, the blinking red light still visible in the murk, as if it was the last lifeline you had left.

“Please,” you breathed, although you knew they couldn’t hear you, but your voice was barely audible over the rush of water anyways. “Please, find me.”

The woods were dense, the trees thick with fog and shadows. Beau ran through the underbrush, his boots pounding against the damp earth, the scent of pine and wet leaves filling his lungs. Sweat stung his green eyes, his breath coming in ragged bursts as he pushed his body beyond its limits. His heart thundered in his chest, not from the exertion, but from the terror building inside him, growing with each passing second.

He’d found it.

The seismograph had done its job. The tremor from the explosion had sent ripples through the earth, and in those ripples, he’d pinpointed the location. There was no time to think, no time to second-guess. He didn’t know how much time you had left, but the second the signal went off and the icy water of a nearby river had wound its way into the confined space, rising like a tide as it flooded the bunker, he’d known it could only be minutes till you took your last breath.

Beau’s mind reeled at the thought.

He stumbled over a fallen log, his eyes never leaving the ground ahead of him. He was so close. It had to be here. He had seconds to make it. He knew it had to be deep. The bunker was buried beneath the forest floor, hidden like a trap, and there was only one way in: a hatch maybe, barely visible among the trees, the earth heavy with moss and years of neglect. He had to get there – now.

He could hear the team searching all around him, crying with calls of your name that echoed through the trees. As he stared up through the tops of the towering pines, he could see the North Star twinkling brightly above him. His heart twinged. His gaze dropped and then landed on the far beam of his flashlight. Something flickered in the distance, just a few yards away from him, buried in the moss.

He stumbled back onto his feet, his trembling hands picking up a small, golden band. His chest seized.

The ring.

His ears picked up the babbling sounds of water. The river was close, only a few feet away. That had to be it. You’d left him another sign.

Grabbing his flashlight, his hands hastily searched the ground. His fingers brushed a thick patch of bramble, and then – there. His breath halted. Metal.

The hatch.

He skidded to a stop, his hands shaking as he dropped to his knees and cleared the leaves and brush away. The metal was a bit busted and bent out of shape, probably from the bomb, but the bolt that kept it tightly shut was still in tact. His fingers fumbled for the lock, every second stretching longer than the last.

“It’s here!” Beau yelled loudly, calling the others for help. “She’s here!”

His mind kept circling back to you. You were trapped down there. Trapped and drowning.

I’m coming, darlin’. Hold on.

Finally, his fingers found the latch, and with a metallic groan, the hatch creaked open.

The stench of damp earth hit him first – the cold, stagnant air of a place that had been shut off from the world for too long. His flashlight flickered as he shined it down into the narrow opening. The steps below were steep, the darkness absolute. He could hear the distant drip of water, and with it, a rising sense of urgency.

He didn’t waste time. Without a second thought, he grabbed the flashlight and began to descend, the metal of the hatch scraping against the edges of the door as he pulled it wide open. His breath caught as he stepped into the narrow stairwell.

The moment he hit the bottom, the sound of rushing water was unmistakable.

The tunnel was flooded. The water was rising fast, covering the floor in murky, black waves. The small concrete room at the base of the stairs had become a watery tomb, the level inching toward the ceiling.

He shouted your name, his voice crackling in the damp air.

But there was no answer.

Beau pushed forward, his heart in his throat, eyes scanning every inch of the flooded room. Your presence was all he could feel – your spirit, your strength, your last message. He had to find you.

A sudden thud echoed through the chamber, the faint sound of something – or someone – shifting beneath the water.

Beau’s eyes locked on the back wall of the room, where the water was thickest, swirling around a pile of debris. His mind screamed. The seconds were melting away, and he couldn’t afford to waste a single one.

The wall was crumbling under the pressure, but the thing that struck him wasn’t just the damage. It was the stillness. There was no movement. No air.

His pulse spiked as he waded through the rising water, kicking through the murk with his boots, moving faster now, hands trembling as he shoved aside debris.

Please, please, please…

And then, beneath the surface, a hand – limp, floating like a ghost. Beau lunged, his fingers brushing against your wrist, cold and unyielding.

He cried your name again, his voice hoarse with panic as he pulled you to him, cradling your body against his chest.

Your skin was ice-cold. Your hair matted against your face, your body limp in his arms. You were unconscious – or worse.

Don’t you dare be dead. Don’t you dare.

Beau’s breath came in harsh bursts, his hands fumbling against you, trying to find any sign of life. The water was rising too fast.

He wasn’t going to lose you. Not like this.

With a single, desperate motion, he hoisted you into his arms. He didn’t stop. His feet pounded the water-soaked concrete as he bolted back toward the stairs, his lungs burning, the world blurring around him.

Get out. Get out.

He could feel the water rising behind him, flooding the room with the force of a tide. He didn’t know if the two of you would make it. He didn’t know if he could make it.

But he was going to try. He was going to fight like hell to keep you alive.

The hatch was there, just ahead, the only way out. He pushed harder, faster, as the water reached his knees, then his waist. Every breath was a battle. Every second felt like an eternity.

With one final push, he reached the top of the stairs, stumbling out into the fresh air, gasping for breath, his legs weak beneath him. He laid you on the ground, your limp body draped across the earth.

Beau’s hands were shaking as he knelt beside you. “Darlin’,” he whispered, shaking you gently.

Nothing.

Tears blurred his vision as he pressed his ear to your chest, listening for any sign of life.

A faint, fragile beat.

You were still with him.

He could barely breathe, panic threatening to swallow him whole, but he knew he had to keep it together.

He leaned over your body, his hands moving quickly. “Come on, darlin’. Come on…” His voice cracked as he positioned his hands, interlocking his fingers over your sternum. He gave two hard compressions, the sound of his palms meeting your chest too loud in the thick silence.

Still nothing. Your skin was frozen, your lips tinged blue.

His breath hitched, and he started again – one, two, three…

His heart hammered in his chest as he leaned down, pinching your nose and sealing his mouth over yours. He breathed into you, feeling the faint rise of your chest beneath him.

Please, please, don’t leave me.

He gave you another breath, then returned to the chest compressions – one, two, three…

Time seemed to stretch on endlessly, each moment more desperate than the last. His hands moved faster, his fingers slick with water and sweat as he pressed into you again and again. He wasn’t thinking. He couldn’t.

He hadn’t even taken note of the crowd that had gathered around him, watching the dire spectacle.

Finally – after what felt like a lifetime – your body jerked beneath his hands. You gasped, a harsh, ragged breath, and Beau nearly collapsed in relief. He cradled your head gently, his green eyes searching your face as you coughed weakly, water spilling from your mouth.

“You’re okay. You’re okay,” he breathed into your hair, his voice thick with emotion and eyes filled with tears as he kissed your crown repeatedly, his hold tight around your body.

You opened your eyes, just a sliver at first, and then you blinked, your hand weakly reaching for his cheek before it dropped to his chest.

“Beau…” you whispered, your voice barely a breath before you let out the first few sobs and coiled against him.

“It’s alright. I’m here.”

And for the first time in days, Beau let himself breathe as he steadied your trembling frame in his embrace.

Hospitals weren’t your favorite thing in the world. In fact, you had pretty much avoided them your whole life. You’d screamed your way through your tonsils surgery when you were five. You refused to get your broken arm cast when you were fourteen. But there was one thing you had always cherished during your involuntary stays:

Pudding.

Randy was the first person that stopped by early in the morning. You didn’t know if that decision had been a collusive one, agreed upon by the whole team, but you were grateful for the visit – more grateful when he brought you your sweet treat.

Something had been going on, though, while you were locked up – you could tell. As you’d clung to Beau’s chest last night in the forest, you caught Randy in the crowd around you before he ducked his head and retreated into the shadows. Your heart broke at the sight.

Beau didn’t leave your side, though, even riding in the ambulance with you while reassuring you throughout. He held your hand tightly, but his shoulders were stiff. And when they wheeled you out of the emergency room, the doors closed in front of him. You hadn’t seen or heard from him since.

You’d only slept for about five hours, but it had been a deep slumber. You had been out like a light. But as soon as you woke, you felt the aches of your body. There wasn’t a single limb or organ that didn’t groan in pain. Your ankle was the worst, though – the doctors told you you were lucky you got to keep it by the degree of infection it had suffered. The murky water of the river surely hadn’t helped cleaning it.

Sepsis, hypothermia, drowning, and lifelong trauma were just a few of the things you had to recover from.

There was also the dissolution of your marriage – you’d finally found the right term. Not widowed, not divorced – dissolved.

Randy stayed for three hours, and you had an honest and long talk. Oddly enough, being in his presence didn’t feel strange anymore. It felt familiar.

While your brain had adjusted, your heart remained steadfast. Randy had recognized it too and conceded. When he left your bedside, you sent him a smile with tears brimming in your eyes.

A chapter closed. A song ended. But your heart was at peace.

Beau’s heart pounded furiously in his chest as he stood glued outside your hospital room. Every laugh that echoed through the door felt like a gut punch.

Randy had asked to speak to you first. Beau had granted him the request – not that it had been really up to him. But Randy had been gracious last night, and the sheriff knew it couldn’t have been easy.

Beau had arrived at the hospital around noon, only to find you and Randy were still talking. Not only talking but laughing. While his heart murmured a tiny bit, he supposed it was a good sign. Who said you had to throw plates or the occasional vase at each other?

Twenty minutes later, Randy finally exited and ran straight into Beau around the corner, who had leaned against the wall and tried to answer the many nosy questions of the group chat. He didn’t know why the hell Cassie had invited him into this one…

“Oh, hey.” Randy chuckled lightly as he bumped into Beau, eyeing him with a suspicious brow. There was the flash of a smirk on his face.

Eager, are we? Beau could read Randy thoughts, even though his former friend refrained from saying them out loud.

“Hey.” Beau’s voice was low. He swallowed thickly as he tried his hardest not to avert his gaze to the linoleum flooring. “How is she?”

“In good spirits,” Randy replied but then paused. “For now. I think the morphine’s kicking in.”

“So, uhm–”

Beau didn’t know where that sentence would end. Flat-out asking Randy how your conversation went would’ve just been pathetically nosy – and rude. His mama had raised him better than that.

“I’m going back to Houston,” Randy still answered the unasked question.

“With, uhm–” Your name hung on the tip of Beau’s tongue before he bit down, noting Randy’s shaking head.

“Don’t push it.”

“Right…” Beau smacked his lips and cleared his throat, his hand scratching the nape of his neck. “So, what about you and me, huh? I know right now’s a stretch, but maybe down the road we could grab a beer?”

Randy’s lips pursed at first – unsure. But after a beat passed, he nodded slightly. “Maybe, yeah.” He hesitated. “Hit me up if you’re ever in Houston, alright?”

“Yeah, alright.” Beau’s lips twitched to a smile of surprise, but he still wished there was more he could do, more he could offer. It didn’t feel enough. “Take care of yourself, okay?”

Randy gave him a tight-lipped nod and patted him on the shoulder as he passed him. “You too.”

Beau watched Randy angle towards the elevators before exhaling a deep breath. Green eyes then drifted to your door. His heart was both elated and heavy. Questions circled in his mind.

What now?

The case was as good as over. Would you leave now? Where would you go? Beau knew your home was in Houston. Should he move back there, too? Would you even want him to? He’d broken up with you. Again. Were you still mad at him for it? He had tried to restrain himself last night, not knowing where the two of you stood. He held your hand in his, even though it was your whole body he wanted to keep holding in his arms.

You’d chosen no one. Maybe this was a day of break-ups for you.

Beau’s knuckles softly knocked on your door before he entered. Unsurely, he stood until your eyes glanced up and found his. A smile rose on your lips.

“Hey, there you are. You just missed Randy,” you said.

At a loss for words, Beau stared at you for a moment, his heart hammering in his chest. You still looked pretty rough – hooked up to IVs, your face and arms covered in bruises and cuts. But at least you were here – alive. There was some color back in your cheeks. Until a few hours ago, he wasn’t sure he’d ever get to see you again.

“Oh, uh, passed him in the hall,” Beau finally said and obnoxiously cleared his throat. “Said he was going back to Houston.”

“Yeah, he told me. I gave him my apartment,” you said, your voice a casual melody as you ignored the tension that was building between you two.

Beau’s brows shot up. “You gave him your place?”

“Least I could do. I sold his home.”

“Where are you gonna stay?”

“Oh, I don’t know yet. Guess I’m kinda homeless now. Again,” you said and hid the hint of a smile. You could see his wires were crossed.

“Hmm,” he hummed and shifted on his heels.

“Thank you,” you then said softly, trying to fight the tears that pricked your eyes. You swallowed heavily. “For saving me, you know? Bringing me back to life…”

“Don’t mention it,” he replied with a tight-lipped smile and a shake of his head, although a lump formed in the back of his throat at the haunting image of you, limb in his arms. He never wanted to see something like this again. He never wanted to feel that crippling, numbing fear ever again.

You snorted slightly at his understatement, fumbling with your fingers in your lap. “Feel like I have to. They told me you gave me CPR for three minutes straight. They said I was pretty much gone.”

“They’re exaggerating. It wasn’t that long,” he brushed off. “‘Sides, I wasn’t gonna let you die on my watch.”

“Like I said, thanks,” you reiterated and sent him a smile. “So, why are you standing so far away like I’m radioactive?”

Beau pursed his lips. “Well, you are kinda my kryptonite, darlin’.” He scratched the back of his neck, his boots still not moving closer. “Don’t really know where we stand, y’know? I mean, last time… that morning… I guess I’m tryna say I’m sorry for puttin’ you through that. So, on a scale from one to ten, how mad are you at me right now?”

“Well, if you put it like that… zero.” You grinned teasingly. “Hard to stay mad at you, considering you’ve saved my life, you know? I’m willing to forget your momentary stupidity. Well, if it really was momentary…”

“Oh, it was,” Beau confirmed, your heart expanding with a breath of relief. “Going with an insanity defense here. So… what does that mean?”

Musingly, you bit down on your lip. “I don’t know. Guess you’ll have to come closer and find out.”

Beau’s lips hiked to a wide, genuine smile for the first time in days. His feet began moving toward you.

Enjoying the warm rays of sunlight on your face, you exhaled blissfully as you sat outside the trailer, leaning comfortably back in your chair.

“There ya go – one extra black, extra strong cup of joe.” Beau handed you your favorite mug, his pine green eyes drifting to your injured leg, propped up on a wooden stool in front of you.

“Thank you,” you replied with a smile and practically inhaled the black liquid, its warmth filling you.

“How’s the ankle? That stool looks uncomfortable,” he noted, brushing his beard. His head tilted. “You need a pillow? Imma grab you one. Anything you need, darlin’. Officially retired since yesterday, you know? I’m here all day. Just say the word, and I’ll make it happen.”

Amused, you laughed a little. “I don’t need a pillow. The ankle’s fine. Just sit down next to me and enjoy the sun, will you?”

“It’s freezing.”

“I like how the snow twinkles in the sun,” you said and patted the chair next to you. With a groan, Beau sat down, wrapping his suede jacket a little tighter around himself while you sat cozily draped in the Sherpa jacket you had stolen from his closet. It was big and wide and warm and smelled heavenly like him. “‘Sides, I have a pretty nice jacket to keep me warm.” He frowned a little at you, but an amused smile twitched on his lips. “You said I should make myself comfortable – anything I wanted.”

“Didn’t think you’d raid my closet,” he huffed playfully.

“Hey, I only came here with a tiny carry-on.”

You’d been released from the hospital last night after spending a full week there. In the meantime, Beau had decided to hang up the sheriff’s hat, handing the badge off to Jenny – you’d fully agreed with the decision. You knew his heart hadn’t been in it for a while now.

He’d also asked you to move in.

And moreover, you’d finished your last reports and then handed in your resignation at the FBI. One serial killer kidnapping was enough for you. Diane had showed you where your limit was, and that was okay. You looked forward to a quiet life with the man beside you. It was its own adventure. God knows Diane’s life wouldn’t be as happy and peaceful behind bars.

Neither of you had spoken to her since your rescue. Sheriff Hoyt had handled all things on that end. By the amount of evidence they had to go through, Ted even surmised her trial wouldn’t start until three years from now. Until then, Beau and you had promised each other you wouldn’t waste another thought on her.

Well, you supposed you had to waste some thoughts on her. A big publisher from New York had already approached you about a book deal – and the money was more than good.

“Guess we’ll have to go down to Houston to get your stuff once you’re back on your feet,” Beau said.

Musingly, you scrunched your nose and hummed. “Not sure that’s necessary. It’s not gonna fit in the trailer anyways – not with your extensive closet.”

Amused, Beau pursed his lips and chuckled. He rubbed a hand through his beard. “Yeah, I was thinking about that… Maybe we should move. Get a bigger place, you know?”

“Do they make bigger Airstreams?” you murmured teasingly into your mug, cocking an eyebrow.

His tongue poked the inside of his cheek. “I was thinking more along the lines of a house. A ranch, maybe.”

“What about a houseboat?”

“Nah, that wouldn’t work with the kids. Try keeping a toddler in a life jacket all day,” Beau quipped, shaking his head. He didn’t even seem to notice what had slipped out of his mouth.

Your brow creased. “Kids?”

His wide eyes found yours, mouth opening and closing. He let out nervous breath. “Yeah, uh, something else I wanted to talk to you about…”

“Are you pregnant?” you joked and snorted into your coffee. Then, your brow furrowed. “Wait, am I? Did the doctor say something to you? Why would you smuggle tequila into my room if you knew?”

“No one’s pregnant, darlin’…” Beau laughed softly, his hand reaching out to cover your thigh. “I was just thinking maybe more a down-the-line kinda thing. In the, uh, near future, you know?”

You narrowed your eyes suspiciously. “Well, uhm, I didn’t think that was on table. We’ve never talked about it. I mean, I honestly didn’t think you’d want to…”

“Kinda gettin’ tired of people always assuming things about me,” Beau retorted with a little smirk. He squeezed your thigh. “Kids are on the table, darlin’.”

“Huh.”

Clearing his throat, Beau leaned forward in his seat. “You know, I had a little chat with Randy…”

You scoffed in surprise. “He actually told you?”

“Bigger question is, why didn’t you tell me?” Beau’s brow raised almost scoldingly. He was a pretty great dad.

“Honestly? Because it’s none of your business. That was between me and my then-late husband,” you replied with a sharpness that matched his look – there was a playfulness lying underneath, though. You both knew the other had a point. You exhaled a long sigh. “Look, that was four years ago. A lot has changed since then. I haven’t really thought about it since Randy’s funeral. Then Mexico happened. God knows we were nowhere near ready for a conversation like this…”

You gave him a shrug of your shoulders and sipped on your coffee.

“So, you don’t want kids?”

“Do you?”

Beau chuckled lightly, his fingers tapping the chair’s armrest. “Look, I’m already retiring from the job – I don’t wanna retire from life,” he said. “Sure, for a long time, I wasn’t thinking about another kid, but Emily’s almost off to college. Would be nice to feel needed again, do it all over… I don’t wanna fish every day till I drop.”

You snorted a laugh.

“So? What d’you say?”

Biting down on your lip, you glanced behind you at the Airstream. Then you found his green eyes and grinned. “Yeah, I think we’ll definitely need a bigger place. Maybe something between a houseboat and a ranch?”

Beau could barely contain his smile but played along. “And what would that be?”

It ended up being a lake house. Beau fished every morning. You watched him and the sunrise from the window as you wrote your novel.

The baby arrived by next Christmas.

THE END

I think reader would be unstoppable in an Escape Room 😂

I so hope you enjoyed this last part, loves! What a wonderful journey it's been. Thank you to every single one of you from the bottom of my heart 🤍

And PS: I do have a little future one-shot in mind for them 😉

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wickedpact · 3 years ago

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A ranking of all the TTT stories in order of how much I liked them.

(Oh god this is so long)

1 My Mother's Axe

BABY ANDYYYYYYYYYYYY. Honestly this one had the trifecta of developing a character's motivations, developing a character's backstory, & developing their personality. The story starting out with Andy teaching Nile to use the axe was so charming and fun, and you could feel that chemistry they had in Opening Fire, the way they teased and bickered with each other so naturally. I loved the wedge between them on the subject of the axe, how Nile was perhaps a little too young to understand Andy's feelings about whether or not its the 'same' axe. I also love how the axe is obviously the symbol of the franchise and hugely important, but you never get a sense of exactly how important it is to Andy until you read the story.

I love the entire Ship of Theseus theme, and how it feels so natural that for Andy she has to get attached to the idea of things rather than the things themselves because she'll always outlive the things themselves-- the axe is symbolically her mom's axe, even if physically it isn't. And I love how she clearly clings to that concept so tightly. "This is the labrys she held in her hands...." IT GETS ME.

And the fact that this sense of BELONGING, of FAMILY, of CULTURE is so important to Andy that she clings to it (figuratively and literally) with both hands. And of course it's important to her, she spent so long alone that the woman doesn't even remember her birth name. That axe (or the idea of that axe) is all she has left of her mother and that family/culture she was born into.

PLUS on that note I love how Andy doesn't remember if her mom was her actual biological mother, but it doesn't matter to her. This woman was her mother in all the ways that counted. And how her mom BETRAYED AND KILLED Andy but Andy loved her so much that she avenged her and carried her axe for thousands of years. THOUSANDS OF YEARS!!!!!!

I also loved how the story transcends the timeline of the whole franchise and seeing Andy through the years. Loved seeing her with the varying squads and with varying axes. Also baby Andy was so cute. It was cool seeing her so young. like holy fuck. Andromache The Scythian, Immortal Warrior (but smol). Love that.

Also I think this one is one of the few ttt stories that doesn't suffer from length problems.

tldr: goddammit greg you've done it again.

2 Zanzibar and Other Harbors

Zanzibar my beloved. I've said before, but it's downright comedic how little regard there was for Joe and Nicky's character designs in this story. The same person who does the colors for the regular comic did the colors for this one too, and you can tell, every panel of this story was Beautiful.

Ik there was A Lot of criticism of this one (lmao @ how the fandom had no idea what was to come) but I thought a lot of The Discourse was a bit dramatic. I did think Nicky came off as a little oblivious to Joe's feelings in this story, but I've said before, I honestly think that was a 'tone not translating' thing. It felt like Nicky was nagging Joe for [checks notes] saving innocent people, but Joe was so amused by Nicky's complaints I really do think it was supposed to come off as teasing.

Plus I know the 'Joe running off into danger and Nicky reluctantly following' dynamic wasn't popular (I'm a pretty meh on it meself) but I did love how Joe's impulsiveness (if you want to call it that) was interpreted as heroism and not hot-hotheadedness. All of the examples Nicky and Joe talked about included Joe explicitly saving people. (and it also took A Lot for the nazi to actually provoke Joe).

I also feel like their characterization here was closest to the movie canon-- the bit where they hear the woman scream and Joe goes running in to save her while Nicky swoops in on Joe's heels to comfort her while Joe and the nazi were fighting reminds me of the train car scene. Joe had suggested First that they go find Nile because she needed to be protected, and Nicky later added that Nile probably also needed emotional support. Similar reactions.

But it was So Good, the themes of queer community and the enduring nature of queer culture are Not themes you see in media that often and it was such a delight how it was done. Also it's one of the few more modern TTT stories that has a completely valid excuse for taking place when it did. Chef's kiss.

3 Passchendaele

I love the Duality between seeing baby Andy and then seeing Mama Andy in the very next issue. This story doesn't have a ton of meat to it, but the entire concept of Andy adopting a war orphan straight off the battlefield PLUCKS MY TENDER LITTLE HEARTSTRINGS, and I think it's especially poignant for comic!Andy. I think most people wouldn't think twice about movie!Andy doing something like that but comic Andy is so hardened and almost cruel sometimes, and seeing that even for her the world hasn't beaten all of the compassion from her yet is SO!!!!!!! this woman contains MULTITUDES okay, she's violent and angry and tired and Done but she's also so kind and compassionate and THE STRENGTH OF HER!!!!! Also the idea of her and Yitzhak co-raising a kid together is so damn cute. It was #mysterious pre-Yitzhak-story but now it's cute. holy fuck. It's cute.

& the headbonk panel of her and Zeus lives in my heart. anyways.

4 Many Happy Returns

I Know people weren't thrilled about Booker being in this one, but I've developed a pet-peeve about that: this story was *not* booker-centric. Booker only exists in this story to the extent required to explain the importance of the gesture Nile makes towards him. If there was a story about Booker making some grand gesture of kindness to Nile no one would be saying it was Nile-centric. bc it wouldn't be! Booker exists in this story to explore Nile's kindness, its not about him. I saw that a couple times and it bothered me. anyways.

AAAAAAAAAA I loved this one, the art was beautiful, I loved how Andy Nile and Booker were drawn (like their comic selves but.. more looking like actual people). I loved Andy and Nile's Bants, how Andy wanted to jump right in and Do Violence but Nile was basically telling her to hold her horses.

I feel like I'm just repeating the post I made on this story a few days ago, but I LOVED how Nile's plan revolves not around violence or Cool Mercenary Skills but on Nile's own life skills (as she canonly did a lot of minimum wage job-hopping before the marines in comics canon). Her plan used her skills, not the skills of an immortal warrior, and HER SKILLS were in fact more useful for the situation! lov to see Nile's resourcefulness and planning skills.

AND HOW NILE WAS PROBABLY WATCHING BOOKER??? it's so Much bc 1.) nile knew booker A SINGLE DAY and yet he made such an impression on her emotionally that she had to keep an eye on him and 2.) she said in the movie she wanted Booker to get off free with an apology. Yes she's a member of the team but that doesn't mean she's necessarily going to follow orders like a good little soldier. I also love how she convinced Andy to go along with it. her HEART, her KINDNESS, her THOUGHTFULNESS, UGH.

5 The Bear

Honestly I have like no negative things to say about this one other than a.) character design issues which is less about the story itself and is more of a 'tog comic in general' criticism and b.) too short, but it was supposed to be a tease, so.

But I loved Yitzhak, I wasn't expecting to really like him at all but like I said in my other post, he tickled me. I love characters who are Kind™, especially if they have little reason to be so given their backgrounds. Chef's kiss. Lov him.

6 Bonsai Shokunin

I know this one was a little controversial bc of the outsider POV but whenever I see people upset about that they never point out that the Outsider Guy (the samurai) existed as a reflection on Noriko. His ideas are explained in the text to develop hers. The whole story follows how she gave mercy to a scared young man and in response he murdered Noriko, repeatedly! Who gave him the right to inflict such pain and suffering on the world? In his opinion, the lack of response from the gods was his permission. And for Noriko-- over and over again she dies and suffers because she gave mercy, which lines up with her ideas in FM about how it's their fate to rule mortals and if they don't align with that plan/fate/whatever then they suffer. It shows some background to those ideas and how they developed in her mind outside of Ocean Madness™. Additionally, his idea of 'the Gods have done nothing to strike me down so it's fine if I do these things' kind of explains how Noriko may justify her own morally corrupt actions-- she's died so many times and it's never stuck. Maybe if she did die any of those times, or while she was in the water, maybe that would've been a sign she was doing something right, or at least doing something normal. But she hasn't died. Fate isn't done with Noriko yet. And maybe there's a reason for that. In her mind, it's just not a very pleasant reason, is all.

There were things I was kind of meh about tho. I did kind of wish we saw something of Noriko and the team, or smth explaining the way she was before her dip in the pool-- personality, likes dislikes, etc. but it wasn't bad or anything. It was super vague tho, I had to read it a few times before I got what it was going for. Liked the art. Liked the bonsai metaphor. And of course I Respect the decision to use the 1300s (1200s? I don't remember off the top of my head) rather than using the last 200 years.

7 Strong Medicine

Honestly looking back, this one made me kind of sad because both this one and Bonsai Shokunin explored character's ideas on Fate and The Divine and how that intersects with immortality and I totally thought that theme would be continued, especially with Love Letters. But Then It Wasn't™.

Admittedly.... I had to re-read this one to remember most of it. I liked Booker's ideas on God, 'The conductor of the symphony just may not be very good at his trade' but the plot itself was kind of forgettable. Some fuckin cowboys try to kill a doctor (their second) because he couldn't save their sickly brother. Book tries to stop them, gets killed, and then comes back and kills them all before they get the doctor. Alright. I liked the artstyle because the characters were ugly in a similar way that leandro's are, but way more bearable.

I love the Irony of Booker concluding that there is no such thing as fate or destiny and nothing has meaning, AS HE UNKNOWINGLY SAVES MERRICK'S GRANDFATHER FROM BEING KILLED. Booker getting fucked over by life/god/destiny yet again. It also kind of explains about where the fuck hell Merrick's interest in immortal mercenaries even came from.

I originally had this one a lot higher and then I thought about it and moved it down like two spots.

8 Never Gets Old

I liked seeing Booker interact with his kid. And we got a name for the kid! Philippe was a little bitch though, he was a little obnoxious. I liked how Booker was so thrilled to experience a restaurant with his kid (and since we know he was there before, it can be assumed he went with all of his kids and yet he was so charmed each time). It fits with his line to Nicky in the moon landing story about how you don't appreciate beautiful things 'unless you have someone to share them with'. It was charming to see Booker interact with his kid, and to see him so happy. Also lmao @ Booker's big fat Ye Olde Crush on Andy.

However at the same time it was like.. of all the things to write about,,, I guess? Booker's Night Out...... alright. Especially since Book had so many stories.

I don't know, it was alright. The old man killing him really came out of nowhere, (but the 'Salut, asshole!' panel was funny tho).

9 How To Make a Ghost Town

I've hit a point where talking about these stories has gotten less fun. I liked this one but I felt like Achilles getting lynched was not really necessary for a story that was already tragic (a story that already involved Achilles doing a lot of suffering at the hand of bigots). When we first got the blurb for this story I thought it would be about Andy returning to the squad and making friends with Booker after losing Achilles and them butting heads on the idea of family and when to cut off ties. So a little bit of my underwhelmedness about this one might be just my expectations being different.

Honestly I was pretty interested in Andy and Achilles' relationship and I would've liked to see more of them-- like, what was their dynamic like? What did they love about each other?

But anyways Andy leaving and Achilles getting killed anyways feels so pointlessly tragic (which I suppose is the point..... I don't like tragedies) she left to save him and yet people killed him anyway. Meh.

I did love the bits about Andy wanting to have a domestic life (Andy and her multitudes again) and the little detail about how she buried her axe near the road but he buried his guns under his bed-- he was an escaped slave, he never had the luxury of assuredness like Andy did. It was a sad story.

10 Lacus Solitudinis

'You put this one above love letters crim??? how could you???' easy, lmao.

There was stuff in this one I liked. But to talk about stuff I didn't like: (I'll keep it brief, I know ragging on this story has been done time and time again)

UH, setting aside the 6 year cold shoulder between Joe and Nicky, I thought their chosen method of conflict resolution was... bad at best. Nicky's inability to talk about his feelings was also annoying, especially since the entire point of this story is a fight Joe and Nicky had, and yet we don't get both sides to the story, which is...... important? That fact is especially annoying bc in the absence of Nicky explaining his side of the story, it's absolutely a possible (and admittedly probably unintentional) interpretation of the text that we do get that Joe routinely resolves conflict between him and Nicky by simply cutting Nicky out of his life entirely until Nicky just. caves? Even if it takes years?

WHICH i could get into that interpretation and how fucked up i find it. but im not going to. out of restraint.

I don't know, I think there are a lot of interesting ways to go about this conflict but 'Nicky wants to kill a guy and Joe refuses to acknowledge his existence until he stops because he thinks Nicky is too much of a Good Boy to get his hands dirty like that' ('I wont watch as the world turns his (...) compassion into something ugly'. ) wasn't.. how I would've done it. (I mean you know Joe doesn't give a shit about what Nicky is doing in a moral way, because Joe doesn't even care or mention that Booker is killing those cops too. Joe only cares because he doesn't like the idea of Nicky changing in a way he finds undesirable.)

admittedly I've said before, I do like the emphasis Joe's reaction puts on Nicky's kindness. Joe has a complete inability to cope with Nicky simply Not Being Kind. It speaks to the steadiness of Nicky's compassion all those years. but still that fact doesn't make it the conflict feel worth it

hm. I said I would be brief and I wasn't.

oh well. basically I thought there was interesting conflict potential there but it wasn't done the way I would've liked, and the way it was done leaves a lot of disturbing (and again probably unintended) interpretations to lie.

What I did like? Andy and Joe having that pessimist/optimist dynamic. Joe nerding out about science. Andy not being impressed by The Achievements Of Man. I loved Booker needling at Nicky about his outdated slang and also trying to give him Older Brother advice practically in the same breath. I loved Booker giving The Worst relationship advice ever and Nicky being like 'I Will Not Do That, Ever, Thanks.' the family vibes were so good. The Joenicky vibes left a lot to be desired tho.

11 Love Letters

I talked about my problems with Nicky in this story (and Lacus Solitudinis). I don't know, the story isn't bad but I do hold a little bit of a grudge towards it because its very existence begs the existence of a solo Joe story and we didn't get one. If we never got this story, then we could happily count Lacus Solitudinis and Zanzibar as The Joenicky Stories™ and move on with our lives. sigh.

I remember when we first got the blurb for this story I was really curious about why Nicky specifically + the setting, and the answer kind of feels like 'the author had an idea for a story like this and saw ttt as a good enough place to utilize that idea'. Plus I was really underwhelmed by the Romantic Sentiment in the letter. If you look at it line-by-line, the majority of the letter is actually Nicky talking about how lonely and disturbed he is, rather than actual,, yknow,,, Romantic Sentiment. I mean, compare the van speech and this letter and this letter is just kind of meh in comparison. I liked nicky calling joe wise! and I liked the brief sun/moon metaphor! and otherwise it was eh. It didn't even have cute squad banter, which is why Lacus Solitudinis is above this one.

12 An Old Soul

Nun orgy. Nun orgy?????? Nun orgy.......

The whole story felt like a setup to have a nun orgy. Why did Booker have abs? Why did they do that to Andy's nose? ?????? the art was good at least.

nun orgy.

#tales through time spoilers #obviously #long post #seriously dont open that read more unless youre committed to scrolling past all these Words

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