#just its always -wrong- and its starting to seriously effect my ability to create.

[i-write-sin-not-tragedy]

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[oliveroctavius]

A ramble about how the different internal world logic of different Spider-Man universes affects characterization/how much I enjoy the story (featuring ITSV, Raimi, TASM, and NWH)

superhero vs villain stuff is the most basic morality play. There are Good guys and Bad guys and when the Bad guy hits the Good guy, it's bad; but when the Good guy hits the Bad guy it's good. You just have to assign roles and start a fight, and every story is going to draw that line differently.

this doesn't HAVE to be realistic at all and I'd argue it's most fun when it's not trying to be. You don't have to tackle systemic issues in a story about a guy who can scale buldings unless you're certain you have something to say. They can be figurative challenges, I can understand metaphor.

Spider-Verse understood this SO well it makes it visual. Every character exists inside rules that are very real to them even if they're nonsense to someone else there. The physical rules of Spider-Ham's world are non literal (he can fit a hammer in his pocket) as are the moral rules (he can eat a hotdog as a joke). On the other end of the spectrum, Peter B. has back problems, financial issues, just went through a messy divorce... Real Person Problems. The ads in his dimension are also for real life products, while Miles' are all made up. Miles' Peter was "perfect", so we accept that in his dimension there are archetypical heroes—and archetypical villains. They can have simplistic motivations and speak in clichés; don't worry about it. But Miles' Peter died in a very real tragedy, so we know the world rules still take consequences seriously even if the conflict is stylized. The metaphor is made clear with "anyone can wear the mask": anyone, from any world, can draw inspiration from the archetypical hero.

I always have to put in a disclaimer when I'm rambling so I don't sound insufferable: I do get why people's enjoyment hinges on characters. I don't think caring about World Rules is the only like, moral way to enjoy fiction I'm just weird and love dissecting systems. That said, this perspective really wrecks the TASM movies compared to the Raimi movies for me.

Both these movies are (1) live action and (2) create a superhero into a world that doesn't have that archetype yet. So the world has to explain its reasoning for what makes a hero vs a villain before the punching starts. Not just "a villain is a villain because I caught them doing something bad" but "why did they decide to do something bad to start with?"

I really like the Raimi movies' premise, always drawing parallels between the hero and villain as outcasts who gain a large amount of power over others right after a major personal tragedy. This kinda ruins the "sanctity" of the characters but builds a really strong theme. The difference is: when they get a chance to make a choice, do they listen to the voice that wants to make the selfish one, or do they make the kind one? OBVIOUSLY if this was a literal political stance there's a lot wrong with "criminals are criminals bc they choose to be" but the world rules are very intentionally cheesy. The actual criminal justice system is barely a presence because this is a metaphor for you and your ability to help people despite your worst instincts.

The TASM movies on the other hand seem to want to be more serious in science, effects, personality, and dialogue. But then the through-line separating heroes and villains is bioengineered genetics. Booo. That's already weird, but the more seriously I'm told to take it the more I hate it.

Electro is my favorite TASM villain partially because he has more complex motivations. I love TASM Max Dillon but the world rules don't seem to! Garfield would be the superior Peter Parker in a universe that wasn't so dedicated to proving him wrong. Yes, he mouths off to a police officer in his own home. And then the movie has that officer nobly save his life at the climax. Sure, he's just an average guy doing his best. But then the movie explains that this is literally his genetic heritage. Yeah, he tries to talk Electro down. But when the police ruin the moment, it's like it's only for "realism" rather than commentary, and the tragedy of that failure is immediately forgotten. Max and Harry become villains in large part due to abuse by the powers that be, but Peter stops them once they fight back while Oscorp goes unpunished. Systemic injustice is written in as something that creates villains, but the hero is never allowed to meaningfully challenge that injustice, just deal with the mess it creates.

Plus, because Peter is written to be smart, he has to uncritically agree with the genes nonsense. He's probably right that his Parker blood would kill Harry if it got into his cursed Osborn bloodstream. That's just the way the world rules work, forcing him to play by their moral code and make the cruel choice even as a kind character. Hell world. Hell world.

I don't have much to say about the MCU's world rules; I figure they were built for characters who aren't Peter Parker and it shows. NWH is interesting though to compare to ITSV. ITSV didn't have to make its universes play by different rules, but they did. NWH was actually pulling characters from universes with established rules, but that only really comes up in jokes for Spideybros stuff, really.

All the villains are treated in Exactly the Same Way though which raises some major questions. It doesn't mess up the TASM villains too bad to offer them cures since plenty of their problems were medical or systemic, even if it feels totally evil to leave out Harry when his entire arc was around needing a cure he never got. But since the Raimi villains come from a 'verse where their villainy is tied to their choices they're being cured of... the ability to make a choice. Which feels. How do you say. Wack. I honestly don't understand what the MCU thinks the difference is between its heroes and villains. Brand recognition, maybe.

I think the strongest case for TASM's world rules being cruel is that Electro is finally given more respect as a human being when he's handled with the MCU's world rules, while the Raimi villains are given less. Sure Curt is given less respect but I'm going to be honest: I don't think he deserved the respect the TASM movies gave him. He was a eugenicist before the lizard thing and it's anyone's guess if he ever learned a lesson beyond "don't test lizard serums on yourself". Which isn't a terribly generalizable life lesson outside their universe.

There's no real moral to this one, I just have to talk to myself out loud sometimes to avoid going mad. I think world rules are under-discussed in fandom, maybe because imagining characters into different worlds is an ancient fandom pastime. People will get mad at you for being OOC but not OOU (out of universe). Funny, because I don't think you can really separate those things.

[seyaryminamoto]

As someone, who's favourite character is Zuko, let me just say that your analysis about the Southern Raiders is spot on. Something about that episode (especially the way Zuko acted) always felt a little... off to me. And I could never figure out what it was exactly and considering the fact that discussion about this episode centered around the Kataang vs Zutara, I thought I was the only one who felt that way. So, I guess thanks for putting my thoughts into words.

Oh, I really feel ya, anon. If you actually don't look at the episode from a shipping point of view, which seems to be the focus of most the fandom, a lot of unpleasant things really start sticking out. I'm personally neutral to the Kataang vs. Zutara debate, I see good points and drawbacks to both ships, and no one's going to convince me that this episode proved the superiority of either pairing, especially when the shipping interpretations have never been important to me when analyzing this episode. People can say Aang is right in the end, they can say Zuko understands Katara's plight better (which, considering Aang has lost even more people he loved than Zuko has, he certainly should have understood Katara's suffering quite well too), but focusing on whether Zuko or Aang are the angel or the devil on Katara's shoulders practically blinds everyone to the very glaring and mindboggling flaws in this episode's writing, imo.

In general, the concept of Zuko's life-changing field trips with the three Gaang members he'd wronged the most is fine and fun for most people, but from the first time I watched the show it felt like the production team knew they were pressed for time and needed some veeeery quick and effective solution for Zuko to gain acceptance in the Gaang ASAP despite all the bad blood there. I can imagine a lot of people love these episodes, but admittedly I wouldn't rank any of them among my favorites because, as interesting as some of their concepts could be, if executed right, my immersion certainly wasn't as strong as with the rest of the show due to the nagging feeling that this was all for the sake of redeeming Zuko in the eyes of each Gaang member... and not necessarily in the eyes of the audience.

They get away with it, of course, because by this point in time, the audience is 100% conditioned to love the Gaang and Zuko, and if you see them getting along, you should be rejoicing in their team-up... but if you put some emotional distance between yourself as a viewer and the events of these episodes, their writing leaves a lot to be desired, especially in the concept of giving Zuko a quick whitewashing in the eyes of Aang, Sokka and Katara, one after the other, so they can genuinely accept him as a teammate and friend. If we'd seen similar trips frequently or occasionally in the rest of the show, with two specific members of the team taking off on an adventure by themselves, it might not be so glaringly obvious (and even... artificial? I guess?) that they're trying to quick-redeem him for each of them here, but on top of it happening thrice, it's literally happening one after the other, too. There's no episodes in-between, it's just literally a four-parter arc of "let's help Zuko become friends with these three".

The plotlines to be dealt with in these episodes are basically catered to each Gaang member, tailor-made life-changing field trips based on whatever they'll value the most, all of it conveniently possible and doable in the span of time they have between Zuko's joining of their group and the show's finale. Aang needs to learn firebending, Sokka needs to save his dad, Katara is permanently grieving for her mother's death. And so, Zuko to the rescue! If he helps them with their personal character quests, he gets 50+ approval points! :'D Honestly, I'm absolutely not against the notion of Zuko befriending them, obviously not, but the methods through which they chose to make it happen simply might not be the finest...?

Zuko loses his ability to bend because he "lost his rage", but he's still angry pretty often, the show even spoofs its own writing by showing him losing his patience at Sokka... while at the same time trying to sell that Zuko "isn't angry" anymore? Zuko helps break out random prisoners from the Boiling Rock without taking a single moment to actually learn who they are, why they were locked up, and without pondering if they deserve to be helped or if perhaps they're genuinely dangerous? Zuko gives Katara every possible tool and information she needs to take revenge on Yon Rha, because, loosely quoting his own words, he "cares what she thinks of him"...?

How about if we'd seen Zuko trying to connect with Fire Nation people, to help his fellow Fire Nation citizens, especially the ones who were living in dreadful conditions, like the ones in the Jang Hui river village? How about if we'd seen Zuko saving lives rather than threatening to take them? How about if we'd seen Zuko actually reasoning with his anger, and either working his way out of it, or repurposing it consciously, or making legitimate, personal efforts to find a new source of strength for his firebending through self-reflection, above all else?

We didn't really need sudden one-on-one field trips to teach Aang, Katara and Sokka to trust Zuko: we needed Zuko to prove himself worthy of that trust, to show how much he has changed, to literally contrast his new behavior with the old, to actually see that the guy no longer jumps into violence-mode 24/7, that he's willing to listen to other people's opinions or wisdom, that he wants to learn better when he knows he's misguided or misunderstanding something or another. Would he have become BFFs with any of them in four episodes if this had happened? Well, it definitely would have happened with Aang, the other two would have been trickier, but they definitely would have been more willing to accept him if they actually got to SEE that the changes in Zuko weren't skin-deep. Katara can be as thick-headed and stubborn as she may want to be, but I have no doubts she wouldn't have been able to hate Zuko as much as she used to if she'd seen him helping people, much like she often wants their group to do. But instead, they don't get to see the actual changes and growth... they just get their biggest goals and wishes satisfied, and that's enough to decide Zuko's trustworthy, no matter whatever sketchy behavior he displays in later episodes.

I absolutely appreciate the worldbuilding context we gain for the raids on the Water Tribe through The Southern Raiders, but I don't think this was an organic way to tell the story of how Zuko became friends with the Gaang. If pressed, I'd even say that Zuko's overt desperation to be their friend is OOC, to a degree: if this guy actually knows how dangerous his father's plans are (and he's supposed to :'D), how isn't he focusing on that side of things, when he's always been such a go-getter? It's not like he grew out of this sort of ends-justify-the-means behavior, seeing as he's absolutely obsessed with stopping his father ASAP, by any means possible, in the finale, when there was no such urgency to be found ever since he joined the Gaang. How isn't he more worried about stopping Ozai than about becoming best friends with the Gaang? Immediately sharing everything he's learned about Ozai's intentions of destroying the whole world might not make them friends instantaneously, but it would certainly get someone like Sokka to take his information seriously and immediately begin strategizing how to counter Ozai's plans. Instead, Zuko spent all those weeks, over a month, even, teaching Aang firebending, going on field trips and hanging out with his new friends in Ember Island. Once you have all the cards on deck and you actually look at all of them at once, doesn't it feel like there were so many more ways to achieve what the show was going for, far more effective ways than through the "let's be friends with Zuko" arc?

Ultimately, there's very little display of growth, in my opinion, in this small arc, on Zuko's side, despite the most obvious and reasonable way to earn the trust of the Gaang would be by outright showing them how much he's grown. I won't deny I appreciate that the writers respected his personality and didn't just warp him into the perfect good softboi the way the fandom apparently interprets him, but even if Zuko was going to be cranky and speak one-liners like "I'm never happy", it wasn't impossible to write better situations for him to connect with the Gaang's members and gain their trust. Even if the writers were set on having these episodes happen exactly as they did, they absolutely could have been written in a much better way, to create an explicit and direct contrast between Zuko's early behavior and the new Zuko's behavior when it comes to things that matter (most the parallels I've seen the fandom drawing are things like "oh look he hated tea before but now he brews it for his friends! So much growth!"... would've been nice to see the growth when it came to a lot of other things, too, if the growth really was there? Am I rite...?).

I may just be influenced by other redemption arcs that focus mainly on characters having common goals and working together to achieve them, then becoming friends in the process... but I really don't see how Zuko's character benefited from these episodes. Yes, bridges were built... but they absolutely could have been built in a more organic way that didn't make people like myself (and a few others) question if Zuko had learned or grown at all, considering the way he behaves isn't all that distant from the Zuko we've seen and known throughout the rest of the show. And the fact that he really seems to have learned nothing in The Southern Raiders once you reach the show's finale... you're basically asked to take for granted Zuko did learn a lot of lessons because he says he did, to assume he's going to put them into practice sometime in the future despite he has chances to do it during the show itself but never does, simply because they drop the ball upon every opportunity to show how much he's changed.

I really don't blame his character at all, when it comes to these shortcomings... it's seriously, genuinely, a problem with the writing department. Take a look through the fandom and you'll see thousands of people who claim Zuko's character arc is the most touching, complex and beautiful writing they ever have seen... and why? Because we're in the face of tell-don't-show :'D most people's perception of Zuko's character are based not so much on HOW Zuko displays his growth, it's strongly based on him stating he made progress, even if there's too many instances where the growth simply seems to have fallen to the wayside or gone forgotten for the sake of a plotline or another. Zuko absolutely could have been written far better than this, he could absolutely have the redemption arc his fans are sure he does have, but for me... there's way too many gaps in logic, too many missed opportunities, to truly think his growth was as extraordinary as a lot of people are hung up on saying it was.

[thefanficmonster]

Not Alone

Valkyrae (Rae) x Reader (Gender Neutral)

Warnings: Mention of death of a pet, Grieving

Genre: Fluff, Comfort, Angst

Summary: When Y/N doesn’t join the scheduled stream of Among Us with some cheap reasoning that everyone else falls for, Rae is far from convinced. She goes on to check the situation on her own just for her suspicions and worries to be confirmed further - something is off about Y/N and Rae is nothing if not determined to find out what.

Requested by @alex3atsbugs  Hello dear, consider this my farewell to the adorable little Marceline, I hope the cutie is looking down at us from heaven right now. Marceline, I might not have known you but I miss and love you regardless.  You have a special place in our hearts and you will never be forgotten. All my love, Vy ❤

“Ok so we’re only waiting on Lily now, right?“ Sykkuno asks, adjusting his earbuds as he scans over the settings for the game since he was the one to create the lobby which is now almost complete - lacking one more astronaut before the game can start.

Rae, who’s been scrolling through Instagram, looking at fanart and edits, snaps her head up to look at her computer monitor with confusion written all over her features, her brows furrowed, “Wait, what about Y/N? Aren’t they coming?”

This sudden change has surprised Rae more than someone would consider reasonable. But, in her eyes, it’s perfectly reasonable and justifiable considering Y/N has never skipped a stream nor have they ever not reported to her even for the tiniest of things such as running late. Even if they are not joining today, which is a huge oddity in and of itself, they would’ve definitely told Rae about it.

“Oh, no they won’t be joining us today. They said they were experiencing some technical troubles.” Sykkuno replies nonchalantly which aggravates Rae a tiny bit. She cannot comprehend how no one else is seeing anything odd here. Maybe it has something to do with how attentive she is when it comes to Y/N - she’s not sure why, but she is - or maybe it’s just a gut instinct but regardless, she can’t shake the feeling that something’s wrong. Not to mention that in all their years of streaming together on Twitch and now on YouTube never has Y/N dealt with technical difficulties that led to them not being able to stream. 

Y/N is the type of organized person that is constantly on top of things. They’d never let a technical difficulty get between them and providing their fans with entertainment. Chances are, if there really was an issue, it would’ve been fixed by now and even if it wasn’t...

Y/N would’ve let me know they wouldn’t be joining, Rae’s mind screams, almost altering her calm facial expression. 

“Hey can you give me about five minutes? My router’s acting up, I’ll restart it.“ Rae blurts out without as much as a second thought. Her thoughts are elsewhere right now, she’s got more important things to worry about. Luckily, her ability of rational thinking pushes through to the surface even without her guidance. 

She mutes her in-game and stream mics, takes her phone and rises from her chair, giving the camera what she hopes is a more apologetic rather than distressed smile before walking off-frame. Once out of view, she dials Y/N’s number, tapping her foot anxiously as she waits for her call to be picked up.

“Hello?“ When it does get answered, she’s met with a sniff before the weak voice utters the hesitant greeting word.

“Hey Y/N! What’s up?“ Rae tried to balance her question between a ‘what’s up?‘ in the ‘what’s wrong?‘ sense and the usual cheerful greeting she uses it as. She doesn’t want to end up seeming paranoid.

“Oh, hey, Rae. Nothing much. Aren’t you supposed to be streaming right now?“ Y/N’s tone raises a bit as they try to apply a bit more energy and enthusiasm into their words, presumably to erase any suspicion that sniffle might’ve caused in their friend who appears to have a sixth sense for when things are up with the people they care about. Or with Y/N specifically.

“Um...“ Rae spares the stream set-up a skeptical look, buying herself time to think of an excuse to partner her negation. She doesn’t want to lie to Y/N but she’s aware that they’ll be quick to ditch the conversation and postpone it if she admits to indeed be streaming. “Um, no, not yet. We scheduled it a bit later. Will you be joining us?“

“Uh, no, sorry, I won’t be able to. I’m sick and feeling like absolute crap so...“

Rae automatically stops listening, not on purpose, she just can’t hear Y/N’s voice over the alarms going off in her head, screaming at here that there’s something SERIOUSLY wrong. The stories not adding up - neither of them making sense to begin with - the lack of any authentic energy in Y/N’s voice, that sniffle she heard at the start of the call. It’s all so scarily wrong that it sends Rae one second away from entering full panic mode.

“I thought you were having technical difficulties.“ She blurts out without any thought of it’d make Y/N feel or how it would change the course of the conversation. 

Y/N inhales sharply as if caught completely off-guard and backed up into a corner, “Oh, yeah, that too. My computer keeps crashing.” Being backed up into a figurative corner doesn’t stop them from trying to further pursue this lie they’ve come up with. A lie so blatant and obvious there’s really no point in them trying to keep it going. Yet they choose to do exactly that.

“Y/N, you’re BSing me, you should know better than that!“ Rae whines almost desperately, “Please, tell me what’s going on? We’re friends, I don’t deserve to be kept in the dark, Y/N!“

There’s silence on the other end, loud silence that almost sends Rae into a breakdown. Some may consider it an overreaction, but let me ask you - wouldn’t you be upset and worried if someone you immensely care about was acting oddly and completely out of character.

“You’re going to think it’s ridiculous.“ Y/N’s voice cracks, letting it be known, clear as day, that they are barely balancing on the edge between keeping it together and crying.

“Of course I won’t, baby! I would never! Talk to me.“ Rae pursues, her heart breaking a little at the sound of her friend’s sadness. It’s taking a really big toll on her, not being able to hold Y/N in her arms instead of trying to gauge out their answers over the phone which is proving to be not at all effective or helpful to either of them.

Y/N sniffles again, “My hamster, Marcy...” She inhales to prevent a sob from escaping her lungs, “...died this morning.”

Rae has heard enough to be sent into action.

                                                            *  *  *

“Thank you so much, Rae. I would’ve probably stayed in bed all day with no effort to keep living whatsoever. You’re an amazing person, I hope you know that.“ Y/N gives the hand of Rae’s that’s holding hers a small squeeze, “I’m so lucky to have you.“

The two friends have been sitting on the couch in Y/N’s living room, the atmosphere a mix of melancholy and comfort. The comfort Rae’s been offering Y/N for the past hour or so has been almost entirely silent, in the form of physical affection, to be exact - hugs, soothing backrubs, gentle abstract patterns drawn on their arm, playing with their hair etc. Needless to say, it’s been far more effective than the attempt of calming them down and helping them out over a phone call.

“Don’t ever thank me for being your friend, Y/N. The honor’s all mine“ Rae rubs Y/N’s shoulder reassuringly, resting her head against theirs.

“Rae, you ditched a whole damn stream for me! Of course I’m gonna thank you! Who else would do that for me?“ Y/N protests, their glossy eyes looking up at Rea, lit up by the small smile that has managed to make its way onto their face.

“Only someone utterly stupid and heartless WOULDN’T do that for you.“ Rae says firmly, holding stern eye-contact with her friend.

Y/N looks away almost shyly, smile growing wider, their cheeks becoming rosier. “You have a way with words, you know...” They bite their lip nervously, “Could you help me express my emotions in the post I’ve been planning to make all day? My fans loved Marcy and I’m sure they’ll be as crushed as I am, I just want to appear strong so they don’t worry about me, you know?” They shrug their shoulders hesitantly as another tear escapes their eye.

Rae carefully and gently wipes their tear away with her knuckles, “Of course, Y/N. You don’t have to do this alone - you don’t have to do ANYTHING alone. Because you are never alone - you’ll always have me.”

Something about what Rae just said and the way she said it has struck a nerve in Y/N that has provoked a few more tears to spill out of their eyes as they somehow manage to whisper a: “Thank you” before throwing their arms around Rae, enveloping her entirely in the warmest of embraces. 

Meanwhile....

“Yo guys, how long does it take for a router to be reset?“ Sykkuno asks his fellow ghostie buds out of the blue.

“Less than five minutes. Why?“ Lily replies.

“Cause Rae said she’d reset her router and be back but she’s been gone for two hours so....“

[norcumii]

for the ask meme: Rex/Obi or pairing/characters of choice - Werewolf/vampire AU / Sick/injured / Stranded Due to Inclement Weather / Huddling for warmth

For this trope mashup meme.

This was CLEARLY influenced by seananmcguire's Newsflesh series, which was the last zombie related media I interacted with, and I regret NOTHING.

(Meanwhile, much worldbuilding was done by Dogmatix, who I was foolish enough to let near the plunnies again ^_^)

*****

The problem with zombies, Obi-Wan couldn’t help but muse, was that they stopped thinking. Oh, there was some low-level intelligence left in there, but it was mostly focused on consuming the living. Not tactics, for the most part, not unless the bastards were very fresh or in large enough groups, but that also meant that when some brilliant asshole declared “oh, the zombies wouldn’t/couldn’t ever do that,” no one consulted the zombies.

Thus, an early morning patrol in an area that “never saw more than one or two zombies” turned into a clusterfuck retreat. Though ‘patrol’ was rather a gross overstatement for just the two of them taking an idle walk because some days, Rex was too jittery for sleep and too damn self-sacrificing to admit that he missed early morning runs.

There was always enough fog coming in from the river that they should have been fine.

There also shouldn’t have been an entire pack of at least a dozen, dozen and a half zombies in the area. Where the fuckers had even come from was an unpleasant mystery.

“Rex?” Obi-Wan murmured into the man’s ear. “Are you with me?” he asked as if he couldn’t make out the glacially slow beat of his heart.

Rex groaned, head lolling to nestle further in the crook of Obi-Wan’s neck. He mumbled something that was probably a curse, which left Obi-Wan in the unenviable position of having to close his eyes and take his own steadying breath. Yes, on the one hand he did have an unfairly attractive boyfriend draped across his lap, straddling his hips and feeling like he was several seconds away from some serious necking.

On the other, they were also treed a good thirty feet above a pack of damned zombies, which had already tried seriously munching on Rex, and ‘necking’ could have serious consequences when one of them was an actual vampire.

Speaking of. Obi-Wan shifted in the cautious little jig in an attempt to nudge Rex more to the left. If he could just free up his arm enough, then he could move around while not tossing them off the tree stand or dislodging the thick emergency poncho that was the only thing keeping Rex from turning into a charred crisp. It was not sized for two, but there hadn’t been time to be more careful and drape it over just Rex instead of just plonking it down over the two of them.

“If you refuse to leave base again without your entire damned armor because of this, I’m going to be very put out,” Obi-Wan informed him, getting another incoherent unhappy noise. The armor was good at keeping the soldiers bite free – not that they needed to worry about the zombification business, but it still hurt them and fed the damn undead. It was also effective at keeping the soldiers touch starved and isolated in ways Obi-Wan had difficulty standing.

Another careful shift, and he could just barely dig out one of the small, squishy packs he kept in his jacket for emergencies.

Since his luck was shit, as soon as he pulled it free, the bastard caught on a loose thread, and with his claws he didn’t dare grab too hard for it, and down it tumbled. One of the zombies lunged, snapping at it, and blood exploded all across the remains of the bastard’s face.

Not being too intelligent, the rest of the pack turned on it immediately. Obi-Wan tried to tune out the disgusting carnage, being much more careful on his second attempt. He didn’t have many packets to spare. This one, he managed to juggle up in front of Rex’s face, jostling it a little. “Here. Drink,” he ordered, hoping that would be sufficient. He hated trying to insert the little sippy straws – Anakin had loved juice pouches back as a child, and they’d had similar fiendish straws. Anakin had learned how to insert the little bastards without a problem, but he always asked Obi-Wan to do it for him – because Obi-Wan had never quite managed to master the process, and Anakin was a damned brat.

Bad enough when it was juice.

One way or another, Rex was conscious enough to shift and bite down on the plastic packet. It was always a wonder to watch the soldiers’ regenerative powers at work. As the level of mostly artificial plasma lowered, color drained back into Rex’s face, the nasty burns along truly unfair cheekbones fading as muscle and skin reknit. He could smell the distressing blood-and-raw-meat stench fading, and only then did he start to relax.

When things had started to go to hell around the globe, the powers that be had huddled together around their failing infrastructure and went looking for fantastical solutions to unnatural problems. Obi-Wan could only imagine the levels of exhaustion and terror that had led someone to the conclusion that vampires might be immune to the infections that spread the zombie virus. The sheer potential of that going horribly wrong was at least one movie franchise long, if not several, yet somehow they’d dedicated enough science to make artificial vampires. Oh, technically it wasn’t vampirism, but ‘drank blood, super fast and strong, sunburn to death within minutes, resting vitals dropping down far enough to pass as dead’ was close enough for everyone but petty bureaucrats and pedantic assholes.

Even at the time, Obi-Wan had cynically noted how that meant both a short leash, and a strong vested interest in keeping as many people from going zombie as possible. He’d also noted the infuriating demographics of those who were selected for and survived the process of becoming vampires.

He tried not to think on that much nowadays, because the heightened blood pressure and carnage bothered Rex.

The packet slurped dry in a way that always raised Obi-Wan’s hackles, then Rex blinked up at him a few times in confusion. “You’re fuzzy,” Rex accused.

“That’s called a beard, dear,” Obi-Wan drawled in his most obnoxious tone, pretending he didn’t also have fur sprouting most places, nor the partial muzzle of a transformation enough to give him speed and jumping ability enough to get to one of the safe perches they’d set up weeks ago.

The Powers That Be might have created vampires, but they had also somehow missed the small but stubborn population of entirely naturally occurring werewolves (and affiliated were-creatures) around the world. Some, like Obi-Wan and his pack, were doing their damndest to both keep a low profile and help the poor bastards trying to protect the last of humanity.

Some, like Obi-Wan, might have become unwisely open to certain non-lycanthropes due to unfortunate feelings – not that Obi-Wan was ever about to complain about that.

Either his sarcastic tone or the guttural noises of thwarted zombies sank in, because Rex stiffened and glared down. “Fuck!” he hissed, thighs clenching in a way that Obi-Wan both very much did and very much did not appreciate. His eyes damn well crossed at the wiggle that followed – he could only guess that Rex was going for a weapon that he didn’t have.

“Stop that!” he snarled, letting the wolf out a little more. He needed the muscle and mass to keep Rex in place, longer paws digging into the tree trunk for a slightly more secure hold that was notgroping his idiot boyfriend.

His idiot boyfriend leveled a flat, unimpressed look at him. “Really?” Rex grumped. His eyes flicked down, then back up. “Right now?”

“So sorry, but some of us don’t need to ingest extra blood to get it up, and under less fraught circumstances this might be my idea of a good time.” He tried for a drawl, but it was much more strained than he meant. Oh well, it wasn’t like Rex didn’t know he could be ridiculous. And it really wasn’t intentional.

“Less fraught meaning less zombies?”

“And less daylight.” Obi-Wan didn’t mean for his tone to turn sharp, either, but it did even as he very carefully wrapped his arms tighter around Rex. He made certain not to disturb the poncho, but he, at least, wanted the reassurance. He still wasn’t over the terror of having to go mostly wolf to grab Rex from the pack he was trying to slow down, nor the horror of slinging him over a shoulder to go pelting through the trees. Madcap desperation to find a tree stand before a foggy dawn was not his idea of fun. “Your life is worth a hell of a lot more than an inconvenient hard on.”

Rex huffed a laugh, leaning in to rest his cheek against Obi-Wan’s. “Stop being charming.”

“I’m afraid that’s going to happen approximately never. So sorry.”

For a moment, it was just them – two idiots cuddled together, healthy and alive on a genuinely beautiful, bright Spring morning.

Then a terrible gurgling noise broke the moment, and Rex glanced down at the pack still mingling around the tree, groaning their displeasure at not remembering how to climb. “Was that a zombie?” he asked, as if he damn well didn’t know the truth.

“Shapeshifting burns calories,” Obi-Wan reminded him primly. “As does marathon sprints lugging around idiots like potato sacks.”

“That explains the bruises on my stomach,” he muttered, shifting about to rummage in one of Obi-Wan’s pockets. “Jerky?”

“Please.” All in all, now that matters were calmer, Obi-Wan almost hoped that a rescue would take its sweet time. This was almost nice – all things considered.

~end

[fenheart87]

Sprint Challenge: 3.31.21

I am aware this is a day late but it's finally done!

"Dude, how did you mess this up?!"

 "I did everything you told me to!"

 "Bro, obviously not! Now we have a sleeping beauty who didn't consent nor a way to wake her up! Our grades are gone and maybe our magical career period! We don't even know if she's a witch or a human!" Nino's voice rose with his stress to a higher pitch, hands clutching his short curls, his hat long forgotten on the floor when he first entered the room. 

"I know this Nino!"

 "Adrien. Dude, bro I need you to think very carefully and tell me what you used for this potion."

 "I don’t remember the exact order but I wrote down most of it on this paper. I used all the ingredients listed, like you told me to." The blonde pulled the page from his spell journal where it was tucked and passed it over for observation.

 "Okay well half of these would kill a human, vampire or any type of sea related being. So she's magical somehow at least."

“Because that makes me feel better…” The wind based wizard muttered.

“It should! It means she’s sleeping and not dead, you dummy!” The childish insult slipped out before he could help it and the blonde drew back as if he’d been slapped.

“I’m the dummy? You’re not much better if you can’t reverse the spell you gave me!” Adrien snapped, moving from his seated position to start pacing as the stress was finally hitting him. Even Plagg, his familiar, seemed to be judging his newest failure.

“Dude, chillax. I promise we can fix this, it’s just going to take some time… Hopefully no one puts up a missing poster.” The Earth affiliated wizard-to-be moved from the couch where the young woman slept and started to pull together the ingredients used.

“Nino! Seriously?!” 

“Adrien, I got you. It will be fine, now I need your help to recreate this potion so I can figure out a reverse or cure depending on its… Potency.”

Adrien grumbled but made his way over to the workbench, picking up Plagg from the back of the couch on his way. Using the hand written instructions they measured out the ingredients and consulted other books on the different effects mixing the ingredients would have. In the midst of their research a knock sounded at the door. Nino left his blonde friend to answer the door. Pulling the heavy oak open revealed another teen slightly taller and muscular, his hair was a contrast to his dark robes being black faded to teal tips. His hand were raised and empty to show he was non-threatening.

"Hi, I have a somewhat awkward question but I'm looking for someone and hoping you may have seen her? On the petite side, blue black hair in pigtails and wears a ladybug cloak?"

"Sorry can't say that we have, what's her name? We can keep a look out for you."

"That'd be great." The stranger smiled.

"Hey I found something that could help." Adrien piped up from the work table,  drawing the other males attention inward.

"Oh thank God you brought her inside."

Now they were both concerned and eyeing the newcomer with suspicion. Between the two, being an air and earth affinity that knew each other from boyhood, they had countless hours of spellcasting and mock fighting techniques that were being geared up to use against this stranger.

“Ah, that didn’t come out right. Her name is Marinette and her familiar Tikki has been looking for her all day. Usually she’s too busy taking care of everyone else that she forgets herself and well, falls into a mild coma to recover. I don’t think I’ve ever seen her fall asleep this deeply though....”

“So uh, my dude…” Nino carefully spoke, shifting slightly so his wand was easier to reach.

“Luka, you might know Juleka? She’s my little sister.”

“Oh, we have potions class together! Juleka never said anything about a brother though.”

“We’re always around each other so no need to miss or talk about each other. So where did you find Sleeping Beauty? Last I knew she was sketching for Mendelvie’s class.”

“Uh, well…” Adrien shared a look with his best friend and decided to come clean with a sheepish countenance. “Funny story, I was making a potion for class and found the last ingredient I needed near where Marinette was sketching… She asked for something to drink and I gave her the wrong jar…”

"Well whatever you put in it definitely worked to get her to sleep but she's not under a sleeping spell. This is for Bustier's test right?" Nino nodded and let Luka in the room, closing the door behind him. "So the version she wants you to make is the hardest version out there and almost no one can make it. Which is the point, it's a test to your abilities to see what your second affinity could be or help pick a specialization. May I see the ingredient list?"

"Sure. So what year are you?" Nino shuffled the ingredients list over and went back to the Wildflowers of the Forest tome to compare.

"Third year, my apprenticeship starts soon." Luka glanced over the ingredients list and paused noticeably, scanning the ingredients on the table. "Are these the exact ingredients you used? Everything looks and smells the same?"

"Yeah, everything's here." Adrien double checked each jar and sprig, only hesitating on the belladonna blossoms. "I used pink ones instead of the purple."

"You sir, are a very lucky accidental genius." The older wizard sighed and the tension seemed to finally melt away. "Your mix up saved her life and created a sleep tonic. Marinette is half Naga and that much belladonna apparently helps her sleep because she has venom sacs that are potent enough to absorb the deadly part."

"We don't need to tell Ms. Bustier do we?" The wind wizard asked nervously. 

"Probably, there are other Naga students and I know several other reptile species that could benefit from it. Also incase of a sneak attack the chance to study cures would be invaluable." Luka clapped a gentle hand on each of their shoulders before moving to pick up the still sleeping student. As Marinette yawned she exposed her fangs that were bared as a defense while in her sleeping state, her tongue flickering along Luka's jaw to bury her face in his crook of his shoulder.

"That's kind of creepy but cool…" Nino remarked, starting to clear up the research mess.

"It helps that she knows me, Nagas much like their snake counterparts can taste the air to smell."

"Oh my Gods, Adrien dude! You should totally get with Kagami!"

"What?" The blond was looking at the other like he was crazy with his outburst.

"She's a Naga, they taste air, yanno wind? The only thing that's between your ears?"

"Did you just-" Adrien turned towards Luka who politely coughed carefully to hide his laugh and not wake up the still slumbering girl. "Did he just call me an airhead?!"

"Well I'll leave you to it, let me know if you need anything. Jules knows how to find me." With that parting remark he left the squabbling younger wizards to clean up and compile a report for their grade. With a quick glance around, the wizard opened a secret passageway and took it as a shortcut to near where Marinette's rooms were.

"Mm, my mate… warm and safe, good mate…" Marinette murmured in her sleep and it took everything in Luka to not drop the sleeping girl like she just dropped that bombshell. That was something to unpack at a much later date and when the mixed Naga was awake.

[bellatrixobsessed1]

From Chin To Yon Rah (Part 23)

When Hao-Bai had mentioned that they were nearing the end of the grassland, Azula hadn’t thought that, that would mean entering a forest that seemed just as endless. It is such a stark contrast to the still quietness of the plains. Here in the forest there is movement all around and a noise for every nook and cranny.

It leaves her with a potent sense of yearning. Yearning for another afternoon spent on the bridge with Hajime chucking chunks of bread at turtle-ducks. He always had to remind her to either take smaller chunks or throw them less forcefully. “They are light and I have to make sure that I throw them hard enough to reach the turtle-ducks.”

Hajime would roll his eyes and mutter, “you and Atsu are horrible.”

There is no pond in this forest as far as she can see and there are no turtle-ducks. There are, however, scampering toad-squirrels and lop-eared rabbits. A lively abundance of them. It is rather comforting.

“How much better are you feeling?” Hao-Bai asks.

“Significantly. Why?”

“Min-Ta and I could use some help with something if you are able.”

Azula nods, whatever it is, she supposes it is the least she can do given that they have saved, cared for, cleaned, and fed her. “What do you need help with?”

Hao-Bai brings the ostrich-horses to a halt, slips off of it, and retrieves an axe.  He gestures to the second, empty cart. “I’m a lumberjack by trade, an extra hand would be very helpful, if you’re able.”

She takes the axe. “I used to harvest turnips…”

He offers her a gentle smile. “Long as you’ve got some arm strength and pick the right trees, it isn’t so hard.”

Azula shifts the axe in her arm and gives the forest a skeptical scan. None of the tree trunks looks particularly small. This isn’t exactly a beginner friendly forest. “This is going to take hours?”

Hao-Bai chuckles. “My wife and I can down trees in fourteen to fifteen minutes.”

“You’ve been doing this for a long time.” Azula counters. “I did gardening.” Gardening and firebending better than the best of people. Once upon a time she could scale buildings and take down foes twice her height and weight. But, Agni, it has been so long and that vast plain has drained her so thoroughly. She isn’t sure that she still has her shine. She hasn’t exactly retained her toned build.

“You said that your name is Azula, right?” Min-Ta asks.

She nods.

“As in Princess Azula?”

She nods again.

“Then I’m sure that you can handle this.” The woman smiles. “It’s all about knowing when blunt force is required and when it’s time to start sawing.”

Again she tests the weight of the axe in her hands.

“Follow me, I can show you.” Hao-Bai motions. The man has her standing before a massive pine. “A lot of people seem to think that it’s all about the axe. Really the axes is used to give you  a start. Give it a good hit, a sixty degree angle ought to do it.” He pauses, presumably to make sure that she is still following. She confirms with a nod and he returns it before continuing. “You are going to make a decent notch at the base of the tree, put the axe down, and start sawing. Your tree will fall in the direction of the notch.” He pauses once more. “I think it’s common sense, but, in case they don’t teach that in your nobility schools, after you make that last strike you run in the opposite direction of the fall. But don’t go straight back, in case the tree decides to fall the wrong way. You go off to the side a bit.”

He creates his first notch, “I anticipate the tree falling that way.” He points. “So when I make the final chop, I wanna be right here.” He comes to stand several feet back and well off to the side.

“I could have figured that out.”

He shakes, “had a young man who couldn’t, I don’t take that chance now.” He holds up the saw and brings it to the trunk. “Watch me first, then you and my wife can get to work.”

She finds herself a spot to sit and observes the man as he sinks his axe into the tree one final time. With a notch created to his liking. He takes to it with a saw. Within minutes there comes a great crack. And with the great crack comes a great toppling. Somehow, she finds it sad to watch such a proud and majestic thing drop. To see it’s vivid green branches meet the ground. She wonder if this is what it was like to watch her fall.

She gets to her feet and makes her way over to the smallest tree that she can find. Mimicking the arc of Hao-Bai’s arms to the best of her ability. And when axe meets three, the force of it vibrates down her arm and to her chest.

Her strike doesn’t deal as much damage as Hao-Bai’s had. She recalls that she has never really been one for powerful hits and jabs but rather subtle and effective ones. She is quick and nimble, she isn’t a tank like Hao-Bai.

Her work isn’t so quick and it takes several blows to create a worthy knotch. She is breathless by the time she begins to make use of the saw. And she breathes heavier still by the time she cuts it all the way through. When it falls it kicks up a satisfying aroma of damp bark and sap.

Every now and then Hao-Bai pauses his work to steal a glance at her. The burly man doesn’t seem to mind that she is only able to fell one tree for every three that he and his wife take down.

Azula find that even when she is through with her work she can hear it in her ears, a steady and rhythmic knocking. Her hands are well and calloused again and her muscles throb. She has to finish one last tree. Just one more.

By the time, Hao-Bai is satisfied with their haul, the crickets are waking and the night chill has begun to set in. She is covered in sap and smells lightly of sweat and heavily of resin. She hasn’t felt so sore since the last time she’d run through the hardest of her katas.

She huffs and has herself a seat on one of their newly chopped stumps. She fans herself with her hand.

“Here you go.” Min-Ta holds out a steaming bowl.

Azula takes it and cradles it in her palms, savoring the way it warms them.

“Thank you for your help. Means a lot.” Hao-Bai pats her shoulder. “Ya did good work.”

Azula nods. She stirs her soup and brings the spoon to her lips. She likes to think that she catches onto things quickly. She furrows her brows into her soup, strangely quickly. She wonders if she is better suited to be a peasant than a princess. Wonders if she had gotten it wrong all along, that she hadn’t been born with the divine right to rule, but rather the divine right to do literally anything but.

“I always heard that the Fire Nation did things differently,” Min-Ta remarks as though reading her mind, “I didn’t realize that royalty was trained to labor.”

“I’m self taught.” Azula shrugs. Though the labors of war must count as well.

“All the better.” Hao-Bai chuckles.

Azula hands her empty bowl back and wanders her way over to the caravan. The lumberjack begins tuning his guitar as she retires for the night. She unbinds her hair and curls herself up.

“You really wore her out.” Ta-Min laughs.

“The woman is a hard worker.” He notes.

She supposes that it is kind to fall asleep to compliments. It has been a while since she has. She falls asleep to a now familiar singing and the delicate strings of a pipa. Atsu and Caihong would have loved the melody. That day she learns to appreciate a day of hard work.

.oOo.

TyLee hands her a glass of water, “how are your crops?”

Azula gestures to them and frowns, “the strawberries have begun growing in the turnip garden.”

She isn’t sure how that could have come to be until she catches Sokka grimacing. “I might have mixed up the seeds, maybe.”

“How?” Azula grumbles. “Turnip seeds are a blackish red and strawberry seeds are more of a yellow-brown.”

“Does it really matter, they’re growing just fine?”

“They are supposed to be growing just fine in neat and separate crops.” Azula folds her arms over her chest.

“Or, they can grow happily together.” He wraps his arms around her torso and rests his chin on her shoulder.

“You can get as cuddly as you want, Sokka, that won’t change that you are a dreadful gardener.”

He kisses her neck. “I don’t need to be a good gardener as long as I am a helpful and supportive one.”

TyLee clasps her hands together, “you guys are so-o cute.” She turns to Mai, “they’re cute, aren’t they.”

Mai shrugs. “Sure.”

Azula wiggles her way out of his grasp, picks up a spade, and closes Sokka’s finger around it. “You are going to help me dig these up and plant them where they belong, with the other strawberries.”

“Is that even possible?”

Azula nods, “I’ve seen Seukhyun do it. As long as you don’t damage the roots…” She pauses. “Actually, I’ll worry about the strawberries, you dig me a few holes to put them in. They should be spaced approximately eighteen inches apart for ample growing room. Use a measuring tape if you must.”

He rubs the back of his head. “Geeze, you’re taking this gardening thing seriously.”

“Sokka, do you know what you get when you don’t take this gardening thing seriously?”

“What?”

“A dead strawberry field and complaining townsfolk.”

“There are no complaining townsfolk in this scenario.”

“I’m the complaining townsfolk, Sokka.”

The man sighs and she gives him a faux-innocent smile, a bat of her lashes. “Alright fine, eighteen inches apart.”  He hooks her around the middle again and gives her a gentle shake before taking the shovel. “You better appreciate my hard work.”

“Do a good job and I will.” Azula shrugs.

For a good while she simply observes his work. Only when she is satisfied that he is doing it to her liking does she begin carefully digging the strawberries out of their current places. “We’re going to need more turnip seeds to fill in the spaces left by the strawberries.”

“Then let’s go into town and buy some seeds.”

“We’ll finish here first.” Azula carefully plucks the first strawberry from its place and tucks it into the hole that Sokka has just dug. It is tedious and methodical work, but eventually she has the transplant done.

She stands up and dusts the dirt off of her knees and palms. Regardless she is going to need a bath. “Ready?”

“You’re not going to get all washed up first?”

Azula shrugs. “We’re going to the marketplace, not a prestigious theater.” She brushes a sweep of hair out of her face. The look on Sokka’s tells her that he is still unused to some of her more lax mannerisms. Though she is certain that it relaxes him.

.oOo.

Somehow he still has to get used to seeing her like this. Free and relatively untroubled. Confused and still hurt but able to smile. In one hand she holds her small burlap pouch of seeds, in the other is his hand.

Her touch is warm and somewhat calloused but soft all the same. Her personality seems to have a very similar texture.

He think that she enjoys being out and about, wandering the streets of Caldera city with a breeze in her hair. Especially now that she has grown accustomed to people gawking every  now and again. He is under the impression that they like to stare simply because she has only just begun making more intimate public appearances. It might also be that she is holding hands with a waterbender with a light dusting of dirt on her robes.

He listens to her has she explains her exact vision for their garden and how they should approach it, nodding and commending her perfect attention to detail. It is nice to see her being so enthusiastic about something.

Truth be told, he rather hated gardening. He never had to worry about it in the tribes and it always came hard to him. But he finds that he doesn’t have to pretend to be interested, her own delight is rather easy to cling to.

“We could also try planting bananas.” She muses. Though he isn’t sure if she is actually speaking to him anymore or if she is talking to herself. “But I heard that those are more challenging and I would like to--” She stops short and brings her walk to a halt.

“Why are we--”

She seems to study the crowd very intensely and his stomach squirms. Until now it has slipped his mind that there might still be people who harbor resentment towards her. But when she locks eyes, it is with a child. A small girl with ruddy cheeks, long hair, and vivid green, Earth Kingdom eyes.

“Rikka!” She shouts.

Azula’s face pales. Her hand goes stiff in his.

[eldritch-elrics]

i rewatched the entire ice age series and i have opinions

after rewatching some of the madagascar movies, me and @calocybe​ decided to embark on a quest to watch more animated series from our childhood. an obvious choice was ice age! so, i present to you: finn’s comprehensive ice age opinions masterpost.

read on for an in-depth review of each movie, my opinions on what the series does well (good animation, really fun chase scenes) and what it does not so well (manny is an awful protagonist), and some other things too (like my analysis of queerness in ice age)

first of all, a ranking of the five movies from best to worst:

ice age

dawn of the dinosaurs

collision course

the meltdown

continental drift

first movie

definitely the best

accidental baby acquisition…

it’s just a really good premise. three bros with completely different personalities are forced to work together towards a common goal that doesn’t even benefit any of them personally!

it’s silly and charming and well-written

diego’s arc is especially well-done and it’s easy to follow the way his personality and opinions change

my theory is that they made this movie because they wanted to show off how good they were at animating ice. most of the models and stuff are not very realistically rendered but the ice is honestly pretty impressive

honestly hilarious, has really good visual gags

one of my favorite parts is where they go into the ice cave and find like the ufo and stuff

also the baby does the vulcan hand sign at the ufo which was so subtle and REALLY funny

the ice slide scene. incredible

and then it transitions to the cave painting part with a fantastic depiction of manny’s backstory in a way that’s honestly heart-wrenching??

i wonder if the death of his own family is the cause of his annoying clinginess in later movies, especially with regards to peaches. unfortunately this never comes up again

there are some genuinely emotionally affecting moments in this movie, especially with the humans (when the human woman gives away her baby, when they return the baby to the group) - plus, kudos for conveying all that emotion with no dialogue

this is the only movie where manny’s emotional stuntedness is actually somewhat endearing rather than aggravating

this is also the movie with the most interesting villains - they feel like an especially relevant threat to the protags, and putting diego in with manny and sid creates both good tension and good humor

i wonder why the humans never came back. i think subsequent movies could have benefited from their presence, though i have no idea in what ways. not sure how they would’ve pulled it off but having the baby they rescued in the first movie appear as an adult in a later movie is a plot point that i think would have had the potential to be really powerful

second movie (the meltdown)

pretty underwhelming after the first movie

plot feels disjointed and the climax is weak

i feel like they were trying to go for this sort of found family vs nuclear family / reproductive futurism bent but didn’t entirely succeed and instead made the themes feel muddled. especially after the first movie which was all about rejecting heteronormative standards of family, having manny suddenly go “oop i’m the last mammoth better Reproduce” was a bit jarring

even if he isn’t actually the last mammoth, it feels like the wrong way to start a romance

in general the romance between ellie and manny isn’t very well-done in my opinion.

manny should’ve apologized for getting so offended when ellie freaked out about the pressure to save their species, but instead ellie apologized for “overreacting” for some reason???

number of biblical parallels: a surprising amount??

you’ve got. sid as a jesus figure to the sloth tribe, the ark saving them from the flood, scrat as moses??

the villains in this one were super boring they were just like… evil fish…

ok i’ve said too many mean things about this movie. to atone let me present this opinion: the scene where the vultures sing a parody of “food, glorious food” from oliver completely unprompted is one of the best moments in the series

also the possum brothers are wonderful

third movie (dawn of the dinosaurs)

this was my favorite as a kid!!

it’s still really good

it doesn’t take itself seriously and that’s wonderful. like… dinosaurs? in the ice age? objectively stupid plot. who cares

buck is the best character ever he’s so much fun

buck’s entire thing is also being a VERY cliche kooky adventurer but the way that they play with it and are self-aware about it makes it good

also i legitimately get chills at the scene where he explains his tragic backstory with rudy

god the romance with the female scrat is SO stupid but at least they’re clearly making fun of romantic tropes here

good team-building shenanigans, like the laughing gas sequence

there’s probably something to be said about the ways that family is portrayed in this movie but sorry i’m too busy looking at the scene where they get swallowed by a giant plant and buck has to like cut its veins like he’s diffusing a bomb

also i do need to mention that the scene where they find the carnage of sid’s attempt at feeding vegetables to the dino babies and buck goes off on his whole silly detective-shtick about what must’ve happened (“leaving broccoli… a vegetable!!!”) was my favorite scene in the series as a kid. it’s so wonderfully absurd!

there are a surprising amount of dick jokes in this movie? and by that i mean like 2 but. it’s really funny rewatching this and going “holy shit”

there’s also a joke about a butterfly dude that i’m pretty sure is a trans joke (“i knew that guy as a caterpillar! yknow, before he came out”) so that was also pretty funny

this movie parallels the first 2 by 1. having sid take care of kids and 2. having a group of creatures who copy all of sid’s wacky movements. i don’t have anything more to say i just think that’s funny

buck and rudy are kismeses send tweet

fourth movie (continental drift)

yeah okay this one’s the worst

it takes itself too seriously and that is its downfall

feels tonally off from the other ones

i saw this movie during the height of my hyperfixation on plate tectonics and i remember being very offended at the fact that they made such a mockery of the way it actually worked… :pensive:

(granted, poorly-done science is a cornerstone of ice age, so i can’t really say shit)

anyway this one really felt like a jumble of cliches. the enemies-to-lovers thing with diego! peaches’ teenager problems! manny’s troubles of raising a teenager! all the mean girls! evil pirates! sirens! woooo!

it just didn’t feel all that original and it didn’t play with the tropes like 3 did

what is it in this series with guys not apologizing for their sexism and then getting the girl anyway

also wow. damsels in distress much

sheera’s design is also such a generic “female animal” look

the ape dude was a boring villain and too much of the movie focused on the pirates

okay BUT the sea shanty scene slapped. had some good rhythm and clever lyrics

lewis was good and i’m glad he stayed friends with peaches

the water was well-animated! maybe they made this movie so they could show off how good they were at rendering water

the chipmunk creatures on the island are like knockoff minions/ewoks

in general this movie felt way less funny than the others. less punchy dialogue

fifth movie (collision course)

solidly in the middle of my movie ranking. not as good as 1 or 3, better than 2 and 4

this was my first time seeing this movie! which means that my view of it isn’t colored by nostalgia, and also that i have a lot more to say about it i guess

first of all it’s wild to see how much the animation has progressed… this one was so well-rendered wow

i liked this one a lot more than i expected to! it was a good time, and, like 3, didn’t take itself seriously, which is always great

the whole thing is built off a lot of bullshit science which offends my inner scifi nerd BUT i think they pulled it off quite well

the fact that they got neil degrasse tyson to do voiceovers is just so funny

they’ve firmly established by now that the ice age universe can fully ignore the laws of science when it wants to, especially with regards to scrat and his butterfly-effect influence on the world

okay buckle up because i have a lot to say about scrat actually.

scrat’s ability to influence the universe has been steadily increasing as the series goes on, so it made sense that he would be the catalyst for the apocalypse in this one

and also the catalyst for the creation of the solar system i guess?? which was very stupid. i say that in an endearing way. that beginning scene was super fun & wacky

absolutely brilliant way to bring the ufo from movie 1 back btw

ok so the prophecy tablet thing that buck brings back? he finds it by pressing a button with the outline of an acorn on it and that’s very interesting to me

at that point in the movie i was really invested because i thought that scrat and the protagonists were finally going to be forced to confront each other on the same level. the idea that ice age might finally break its unwritten rule of “the protags can never know scrat as the force of global change that he really is” was legitimately exciting to me, and it seemed appropriate for the last movie in the franchise

unfortunately this did not happen. scrat just keeps doing his silly scrat shenanigans

um anyway let’s talk about some of the other characters!

manny continues to suck. more on this in the “low points as a franchise” section

peaches was actually really good in this one! she’s grown out of her “teenage stereotype” phase and into a character with a believable narrative about growing up and moving out.

her boyfriend is adorable and i was surprised to discover i actually liked their relationship!

sid did not need to be paired off though. neither did diego. what is up with kids’ movies and their shallow heterosexual romances

buck is back and he is fruitier than ever

man i really like buck. he’s so silly and irreverent and flamboyant and it’s like kind of embarrassing to watch sometimes but it’s ok he’s just doing his own thing

the villains were pretty good in this one. i liked how the female dino didn’t have a stereotypically feminine design

on an entirely different topic: let’s talk about the aesthetic direction!

the scifi thing was super fun. like, absolutely wild for a series about the ice age, but whatever. i like scifi

like the whole superpower magnetism shit, especially the scene in the forest? great! especially reminiscent of the climax of the guardians of ga’hoole movie

however the whole dive into the crystal cave environment was a lil tonally dissonant and i think it should have been cut (introduced an entire new world/characters way too late in the plot and didn’t have time to develop them enough, went too far down the rabbit hole of magic healing crystals jokes and all that stuff which didn’t seem to relate to the rest of the story at all, introduced a fun but unnecessary girlfriend for sid, the time could have been better spent making fun of more scifi tropes and developing the villains)

brooke the sloth girl is just miranda from the tempest change my mind also that climax is on a similar level of stupid as that one episode from hoshi no kaabii where they deflect an an entire asteroid using uhhhh cannons i think

but it’s like. whatever. they’ve fucked around with science enough that they deserve this

also i just realized there were no chase scenes in this movie which is so sad??

so there are my thoughts on the individual movies. let’s talk about it as a whole!

high points as a franchise

this series consistently has VERY good chase scenes

just top-tier chase scenes with excellent comedic timing and general pacing

3 is so good because it has a chase as the climax, and that’s what ice age is good at

4 is bad because it doesn’t have a proper chase anywhere!

the animation is really good. by that i mean less like the models are realistic and more that they’re great at conveying emotion and body language through animation

like this is especially true in 1 if you look at the difference between the sort of smooth, not very realistic animation of the humans vs… scrat

like they’ve got the way scrat moves down so well it’s delightful

the movies are, generally, funny

there are good messages about found family, especially in the first couple

low points as a franchise

alright i had a bunch of these written out as universal truths about the series and then 5 actually improved on many of them! so here are some criticisms that apply to the first four movies only:

just… every single female character? they deserve better

too many damsels in distress

all the fat jokes about manny are so unnecessary

the romances are really boring and not very well-written or believable

okay with those out of the way here’s the real biggest issue with the series: manny is an awful protagonist

heterosexual “no fun allowed” man

they keep him sucky so he can have a fresh new character flaw to be worked on in the next movie but that seems like a bad formula for character development, especially how many of his character flaws seem to be related to mistreating the women in his life

the man’s got a major possessiveness issue

he is just the archetypical slightly shitty husband/dad who forgets the anniversary and doesn’t let his daughter see boys and calls women hysterical and yes he does get better at each of the individual problems and he does love his family but that development feels so shallow!

manny is absolutely making AITA posts and getting labeled the asshole

it also feels like he never truly learns from his mistakes. he needs to be learning to apologize properly and most importantly to communicate properly! there’s so little emotional reality to his development and the script always seems to give him the benefit of the doubt when he doesn’t deserve it.

plus, this series is meant for kids and i just don’t think manny is an appropriate or relatable protagonist for that audience?

on a mostly unrelated note, yes i do like the found family themes but when it starts pairing up every single character and implying that all of them are gonna be monogamous het couples and have kids and conform to the nuclear family model. that’s pretty sad

some more random thoughts

my dad once said that ice age fails as a franchise because the premise of the first movie was not strong enough to support sequels. i think i kind of agree - you can see in 2 they’re trying to worldbuild off what little they established in the first movie, and also set up a bigger cast of characters, while still keeping up the “man vs nature” theme that’s such a cornerstone of the series.

i’m not sure they completely succeed. the worldbuilding of ice age isn’t necessarily weak but i do think they could have done more to round out the world and make it feel less like just a prehistoric clone of ours

there’s something about the first movie that makes it feel like a moment suspended in time. we don’t learn very much about the pasts of the characters and they get enough development in one movie that we (or at least i) don’t feel any desperate need to know their futures. it feels complete!

so in all the other movies are working with a set of characters who have ostensibly completed their development. so in each new movie, they need to give the characters more problems. usually this comes from external factors, like new characters. a couple times they do a pretty good job introducing new internal problems for the characters - diego’s quest to get over his fear of water was a pretty good one i thought.

but after a while the main trio just stagnates. diego, once the most compelling character, becomes pretty boring. he doesn’t have anything to do anymore. i’ve already talked about manny - each movie he reverts back into an asshole and it gets old so fast. sid’s a little better; he’s got issues with his family and a desire for a family of his own and all that, but more often than not the conclusions to his arcs are unsatisfying

sid plays the role of the character who’s doomed to never get exactly what he wants, except, like, in a way that’s supposed to be funny. we pity him!

i think he has some archetype parallels with escargon from hoshi no kaabii (why do i keep mentioning hoshi no kaabii) but i am not going into that here oh boy

i feel like i’m juggling a lot in my head right now, but sid’s position as the comedic scapegoat is interesting. i’m sure there’s more to unpack here but i’ve already gone way too deep into this series

there’s also more to unpack when you consider his queercoding hmm

anyway, on that note…

additional thesis: sid the sloth is queer-coded

complicated relationship with family (they hate him and think he’s useless)

lispy voice

cares about “fem” things like children. takes care of kids in both movies 1 and 3. calls himself “mama”

gets pushed into the role of caring for the kid in 1

makes vaguely gay comments at his male friends, like “you have beautiful eyes” to manny

there are literally so many jokes in the first movie like. diego’s “you guys are an odd couple” to manny and sid

that whole part in 4 where he’s trying to kiss the sirens and kisses diego instead and is like “wow romantic”

not interested in the idea of a nuclear/traditional family. see his shenanigans with the dino babies

he is interested in women throughout the series though (bi rights)

5 especially tunes down the queercoding and tunes up the “awkward guy who can’t get girls” angle

so. ice age. is it fun? yes! i definitely enjoyed rewatching the series with my friend. and kids will probably get a kick out of the slapstick and silly dialogue. but if you’re not a kid and looking to (re)watch any of them, i’d probably just stick to the first one.

[xenteaart]

Diplomacy Failure

Summary: The Master and you have an established friendship, a bromance - you’re basically partners in crime. One day the Master comes up with this grand robbery scheme but it takes him months to plan the whole thing out properly, and by the end of it - he’s getting way too impatient and reckless. That’s where you step in.

Warnings: none, pure fluff again

Pairing: Dhawan!Master x Reader

Note: This was supposed to be a short thing so I decided not to create a whole ass backstory around it. The main reason why I wanted to write this was because I usually see MC being mostly submissive in fics (not that there’s anything wrong with it whatsoever) and I craved some diversity so here it goesss. 

Huge thanks and lots of love to my incredible beta @wonders-of-the-multiverse​ i love you to bits <3

The last few months have been hard to say the least. After years of knowing the Master you’d grown accustomed to his severe mood swings, but this was something else. 

Most of the time you never really bothered to get to know all the details of his typically complex and intricate schemes. You simply trusted him with those and did what he asked you to do, not taking any liberty to make your own decisions because he did know better. He was the one spending restless days and nights planning everything out after all, so you never really questioned anything. Until today. 

He was getting impatient and it wasn’t a good thing at all. 

The Master had an impressive set of skills, the ability to wait and execute slow-burn plans exceptionally well being one of them. However this time, he got way too invested in what he was doing, his near obsession leading you to believe it had something to do with the Doctor in the long run.

As for now, he needed to get his hands on something “very valuable and very important” and he was planning to steal it, of course. It was no common robbery though, the ship you were now finding yourselves on was huge. No, massive, so simply threatening a few creatures with his TCE and acquiring the object wasn’t a viable option. The ship’s obscenely advanced security systems were not working in your favor either.

The two of you were pretending to be a regular married couple, mere visitors to the event and so painfully ordinary in your nature as to not draw any attention. Keeping a low profile was essential.

The Master called from somewhere below the console where corridors led to the wardrobe room, and since you weren’t occupied with anything even remotely important you joined him right away. You were happy to merely see him and talk to him considering he now preferred the company of a thousand papers with all sorts of layouts, schemes, his own scribbles and something else in Gallifreyan that you had no way of understanding. 

“What’s that?” you asked, a little taken aback by his excessively fancy suit. 

“Your dress is right there, try it on and see if it fits,” he said casually as he looked in the mirror, ignoring your question and waving his hand at the sophisticated purple dress that was laid out on a nearby sofa. 

Ah. Matching outfits. He could never resist the drama of it.

You looked at the dress, the decoration on it exquisite and lavish. A quiet sigh escaped your lips as you tried not to laugh too loudly.

“If that’s for tomorrow, we’re not wearing that.” you uttered, not even trying to hide your amused grin at this point.

“What? Why?”

“Because we need to be wearing this,” you pointed at a horrendous blue suit and a dress of the matching color, the shade and design of both so ugly and simplistic that the clothing wouldn’t look good on either of you. 

A displeased frown flitted across the Master’s features.

“Come on, we need to look pitiful. Men of wealth love playing charity and chatting with lower class people, helping them out with whatever. It makes them feel better about themselves, boosts their ego.” you elaborated, your words heavily accompanied by expressive hand waving and vocal shifts.

He blinked a couple of times and looked at himself in the mirror again, trying to make peace with the idea of this fashion crime you were both about to commit.

The first step of his plan was relatively easy - he was doing the networking and you were doing the smiling as the two of you were slowly getting closer and closer to higher rank guests that were usually a little too drunk and clueless to not accidentally give away the information you needed most, that being - where the security control room was located. Getting a sample of some rich and wasted guest’s DNA was also part of the job since they all had unlimited access to all parts of this ship. As of now, you were getting a feeling you were never even going to make it to that point. 

The Master wasn’t very good at tolerating stupidity, especially when nobody knew and feared who he was. To all of these arrogant and self-absorbed upper class assholes, he was literally a peasant. Little did they know. 

You could see his hand playing with the TCE in his pocket as he was seriously considering whether to take it out and end this shitshow here and now. That would probably feel really good for a couple of minutes but then both of you would be captured and very likely executed on the spot because no matter how intimidating and dangerous the Master was - the quantity of creatures on the ship would be an undeniable advantage on their side. Plus, he’d spent so much time on plan A, there wasn’t any room for plan B, you figured.

Granted, dying wasn’t something the Master was ever afraid of. But you were human with no spare lives, so his impatience would mean very bad news for you.

“Don’t you want to take a break from this?” you asked timidly, standing in the doorway and not daring to let yourself into the Master’s working space just yet since knocking on the door did nothing to catch his attention. 

He was rapidly glancing all over the papers, his mind being evidently busy with something of more significance than your presence. 

“I can get you some coffee if you like? Or... anything at all, really,” you made another attempt at starting a conversation but it was met with silence once again, except this time you noticed hints of irritation in the way he was making notes and moving things around his table, mercilessly digging his pen into his notebook and purposely making a lot more noise while searching for something buried under these piles of paper.

“Yeah, no worries then.” you sighed as you saw yourself out of the room. 

You were getting fed up with this.

As you were standing next to him and contemplating your options, you felt the air around you change a little. It was an insignificant shift but you were particularly sensitive to emotional fields people and other creatures tended to create, and right now the atmosphere did not feel friendly.

You looked at the Master and then back at the greenish humanoid looking creature he was talking to. The conflict was clearly starting to develop, filling the space around you with tension and unease. 

You were so close to the control room, you couldn’t let that happen. There were only a few more floors you had to pass in order to get to the royalty hall where your main mission would be taking place. 

“For Christ’s sake.” you thought to yourself, recognizing the familiar burning anger in the Master’s eyes as he was slowly losing his already weak grasp on his temper and reaching for his pocket, his actions now fuelled with proper intention of making the man pay for his disrespect and bad manners.

The problem with the Master was - no matter how brilliant and clever his ideas were, his emotions and temper would always get in the way. You had to learn it the hard way by nearly getting killed a couple of times because of it in the past. But pissing off a few soldiers and running away was one thing, and acting hostile on a space station sized ship with no quick way out was a completely different story. 

“I am so sorry, sir, my husband suffers from this terrible condition,” you spoke as you looked at the Master intensely, doing your best to wordlessly communicate with him and beg him to stay silent, “where he gets unreasonably aggressive when he’s upset.”

The man’s expression was now plagued with confusion but it was a good sign, you thought. He was paying attention.

“He’s just frustrated we can’t yet afford to lead a life like yours, sir. Isn’t that right, darling?” you patted the Master on the back, your voice now so sugary sweet it made you want to vomit, but you were committed to your little act and nothing could stop you.

“Please forgive our jealousy, we simply wish to be more like you but it pains us to realize we’re a long way away from that,” saying this made your skin itch, and you were pretty sure the Master’s eye was twitching a little. You looked at him briefly and noted he was indeed… puzzled. 

Your flattery seemed to work wonders on the man’s self esteem, though, his facial expression momentarily switching to pity and its default arrogance mixed with pride. 

You tried not to make eye contact with the Master as you were escorting him away, your hand wrapped around his elbow. Your heart was beating a little too fast for your liking, and your main concern for now was peacefully leaving the floor and avoiding any more fuss on the way because, honestly, you were getting angry yourself.

---

“What the hell was that?” was the first thing he asked you as soon as you both entered the TARDIS safely, the two of you still slightly out of breath from your usual cardio on your way back; the desired object sitting securely in the Master’s pocket.

“I was actually going to ask you this exact same question, how convenient.” you snapped, kicking off your heels and making your way to the console barefoot, the cold metal floor having a soothing effect on your aching feet.

The Master gave you a grim look as he took off his ridiculous and evidently uncomfortable jacket, and swiftly marched towards you. His intimidating aura rarely had any impact on you and you didn’t even flinch at his intrusion of your personal space. You knew all too well he would never hurt you deliberately. 

“I did not allow you to intervene.” 

“You should have seen your face, darling,” you said mockingly, maintaining intense eye contact as if it was a competition on who looks away first. 

“You should have heard your voice, such sweetness and flattery I was worried you were gonna kiss his ring at the end of your speech or something,” he spat out his words with grimaced disgust. 

The two of you stared at each other in complete silence for about half a minute, and your facade dropped first. You burst into laughter, giggling obnoxiously at the memory of the Master’s pure and sincere confusion. You’d never seen him so baffled and mad, the funniest thing of it all being the fact that he had to comply and play along. It made you a little proud of yourself.

The corner of the Master’s lips twitched, his stubbornness and denial still fighting his urge to crack up, but a couple of moments later he finally joined you. Any trace of annoyance was long gone, and a wide smile took over his person as he laughed out loud with you. 

“Idiot.” he commented, still chuckling and grinning while also unbuttoning his lousy shirt. You both wanted to get out of those trashy clothes as soon as possible. 

You suddenly went quiet. With no further talking you simply stepped forwards and hugged the Master tightly, burying your nose in the crook of his neck.

“I’ve missed you.”

He hugged you back, resting one of his hands on your head and ruffling your hair, so very aware of how much you hated it. 

“Missed you too, fool.”

[jokerfan99]

My Top 10 Favorite Anime Villainesses by DarkChild316

Evil has never looked this good! Hello everyone and welcome to my list of my FAVORITE, not the best, but my favorite anime villainesses of all-time. So, I've had the luxury of watching and revisiting a lot of anime recently with everything that's been going on, and there’s been quite a few villainous ladies that have caught my eye, so I figured I should give it a go and do a list of My Favorite Anime Villainesses. So, with that said, here's my list:

#10. Diva (Blood+): This was one of the first anime I remember watching as a young kid, and this lovely lady easily caught my eye more than anyone else in the entire show. I can honestly say that I felt that Diva was more relatable than her sister Saya was (my opinion people, just saying) mostly due to her backstory and how she was kept locked away for most of her life while Saya was treated like a princess. I will admit that her rape and murder of Riku was shocking and it did piss me off a bit, but she ultimately won me over again with her treatment of her unborn children at the end when I got to see the caring side of her that I hadn't seen from her towards anyone else, including her own Chevaliers. Ultimately, Diva is one of my favorite tragic villains of all-time.

#9. Mugino Shizuri (A Certain Magical Index):  Don't let the beautiful supermodel looks and gorgeous frame of this buxom beauty fool you. Mugino Shizuri is a woman who's looks are only matched by her ability to physically melt people's heads off. Add to that the fact that she's a total basket case who slowly devolved into a cold-blooded murderer who was willing to kill her own ITEM teammates for even the slightest betrayal, and you my friend have a recipe for a..."beautiful disaster" (that is an excellent pun, sit down somewhere!)

#8. Annie Leonhardt (Attack on Titan): Attack on Titan is a show I've recently started getting into and it's cast of characters really capture my imagination. One of the characters that really stands out to me is Annie, not just because she uses one of my favorite fighting styles in Muay Thai kickboxing (which she uses to devastating effect), but also in her introverted and isolated personality which serves as almost a dark mirror of Mikasa Ackerman. In a world full of terrifying monsters in human form, Annie sticks out as the most unsettling because of how coldly apathetic she remains to her individual actions as a double agent sent to wipe out humanity, and one can never truly tell if she might shake your hand or snap your neck.

#7. Rize Kamishiro (Tokyo Ghoul): Poor Kaneki, it really looked like he'd found the girl of his dreams when he met Rize Kamishiro. She was stunningly beautiful, mature, well-read, and seemed to be genuinely interested in him. Alas, he was soon to learn the harsh reality behind this beautiful face, as she lured him in, only to literally take a bite out of his heart (or neck, depending on how you want to look at it). As it turned out, Kaneki's 'dream girl' is actually a nightmarish ghoul with a ravenous taste for human flesh, and poor Kaneki was on the menu. If not for some steel beams falling on top of her, there likely wouldn't have been anything left of the poor guy.

#6. Raynare (Highschool DXD): Now take everything I just described about Rize and add just a touch of sadism, and you get this fallen angel beauty. Honestly, that's how I've always viewed Raynare's character, as a far more sadistic version of Rize Kamishiro, and when you look at then two, it's not hard to see the similarities between the two: Both manipulated and betrayed the respective male leads of their respective anime by posing as sweet, gentle, kind and shy young women; both are incredibly sadistic, manipulative, and ruthless, and most of all, both continued to haunt Kanenki and Issei even after their deaths due to their betrayals. Although I'd say that Raynare is just a bit more psychotic and sadistic than Rize is, which puts her slightly higher on my list. Also, major bonus points for Rayare's light-based abilities that serve as a great foil to her sinister personality.

#5. Junko Enoshima (Danganronpa): OH I FUCKING LOVE THIS WOMAN! If ever there was a title for "craziest bitch on the block", Junko would take that title and then laugh about it in your face. What other woman would be crazy enough to set up a series of sadistic killing games that would make Jigsaw stand up in appreciation under the guise of a sadistic teddy bear, murder their own twin sister, and even axe off THEMSELVES when their plans go awry! Yeah, Junko is crazier than your average bird, but damn if that doesn't make her all the more appealing, doesn't hurt that she's hot as hell either!

#4. Lust (Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood): Well it's really all right there in her name isn't it! One of the Seven Homunculi, an artificially-created human being infused with a Philosopher's Stone, Lust encapsulates everything that is both alluring and dangerous about her given Sin. Her sensual voice, body, and nature can bring any man to their knees, traits she's more than willing to use to further Father and the Homunculus's goals. And when her target's usefulness is done, they usually find themselves on the receiving end of one of Lust's razor-sharp nails. Unfortunately for her, as hot as she may be, Roy Mustang's flames were even hotter!!!

#3. Cinder Fall (RWBY): When I first started watching RWBY, Cinder was one of the characters that caught my attention almost immediately. The way she played the role of being the ruthless master manipulator just enthralled me like I'd never seen before. I'd seen great manipulators in anime before, but Cinder had the feel of almost an expert chess player, manipulating the pieces around her, and always staying two steps ahead of everyone else in her attempts to checkmate the King. But wat truly sold me on Cinder as a detestable villain, was two incidents in particular, and I think every RWBY fan knows what I'm talking about: Her murder of Pyrrha Nikos, and her attempted murder of Weiss Schnee. Those two incidents to me added a touch of sadism to her character and put her over the top as a truly great villain in my eyes. Oh, and it also helps that she's a total pyromaniac with Fall Maiden powers that can roast you like a Thanksgiving turkey. Yeah, definitely NOT the kind of woman you want to get on her bad side.

#2. Medusa Gorgon (Soul Eater): Ah yes, Medusa! The only woman who could make Orochimaru lust for her (and I'll fight anyone who disagrees with that statement!) But in all seriousness, I can see why people often compare Medusa to Orochimaru as the similarities between the two are incredibly stunning: Both have an affinity for snakes; both are genius scientists with a total lack of care for human life; Both have shown an ability to jump from one body to another, like a snake shedding its skin; and both have shown the ability to manipulate almost anyone to their cause. What makes Medusa even more unique however is her treatment of her own child Crona, treating Crona as a mindless killer and never showing any real form of love or emotion towards her own child except when that child can help further her own twisted desires. Yeah, Medusa definitely won't be winning any "Parent of the Year" awards.

#1. Esdeath (Akame ga Kill): Admit it! You KNEW it was gonna be this woman didn't you, c'mon now! Anyone doing a list of their favorite anime villainesses that DOESN'T make Esdeath #1 is just wrong! She's got everything you could ever want from a great villainess: She's a total sadist with a Social Darwinist personality and a total lack of empathy for humankind. She's incredibly powerful with her mastery over ice thanks to her Teigu "Demon's Extract"; Plus she's a woman who lives for her love of conflict, and her love of Tatsumi (lucky bastard!) Add to that the fact that she registers a perfect 10 in sexiness, and you've got a recipe for my favorite female anime villain!

So that's my list, what did you guys think about it? Love it, hated it? Go on and tell me what you think and let me know who your favorite anime villains are. See you soon!

Deviantart: https://www.deviantart.com/darkchild316

[sluttyopinions]

The Blunt Reality of Attack on Titan

August 4, 2020

Written by Samantha, Slutty Opinions

OPENING

People usually tend to associate anime and manga with being crazy over the top action packed experiences. Attack on Titan is a series full of exactly that. It’s a hugely popular franchise known for having insanely cool action and bombastic music. People flying around doing impossible feats and fighting fantastical enemies that are larger than life are common. Despite all this flash and excitement, the series never lets you forget the harsh reality of the world itself in a unique way, effectively separating it from many of its peers.

This grim reality is basically used to beat the audience over the head over and over, at times too liberally and too often as some would argue. I personally think how the original author of the manga that started it all, Hajime Isayama, entwines every aspect of his story with cynicism and grimness is one of the major reasons why I love the series, and I’m willing to bet it’s a big reason for a lot of fans whether they know it or not. Before I get into the details, I will say that I won’t be putting in any real spoilers of either the manga or the anime so if you’re just curious about what I may have to say, you can keep going. I’d also like to mention that I am more of a recent fan, but still a big one. I’ve seen the entire anime and have been trying to catch up on the source material, so my knowledge and opinions will be limited to that amount of content.

THE TITANS

For anyone unaware of the basic premise of Attack on Titan, the last remnant of the human race has been trapped by huge humanoid beasts in an expansive settlement surrounded by walls. It is humanity’s job to fight off these mindless monsters and survive behind the walls. The titans are a large part of what creates the identity of the series. Seems kind of obvious since it’s literally the title and all. The way these titans are integrated into the action and the story of the show is a large part of what prevents Attack on Titan from simply being another generic action series that ends up forgotten as a flavor of the month. It seems like I’m not giving the series enough credit because there is a LOT it does right otherwise such as pacing, story structure, characters, and so on that combine to make an incredible experience that has captivated many. However, I still stand by the idea that the titans help make the franchise feel truly one of a kind.

Everyone who’s ever seen the titans has probably noticed how grotesquely and uncannily they are designed. In the manga, the whole world and the way many things and people are drawn especially all have very creepy vibes to it all. While it would be a huge stretch to claim Attack on Titan is a horror manga, it’s common sense to acknowledge it’s strongly influenced by horror. The absolute sense of uncertainty and powerlessness these monsters present nearly every time they’re on screen is overpowering to both the characters that must deal with them and the audience as well. 

Isayama creates a feeling of dread involving these beasts insanely effectively. Any encounter with them even if it is merely 1 or 2 of them can always lead to sudden death. There is never safety in the presence of the titans even for the most skilled. Their pure size and physical ability is nearly never downplayed. While the humans have their own special weapons and crazy abilities, the titans are hardly ever presented as mere battle fodder or mulch. Titans happen to be very good at killing people and the delivery of it all makes it feel believable. Keeping the antagonists intimidating and serious is very important for the overall feeling of Attack on Titan. 

At times it can even feel like too much. The idea of any character dropping dead at any time can be very discouraging when you’re trying to get invested in a cast or just getting started. Sure that amount of pure “edge” in itself is appealing to a lot of people, but edge without purpose or substance makes for very bad entertainment in my eyes. It’s honestly in fact one of my pet peeves. I did not expect to like Attack on Titan for a long time due to this reputation it had for being brutal and random. Just not my style. When I actually gave it a shot however, I realized the writing is a lot more purposeful and I’d even say forgiving than I expected. While at times being an emotionally exhausting experience and definitely pessimistic in many ways, this series treats the terrible events that occur left and right with proper gravity and maturity.

THE NATURE OF WAR

Attack on Titan has a lot to say about a variety of subjects. It’s honestly much more subtle and intelligent than I even thought with my initial blind viewing of the anime. Reading the manga through the same events really gave me an appreciation for the thought and detail that goes into Isayama’s writing. The most obvious subject he focuses on is something that is probably less than subtle however and can be spotted quickly by anyone who has seen or read even a bit of the series. 

That subject happens to be the horrors of war. On the surface the story seems to be just a simple story of man vs beast and it wouldn’t make much sense for it to have anything to say about war. While the circumstances involved are very fantasy-themed and at times ridiculous, it still at its heart is a narrative about war and how humans cope with it, both those on the front lines and those who watch from afar. 

The grim and serious nature of the series is the way it is directly thanks to that theme. If life wasn’t always at risk, if it wasn’t treated as fragile, if death wasn’t respected and dwelled on and treated with the utmost permanence and seriousness, this theme would not work the way it does. Anything less runs the risk of just looking like glorification while merely saying the opposite. Admittedly there’s a lot of people who still somehow think Attack on Titan glorifies war but that’s a whole other subject. A very impactful and relevant part of the story is one early on where humanity wins a huge battle, yet no one bothers to celebrate merely because the overwhelming weight of the dead hangs heavier than any related relief ever could. This kind of grim and depressing, yet honest storytelling about war is very common throughout the plot.

What it means to be a soldier, the intricate overlap of society, media, government, and economics on war, the will and the reason to fight, the sanctity of human life and the nature of sacrifice and finding meaning in meaningless and constant death are all discussed often and in detail in Attack on Titan and the grim realness of everything that happens in the story and the overall feeling of being unsafe it conveys are deeply important to allowing these themes and discussions to work as well as they do.

PHILOSOPHY AND PSYCHOLOGY

The last major aspect of the story that I think benefits greatly from the unrestrained reality and brutality of the series is the very unique philosophy and psychology that Isayama presents. Most of the points and lessons the characters learn through the story are not pleasant ones. Everything the characters go through and the utter bleakness of Attack on Titan’s world shapes everyone’s worldviews. People take small steps and make concessions to have hope in this world. Optimism is present plenty, but the way the characters experience optimism is still rife with sacrifice and harsh undeniable truths. 

This very unique perspective compared to a lot of similar media is refreshing in its own way and kept me questioning what I knew. You couldn’t often easily predict the conclusions characters would come to because they are not what you may have come to expect from other media. One major character, Erwin Smith, is a great example of the kind of ideas Attack on Titan will throw around. His character is labeled as a demon by some, but a hero by the same people as well. The necessity of pain and sacrifice underlies all progress and achievement and he knows it and so do many others, even if it’s hard to accept. Having to create guidelines bound by the rules and expectations of reality only makes them that much more applicable to real life and real war. 

Despite all this, the series never feels outright preachy. Characters dwelling on the meaning of what’s happening to them is specific to which character and which circumstances. It doesn’t feel nearly like the author is writing an essay about the way things are or should be while using characters as mouthpieces and more just people in a hard situation trying to make meaning out of the meaningless suffering around them. Agreeing or disagreeing with any point as a reader or viewer isn’t portrayed as wrong in any case it’s more a vehicle for thought as well as phenomenal character building.  Like real war, none of the questions presented have a genuine correct answer. The character Levi himself at some point in the story even admits that as a veteran in battle, he can never be truly sure of his choices.

CLOSING THOUGHTS

The amount of respect and purpose Attack on Titan treats its frequent suffering with is key to the experience as a whole. While a series with just good writing all around and good reasons for its fame, something that in my opinion makes it feel like something special and something that captivated me is the overall gravity of the story. Without being effective at intensity and discomfort as well as in dealing with said discomfort, the story just wouldn’t feel real. And if it doesn’t feel real, it won’t feel like it matters. This series matters quite a lot to myself and many others and I hope this is at least a glimpse as to why.

[joon-ipersgirl]

O2 - “airplane”

genre: strangers to lovers!au, angst, fluff

pairing: jimin x reader (f)

word count: 3.5k

warnings: cursing

summary: they say home is where the heart is. you’re convinced yours was taken the day your father died. until you meet jimin.

you believe in love but after watching men cycle through your mother’s arms, rocky relations with ex boyfriends, and broken friendships, you no longer see it in your future. so much so, you never settle in one place long enough to create ties and call it a home, choosing a job where you’re always on the go and on your own. 

a chance encounter on a flight from new york city to bali, indonesia, you meet. flustered by jimin’s flirty advances but enamoured by his understanding and good-natured tendencies, you start to fall. what starts as a work-trip soon blossoms into a budding romance, but will jimin’s secret destroy the relationship before it’s had the chance to truly begin?

a/n: whew! we made it to part two. thanks for sticking with me y’all. we get to see a little more banter with jimin. thank you again for reading and hopefully i’ll get the next part out on time for y’all. leave a comment with some feedback; i love receiving them. have a wonderful rest of your day/evening/night and thank you vi for being my editor in chief as always!

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You could only thank your sweet Lord and Savior for blessing you to fly on an aircraft that had some semblance of high-speed data. There was only so much one could do with the airplane monitors to keep yourself entertained - if the flight you were on had them. Skimming through your email, you stared skeptically at the most recent one from Michael. Hadn’t you just spoken this morning?

Y/N,

I assume that your meticulous planning has failed you for once in your brilliant life and you were late to catch your flight so you didn’t have time to check your phone as you would not purposely ignore a text from me. Gods be with you during this time - I have taken a moment of silence as I pray for your divinely placed gift to be restored upon you.

Onto more pressing matters, Julia has sent me an updated list of the things they expect to see in this video; please see attached. Because I have so earnestly prayed for your skills to be returned to you, I have full confidence in your ability to work through these minor inconveniences.  

Just because I know you missed my text, I’ll say it again: remember the passion! Enjoy the moment.

Yours eternally,

Michael  

P.S. Garland Sans has an exhibit coming to the MET! We must go!

You snorted. Michael was as ingenious as he was dramatic. One of the best in the management game, Michael was sought after to solve the worst of problems when regular members of his team couldn’t in his own consulting company, Callahan Consulting. His personality was infectious and made one want to strive above and beyond for his approval. It surprised you every time that you were partners and he was your manager as declared by himself. As they say, opposites really do attract.

Clicking on the files attached in the email, you groaned softly as you realized that though the wifi was available, it wasn’t strong enough to access any large multimedia files, the downloading circle on a seemingly never-ending loop. You sank further into the seat, your knees hitting the one in front of you due to the cramped economy design. Your fingers slipped easily through your short locks as you tried to stay calm. It wouldn’t be the end of the world if you couldn’t see what changes you’d made. It’s not like you’d have to potentially rework your entire itinerary for the trip the moment you landed. You scrunched your eyes shut as you tugged on the roots of your hair in an effort to quiet your increasing anxiety. The softest of touches against your knee jerked you upright.

“Are you alright?” You gazed down at the hand splayed across your leg, eyes wide. It squeezed and you finally turned your eyes towards its owner.

“What are you doing?” you asked hurriedly, tugging your headphones off. The weight of his hand, though not physically heavy, metaphysically felt like it was anchoring you to your seat and you wouldn’t be able to move it yourself even if you tried.

“Are you alright?” stranger-that-causes-you-continuous-embarrassment repeated. “You looked like you were in pain,” he trailed off, finally removing his hand. You slumped over in relief on your exhale.

“Fine,” you replied curtly. You could feel the blood pounding in your ears as you shifted in your seat. His long legs seemed precariously too close to your own in the compact space.

“Are you sure? I can call an attendant -”

“No!”

“What are you doing?” he murmured, eyebrows raised and amused. Looking like any stubby child hanging off of the monkey bars, you were clutching onto his forearm and yanking down with all your might to stop him from pushing the call attendant button above you. The muscles under his forearm flexed as stranger-that-causes-you-continuous-embarrassment lowered his arm against the armrest. You blinked slowly as the realization that you were still holding onto him traveled to your central nervous system and you let go as quickly as you’d clung onto him.

“Nothing!” you inhaled deeply. “Seriously, I’m fine. You don’t need to call anyone,” you told him sternly. You turned back to your laptop and opened your 0618 Bali Itinerary document; adjusting your plans would calm the thumping in your chest. You could handle the anxiety of trying to edit the document blindly, but handling his apparent concern over your physical well-being was another story you weren’t prepared to read. He hummed in acknowledgment and settled back down in his seat, eyes focused on the book in his hand. How he managed to fit in any seat was a miracle.

“What are you doing in Bali?” he asked casually. He didn’t look at you as you turned to him.

“Nosy aren’t we?” you  replied in the same tone, eyes challenging. Your eyes met, a glimmer in his.

“Hmm?”

“How did you know I was going to Bali?” you contested.

“Well, I would hope you didn’t board the wrong flight - though you don’t strike me as the woman to make that kind of mistake,” a soft smirk graced his lips. You bit your lip hard.

“Well, I could have been getting off at the Hong Kong connection,” you said, trying to counter.

‘True, but you confirmed that you were going to Bali when you asked how I knew that. I was just assuming before,” he replied with a shrug and a soft grin. You tongued your cheek in annoyance at his observation.

“Right,” you mumbled. You yanked your headphones back over your ears, cutting off the ability to continue the conversation for both your sakes. Only 13 hours and 25 minutes to go.

Your Fujifilm camera felt light in your hands as you recorded a few minutes of the passing clouds. Capturing the changes in the sun during the duration of the flight seemed like a simple task, but balancing the light and adjusting the colors so they came through as vibrant as what they really were was difficult. These would be the first shots seen and they had to evoke the right feeling - the passion that Michael and Julia were looking for. Your passion for your work, for your art, for your life. You stifled your groan, not wanting to cause panic in your concerned neighbor again. You frowned as you stared down at the short video you’d taken; the focus wasn’t as sharp as it needed to be. Turning to the interior of the plane, you held the camera back up to your eye trying to get it to focus.

“If you wanted me to be your muse, all you had to do was ask,” he said with a chuckle. “I won’t even charge you for taking the shot.” The corners of your mouth turned down further.

“You’re not my muse. I’m trying to refocus my camera. You just so happen to be in the way,” you said matter-of-factly.

“I seem to always be getting in the way huh?” He leaned further back in his seat as he turned his head towards me, the sunlight hitting his face so gently. You bit your lip and fiddled with the AF fine-tune again. “First it was your seat, now with your shot. What are you going to do with me?” he asked with a fake sigh of contriteness. You rolled your eyes at his dramatics and took another test shot, the corner of his face creeping into the frame.

“Absolutely nothing,” you told him, adjusting the calibration once again. He moved closer as you snapped another test shot. His olive skin glowed under the mellow rays of the afternoon sun filtering in and his smile filled the small screen of your camera.

“Would you like some help?” he offered as he noticed the slight tremble in your fingers.

“I don’t need your help,” you mumbled.

“Are you sure?” he asked again. “You’re adjusting your AF fine-tune, but you’re in the wrong AF mode. Any adjustments you make wouldn’t have a significant effect if you’re shooting the inside of the plane.”

Stranger-that-causes-you-continuous-embarrassment slipped your camera out of your hands, his fingers brushing against yours, and flipped modes quite expertly as the blood rushed up your neck and into your face. The sounds of your breathing echoed in your ears as you could not believe you’d made a fool of myself in front of him for the fourth time now. Michael must have been right when he said your previous abilities had left, the stress of this upcoming project getting the better of you. It had to be.

“Are you a photographer?” you asked. He took his own test shots, double-checking his adjustments.

“Here and there,” he replied nonchalantly. “I have a few friends in the industry and I dabble in a little bit of art myself. A hobby really,” he continued, snapping his last one of you before handing the camera back. You nodded your thanks and tucked the camera back into its bag; your nerves were too shot to continue. You could probably edit the footage to be better anyway.

“Excuse me, are you Park Jimin?” An attendant appeared with a tiny cart filled with food, her petite frame barely visible from behind it. Jimin.

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Here’s your vegetarian lunch, sir. Please enjoy,” she told him as she set the tray down in front of him. Her reach was far more extended than it needed to be and you internally scoffed at her not so subtle attempt to flirt. He smiled and thanked her before turning his attention to the steaming plastic bowl in front of him.

“I wouldn’t have pegged you for a vegetarian,” you thought aloud.

“Do you think about pegging often?” Jimin’s smile was innocent but his gaze was not. Your eyes widened comically slow as you realized what he was suggesting.

“No! Not at all! What are you talking about?! I would never -” you spluttered out, hands waving frantically in front of you “- I mean, if you’re into that, then that’s great. I’m not judging you at all!” His laugh cut off your backtracked rambling. It was boisterous and loud and filled up the entire space between us as he tipped his head back, clearly delighted by your discomfort. It hurt your ears but made your heart jump. “Please stop laughing at me, Jimin.”

He hummed an “okay” and filled his mouth with another large bite of what you assumed to be vegetarian lasagna. Your  eyes fell to his plump lips as you watched him, his jaw moving almost rhythmically as you counted each chew to ground yourself into the present moment. 7, before he swallowed. It was only the tiny flicker of his tongue against his bottom lip that reminded you that you were staring at him. Again. You busied myself with the in-flight monitor screen, extremely fascinated by the current flight path.

“So, are you going to tell me your name?” You raised your eyebrows at his question.

“No, I don’t think so,” you said with a smile.

“Why not?” Your smile widened as you felt like you finally had the upper hand, something that he seemed to continuously have.

“Why should I?”

“Well, you know what my name is. I think it’s only fair that I have yours as well. What else would be appropriate to call you other than your name?” He asked thoughtfully as he pointed his fork towards you, the mischievous glint never really leaving his deep brown eyes.

“Are you going to stab me with your fork if I don't tell you?” He lowered it sheepishly. “Besides, you didn’t tell me your name, Mr. Park. That nice flight attendant did,” you said with a shrug. “So technically, fairness isn’t a part of this equation. The odds just so happened to be in my favor.”

“‘May the odds ever be in your favor’, my ass. Alright, fine.” Jimin peered around your seat, leaning over into your space while nearly knocking his food off its tray, trying to find any semblance of a clue to what your name could be. He sat back and directly faced you, almost folding his body underneath the tray table to do so. You ignored the way his knee bumped against the outside of your thigh.

“Give me a hint,” he pouted. You giggled as his lower lip jutted out.

“You’re too big to use the puppy dog face against anyone,” you informed him with a laugh. Even if it was cute. You hauled your beanie off your head and wrenched your hands through your hair.

“Just call me Clifford,” he teased. He perked up, an imaginary lightbulb going off in his head. “Elizabeth! Is that your name?”

“No,” His shoulders slumped. “But it could have an ‘a’ in it,” you commented casually. His shoulders rallied at the small hint.

“Don’t worry Shutterfly, I’m going to figure it out. Promise.” He beamed at you and you offered a half-smile in return, your attention more focused on the attendants bringing the rest of the food to passengers as you pondered over his words. Promises were made to be broken, filling you with disappointment and regret. In fact, they only served as false assists in the game of life and you’d stopped playing a very long time ago.

The cabin became pleasantly quiet after dinner was served, the passengers settling down for the night. It was cold and you were grateful for the hoodie you’d folded into your bag, the thin airplane blanket not doing much to keep you warm. Your Saipan video was pulled up on your laptop again and you longed to be in the warmth of the beach. Adele would always know when you’d been out in the sun for too long, more freckles dancing their way across your cheeks as your tell-tale sign, but it never stopped you. You smiled at the memories of busted knees and skinned elbows from being too adventurous with friends during the summer.

Nursing your cold cup of coffee, you sighed in exasperation as you felt the strong urge to use the bathroom. Of course, it would only be fair that your favorite drink was also a diuretic. You chewed your lip as you contemplated how exactly you were going to make it out of your seat without disturbing Jimin who was comfortably sleeping beside you, his arms folded and face hidden in the confines of his hood. He looked peaceful and you felt guilty for even thinking about waking him up. If you went to sleep now, maybe you could hold it? You squirmed in your seat as your bladder protested profusely at the thought. It was now or never.

“Jimin,” you whispered and gently poked his arm. Nothing. “Jimin,” you whispered a little louder, leaning closer to his face. You whimpered softly as he didn’t stir. “Fuck this,” you muttered and pushed off the blanket wrapped around your shoulders.

Peeking over to the passengers behind you to make sure they were asleep, you carefully maneuvered your laptop into your seat before standing up. Jimin had titled his seat back to get more comfortable and you assumed to give himself more room - though again, you didn’t believe there was any space that could fit his long legs; they still touched the seat in front of him. Bracing yourself between the rows in front and behind you, you placed one leg in between the gap of his two and held your breath. So far so good. You twisted to face him so you could slot your second leg into the gap, bending over his sleeping frame. It was nerve-wracking to be this close to him in such a tight space and you prayed to your Lord and Savior that he wouldn’t wake up now as you’d gotten so far into your poorly concocted plan.

Just as you were slipping your left leg over and into the aisle, Jimin shifted beneath you. You froze. The strings of your hoodie dangled treacherously close to his nose. You pleaded silently that he wouldn’t wake up as you scrunched your eyes shut.

“Shutterfly?” The sound of his deep voice caused you to look down. “What are you doing? If you wanted to sit in my lap, all you had to do was ask,” he murmured as he removed his headphones and sat up straighter. Of course, he couldn’t hear you.

“I have to pee and you weren’t waking up, so,” you trailed off, ignoring his flirtatious comment again. He gave you a lazy smile that barely reached his sleep-heavy eyes. The distance between you was much shorter and you focused on keeping your breathing as even as possible.

“Hmm, you should go pee then,” he replied as he let his hand rest gently on your hip, nudging you into the aisle. You squeaked and darted from under his touch, hitting your knee on the armrest. You grumbled a string of curses and rubbed your knee as you headed to the back of the cabin, his quiet chuckles fading behind you.

The relief was imminent and you sighed in contentment as you washed your hands in the tiny sink. Under the dim fluorescent lighting, your skin looked washed out. Your eyes and cheeks were puffy from the high altitude and you tried to rub the tiredness away. You knew you should get some sleep, but the thought of accidentally cuddling into Jimin’s soft, warm body as you slept was so tempting, it was terrifying. You sighed in annoyance as you thought about your fellow passenger. He would be the bane of your existence with his deep sleepy voice and soft touches and stupid nickname.

You shut the door with enough force that you grimaced at the loud noise. It wasn’t as if you could shut all your thoughts of Jimin into that pint-sized restroom as you’d attempted to do with Tiago those many summers ago. You scowled at his memory as you angrily walked back to your seat, the pain in your knee forgotten. You tapped Elijah harshly on his shoulder but softened your gaze after realizing you’d startled him.

“Sorry, I’m in your way again.”  He stepped out into the aisle to let you through, the subtle waft of his cologne moving with him.

“No, you’re fine,” you told him as you slipped into your seat and rested your laptop onto your open tray table.

“You think I’m fine?” you rolled your eyes at his dumb grin.

“Do you ever stop flirting?”

“Who said I was flirting?”

“Your entire demeanor!” you exclaimed. He hushed you and warned you to keep your voice down as people were sleeping. “Your body language, your tone, your eyes. All of it - all of you,” you finished, gesturing to his body.

“And here I was thinking you weren’t interested,” he said with the same smile. He propped his chin up in his palm as he gazed at you through his long lashes. You scoffed.

“No one is interested in you, Jimin.”

“Mhmm, I love it when you say my name.” You covered your mouth to stop the burst of laughter in your chest. He chuckled quietly and returned to his seat. “You don’t have to lie to me though, Shutterfly.”

“Delusional and dramatic. That’s quite the combination you have going for yourself, Mr. Park,” I commented as you searched for your additional Saipan clips.

“As delusional and dramatic as you are uninteresting and not flustered by me,” he shot back playfully and you struggled to keep the corners of your mouth from turning up as you kept your focus on the screen. “How long does it take you to do that though?”

“Do what?” you asked.

“Edit your videos,” he clarified, closing the distance between you again. It was becoming increasingly obvious that personal space did not matter to him.

“Oh. It depends on the project and how much material I have to work with. Sometimes I can knock out a video in a couple of hours, but other times I get stuck for inspiration or I can’t figure out this one technical aspect and it stumps me for days before I can finally move on,” you said slowing down as you realized you were rambling. “Sorry, that was a lot,” you apologized.

“No, I get what you mean. The purpose of projects will definitely define what type of style you go for. I’ve been in those spaces. No need to apologize, seriously.” Jimin rested his hand on your forearm in a comforting manner and you smiled softly at the gesture.

“Is that a genuine smile I see?” He shoved his head in front of your face trying to get a better look.

“Way to ruin the mood,” you said with a laugh. You pushed his head away gently.

“Wow, I think it is,” he continued. “Your freckles are beautiful by the way. And don’t worry about the mood, darling. I can create another one for you.” Jimin winked at you and placed a headphone in his ear.

“You’re a fool,” you informed him, tucking your hair behind your ear.

“A fool in love!” he sang. “Don’t stay up too late. Gotta reset your circadian rhythm before we get to Bali,” Jimin warned. You shook your head at his concern; if only sleep was so easy. Even so, it was only 2 am back in New York. Plenty of time to nap and be up by your usual 4 am wake up time.

“Goodnight, Jimin.”

“Goodnight, Shutterfly.”

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© joon-ipersgirl, 2020

[alagalaska]

“Get Help!”

Summary: Thor and Reader do ‘Get Help.’

Pairing: Thor x Reader. Very brief mention of past Thor x Jane

A/N: This is the first piece of fiction I have ever shared. It’s just a silly one-shot I’ve been meaning to write for ages. I recently re-watched Thor: Ragnarok and I love the scene where Thor and Loki do ‘Get Help.’ I hope you like it! There is a reference to MC Hammer in this and if you don’t know his song ‘Can’t Touch This,’ you can watch it Here. If you enjoy this please leave a comment or reblog to let me know. I’d like to mention the very talented @shreddedparchment whose own fiction inspired me to start writing again (Thank you, beautiful!) 

Warnings: Violence, firearms, silly humour, puns, 80’s fashion.

Word Count: 4,321

Disclaimer: (I know, I’m old school) I do not own anything to do with Marvel or the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU).  The idea of ‘Get Help’ is from Thor: Ragnarok and this is a piece of fiction that has been inspired by that. I do not own and did not create the characters of Thor, Tony, Sam, Natasha, Clint and Steve (or any other characters or entities from the MCU that may be referenced in any part of this fiction). I also did not write and do not own any rights to the MC Hammer song ‘Can’t Touch This’. The actual written content of this fiction, however, is my own and should not be used or copied, in part or whole. Plagiarism is a crime, kids.

Word Count: 4,321

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“It’s your turn!” You shout to Thor, over the roar of gun fire. You’re crouched behind an overturned desk in a Hydra facility; your back pressed against cool steel. It’s all grey walls and metal furniture. You’re in some sort of office, just off a corridor where Thor is busy punching a Hydra agent’s face into a wall. There’s four more at the other end of the room you’re in, shooting at you with assault rifles. One of their comrades lies unmoving in the middle of the floor, papers littering the space surrounding him. Bullets bounce around you; metal glancing off metal.

You pop up from behind the desk and take a shot at the shoulder of a woman in a long white coat, who you assume is some kind of lab technician. She is hiding behind a filing cabinet that’s tipped onto its side, fumbling to reload her gun; you guess she’s not had to use it very often. She’d left her shoulder exposed to you and your bullet hits it easily. She angrily returns fire over the top of the filing cabinet, exposing her whole upper half- another rookie mistake- and you shoot her in the chest. She falls backwards to the floor, dropping her gun.

Another agent, who is wearing black tactical gear and is clearly much more skilled with his weapon, fires a well-aimed barrage of bullets at you, causing you to duck back down behind the cover of the desk. He misses you by millimetres.

Thor sees this from the doorway as he finishes dealing with the agents in the hall, tossing an unconscious man to one side, and storms into the room to help you; blue lightning sparking from his hammer. He’s breath-taking to watch.

Thor snarls and hurls Mjolnir at the man who had shot at you. It collides with his chest and slams him backwards into the front of another filing cabinet, on the far wall. The metal drawers crumple around his body.  

There are only two of them left now, both hiding behind another overturned desk, opposite yours. You’re pretty sure only one of them is armed. The gun fire has paused and you can hear them whispering in frantic Russian from across the room.

You look over your shoulder at Thor.

“How’d you wanna do this?” You ask him, gesturing with your head towards the closed door behind where the agents are hiding. He glances down at you then towards the door with a look of consideration; but before he can answer, one of the remaining men leans around the right side of the desk and shoots at you.

You return fire, dipping back behind cover as you avoid his bullets. You barely notice as Thor calls Mjolnir back to him. He hesitates, crouched (as best as his huge frame can be) behind you, waiting to see if you’ll need him.

The other man, another lab technician by the looks of him, makes a dash towards the door behind them, a manila folder clutched under his arm as he frantically mashes his security card against the electronic pad on the wall.

Thinking quickly, you switch targets, shooting out his knees just as he manages to unlock the doors. He falls to the ground, groaning in pain.

Covering you whilst you take down the lab technician, Thor throws his hammer at the last Hydra agent, who is still firing at the pair of you, and it smashes obediently into him. Thor holds out his arm again for it to return to him and, with a metallic ‘whoosh,’ Mjolnir whips past you, into his hand. It reminds you of how this whole silly game had started.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It was still quite early on in your training and you were accompanying Clint, Nat and Sam on what was expected to be a simple take-down of an illegal arms dealership in Pakistan. Thor had also insisted on tagging along. Although this was probably too small a job for The God of Thunder, who could easily take down the whole depot single-handed, you knew he was just looking for an excuse to get out of the compound.

Since his break up with Jane, Thor had been around the Avengers compound a lot more and was helping wherever he could in order to keep himself busy; not that anyone was complaining, least of all you.

As the newest member of the Avengers, you were desperate to get as much experience in the field as possible, so you and Thor always seemed to be on missions together; and sometimes it was just the two of you.

You had become fond of Thor over the past few months, having spent so much time in his company; and you were starting to develop a bit of a crush on him.

So, although there would be more of you going on this mission than was entirely necessary, you didn’t mind at all.

It was lucky that Thor had been with you that day, because the base had been a lot more heavily guarded then you had originally thought.

“There’s at least six more hostiles in the room below you, Y/N. All armed,” Sam informed you through your ear piece as he soared around the perimeter of the building. “There’s a stairwell through the door on your left.”

“Thor,” You shouted to him as you wrestled with a man in khaki cargo pants and a black vest, both of you clutching at the same gun; you, trying to prise it out of his grasp before he could use it. “We need to head down!”

Thor nodded at your instruction, slamming his hammer into the chest of a man who had been aiming a gun at him. Behind him, another man, who had scaled a stack of crates, leapt down onto Thor’s shoulders. Thor let out a crazed growl, shaking the man from his back and into the pile of crates he had just jumped from, causing the whole lot to tumble; crushing yet another man in an avalanche of splintered wood and limbs.

So far, the raid had not been going to plan, at all. You had been really looking forward to taking charge on this one, proving to Thor and the rest of the team that you could handle the responsibility; but from the minute Sam had dropped you off on the roof, you’d been outnumbered and under prepared. You knew you’d let yourself be lulled into a false sense of security the second Thor had announced he was coming on the mission too.

They’ll be loads of us, you had thought, It’ll be a nice chance to spend some more time with Thor- it’s gonna be a walk in the park…

How wrong you’d been. You’d already lost the gun that Tony had had specially made for you- as a ‘well-done’ for making the team- whilst fighting your way through the top floor.

And there you were, struggling with one guy, whilst Thor had just taken on three, singlehandedly, as if they were nothing.

You continued to grapple for the gun when a bullet whizzed past your right arm from across the room, embedding itself in the wall behind you. Before you could do anything about it, Thor had sent a bolt of lightning into the back of the culprit’s skull, the air around him crackling with electricity. He’d obviously forgotten Steve’s very clear instruction to neutralise only, unless entirely necessary. The gunman fell motionless to the floor, blackened skin, crackling.

You let out a frustrated growl as you managed to yank the automatic from the man’s hands and butted him hard in the nose with the handle; knocking him out cold.

You glanced around at the bodies littering the floor then allowed yourself to double over, leaning with one hand on a crate, panting from the effort of your struggle.

You had been fighting with the same guy for so long that Thor had already cleared out the rest of the room before you had chance to properly get involved. You knew you shouldn’t be annoyed at him for that, but it didn’t lessen your frustration.

You’d come a long way in the short time you’d been with the Avengers and knew that you were obviously good enough to be on the team or you wouldn’t have been there, but it was difficult to remember that sometimes. Especially in times like this.

You were vaguely aware that Thor was watching you as he crossed the room, with a crease in his brow, as though he had heard your thoughts.

“I had it covered,” you said frustratedly as he came to a stop beside you.

“And I’m supposed to let you have all the fun?” he chuckled, good-naturedly. He took in your expression and, after a beat of silence, said more seriously, “You can’t always take everyone on by yourself.” It sounded like he was chastising you, the way you would a child that had eaten too many cookies- ‘You can’t have them all; you have to save some for other people.’

“You did,” you bit back.

“Y/N, our abilities are very different.” He sighed. “For us to work effectively as a team, you must learn to let others play to their strengths.”

You perched yourself on the edge of a crate, still sulking, so he continued.

“There is no shame in needing to rely on your team. That is what they are there for,” he paused, his expression softening as he dipped his head slightly to catch your eye, “What I am here for.”

You felt your cheeks heating up and guiltily dropped your eyes to stare at his feet, trying to avoid his gaze. He raised his hand to your chin and tilted your face so that you were looking at him. You could feel the lingering buzz of electricity in his touch, making the skin where he was touching you tingle. “You put far too much pressure on yourself. You do not need to prove yourself, least of all to me.” He moved the hand that was cupping your chin down to rest on your shoulder; only then did you realise how close you were both standing.

You tried to force yourself to focus on his words, rather than the heat of his hand, still on your shoulder.

You knew he was right, of course, as Thor so often is. You always put too much pressure on yourself.

You must have been frowning up at him or something, because he was prompted to add, “Stop taking everything so seriously,” giving your shoulder a small shake. He smiled, to show he was only joking, and then he released you.

You watched, finding yourself still at a loss for words, as he started heading towards the stairs Sam had mentioned earlier.

You stood up suddenly, remembering you were in the middle of a mission; this was no time to be feeling sorry for yourself. However, you couldn’t help but let out a small huff as you followed him. I do not take things too seriously, you thought.

Just then, your ear piece crackled into life again; Sam bringing yet more bad news.

“Hey guys, looks like they got bored of waiting; they’re on their way up to you.”

“Ugh, great,” you grumbled, picking up the gun you had been wrestling for earlier. “Got it. Thanks, Wilson. You hear that, Thor? We’ve got incoming.”

You could already hear the sound of large, heavily booted feet approaching from the stairwell, as you raced across the room at full speed, overtaking Thor and ducking behind the pile of toppled crates, facing the doorway. I am so done with this day, you thought resentfully to yourself.

You glanced over your shoulder at Thor; he was hesitating behind you, poised ready with Mjolnir. “It’s your call,” his deep voice rumbled through your headset. He was trying to appease you.

You knew it had been wrong of you to get annoyed at him for doing his job. He was right; you couldn’t expect others to hold back during a fight just to spare your feelings. You had plenty of time to finish honing your skills and improving your technique during training sessions with Nat; team work should be more important when on mission.

Now was the perfect time to show Thor that you had taken on board what he had said. You would let him do what he does best, and wipe out the enemy with one easy swing of his hammer. Then you could go home and be done with this god awful mission. Win win.

But before you could communicate that to him, the men from the lower floor burst through the doorway at the top of the stairs, each holding a gun strapped over their shoulder.

Thinking fast, (or possibly not thinking at all) you leapt out from behind the crate, hands held up in front of you, and yelled, “Stop!”

They faltered, caught off guard by your command. You could see a couple of men at the back of the group stumble into each other, as the rest came abruptly to a halt in front of them.

Perhaps if it had been Hydra agents you had been dealing with, they would have shot at you without a moment’s hesitation; but these men all stopped, looking uncertainly from one to the other, hands frozen on their guns, as though they were trying to decide if you were a civilian.

Then a thought popped into your head. It was too perfect not to say it.

“Hammer Time!” You spoke into your comms, but loud enough so that everyone in the room would hear it.

The words left your mouth with a smug little smirk. As far as improvisation goes, you thought that was pretty funny. You’re not sure what made you do it; perhaps it’s true what they say, that people do strange things when under pressure.

But Thor obviously didn’t get the reference- why would he, he’s Asgardian- because he was looking around expectantly, clearly waiting for something to happen. You sighed inwardly.

“Thor,” you said, exasperated, “Throw the hammer.” You gestured at Mjolnir, feeling stupid. You forget sometimes that he doesn’t always understand ‘Midgardian humour,’ as he puts it.

“Ohhh,” he said, glancing down at Mjolnir and back up to you with a sudden understanding, then hurled the hammer towards the group of men. It whipped past you, sending your hair fluttering around your face.

One of the men gripped his gun, as if with the afterthought to shoot at you, but the hammer smacked into him, knocking him and the other men back out into the corridor and down the stairs.

There was a moment filled with the thudding sounds of bodies falling down a flight of steps and then a chorus of muffled groans that floated up from the bottom of the stair well.

“Er, thanks,” you said to Thor as he walked forward to stand next to you.

Something in the way he looked at you made you think that he understood the layers of meaning behind your thanks, without you having to vocalise it.

You were awkwardly playing with the strap of your stolen gun, really hoping he wouldn’t mention what had just happened.

He smiled and gave your shoulder a small squeeze in response then went back to examine the unconscious gunmen, without speaking.

Peering over the railings of the stairs, you looked down to see the motionless tangle of bodies in a pile at the bottom.

Then a sudden, harsh burst of laughter came through your earpiece, causing you to jump in surprise and the comms to crackle with static. It took a moment for you to place that it was Sam.

“Woooh,” he let out one final hoot of a laugh, “uh, sorry,” he coughed, trying to compose himself. “Back up has arrived. All hostiles have been neutralised and are being… are being detained,” he stumbled around another muffled laugh. “Nat’s coordinating seizing all the fire arms now. You guys better make your way back up to the roof; I’ll give you a lift down from there, Y/N,” he said, poorly concealing the teasing edge to his voice.

“No thanks, Wilson,” you grumbled in response, “I’ll take the stairs down.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When you climbed back onto the quin jet afterwards, feeling exhausted from the mission and annoyed about making a fool of yourself in front of Thor, Natasha clapped you on the shoulder.

“Nice bit, MC Hammer. Real smooth,” she said, adding the last bit with a knowing smirk.

You could feel Thor watching the pair of you as he, too, climbed aboard.

Natasha laughed and passed you, moving to the front of the jet with the others. You heard Sam saying “Can’t touch this,” jokingly to Clint as they went and they both dissolved into laughter. Of course, they all must have heard you through your headset. Sam’s laughter earlier suddenly made much more sense.

“Ugh,” you sighed and took your seat in the back, opposite Thor.

“Who is Emsie Hammer?” he asked you as you strapped yourself in. You shook your head playfully, smirking at his mispronunciation, but didn’t correct him.

“He’s a… recording artist,” you tried to explain. “He makes hip hop music,” you added, seeing Thor’s blank look. “I’ll just show you,” you said, taking out your phone and opening the YouTube App. You pulled up a clip of ‘Can’t Touch This’ and leaned over the gap between your seats, showing him the phone.

“What is wrong with his pants?” asked Thor, looking up from the video briefly to catch your eye, then turned his gaze back to the screen, intrigued.

“It was the ‘80s,” you said with a shrug, “Everyone dressed like that.”

When it got to the part where he says ‘Hammer Time,’ Thor suddenly let out a bellowing laugh. It made you jump, looking up at him with startled eyes.

“I get it!” He boomed at you, “Hammer time- because I have a hammer!” he gestured to Mjolnir, propped beside his seat, as he continued to chuckle loudly. “That’s very funny!”

You felt your cheeks heat up again as you laughed lightly along with him, glad he finally got your joke, but still feeling like a bit of a fool.

You caught a movement in the corner of your eye and saw Natasha grinning at you over her shoulder from where she was flying the jet. You ignored her and turned your attention back to Thor as he handed your phone back to you. Nat resumed her conversation with Sam and Clint as if she’d never turned around.

“You know, it really surprised those guards. You screaming ‘stop’ at them, I mean,” Thor said, a smile lingering on his lips as he looked at you. “Maybe we should use that tactic from now on,” he suggested, with a chuckle.

You laughed at the thought to start with, but then you considered it properly. You’d heard worse suggestions, and, from your experience, surprise tactics were among the most effective; given the right circumstances.

“That might actually not be a bad idea,” you said, genuinely.

Thor looked at you with a hint of confusion, but you were quick to explain yourself, “It worked today, didn’t it? Granted, it might not always be appropriate, but, you know…” you continued, thinking aloud now, “we could have a bit of fun with this; make a wager or something?” His interest seemed to pique at that. “After all, you did tell me to stop taking things so seriously,” you reminded him with a smirk.

“That, I did,” he agreed, “OK… what do you suggest?”

“How about, most surprising entrance wins?” You were expecting him to say that he had only been joking and that it would be unwise to take such risks during missions; but you could see a faint twinkle in his blue eyes.

“But what will be the prize?” He asked you.

You both thought for a moment.

“How about,” Thor began, unable to hide the grin that was breaking across his lips, “If I win, you go on a date with me?”

You weren’t aware of how quiet Clint, Sam and Natasha had suddenly gone; with the fluttering that was happening in your stomach and the heat that had crept up the sides of your face and neck.

You had considered the thought of something romantic happening between you and Thor, of course you had; you’re only human. But you’d never taken those thoughts seriously, despite your growing feelings for him. He’s the God of Thunder, after all; why would he bother with a mere mortal? But then, you had said to yourself, he bothered with Jane; why not you?

“Ok,” you had said, suddenly feeling confident, “But if I win, you go on a date with me.”

He had laughed at that. “Win, win, wouldn’t you say?

“Ah yes, but, loser pays,” you said with a smirk.

That mission had certainly ended a lot better than it had started.

Since then, the pair of you had come up with such classics as, “Knock, knock,” “Who’s there?” “My Boot”- that was the time Thor had kicked down a door onto an unsuspecting Hydra agent.

And then there was the time you’d slid down the banister of a flight of stairs, childishly giggling “WHEEEEEEEE!” as you went, and knocked down three men who were running up them towards you. You and Thor had stood and laughed as you watched them tumble comically like surprised dominoes, one into the other, back down at least ten steps.

And you’d both been getting progressively sillier with your suggestions.

Thor looks at you now, a boyish twinkle in his eyes, and says two words.

“‘Get Help.’”

“Wait, what?” you ask him, as you step over the bodies of the fallen Hydra agents, peppered with bullet holes of your own making.

“‘Get Help.’” He repeats. “Loki and I used to do it all the time when we were children. It’s when you-”

You shake your head, laughing. “I know what ‘Get Help’ is,” you say, cutting him off. “I’m just surprised you know that, but you didn’t know ‘Hammer time.’”

You come to a stop in front of the door and pick up the file that the male lab technician had been trying to escape with and store it in the satchel slung over your shoulder, where you keep your emergency med kit. Whatever’s inside it, it was worth risking his life for; so you figure it’ll probably be useful.

“You ready?” he asks you.

“Yeah, alright, but can I please be the injured one?” you ask, sliding your gun into the holster strapped to your thigh.

Thor smiles at you. “Of course.” He pauses for a moment, thinking of something. “You’re more fun than Loki, he always used to complain.” He’s still smiling, but you notice a dull sadness that settles behind his eyes at the mention of his brother’s name.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Get help! Please, get help; my girlfriend is dying!” Thor shouts dramatically, as he kicks the door open. Your stomach does a little flip as you register that he just called you his ‘girlfriend,’ but you try not to think anything of it. His left hand clings to your waist, your right arm draped over his shoulders as he all but lifts you against his left side. You hang limply in his grasp with your eyes closed, waiting for your cue. If you weren’t so focused on the current situation, you might have had more trouble ignoring his touch. You’d never been this physically close to him before.

Hydra agents run round the corner at the commotion and through slitted eyes you see them falter as they take in Thor holding your apparently lifeless body. They look at each other for a mere second then aim their guns. At this, Thor hurls you, unexpectedly, at the men. Going with it, you make yourself as long as possible, spinning in mid-air as you’re flung towards them. You smack into all three of them, knocking them to the ground. You go into a forward roll as you make contact with the floor, landing deftly behind them in a very Natasha Romanoff way; crouched on one knee, with your right hand on the floor between your legs and your left arm out to the side to steady you.

You look up at Thor.

“Did you really have to throw me?”

“I thought you said you knew how to do ‘Get Help?’” He says amusedly. “That’s how Loki and I always used to do it.”

“That might be why he didn’t like it!” you laugh, a little louder than you mean to. “You know, as much as I hate to admit it, I think this one puts you in the lead,” you say as Thor helps you to your feet.

“Oh, I don’t know,” Thor muses, “The time you lead us in that line; what’s it called? The… Conga? That was pretty good,” He remembers, with a smile. It had been good, and was the only time you’d managed to convince any of the other Avengers to join in; Steve had been very reluctant, complaining about how you and Thor’s little wager was ‘getting out of hand.’

Just then, Steve’s voice comes on over your earpieces, “Hey guys, sorry to interrupt, but you think you could just call it quits and go on that date, already? Natasha is driving me crazy here.” You hear something that sounds a lot like Nat hitting him and then he laughs, “Aah, ok, ow!”

You both chuckle and Thor rubs the back of his neck with his right hand, looking nervous, which is unusual for him.

“Ok,” you say to Thor with a shrug, trying to sound nonchalant, as your heart beats rapidly inside your chest, “But next time we do ‘Get Help’, I get to throw you.”

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[p1harmonyofficial]

[📰] A Day in the Life With P1Harmony, K-Pop's Most Optimistic Rookies: 'We Want to Be Artists'

By Jessica Oak

Over the past few months, P1Harmony unveiled their debut album Disharmony: Stand Out, premiered the box office movie P1Harmony: New World Begins with Amazon Music, and released an onslaught of rip-roaring dance videos. It's safe to say the new boy band has made both their incredible talent and their charm clear.

Billboard Korea was invited to join their packed, day-to-day activities to see how members Keeho, Jiung, Theo, Intak, Soul and Jongseob are navigating the fast lane to success and their infinite dreams.

As a quiet Sunday evening dawns on Seoul in the third week of November, Billboard Korea is greeted by the highly-energetic, freshly debuted K-pop group during a short break. In the midst of the seemingly endless hours that accompany K-pop star schedules -- especially those for new acts -- P1Harmony has just returned to their label headquarters from filming what would be their last televised performance of debut single “Siren” on music program SBS Inkigayo.

They’re all still in their customized stage outfits, now sipping smoothies and reviewing their recorded live performance on their managers' mobile devices before driving off to another scheduled appearance.

“I usually drink coffee, Americano with extra espresso shots, but I can use some sugar today,” Jiung, 19, says in his deep voice. His pleasant smile is seen through sips of an Oreo smoothie, the popular choice among the members (minus Keeho, who opted for chocolate, and Theo, who chose a strawberry flavor). “We definitely poured a lot of energy at Inkigayo.”

As seen on Inkigayo, the group’s collective ability to deliver pitch-perfect vocals through the intricate and hardcore choreography for “Siren” has been one of the key factors that led to early mainstream recognition.

With big puppy dog eyes and a lisp that occasionally slips in, Intak, 17 -- who is largely considered to be the main dancer of the group by fans, despite P1H saying they would rather not define each members’ roles -- further explains their efforts. “We are a little bit exhausted from putting in so much energy to our last performance," he says. "I think we all wanted to make a lasting impression and give our fans everything.”

Pointing to his shoes, the group's 19-year-old leader Keeho jokingly adds, “I think I danced too hard, my toe hurts!”

Keeho is Canadian-Korean, and is the most easygoing -- as well as the wittiest -- member of the group. His humor is unguarded, but his intentions are kind. His welcoming personality is often what seems to break the ice during interviews.

Youngest member Jongseob, 15, whose palpable maturity is both endearing and somewhat eerie, quietly adds that he, too, felt his moves were “much bigger and stronger” than usual. We later learn that behind his politeness, there is a super-talkative, introverted child prodigy with big ideas and a big smile.

Soon enough, the room inside FNC Entertainment headquarters starts bustling with staff members, which means it’s time to get ready for the next event. The group is rushed to get prepped and each member starts rotating into the makeup chair in an almost-robotic way, as a seasoned artist would, taking turns for their hair and foundation to be retouched.

“I have a big mosquito bite on the left side of my face,” Keeho reminds his two makeup artists, “Who gets bit by a mosquito during winter?” He turns to the group to laugh, “It is not a pimple, I promise!”

When asked if there are certain stage habits they've adopted since debut, Keeho quickly answers, “I make sure I have nothing in between or on my teeth and floss my teeth with a Q-tip so it doesn’t ruin my makeup.” Immediately, the whole room erupts in laughter. Keeho is clearly the funny one, but when you mention this to Keeho, he disagrees and says, “We all try to keep our moods up so we are constantly saying silly things. Theo is hilarious, too; he's just shy.”

Soon, P1Harmony heads to the Lotte Theater located in Jamsil, Seoul, where they have been coming for weeks to have small fan-meetings of less than 50 people due to COVID-19 social-distancing restrictions. They arrive just in time at 7:00 p.m. when the movie ends and, minutes later, are ushered into a crowd of overly excited fans -- all of whom are holding its gigantic cameras, ready to flash away.

They're holding these meetups at the movie theaters because P1Harmony is the first K-pop group to ever have released a feature film prior to their debut. The new and unconventional strategy, created by P1Harmony's management agency FNC Entertainment to help them stand out in a hyper-competitive industry, proved to be exceedingly effective. Not only did the full-length sci-fi movie help them gain traction in Korea thanks to co-stars that included some top names in entertainment, but it gave them the opportunity to be exposed on a global platform like Amazon Music when a 20-minute highlight version made its international debut.

Just a few feet from the front row of movie seats, the boys each take turns sharing their feelings about its promotional activities of “Siren” coming to end. They then do a short fan-focused skit (Jiung and Theo makes hearts and piggybacks each other upon fans requests randomly picked out from a box) and promise to come back with more music ASAP.

As a farewell gift, the boys go all out for a surprise performance of the Disharmony b-side track “Butterfly” and an encore performance of “Siren,” despite a less-than-ideal stage. Without any special lights or fancy backdrops, the narrow carpet strip between the first row of chairs and the movie screen was not the most flattering space for a boy-band performance, but turned out to be a supremely enjoyable moment of the night: P1Harmony's in-sync step coordination, balance control, spatial awareness and general collective optimism helped them manage through their gesture-heavy choreography (without anyone getting punched in the face) in what's a nearly impossible, vulnerable experience to see from any K-pop act.

Afterwards, Theo takes the mic, and asks the crowd their one last question: “Do you think we’ve improved since our first showcase?” The fans shriek, “YES!”

As we are walking to their cars, Jongseob says, “Soul is always wearing his ginormous skull rings -- he's a rockstar at heart -- and they usually end up hurting someone during our dance practices.” He's still out of breath and completely drenched in sweat. “But somehow, we managed to dodge getting hurt so I guess that was a success!”

Soul, the half-Japanese, half-Korean 15-year-old innocently looks up and nods. Soul rarely talks, but in his defense, it's not because “he doesn’t care,” but because he’s an “observer.” According to Soul, he gets more thrilled by watching his members having fun. Keeho confirms, “Soul is so protective of us; very loving and compromising.”

“It’s always so satisfying when we can perform in front of an actual audience, because we rarely get to meet our fans in person due to the current situation,” Theo, 19, shares while speaking up for the first time during this interview. “It is unfortunate that we don’t get to do it as much as we would like to, although we have live online meet-ups almost every week.”

Despite his shyness, Theo is more comfortable being in an intimate setting with his fans, while also trying to be more outgoing and giving -- his way of expressing his gratitude. While occasionally unreadable at times, Theo was one of the only members who consistently posed for the cameras throughout the one-hour fan session.

“Theo can come off the wrong way at first, kind of like Soul," explains group leader Keeho. "But once you get to know him, which takes some time, he is probably one of the more detail-oriented and caring members. He remembers what you said or what you like, and will have it ready for you when you’re least expecting it.”

On their car ride back to FNC, the boys are understandably exhausted, but no one is complaining or expecting to rest. Instead, they light up at the idea of dancing more. Since COVID-19 has limited most of what would normally make them busier with appearances and concerts, Jiung says they usually cap the night off by either going to dance practice or making online content. Tonight, they are going to practice.

While it's a typical K-pop rookie answer to say that their nights will be filled with rehearsing, our skepticism is proven wrong. Starting after dinner around 11:30 p.m., their dance practice is going to be an all-nighter. Jiung and Intak have been coordinating their moves for a short TikTok video for almost 50 minutes.

“We ended our debut promo but we are doing a follow-up promo for 'Nemonade' and have a number of special projects and collaborations coming up,” Jiung teases for his upcoming promos. “We seriously have so much to practice that we haven't had much personal time. We only go back to our dorms to shower and sleep.”

“You'd be stunned if you saw our dorms right now,” Keeho tells us. “We have a group chat where our individual chores are listed, but that list hasn't been updated since Oct. 14. Our moms help us out here and there but that's a whole other conversation.” Jongseob chuckles and suggests that they should play a card game of BANG! tonight so the loser can clean what's most urgent and in dire need of attention: the sink.

But besides chores, what does P1Harmony do during their off-hours?

The first to answer is Jiung, who carries himself with serene confidence on and off stage, and is perhaps one of the more collected and determined members of the group. He has very specific personal preferences (he loves raw garlic, can’t be cooked) and indulges in multiple hobbies (reading on a wide-range of subjects, sketching “to take things off his mind" that results in near-perfect replications) and gets consumed watching videos on “solo camping,” noting that one of his many goals is to go camping alone one day.

“Our personal needs and time are important, but all of that right now is secondary,” Jiung says. He stresses that he and his members are more focused on finessing their craft and is trying not to lose sight of their ultimate goal, which is to be recognized for their musicality. All the members have writing credits on their debut album.

They say their hard work ethic and long hours are purely driven by their excitement of finally being able to do what they've been dreaming of for years. The group’s debut didn’t go exactly as planned, getting postponed multiple times for several reasons, so one can only imagine their buildup of determination.

Keeho adds, “We love doing online meet-ups. It’s so much fun and it’s the only way we can interact with our fans right now, but at the same time we are kind of worried that we will be, or I will be, known as the ‘funny’ one, and wonder if we could ever be taken seriously as musicians.”

Nonetheless, he is flattered that people find him funny and enjoys watching fan-made memes of himself -- some of which have earned hundreds of thousands of views on social media.

Now, in full-out leader mode, Keeho squarely shares, “The only reason why we are so motivated is because we just love singing and performing. I can confidently say, on the behalf of our members, is that the six of us are here because we want to be artists; we want to deliver our message and emotions through our music, and we don’t want any of that to be overshadowed by our other activities.”

So, what about P1Harmony’s music?

“Of course, we want to inspire and have a message that our fans can relate to," Keeho says. "But what matters to us the most, is that we are genuine and make music that feels like ‘us’ at that very moment." Jiung adds, “I want to make music that can remind us what mind state or what type of emotions we were feeling at the time.”

Keeho agrees. “Our music defines us. We want to be sincere, and hope that our sincerity translates to our fans worldwide. I think it’s important to make music that touches us first; music that feels true to ourselves," he says. "We are all very opinionated, involved and talk to each other a lot about what we feel when we are writing our music.”

Although the group is at most times in high spirits, they admit they have concerns about their future. When asked if the idea of failure or self-doubt ever devours them, they are all remarkably positive and dedicated.

“I get worried about failure, but I try not to focus on our results right now," Intak says earnestly. “I think it’s a process, and whatever the outcome may be, what matters to me the most is enjoying this [learning] process and being humble and grateful for every little achievement we establish as a group.” However, he is adamant to “to make an indelible mark in history.” “I want us to be remembered as a prominent musical figure in history. I want to touch the world; I want to move and impact people with what we do. I want to go on-record with Billboard for this!”

“I also worry,” continues Jiung gleefully, looking more ecstatic than ever despite the heavy subject. “I think about our failure, but I have this gut-feeling we are going to do well. We all have this crazy, enthusiastic vibe, and are pretty much convinced we are going to be awesome. I think we lift each other up and have high hopes because we have no doubt when we are making music.”

Jongseob jumps in to clarify: “We don't think about failure at least when we are in our creative zones.”

“No offense to Intak,” Theo says peacefully, “but I don’t care for results. I don’t want to change the world. I don’t want to be pressured to make a difference, because we set our own standards and that’s what matters the most. I’m just happy to be singing and performing right now.”

“Yeah, you know what, I am not concerned [about failure] at all,” Keeho continues with his mischievous smirk. “I always say, ‘We are destined for greatness,’ and I truly believe it. We are going to be legends!”

And after spending a full, exhaustive day with them, at this point, we believe it too.

[mdelpin]

If Only For Tonight

Jerik Week 2019 Prompt: Pinned to the Past AO3 | FF.Net For @oceanwaves-blog and @watcher-ofthe-sky I hope you like it!

Summary: Erik has made his peace with himself, but he is becoming increasingly concerned at Jellal's inability to do the same. He tries to talk some sense into him.

Erik was used to noise. It was always working its way into his head like a friend that has worn out his welcome, but no amount of urging could get to leave. Not that he really knew what it meant to have friends. Even the other members of Oracion Seis were only people he had grown up with and therefore only tolerated because they shared a purpose.

The majority of people went through life wearing a mask, one they hid behind, secure in the knowledge most people couldn’t see through it. But Erik wasn’t most people. Ever since the dragon lacrima had been implanted inside him, he’d gained the ability or rather the curse to hear people’s thoughts. That was a heavy burden for anyone to bear, but especially more so for someone who was never really been taught how to control it.

To hear so many thoughts all at once was overwhelming, so the best strategy he had devised was to focus on one voice, it didn’t matter whose. It helped with the noise, but not with his attitude. Most people were inherently ugly on the inside, their thoughts a testament to all their insecurities and Erik assimilated all of it. Sometimes he wondered if the poison his body created was a side effect of all the sins and negativity he absorbed regularly. His own thoughts, when he could manage to hear them were but a whisper in comparison.

So as much as he could, Erik kept himself isolated. The time he’d spent in prison had been blissfully quiet. For the first time in a long while he’d been able to hear his thoughts loud and clear.

Trapped within the confines of his magic sealing cell, Erik had finally been able to experience freedom. He’d used his incarceration to think about who he’d been before he’d been corrupted by Jellal and the Tower of Heaven.

Even as he grieved for the child he’d never been allowed to be, Erik knew the path he had chosen had been incorrect. And he wanted to do better for the man he was, wanted to be able to hold his head up high. He decided then he needed to make up for his sins.

When Erik had reunited with his guildmates, they had all grudgingly agreed to follow Jellal in his quest to find Zeref. For a long time, Erik had hated Jellal, had blamed him for every bad thing that had ever happened to him, but he slowly found that changing. He had grown to accept his own mistakes and embrace the fact that Jellal perhaps was not what they had all assumed. Not because of anything Jellal ever said, at least not out loud, but because of the thoughts that only Erik could hear.

Each thought was a silent confession that Jellal couldn’t help but know Erik could hear. Slowly, he found himself becoming interested in the man.

Jellal wore a mask just like everyone else, but he was a conundrum. He purposefully acted the part of the villain so that the people he felt he’d wronged could get their closure. Then he interiorized every hateful world they hurled at him.

In his most private thoughts, Jellal held a self-hatred so deep it sometimes worried Erik. And now that they were part of the same guild, Erik found himself focusing on Jella’s thoughts more and more, already tired of the thoughts of Sorano and the others.

His attention did not go unnoticed, he’d already heard Jellal wondering about it, but Erik didn’t worry too much. He’d been startled a few times to hear Jellal’s voice in his head, his way of warning Erik he knew what the dragon slayer was up to. Rather than getting embarrassed, Erik would only smile and wave at the intrusion.

With time he noticed with growing confusion that some of the thoughts that Jellal had once linked to Erza had started to shift towards him and this bewildered Erik considerably. Was it some sort of tactic by Jellal to ensure Erik got out of his head, or was it something else?

Erik didn’t understand why he cared so much about this man. Maybe it was because like him Jellal was a better man than people gave him credit for. Or perhaps it was because he understood how it felt to be manipulated by others.

Any way you looked at it, Jellal had been as much of a victim as any of them. He had been brainwashed to be evil, but with the help of Erza and her new friends, he had managed to rise above it. Jellal’s problem lay in that he didn’t believe he deserved forgiveness. Not from Erza or anyone else involved in the Tower of Heaven, and while there was a time when Erik would have agreed with him, that time was long past.

With the creation of Crime Sorciere, Jellal had given them all a tool to move forward. To put the sins they had committed behind them and replace them with acts they could be proud of, and that is precisely what they were doing. Erik just wished that Jellal would allow himself the same mercy.

For the first time since he had acquired his magic, Erik felt the desire to act on the information he couldn’t help but hear. To take whatever feelings had created this attachment he couldn’t seem to escape and try to make Jellal see what they all saw.

He asked Macbeth to let him take over his lookout duty, knowing that Jellal often had trouble sleeping and would sometimes engage Macbeth in conversation. Macbeth had merely raised an eyebrow before shrugging in apathy and heading to his tent to join the other guild members in sleep.

Erik sat down by the fire, holding his hands out and enjoying the warmth. With everyone asleep, the night was unexpectedly quiet, and he extended his senses out through the woods where they were camping, trying to pick up any human smells or stray thoughts that would alert him to someone being nearby.

Once he was satisfied they were alone, Erik settled down to wait. It was at times like this that he missed the quiet companionship of Cubelios, and he spared a thought to the woman his snake had become. Or had she always been a woman caught in an enchantment? He’d never quite understood what had happened.

O-o

Jellal stared at the stars through the fabric of his tent, but just like every other night, they failed to offer him any comfort. Tired of laying down he decided to go keep Macbeth some company, maybe bum a cigarette. If nothing else the crackling of the fire always calmed him down. He had a feeling Natsu would understand what he meant.

Once out of the cramped space, he stretched his limbs and began walking towards Macbeth, stopping in midstep as he recognized Erik sitting where Macbeth would usually be lounging lazily.

Shit!

It sounded loud in his own head, so he wasn’t surprised to see Erik startle and search him out. Jellal tried to shield his thoughts as much as he could, although he was well aware that it was pointless.

It was so frustrating that he was incapable of hiding his thoughts around the man, giving Erik an unobstructed view of who Jellal was. Something he tried to avoid at all costs.

More vexing to him was the fact that even armed with this knowledge, Erik acted no differently towards him. Just what did that mean? Not knowing made him feel very awkward and uncomfortable around the dragon slayer.

Erik chuckled at him, acting amused by his discomfort and as he patted the ground next to him in an inviting gesture, he commented, “Beautiful night, don’t you think?”

Is he coming on to me?

Jellal regarded him warily, once again cursing himself for not being able to restrain his thoughts, especially when he could see the mirth in Erik’s eyes.

“Would you like me to?” Erik replied as if Jellal had spoken out loud, not bothering to contain his smirk.

“Didn’t anyone ever teach you it’s rude to go where you’re not invited?” Jellal snapped, but he resigned himself to the conversation and sat down, keeping his eyes trained on the dancing flames of their campfire.

“No one ever taught me shit. We were slaves, remember?” Erik fumbled in his coat for a cigarette.

“It’s still rude,” Jellal grumbled, and then in a quieter voice he found the courage to finally say what had been bothering him since Erik had joined Crime Sorciere, “I don’t like having someone in my head.”

“Shit, I’m sorry. I forgot,” Erik paled and quickly apologized, making Jellal think he’d understood his implication, “Why didn’t you say anything?”

“I tried,” Jellal declared honestly, thinking of the times he’d reached out to Erik with his telepathy only to have the dragon slayer not take him seriously.

“Oh.”

“I’m curious though, what is it you’re expecting to find?” Jellal pointed at Erik’s cigarette, which he had yet to light, and Erik grabbed another one from his pack and handed it over. Jellal called on his fire magic, invoking a small flame on his index finger which he used to light his cigarette, he waited for Erik to do the same before dispelling it.

“I don’t know,” Erik shrugged, “You’re different from everyone else, and that is both refreshing and worrisome.”

Jellal didn’t quite know how to interpret Erik’s words.

“Ever since I’ve had this magic, my mind, it was always too loud. And it wasn’t even my words, you know? It was everyone else’s. Most of the time, I couldn’t even hear myself think.” Erik took a drag from his cigarette, “It was maddening. It was only when I began to learn to focus on one voice and block out the rest that it got a bit better.”

Jellal nodded in acceptance of his explanation, “That still doesn’t explain why me?”

Erik thought about it briefly, “I’ve known most of these other guys for years, but you, you are fascinating. The way you think is so twisted, I just got caught up in it.”

“Twisted?” Jellal stiffened at the word, but on further analysis decided he liked it. Yes, he was twisted and wicked. Unworthy. It sounded right. He began to listen eagerly, waiting for Erik to validate his feelings. He was a tad surprised to not have Erik retort, and he wondered if he had actually heeded his request to stay out of his mind. He hoped so.

“Surely you must realize that?” Erik studied Jellal as he rambled on in disbelief, “You constantly blame yourself for things that are outside of your control. And even though you’ve dedicated yourself to making amends for your actions, you refuse to accept that you deserve to ever be forgiven.”

“All of us here,” Erik pointed to their small camp, “we all forgave you long ago. We aren’t innocent either, but if you don’t allow for the possibility that we can become worthy of forgiveness, of love, of life through our actions, then what’s the fucking point? Frankly, I worry about you.”

Jellal stared at Erik in surprise, that was probably the most words he’d heard come out of the dragon slayer since they’d met. Erik must have realized this too because he was suddenly hiding behind the smoke that curled from his cigarette.

Erik was worried about him? Why? And how on Earthland had he forgiven him? Jellal had enslaved Erik as a child, had handed him over to Brain without a second thought. Hell, every single bad thing that had ever happened to Erik could probably be attributed back to him somehow. Did he not see that? He felt unsettled, as the guilt that he felt almost all the time weighed him down, making him feel like he was trying to tread on shaky ground.

He took a drag from his cigarette, and he was dismayed to see his hand trembling, “I don’t deserve forgiveness,” Jellal snapped at Erik before whispering, “ People died, friends died. They didn’t get a happy ever after, why should I?”

Erik thwacked him upside the head ignoring his glare, “Stop that! How many lives have you saved since?”

Jellal couldn’t answer that because the truth was it didn’t matter how many lives he’d saved or how many more he would save before he died. It would never be enough to make up for his sins.

He could feel Erik studying him, and he resigned himself to another lecture, one that thankfully never came. Instead, he felt a warm hand cover his and squeeze it tightly before letting go.

Jellal turned his head and saw Erik staring into the fire before turning to look at him, his features hardened into a determined expression, “I’ve done many things I’m not proud of, and I will continue to try to make up for them. This guild you created, it’s allowed me to do that, to have a second chance, and I will see you get yours.”

Jellal sighed, wishing people would just leave him alone for once, but he couldn’t help but let Erik’s words affect him, and this time it was him that reached for the other’s hand.

It was tentative, the way their fingers brushed against each other. New and confusing in ways he wasn’t sure about, and he found himself weakening as they sat in companionable silence with the crackling of the fire and the sounds of nature all around them. Maybe even if it was only for tonight, he could pretend he was worthy of this forgiveness.

[armyvetswife]

My 2 cents worth on Kdramas

So, earlier this year (2018) my 12-year-old granddaughter turned me on to Kdramas.

Started out with 'Boys over Flowers' in January and we're still arguing about which one of the guys Jan-Di should have ended up with....Gu Jun-Pyo or Yoon Ji-Hoo. Since I'm a sucker for the whole Soul Mate thing (been married to my own soul mate for over 30 years) and Ji-Hoo became my favorite right from the start, I actually wasn't too happy with the way things turned out in the end.

But that's all beside the point and the only thing that matters is that it only took this one series to get me completely and absolutely "hooked" on Kdramas.

Since Kim Hyun Joong became my first favorite as Ji-Hoo, I started looking up other parts he starred in and came across 'Inspiring Generation'. Wow! What a difference! The character of Shin Jung-Tae is just about as opposite of Ji-Hoo as it can possibly get. But I guess that's what makes a truly great actor, and Kim Hyun Joong was simply amazing playing the part....even though it bothered me to see that handsome face getting beat up way too much.

But then it was also 'Inspiring Generation' where I found what would become my next favorite...Song Jae Rim, in the character of Mo Il-Hwa.

I can't quite pinpoint what it was that endeared me to that part, but of course I had to once again look for other Kdramas, featuring Song Jae Rim. And that's when I came across 'Moon embracing the Sun' with Song Jae Rim as the King's swordsman, Woon.

Absolutely loved Jae Rim in that part and still do, even after having watched the entire series about a dozen times by now. I also liked Song Jae Rim in 'Goodbye Mr. Black', even though his wasn't a main character role, but didn't care much for the part of a hitman/killer Mr. Kim he played in 'Two Weeks' since I really don't like my favs playing "bad guys". Of course, watching 'Two Weeks' made me find another new favorite...Lee Joon Gi

Okay, so I just said I don't like my favs playing "bad guys", but the main character, Jang Tae-San, isn't really a bad "bad guy" and if that story doesn't tear up your heart, then you better check if you still have one.

I actually had to do something I usually NEVER do...about half-way through the series I had to watch the final episode to see how it turns out, just so my old nerves could take watching the rest of the story. Yeah, I know...terrible, isn't it? Don't worry, I got more than an earful about it from my granddaughter, and I promise to never do it again! ;)

But while I thought that it could not possibly get any better than Lee Joon Gi's performance in 'Two Weeks', I quickly found out that I was wrong when I watched 'Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo' next. OH, MY...!!! Not only is Joon Gi with long hair pure eye-candy (to me at least), but he absolutely nailed the part of Prince Wang So. 

Ladies, how many of you were ready to strangle Wang So's mother with your bare hands. I definitely was! And what's the big deal about that scar? I guess it's because Princes had to be "perfect", but come on...  Scars are just proof that you were stronger than whatever or whoever it was that tried to kill you. And apparently back then the phrase "chicks dig scars" was unheard of. And also apparently I'm not the only one who wasn't happy at all with the way the story ended, considering there are numerous fan videos on YouTube with different, happier endings. I got more than just a little upset with Hae Soo for leaving Wang So. How could she not see that he was trying his best to NOT become some blood-thirsty tyrant??

Anyway, after only about 3 days of some serious editing work, the final episode in my own DVD collection of 'Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo' has a much happier ending now...many thanks to Daria Zyuzina who created the wonderful fan video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oj0r9zE5Le8) where Wang So finds Hae Soo in the future. And like so many other fans, I'm also still hoping for a Season 2 with this kind of scenario.

On another note to 'Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo'... aside from the despicable character of Queen Yoo (Prince Wang So's mother, who treats him like s**t), my other least-favorite character is Prince Wang Yo (Wang So's biological brother, and also a son of Queen Yoo). However, while I hated the character, actor Hong Jong Hyun did an excellent job portraying the mean, spiteful, conniving 3rd Prince. But if you're like me, you would much more enjoy seeing Hong Jong Hyun in the role of Wang Rin in 'The King in Love'

or, even better, as Seo Chan Hwi, the vice-commander of the Royal Guard in 'Jeon Woo Chi'

(that is, if you can get into things like wizards and magic and tolerate some occasionally slightly over-done special effects of people flying through the air and such...BUT at least in 'Jeon Woo Chi' ONLY the wizards have that ability, unlike in some of the Chinese dramas where seemingly anybody can have such super-human abilities...if you ever watched 'General and I', you might understand what I'm talking about... I couldn't make it past a trailer that had a fight scene between Chu Beijie and He Xia, but that's just me, I guess).

As far as wizards and magic are concerned, however, I did very much enjoy the ones in 'Mirror of the Witch' aka 'Secret Healer' and my favorite character there ended up being the Taoist Yo Gwang, played by Lee Yi Kyung.

Don't ask me why, I just found him adorable (maybe because he was so awkward, dealing with the girl  Soon Deuk who clearly has a crush on him). SPOILER ALERT -- 'Mirror of the Witch' has a rather bitter-sweet ending!

I want to get back to Lee Joon Gi for a moment since I just finished the 'Lawless Lawyer' series....which is an excellent nail-biter and I had to seriously restrain myself NOT TO watch the final episode first again. If you've seen it, tell me is it just me or did you think too that Joon Gi looked too skinny in that series? Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying at all that he looked "bad" in any way and his performance was awesome as usual...I just felt that he looked like he'd lost a whole bunch of weight and "celebrity life" was taking its toll on him. Kind of worries me, because I would definitely like to see him in many more future performances.

I still have some Lee Joon Gi binge-watching left over for now, since the only other movies and series I made it through so far were 'Iljimae', 'Arang and the Magistrate', 'Gunman in Joseon' and of course 'The King and the Clown' (which was way too sad for my taste). But most likely 'Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo' will always be my absolute favorite and I'll keep hoping for a 2nd season...even though that will probably just remain wishful thinking for myself and many others, but we can always hope, right?

Some of my other favs I’d like to mention would be Kwak Dong Yeon as swordsman Kim Byung-Yeon in 'Moonlight drawn by Clouds' aka 'Love in the Moonlight'

and he also played an excellent part as young Shin Jung-Tae in 'Inspiring Generation'.

Then there is Seo In Guk for his outstanding performances as Prince Gwang-Hae in 'The King's Face'

and also as Lee Hyun / David Lee in 'I Remember You' aka 'Hello Monster'.

An excellent yet unfortunately somewhat overlooked performance of Kim Jae Young as Moo-Yeon in ‘100 Days my Prince’

And last (for now) but certainly not least is Jung Il Woo whose sad role as Prince Yang-Myung in 'Moon embracing the Sun' cost me plenty of tissues,

but required even more of them in 'The Return of Iljimae' (even though it has a happier ending for Jung Il Woo’s character)

I'll probably get "yelled at" for saying this, but I honestly have a hard time deciding whom I liked better...Lee Joon Gi as Iljimae in 'Iljimae: The Phantom Thief', or Jung Il Woo as Iljimae in 'The Return of Iljimae'. (Sorry, Joon Gi, but be assured that you'll still always be my #1 fav).

So, thanks to my granddaughter, back to some more binge-watching...hey, I got to blame someone else for things not getting done around the house, right? ;)