#just pointing out one of the many things that charlotte gets villainized for despite | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

cherry-valentine · 4 years ago

Text

How Black Clover Gets Lady Characters Right

*Spoilers for most of the Black Clover anime (mostly character related stuff, not much in the way of major plot stuff)*

Black Clover is right up there with Gintama in terms of shows that reward viewers for sticking with them through some mediocre early episodes and arcs. When Black Clover began airing, I was excited. Manga readers had been hyping the series up, and it sounded like the next big shounen fighting anime that would take anime fandom by storm. Then I started watching it, and I was immensely disappointed. I found Asta’s constant screaming almost unbearable (to the point that I started muting the tv when it looked like he was about to open his mouth). The early episodes were totally predictable and cliche. The animation was, at times, embarrassingly bad. But I stuck with it because there were a few elements that kept me interested. One was the absolute bangers of opening and ending themes (at one point the thought crossed my mind that they were entirely too good for this show). Another was Yuno, whom I liked from the start. Then there’s the fact that Asta’s magic, or lack of magic, was the one element I didn’t predict a mile away. I honestly expected him to awaken to some super powerful magic early on. Almost 200 episodes later, he is still magic-free. I really did not see that coming. Still yet, I came close to dropping the series several times during those first thirteen episodes or so.

Somewhere around the time they went to the undersea village (I don’t remember the name of the arc), I began to notice that I was actually looking forward to each new episode. It was a gradual change from being at the bottom of my watch list to being near the top. So gradual it took me a while to realize it. The show still had some problems, sure, but it stopped being predictable. Asta talked more and screamed less. More interesting characters were introduced. The fight scenes were exciting. By the time this arc was over, Black Clover had become a favorite. So, if you tried the series and found it boring and annoying, consider giving it another shot. Like I said, it rewards you for sticking with it.

One of the best things about Black Clover, for me, is how it treats its female characters, especially when compared to other popular shounen fighting anime. It is by no means perfect, and I’ll talk about the show’s minor failings in regards to its ladies a little further down. But overall, it does a phenomenal job.

The first thing that struck me about Black Clover’s women is just how varied they are. There’s a surprising range in their appearances, personalities, and skills. And there are lots of them. Far more than a lot of other shounen fighting anime allow. There are five women in the main squad, the Black Bulls, alone. And we see that each squad has several women as well. Then there’s the all-women squad the Blue Roses. This extends to the villains, as well as the non-combatant supporting cast as well.

Speaking of skills, the women of Black Clover are unusually powerful. The two male leads, Asta and Yuno, eventually get “power-ups”, some kind of new form or transformation or whatever. This is super common in shounen fighting anime. What’s not so common, however, is the female lead getting her own cool power-up/transformation. This is what happens for Noelle, and it was such a great surprise. A little side note here: I’ve been watching the series on a streaming site that allows comments, and I was so amazed by the comments on the episode in which Noelle gets her power-up. The (mostly male, judging by their names) commenters were genuinely happy for her! They were proud of her for getting stronger and cheering her on! I didn’t spot a single comment about her looks or how great of a waifu she is (at the time anyway).

But it wasn’t just Noelle that got stronger. Another Black Bulls member, Vanessa, got an interesting power-up of her own, in the form a cat familiar that basically makes her and her teammates completely impervious to harm for as long as her mana holds out (which has saved their lives countless times). Another lady, Grey, has recently (in the anime) demonstrated some shockingly powerful magic that none of her teammates, or even she herself, realized she was capable of. Then there’s Charmy, who was already quite powerful but gained her own powered up transformation that made her strong enough to defeat an elf-possessed Magic Knight captain. If anything, the ladies have received MORE power-ups than the men.

And while we’re talking about powerful women, I have to talk about Mereoleona. If you’ve watched the show, you know exactly what I mean. If you haven’t, just imagine a character who can curb-stomp a powerful villain who is on a higher level than villains that the main characters were struggling to team up against just a few episodes before, who can then take on a whole group of these powered up villains and remain standing, even after losing consciousness, because they’re just that badass. Now imagine that character is a woman. And she’s so terrifying that one of the elf-possessed enemies (her comrades who had their bodies taken over by elves) remarks that his body froze up because, even though he’s controlling it, the BODY ITSELF was afraid of her. Mereoleona is an absolute beast, the kind of character that is almost always male in these types of shows. And the best part? The icing on this badass cake? The only person who was stronger than her, who could defeat her one-on-one, was ANOTHER WOMAN. Noelle’s mother. And a huge part of Noelle’s motivation as a character is becoming strong like her mother.

On the subject of Noelle’s motivation, I really appreciate that it has nothing to do with her crush on Asta. Sure, she likes him, but it’s not a motivating factor in her life and it’s not even really that important to her story arc. Her arc has always been about HER, about becoming stronger, living up to her powerful family’s expectations, discovering the truth about her mother’s death and then about avenging her, about becoming more empathetic to the common people despite being royalty. Noelle’s story is ABOUT HER. And it’s really sad that this is something remarkable, but we’ve all seen the “heroines” with no real arcs of their own, or worse, their arcs revolve almost entirely around their love for a male character (Sakura from Naruto is the most obvious example here but anyone who watches a lot of shounen can no doubt name many more). And Noelle isn’t an exception in Black Clover. Almost all of the women have interesting back stories and character arcs that have little to do with men (or if men are involved, they’re in supporting roles to these stories and very rarely the main subject).

An exception to this is possibly Charlotte, who is in love with Yami and this plays a big role in her story. However, even this is framed in a way that puts the emphasis on her own growth. It’s really about her learning to be honest with her feelings and getting over her own awkwardness around Yami. A big moment for her is when she admits to her squad that she’s in love with Yami, and they’re all eager and excited to help and support her, like the wonderful ladies they are.

Now, as I said before, Black Clover’s depictions of women are not perfect. There are a few issues I consider minor that I need to address. The first is the tendency the show has of making almost all the ladies be in love with someone. A large portion of the women are sporting crushes, though some of them are quite subtle or mainly used for comic relief, it’s still a little annoying that so many of them are in love. Of course, many of the male characters are in love with someone too (including the protagonist, Asta) and there are several female characters who are totally disinterested in romance, so I can overlook this. Another small issue is that, even though there’s more variety than usual in the body types (one female character is fat and another, Charmy, often gets quite pudgy for extended periods of time, plus a few ladies have more muscular builds), a significant portion of them have very large breasts, including two teenage characters (Noelle and Mimosa). It feels a little unnecessary, to be honest. Though to be fair, it’s rare that any of these characters are used for fan service and the camera never really seems to linger on their bodies. Most of them dress fairly modestly and among those who don’t, the more sexy clothes fit their characters and make sense for their personalities.

The last minor issue I have is that we often get the “designated girl fights”. If there’s a female villain, it’s likely that a female hero will be the one to fight her. This isn’t a rule set in stone, because there are plenty of male/female battles, but it happens enough to be very noticeable. Of course, these lady villains are demonstrated to be just as powerful and dangerous as the villainous men, but it’s still mildly irritating.

Those little nitpicks aside, Black Clover is still a shining example of a shounen fighting anime getting its ladies right. The women in the series are well-written, interesting characters with compelling stories. They’re powerful, have wildly varying personalities and motivations, and never feel like window dressing. They’re not just there to be pretty romantic interests. The show does all this very well, and I think it deserves a lot of praise and credit for it.

#Black Clover #Female characters #noelle silva #mereoleona vermillion #text #long post

22 notes · View notes

takerfoxx · 3 years ago

Text

Here's the next part of the Walpurgis Nights girls watch The Rebellion Story, this time stretching from that upside-down reflection conversation to Homura and Kyoko's wacky bus trip.

Reminder:

G=Gretchen

H=Homulilly

Op=Ophelia

Ok=Oktavia

Ca=Candeloro/Mami

Ch=Charlotte

...

Ca: Okay, so, is everyone ready?

Ch: Yeah. Yeah. Sorry about losing my shit. I’ll try to keep it together.

Op: No, by all means. I’d say you’re entitled.

G: I mean, if I found out that I was a tiny, living doll that turned into a giant worm, I’d be upset too!

=Charlotte sighs deeply=

G: Oh. Sorry.

H: It’s a fake.

G: Eh?

H: All of it. The whole scenario. We’re caught in a super-witch’s labyrinth, or some kind of virtual reality simulation, or a shared dream.

Ok: Like the Matrix?

H: The what?

Ok: Oh, I’ve got to show that one to you. It’s this old movie from the world of the living about how all of humanity are trapped in this virtual world because machines have taken over the planet, and they use people’s bodies as living batteries or something. And-

Op: Tavi, starting to ramble.

Ok: Sorry. Anyway, there’s like three different recreations out there. Personally I like the one from Madd Dogg Studios the best.

Op: Because of all the sex.

Ok: Yeah, the other two don’t have those. Shame, really.

Ch: Okay, hold on though! If all that is some kind of weird simulation, then why am I there? By rights if you guys never turned into witches, I should be dead! You should’ve killed me, and then I would be comfortably here in Freehaven while you guys sit around singing songs to severed heads inside of demented teddy-bears!

G: Well, if there’s no witches in this world, then maybe we never fought you in the first place.

Ch: But I’m clearly a witch!

G: Yeah, that is weird.

Ca: Let’s find out.

…

Ok: You think that all of this being in an upside-down reflection means anything?

H: Yes. That it’s a fake.

Op: You are not going to let that go, are you?

H: Just watch.

Op: Have you seen this before?

H: Obviously not.

Ok: Well, this version of Candeloro is just as on it with her tea game, I see.

Ca: Some things never change.

Ok: Like Ophelia’s dislike for sour stuff, apparently.

Ca: It’s her tradeoff for her ungodly tolerance for spicy.

Ch: Yeah, I’m pretty sure it’s not as high as she makes it out to be.

Op: Hey, who exactly ate those dockengaut viper peppers without flinching? Me, that’s who!

Ch: You literally had to the hospital and grow your tongue back.

Op: But I didn’t flinch.

…

Ok: They really like showing us around the town.

G: Do any of these locations mean anything?

Ca: Well, that’s the school, so I suppose-Huh?

G: UM!

Ok: Why is everyone’s faces suddenly horribly disfigured?

Ch: Are they melting? It looks like they’re melting.

Op: Yeah. And…ours are fine?

G: See! You two are sleeping in class! I told you that having a party right after fighting that Nightmare was a bad idea! Growing girls need sleep!

Op: Honestly, I’m more concerned about the horrific burns on everyone’s face than I am about our counterparts’ unhealthy sleeping habits.

H: HA! Called it! It’s a simulation! None of those people are real! We’re the only actual people here!

Op: Hey, credit where it’s due, you did call it.

G: Looks like Hitomi’s real too.

H: Oh, goody.

G: So’s that guy with the silver hair? Who is he?

Ok: Oh, so that must be Kyousuke!

Op: That was who I was up against? Huh. Well, he’s…pretty.

Ok: I always wondered what he looked like.

Op: …so?

Ok: I’m sure past me thought he was good-looking, but I still think I traded up.

Op: Darn right, you did.

…

Ch: So who took the time to make food in the shape of your heads?

Ok: You know, between this and Hitomi, there’s a lot of severed heads going around.

=Candeloro frowns and feels her neck=

Ch: You okay?

Ca: I’m fine. I just got the weirdest feeling of déjà vu all of a sudden.

Ok: Who wants to bet that the one with all the bags of junk food for lunch is Ophelia?

Op: What? Why me in specific?

Ca: That one must be mine.

Ch: Well, at least I get my own severed-head snack now.

G: Right next to Kyubey.

H: If there was any justice in the world that would be his actual head.

G: Still. Those soul-gem treats are pretty creative.

Ca: Oh, wait! Never mind! That’s Homura’s lunch.

Ch: Homulilly? Why are you eating my face?

H: Don’t ask.

Op: And of course I snatch Blue Raspberry’s soul-gem!

Ok: Even then, you couldn’t keep me out of your mouth.

Op: AAANNNDDD the rat just ate it. Huh.

Ok: Oh, that makes me so uncomfortable.

Ch: And we get a close-up of me looking like a lunatic. Thanks, movie.

Op: I mean, that is a pretty accurate depiction of your face whenever you get anywhere near a piece of mozzarella.

H: All of this making me incredibly uneasy.

G: What is?

H: The slow pace. The lack of audible dialogue. The somber music. Something is up.

Ch: That’s all kinds of deliberate.

H: Well, at least this other me can tell that something’s wrong.

Op: I for one am incredibly disappointed in the rest of us. Everyone in the city has their faces burned off. That ought to at least raise a few red flags.

…

Ok: AAANNNDDD it’s gone all weird again!

Ca: Okay, this is obviously a witch’s labyrinth. They’re not even hiding it anymore.

Ok: Except from us. Like, are we blind?

Op: Oh, hey. It’s me. A lunch date?

H: I doubt it.

G: Is any of this normal? I mean, I know Freehaven is strange to newcomers but normal to us, so in this world, is it normal to just hang out on a floating island filled with chairs and tables with really long legs while blimps fly by in formation?

Ok: To say nothing of that freakshow going on down there. What are those? Those creepy little girls and the guy with the wind-up box?

Ca: Witch’s familiars.

=everyone looks to Charlotte, who is nonplussed=

Ch: You know, I’m actually okay with being the villain. At least that would make sense!

Op: You better get some kind of redemption arc and a weirdly sexually charged gunfight with Candeloro.

Ch: That would honestly make up for everything else that’s happened so far.

Ca: I don’t know. All of this looks very witchy, but it wasn’t what I remember from your labyrinth.

…

Op: Hey. Teenaged me. Wake up and smell the bad drug trip.

Ch: Why do you guys have so many cups on that table? Do you have a drinking problem or something?

Op: Look, shit is weird. Don’t judge our coping mechanisms.

G: Is it just me, or is there a bunch of random objects just falling out of the sky all around you?

Ok: Is it just me, or did that blimp have to come literally out of the river to fly at that angle?

H: This is getting progressively more dream-like.

Op: Nice crotch-shot, movie. How come I don’t get the boob or butt camera like Candy and Tavi?

Ch: Do you really want us to answer that question?

Op: I’d prefer if you didn’t.

H: Anyone else notice that the number of cups keep changing?

Op: Like I said. We all have our own ways of coping. Don’t judge.

…

H: Well, at least I’m noticing that something’s off. Even if I’m completely blind to the obviously bizarre stuff going on all around me?

G: Oh, so it’s going to be like a mystery story! And you’re the detective!

Op: And I get to be the sidekick. There are worst roles, I guess.

Ch: I guess that means you’re the main character after all, Lilly.

H: Thank you, but I’d really rather be the lead of a completely different movie.

…

Op: And off we go, on our wild adventure!

H: Beneath endless stone bridges. I mean, seriously. If either of us wanted proof that something was wrong, all we have to do is look up.

G: If this is a fake world you’re trapped in, you’re probably programmed to not notice that anything’s wrong. You know, like how we never really how strange dreams are until we wake up.

Op: Oh, what the hell. The bus is dropping us off in this fever dream? WAKE UP, IDIOTS! WAKE UP AND SMELL THE FREAKY!

Ch: They’re not even hiding it anymore.

G: You know, I can’t help but wonder if this world was always this strange, but that since the first few minutes were from our point of view all the weird stuff not having to do with the Nightmare wasn’t shown. But now that Lilly’s noticed, the weirdness just keeps coming out more and more.

Ch: I would not be surprised.

Ca: I think we can all collectively agree that despite whatever the witch turns out to be, this is all Kyubey’s fault, right?

Op: Fine by mean.

Ok: Agreed.

H: I wonder where all those fake people are going.

Op: I’m just going to assume that there’s a big meat grinder at the bottom of those stairs.

G: Ew.

…

Op: Oh, that’s not right? THAT’S NOT RIGHT? YAH THINK?

Ok: Of course you would be tipped off by the wrong destination but not by the field of hazy red filled with windmills.

Op: Turn left? We were supposed to turn left? HOW CAN YOU TELL? THERE’S NOTHING THERE!

Ch: That does bring up an interesting point. I’m assuming that you’re just blind to the weirdness because it’s got you trapped. So, what is it that you’re seeing?

G: Probably just a normal road, I guess.

Ok: Well, what did you expect taking the loop line?

…

Ch: Okay, so there’s a clear divide between the big, empty, red field with the windmills and the mostly normal looking city.

H: A very loose definition of the word “normal.”

Ch: Well, yeah, but you know what I mean.

H: Like I said. It’s not real.

Ch: We know, I’m just trying to pick out details.

Ok: Hey, girls. Don’t get on the creepy bus.

…

G: If at first you don’t succeed…

Op: Come on, other me! Get a clue!

H: I notice the field is blue now.

Ch: Probably to signify the change from day to night.

Ok: That bus driver is weirdly okay with a couple teenaged girls jumping onto the front of his bus and yelling at him.

H: He’s a fakedy-fake-fake.

Ok: We know! It’s called commentary!

H: Sorry.

Op: “Crossroads”? “Left fork”? How can you tell the difference! It’s a bunch of shiny tiles and windmills!

G: Plus that giant tower made of pipes!

Op: That was probably where we were heading. Giant tower made of pipes.

Ok: Wonder where the ramen shop was.

Op: Third pipe cluster from the bottom.

Ch: Hey, girls. Word of advice. Don’t walk into the scary, blank void.

Op: I know they can’t see the weirdness, but I still feeling like yelling at them.

G: Oh, hey! It’s normal again!

H: They were brought back to the city.

G: Well, relatively normal, at least. With a really tall bridge and giant moon.

…

Op: So…are we about to kiss or something?

H: Obviously not.

Op: I don’t know. You’re holding me awfully close.

H: I’m just trying to keep you from doing something stupid.

Op: If you say so.

…

Op: Oh, hey. If we didn’t have enough problems, it’s a zombie apocalypse.

H: All with our faces, I see.

Op: Somehow, that’s freakier than if they were just the classic rotting kind.

Ca: Obviously a defense system put in place by the witch. Once one of its prisoners start to notice that something’s wrong, the familiars come in to stop them.

Ch: You know, as much as the early parts weirded me out, I am really starting to dig this! I mean, sure, the cake song was…a thing that happened, but now there’s a reason for the weirdness! There’s a mystery! There’s set-up and atmosphere! It’s not just weird for the sake of being weird!

Ok: I’m pretty sure there’s some of that.

Ch: Well, sure.

H: You do remember that with the way things are going, you’re probably going to be revealed as the villain, right?

Ch: I am okay with this.

…

Op: And the zombies leave after I change my stance?

Ok: Those hips don’t lie.

H: More of they sensed that you weren’t resisting anymore.

Op: Might want to rephrase that.

H: You made it dirty. Not me.

Op: At least this me is starting to wake up. So you have at least one bad bitch supporting you.

H: I feel so much better.

G: Oh, hey! Even then you did that thing where you give people candy as a sign of affection!

Op: I’m honestly surprised that more people don’t do that. Honestly, most problems would be solved if people just gave each other candy all the time.

#WN Rebellion MST

8 notes · View notes

hollygoeslightly · 5 years ago

Note

1. I couldn't help but find Sydney's actions at the end to be very deceitful. As much as it's framed as a tragic choice where he comes out a bruised victim unintentionally hurting Charlotte, I feel that his choice is quite like Ms Champion's and he and the audience cannot actually claim that the exact same thing is any better than her cruel choice years ago. They both left their betrothed for money and we have no idea whether her circumstances were dire or not, yet she was painted as a villain.

2. And as much as I fell in love with Charlotte and Sydney, Sydney's actions at the end when it came to his treatment of her, were deplorable. Even Lord Babbington didn't kiss nor touch Ester in that society until he proposed, even when it seemed a sure thing. He respected her dignity in society and understood what it meant to take advantage of a woman before truly providing for her or making a promise. Thus when they finally kissed, it was celebratory.

3. I had a feeling when Sydney kissed Charlotte before asking for her hand, in a sense rewarding the audience prematurely, that it wouldn't happen. Simply because in that society and context, he knowingly skipped the steps of honoring a woman rightfully rather than using her. He made no promises before they kissed. He didn't propose. Also, speaking to Charlotte about marriage is too important to delay for a week later. The fact that he didn't spare a minute to finish their convo spoke ill.

4. All of these little things at the end of the season, the last episode, left a bad taste in my mouth and gave me the sense that it would end badly. Because as much as we know that Sydney loves Charlotte dearly, his actions were irresponsible and spoke otherwise. Even with money, there are many possibilities for something to come through. You don't barter with a person though, risk hurting someone you love especially after promising them a life, or leading them.The irresponsibility is likeOtis!

5. I know that in that society, Sydney is smart enough to know how much his actions would have consequences on a vulnerable young woman who doesn't even have money to her name. He knows that it's important to have promised marriage before touching her. He knows that making such a promise, he mustn't break it, because she will make arrangements pertaining to her entire life and wellbeing, resting on him. He's also experienced the same vile taste of that happening to him! What do you think?

6. Also just to be clear, I don't want to demand anything of you and I don't want to be negative. I love your meta and I put weight on your interpretations which is why I'm asking. I also love the character of Sydney, which is why I'm deeply disgruntled by this. Not the end, bc I saw that coming, but what the last few incidents mean for his character. I trusted that he'd understand his impact; all the parallels to scoundrels, the context of society, and the contradiction to Babbington is not good.

Hey!

Thanks for the question. I hope you don’t mind, but I’m going to break down your question into parts in order to ensure my answer will make some semblance of sense.

Real Life and Reel Life

I’ve spoken about this before, but it bears repeating as it has a significant impact on how I interpret the show – I am not an Austen purist, nor am I a stickler for complete historical accuracy when it comes to my enjoyment of a particular movie or TV show. For instance, I know some people were frustrated by the historical inaccuracy of Charlotte wearing her hair down, but Charlotte’s modern hairstyle was never something that bothered me. Everyone’s mileage varies of course, but as long as the characterisation is cohesive and interesting and the creators have managed to convey the overall spirit of the period of time the story is set, I’m happy.

It’s also worth noting that while Jane Austen was a fairly historically accurate author, her body of work had a very narrow focus – middle class and upper class families in country villages in southern England. And while her body of work is historically accurate, it’s also intentionally sanitised. Regency and Victorian England was a time of significant social, political and economic change – beneath the shiny veneer of tea rooms and good manners was an underbelly of sex, drugs and gambling.

Why am I mentioning this? Because Sanditon was Andrew Davies’ attempt at expanding Austen’s focus – placing Austen’s signature study of manners against the backdrop of a fairly chaotic period in time. Personally, I loved this aspect of the show. Not only did Davies force the audience to confront their preconceived ideas of what a typical Austen character actually is, but it allowed the characters to push against issues outside of love and marriage. Don’t get me wrong, I swoon every time Darcy helps Elizabeth into the carriage after the ball at Pemberley or Anne reads Wentworth’s letter, but it was nice to have a slightly different interpretation of Austen’s work.

Finally, I firmly believe that part of the agreement you undertake when interacting with any form of entertainment is the suspension of some degree of reality. The amount of suspension is dependent on the work of course, but even true stories require some form of suspension (e.g. the amalgamation of characters, timelines sped up) to be entertaining. In the case of Sanditon, the characters inhabit a close approximation of Regency England, but not an exact copy (e.g. Charlotte wears her hair down, clothing is not always period appropriate). This is also the case when it comes to characters breaking a few of the social conventions that Austen routinely explored. For example, while Sidney kissing Charlotte prior to proposing to her in 1x08 would have been frowned upon in the real world, in Davies’ version of Regency England, Sidney kissing Charlotte is not a poor reflection of his character nor does it indicate that he knowingly took advantage of her – it’s simply a way to drive the narrative forward and create an entertaining story. This is supported by the fact that Charlotte’s reputation remains in good standing despite spending time alone with both Sidney and Young Stringer and that Esther faces no consequences for the exposure of her romantic/abusive relationship with her brother in 1x08. So while I understand that for you, Davies’ choice to overlook certain social conventions is frustrating, I think it’s important to acknowledge that the world Sanditon presents us is not 100% historically accurate, and for the purposes of entertainment, I don’t think it can be.

Sidney, Eliza and Otis

Following the fire in the new terrace apartments in 1x08, Sidney is forced to make a choice between love and money – his love for Charlotte and his desire to save his brother (The Worst) from debtor’s prison. Sidney is faced with an impossible choice and in the end chooses to sacrifice his own happiness (I think Sidney believes that Charlotte will be able to move on and find happiness again) for the well being of Tom, Mary and the children. As you’ve pointed out, this is a direct parallel to Eliza choosing money over her love of Sidney. However, I don’t think it’s accurate to claim that both decisions are equal in cruelty – doing so removes all nuance from the situation.

While I understand why some members of the fandom believe that Eliza could have had a valid reason for choosing money over love, I don’t believe the narrative supports that argument (whether this would have changed in S2, I’m not sure). Eliza is described by Tom (1x06) and Arthur (1x07) as intentionally betraying Sidney’s trust, choosing the safety of wealth over love.

Arthur – “Do you know, for years all I knew about my brother, Sidney, was that he was driven to the West Indies with a broken heart.”

Sidney – “And what’s your point Arthur?”

Arthur – “I admire your spirit of forgiveness that is all. If it were me, I do not think I could bring myself to trust her again.”

Arthur speaks of a betrayal of trust that he does not believe he could ever get past, a betrayal he is surprised that his own brother is willing to forgive. The reason Sidney is so damaged by Eliza’s betrayal is not because she was forced by circumstance to marry for money (if that was the case, it would be presented as two lovers torn apart by outside influences e.g. Sidney and Charlotte), but because by choosing to marry for money, she publically declared that Sidney was not enough. The love and future he could offer her was not enough. Eliza’s choice is so cruel, because her decision is so mercenary in nature – it’s a decision made out of choice, not necessity. She made the decision knowing what it would cost and she deemed that cost (Sidney’s self-worth) worthwhile.

This is also the case when it comes to Otis’ treatment of Georgiana. Otis made an active choice to barter with Georgiana’s name in order to extend credit for his gambling debts. He had multiple options available to him, number one being to stop gambling, but he made a decision where he would benefit and Georgiana would be placed at risk. On the other hand, the audience is made aware that Sidney is forced into a position where there are no right choices. Regardless of the decision he makes, someone will be hurt. He is the only one in the position to find the money to keep his brother out of debtor’s prison and as a result, Tom’s failure to insure Sanditon costs Sidney his future with Charlotte. Intention matters. Yes, all decisions lead to people being hurt, but Sidney is the only one who also suffers as a result of the decision he made.

While I understand the audience was upset by Sidney’s decision (I didn’t like it either), I also think an ending where Sidney and Charlotte marry while Tom is sent to debtor’s prison (most likely for the rest of his life) and Mary and the children are made homeless and shunned by society for Tom’s misdeeds, would have also been incredibly unpopular.

Sidney and Lord Babington

On the surface, I can understand why you’ve compared Sidney and Lord Babington. Both fall in love with feisty women and both intend to propose marriage to said feisty women – it’s an easy connection to make. However, I don’t think it’s accurate to say that Sidney’s actions are wholly bad and Lord Babington’s actions are wholly good simply because Lord Babington’s proposal ended in a marriage.

Let me give you another interpretation of Lord Babington and Esther’s relationship (not one I subscribe to, but one that can be drawn based on the narrative). Taken by Esther’s honesty and derision, Lord Babington makes Esther aware that he has feelings for her. Esther in turn rejects Lord Babington and tells him all further attempts on his part would be futile. Despite this, Lord Babington continues to pursue her, writing letters which she never answers – another clear indication that she is not interested. Lord Babington visits Sanditon with the express purpose of seeing Esther (1x05) and requests a private walk without a chaperone where he proposes marriage. Esther rejects his proposal. After hearing Edward speak badly of his sister, Lord Babington visits Esther in private, again without a chaperone present. Following Lady Denham’s recovery he once again goes on an outing with Esther without a chaperone. After discovering that Esther had a romantic relationship with Edward and Esther telling him that she doesn’t love him, Lord Babington proposes marriage for the second time and Esther finally accepts. They marry.

If S2 had gone ahead, I’m fairly sure Esther’s love for Edward and her lack of love for her husband would have been a major plot point. And while I think it would have all worked out in the end, that Esther would have realised she loves Lord Babington, what if it hadn’t? Esther may have come to resent her husband, trapped in a marriage by a husband who knows his wife does not love him, still pining for the one man she couldn’t have because of circumstances out of her control.

Again, I understand why the choice to ignore some social conventions may be frustrating, however in Davies’ version of Regency England, breaking these conventions do not have the consequences they would have had in real life. By judging the actions of the characters by real life rules, you are assigning intention and consequence where there are none.

I think it’s also worth noting, that apart from Sidney and Charlotte themselves, nobody knows that they kissed and only Alison, Mary, Georgiana and Young Stringer are aware that Sidney was intending to propose marriage. Charlotte’s heart may be badly bruised, but her reputation is still intact.

Charlotte’s Agency

Perhaps it’s because Charlotte’s agency is more quietly expressed than other characters, but I think the argument that Charlotte became passive in the final two episodes, overlooks the very active choices Charlotte makes in regards to her feelings for Sidney. Passiveness suggests inaction, and in 1x08 Charlotte chooses to act – she asks Sidney whether she can join him on his walk into town. This may seem inconsequential, but it is anything but. Because Charlotte is not only choosing to trust in her feelings for Sidney and in his feelings for her, but she is telling Sidney his feelings are reciprocated and those feelings are strong enough that they need time alone to discuss their possible future together. The agency lies with Charlotte the whole time.

We began with the scene with a rather inane discussion about the weather and Charlotte’s family – Sidney is both desperate to discuss their conversation from the previous night, but patiently waiting for Charlotte to indicate that this is something she wishes to do. She does, telling him she would rather continue their walk together than return to town for her dress fitting.

Charlotte – “We seem not to be walking into town?”

Sidney – “Ah, yes, your dress fitting. Forgive me, what a fool I am. Should we head back, perhaps?”

Charlotte – “No, there is absolutely no urgency about my dress fitting. A walk along the clifftops is much more to my taste.”

Sidney – “Good. My thoughts exactly.”

Sidney is willing to end their walk and the possibility of discussing their feelings at the slightest hint that this may not be something Charlotte desires. However, following Charlotte’s lead, Sidney admits that he wished to find time alone with her to discuss their conversation while glancing at her mouth every five seconds, and of course they kiss. What is important to note is that Sidney continues to check in with Charlotte at every point in the lead up to that moment. Charlotte only had to say no or ask to return to town for Sidney not to proceed, something she is well aware of and actively chooses not to do. Responding positively to Sidney’s actions is not the same as passiveness. You only have to watch as Charlotte stares longing at Sidney to know that she desired the kiss just as much as he did.

Why am I mentioning all this? Because in your question, you talk quite a bit about Sidney’s choices and actions, and the consequences they may have for Charlotte, without acknowledging that Charlotte is an active participant. Do I think that means she could have somehow prevented what occurred? No, but nor do I think it’s fair to remove Charlotte’s participation from her own storyline. She may be a victim of incredibly poor circumstances, but I don’t think it’s fair to say she is a victim of Sidney’s poor behaviour. Sidney and Charlotte not ending the season married does not cancel out Charlotte’s agency in choosing to pursue her relationship with Sidney.

Thanks for the question, I hope I made sense!

#askbox #sanditon #jane austen #sidney parker #charlotte heywood #lord babington #esther denham #sanditon meta #mine

52 notes · View notes

fortunatelylori · 5 years ago

Text

Thoughts on Otis Molyneux

I hesitated somewhat before making this post because the fandom seems to have settled on Otis being “a good man who made one terrible mistake” and who am I to rain on anyone’s parade?

Inner goddess: A very opinionated woman … that’s who … No one keeps baby down!

Well … since you put it that way …

My very first meta on Sanditon revolved around the idea that this show is Andrew Davies’ homage to Austen’s entire body of work. And since I discovered a very interesting link between Otis and one of the more misinterpreted Austen characters, I couldn’t resist. Particularly since every time I read a remark on Otis, I end up going:

He is a most fortunate man! Everything turns out for his own good! He meets a young woman at a watering place, gains her affections, she consents to an engagement! He treats her abominably, she bares it like a saint! His aunt is in the way, his aunt dies! He has used everybody ill and they are all delighted to forgive him! He is a most fortunate man indeed!

Emma is perhaps Jane Austen’s most transgressive novel and, while it is not my favorite (that’s Persuasion in case anyone was wandering), I think it’s the clearest indication of her genius. In Emma, Austen not only spoofs herself, as the old maid Miss Bates, but also pulls off a master stroke in concealing her villain, Frank Churchill, not only from the characters but also from the audience.

Austen villains are usually charming, fun and attractive, most of the time far more so than the hero that will eventually win the heroine’s heart. What Austen does with the likes of Wickham and Willoughby is show that superficial charm and a pretty face are poor substitutes for substance, integrity and a value system.

In order to drive that point home, her villains usually suffer a fall from grace: Wickham gets exiled to Newcastle (the degradation!) and is stuck with Lydia for the rest of his life; Willoughby gets ousted by his aunt, told off by Eleanor and publically canceled by Mrs. Jenkins.

Whatever it may be, all of her villains suffer some consequences (even if it’s just not getting the girl as is the case for William Elliot in Persuasion). All except one: Frank Churchill. As Mr. Knightley’s frustrated speech above shows, Frank is so fortunate that by the end of Emma, he gets everything he’s ever wanted and everyone continues to love and cherish him as if nothing had happened (with the exception of Emma and Knightley).

And because the characters move on from his betrayal so quickly you can barely get a glimpse into their POVs, so does the audience. By the end of the book, most of the readers are as pleased with Frank as the people of Highbury.

I can just imagine Jane Austen cackling with joy at our silliness.

Just because there are no consequences for Frank and because all ends well despite his efforts to the contrary, it doesn’t follow that he should be absolved of responsibility. For all his professed love for Jane, Frank involves her in an imaginary extramarital affair, flirts with Emma in front of her and ultimately humiliates her at the picnic. For all his friendliness and affability, he is less than generous to his father, uses Emma for his own motives and is secretly chopping at the bit to see his aunt, the woman who raised him, dead so he can inherit her fortune. Despite what his endgame would suggest, Frank Churchill is an immature, selfish man who is used to getting his own way with little thought or care about how that might hurt other people.

Which brings us to Otis “I fell in love with your soul” Molyneux.

But, but … I hear you say … Fortunatelylori, he did suffer consequences. He lost Georgiana!

To which I say don’t bring out the pity parade just yet. Because in losing Georgiana, Otis’ actions are reduced to an unfortunate youthful indiscretion by the characters (Georgiana and Charlotte) as well as by the people watching. Because he shed some resigned tears and spoke prettily about how much he loved Georgiana’s soul, everyone is “delighted to forgive him”.

But just as with Frank, is his love for Georgiana enough to absolve him of his wrongdoings? Should we cheer for their potential reunion or think she deserves better, the way Mr. Knightley thinks about Jane? And while we’re on the subject, what are Otis’ crimes? He clearly never meant to cause Georgiana’s kidnapping so what’s the big deal?

What gets lost in Charlotte’s “you are insensible of feeling” rebuke of Sidney is that Otis isn’t a victim of circumstances nor is him honestly being in love with Georgiana a get out of jail free card. Otis is a gambling addict who has amassed debts so vast that the man who is trying to collect them resorts to kidnapping a teenager to get his money back. And that’s just one guy he owes money to.

Does he love Georgiana? Yes, in his own way he loves her just about as much as he loves losing money at cards. What do you think would have happened if they married? Because me thinks Otis would run through that 100.000 real quick while simultaneously loving the hell out of Georgiana’s soul.

Which brings me to Otis’s less than agreeable character traits: lying and manipulation. He lies to Georgiana from the first moment he meets her. Worst yet, he takes advantage of her vulnerability and he encourages her to rely solely on him for emotional support:

Georgiana: I was uprooted. Lost. In despair. Otis restored me to life. Those 3 months were the happiest I’ve known.

That sounds great and all but what happens after he’s gone from her life is that Georgiana feels like she suddenly has no one and nothing. Because her entire sense of self was tied to Otis.

He also allows Georgiana to believe that her guardian is a racist monster who is keeping them apart because of the color of his skin when he knows full well that’s not the case and also that Georgiana needs to have a good relationship with Sidney for the foreseeable future at least.

In order to keep up the charade, he takes active part in poisoning Charlotte against Sidney and very much enjoys playing the wronged party in this whole scenario:

Otis: But then your friend, Mr. Parker, took it upon himself to rip us apart.

Charlotte: However painful that might have been, Mr. Parker must surely have had Georgiana’s best interest at heart.

Otis: Then you clearly don’t know Mr. Parker as well as you think.

Lying is so ingrained in Otis’ modus operandi that he can’t help himself from doing it even when there’s not even the slightest chance that he can get away with it:

Beecroft: Oh, yes! The famous Miss Lambe! Mr. Molyneux speaks of little else. Miss Lambe this, Miss Lambe that.

Otis: That is a lie! If I mentioned her it was only in passing …

Beecroft: I’m not the liar here. You told me a wedding was imminent. That her fortune was as good as yours. I never would have let him run such a debt otherwise.

Otis: All I wanted was to buy a little time … If I had known even for one moment …

What was that about Sidney not having good reason to keep you away from Georgiana, Otis?!?

Also look at him running the eluding responsibility obstacle course like a pro:

Otis: He’s sold her! The villain has sold her!

Charlotte: What?

Sidney: In return for a promise to buy his debt, she’s been handed to some dissolute named Howard. Even now he’ll be dragging her to an altar.

Charlotte: An altar? But that cannot be allowed without your permission.

Sidney: No. They have no such laws across the border. There they will marry you with impunity.

Otis: Had you only allowed us to marry!

Otis has gambled himself silly, bragged about Georgiana’s money to the worst possible people, disappeared from public view (he hasn’t picked up his mail in weeks because he’s in hiding from the debt collectors) and his reaction is to put all the blame on Sidney. That is not the behavior of a well-balanced adult. This is the behavior of a gambler who thinks he can talk his way out of anything because he has “game”.

This brings us to his last scene with Georgiana when everything comes into focus. If you really think about it, there is not a single moment during their relationship where Otis isn’t lying to her, including the romantic separation that hit everyone in the feels:

Otis: I’ve gambled. That is true. But whatever they tell you, I never gambled with your name.

Notice how the first thing out of his mouth is manipulative. “Whatever they tell you” i.e. turst no one but me. I’m the only one who is telling the truth so listen to me as I lie my ass off right now.

Otis: I never boasted of your wealth. I boasted of you.

Two lines in and he’s already lied twice. You can actually do a play by play of what he says here and what he says in the Beecroft scene.

And then comes the coup de grace!

Otis: It was pride. That is all! And Lord knows, I have paid for it!

As consequence of his gambling, hiding from his creditors and running his mouth about Georgiana’s fortune, the woman he loves was kidnapped, Charlotte almost got raped and Sidney is however many thousands of pounds lighter for paying off his debts. So bring out the waterworks for Otis, guys! Let’s not forget who the real victim in all of this is!

Alexa, play Despacito.

Otis lies so much he has ended up internalizing his lies to such an extent that he has turned himself into a victim. His narrative is ultimately rejected by Georgiana, leaving him pained but that shouldn’t fool you into thinking he’s a good guy. Neither he nor Frank are moustache twirling villains but their flaws and the way they allow those flaws to affect the people they supposedly love speaks volumes about their character.

Maybe, eventually, they both grow up. Maybe Frank becomes more selfless and starts treating others with respect. Maybe Otis never gambles again and becomes the responsible civil rights leader he wants others to see him as.

But as things stand at the end of their story line, I, for one, am not willing to give them the benefit of the doubt. It’s sadly too late for Jane to pick herself another husband. But I haven’t given up hope that Georgiana will shake Otis off like a spot of English rain.

#sanditon #sanditon 2019 #my meta #otis molyneux #georgiana x otis

88 notes · View notes

angelamoores · 5 years ago

Text

Friends Definitely Don’t Ask Each Other Out

A/N: this one was tough for me to write, and I still don’t love the final product but a special thanks to @rorythevambire and @mychenrymadness for their help talking me out of my funk so I could finish this. I set out to make this a lot less angsty but I was listening to kinda sad music so it turned out like this

Word Count: 2,409

anyway, tagging @kiddangers @ciara-knightly @chenoahchantel @up-the-tube @ginger--binger @cactus-con @charlottepage lmk if you wanna be added/removed

School the day after their midnight escapades to Nacho Ball was a disaster. Not because anything crazy happened, more because Charlotte and Henry could not stop falling asleep. Everywhere. In class, stood up in the hallway, in the janitor’s closet, even on random patches of floor. It had gotten to the point that they both ended up in detention, but to no one’s surprise, they both fell asleep in that too.

Their extreme tiredness, however, was their only reference to the night before. Neither of them knew how to address their almost kiss, so they just didn’t. Although in actual fact, on the way to work was the only time since then they’d both been conscious enough to discuss it. Not that either of them were ready to bring it up in front of Jasper.

Instead, they let him take over the conversation, listening to him talking about his crush on the new guy in their class. Every now and then, one of them would catch the other staring at them and they’d share a look, a smile. For a minute, Charlotte let herself picture Henry as not just a best friend, but as a boyfriend.

Sure, he hadn’t always been the best boyfriend to other girls in the past, but he wasn’t fourteen anymore. He had matured a lot in the last few years, especially due to his job, and it had been a long time since he’d had one of those overly dramatic relationships kids have as an eighth grader before understanding it was never love anyway. Charlotte had never taken part in this experience, deciding to sit out the whole dating thing until she was old enough to have real feelings. And she was beginning to realise that time was now.

These secret glances and heart eyes followed them down into the Man Cave. Only they really weren’t that secret. It was to Jasper. He was so occupied by the text the new boy Lucas had just sent him that he wouldn’t notice if his own hair was on fire. As far as he was concerned, as long as they were talking, all was good. However, Henry and Charlotte were given away by the fact that Ray had eyes.

He hadn’t seen the two of them this in tune since they were kids. They walked in tune with each other, said the same things at the same time and got flustered every time there was silence, looking at each other’s faces a little too much. It was when Ray saw Henry perched on the back of the round couch, with Charlotte sat below gazing up at him, that he intervened.

“Kid, c’mon. We’re gonna go take the Mancopter out on patrol,” he announced, after deciding this would get less push back from Charlotte than if he tried to fake an emergency somewhere.

They hadn’t done it in a while, so Henry widened his eyes in concern, trying to figure out if something was wrong. Ray just shook his head with a smile. Henry rolled his eyes, but got up all the same.

When they reached the helicopter, Henry approached the driver’s seat, but was stopped by Ray’s hand on his shoulder. On the way there alone, his sidekick had zoned out approximately four times. And despite being indestructible, he didn’t particularly feel like crash landing that day.

They didn’t really speak much during take off, despite wearing headsets so the noise from the propellers wouldn’t be an issue. Henry was off in his head, thinking about Charlotte yet again. Things were different now, though he could still turn back. It wasn’t easy as it had been before, with Bianca and Chloe and the other girls he had asked out. His friendship was on the line, and he honestly didn’t know what he’d be without it.

Charlotte called him to make sure he got to work on time every Saturday, she helped him with his homework in a way no one else had ever been able to. She held him when he cried and made sure he slept and drank and basically kept him alive. It wasn’t fair on her, the way he relied on her, the way all the men in her life had grown to depend on her. But she’d let him. And though she complained, she never made him feel like a burden; even when he knew he had been. Henry couldn’t quite pinpoint exactly when. But somewhere along the line, she’d become his favorite person on the whole planet.

And it wasn’t just what she did for him. It was the way she lit up when she was telling him something new and smart she’d learned that day. The way her nose scrunched up when she was concentrating. The faux-innocent smile she’d give him after stealing his food or saying something sarcastic. The nights he’d wake up shaking at the thought of something happening to her because of him, how his heart picked up when he heard her scream for help.

“I’m scared, Ray.” Henry broke the silence. They’d been circling Swellview for a while now, thinking to themselves.

“What of?” His boss responded. Henry turned to give him a look, he was well aware he hadn’t actually been discreet. Ray sighed. “I know you’re scared to ask Charlotte out, but why?”

Henry let out a breath and leaned back into his seat.

“In case something happens and our friendship is ruined. I don’t think I could do all this without her.” His voice was hesitant, but Ray nodded, letting him know it was okay to go on. “And if- if I did y’know, date her, it puts her in danger. If anyone found out she was dating Kid Danger, she’d be a target. I can’t have people taking out their hatred of me on her, I just can’t.”

Ray thought for a moment, trying to come up with something to say to reassure him. He wasn’t stupid, he knew this life was a hard one, especially for a kid. It was a lonely one too at times. It didn’t matter how many people knew their secret, there were somethings you could only understand by going out there everyday, running after villains and criminals and doing whatever other work the police didn’t feel like doing that day. It was because of this that they shared a bond no one else had. And despite their differences from time to time, it would never go away.

That was why it was so important to him that Henry wasn’t alone. Settling down had never really worked for him; however it was clear his accomplice was different. Ray had been selfish these last couple of years, yet maybe if he could be of help now, maybe things could change. He could be better.

“Charlotte is a smart girl. If she likes you as much as I think she does, she’s already well aware of what dating a superhero would bring. It’s her decision to make, kid, she’s never liked you telling her what to do.”

As much as he wanted to argue, Henry knew that he was right. Every time he’d tried to protect her from something, she’d just try do it more. It didn’t make him fear for her safety any less.

“And as for that stuff about your friendship,” Ray continued, regardless of Henry’s continued inner turmoil, “you two have been in each other’s lives far too much for any fight to ever change that. Don’t let fear of breaking up keep you from getting together, it’s hardly like either of you are exactly in the friendship stage anymore anyway.”

Henry nodded, finally allowing himself to actually see this working out. Maybe he had gotten so used to all the good things in his life being able to be taken away at any given moment that he had stopped letting himself want them anymore. It hurt less. But sometimes it took losing things to realise what you’d had in the first place, at least that was how he had felt about his powers.

“Thanks, Ray. That was surprisingly helpful.” Ray feigned hurt, but really he had amazed even himself. It had been too long since the last time he was the adult in their serious conversations. When Henry had become mature enough to handle things himself, everyone who was supposed to be responsible in his life had just stepped back and let him handle everything.

They didn’t speak much as they landed and walked back down to the Man Cave. Henry has far too concerned with planning out how the fuck he was gonna ask out his best friend. Ray was right about them being past friends now though, because friends definitely don’t ask each other out.

It had to be big, right? But Charlotte hated stupid extravagance, especially in public. But if he was too casual about it she’d be offended. He knew it had to be perfect, but that was about all he knew.

His thoughts were soon interrupted, when he was greeted by yelling as the tubes came up around them.

“Where the fuck have you guys been?!” Charlotte yelled, dropping her phone from her ear, which he could now see was calling him. Ray opened his mouth to reply but never got the chance. “Some crazy guy came into the store claiming someone gave us something of his to sell and threatened to blow the place apart if we didn’t give it back. Schwoz and Jasper have him trapped upstairs, but they could probably use some help.”

Ray headed straight for the elevator, drawing a blaster from his belt. Henry moved to follow, but he stopped him.

“Kid, maybe you should stay down here,” Ray muttered, gesturing subtly to Charlotte who was now shaking, on the verge of tears.

Henry nodded, mumbling a ��good luck’ before slowly approaching his friend. As soon as Ray was gone, she whipped her head around to face him again as if she wasn’t crying. He didn’t get any closer, both remaining on opposite sides of the room.

“Why weren’t you answering your fucking phone?” She asked, trying her damnedest to keep her voice steady. To project anger over her fear.

Because of the events of the night before, he hadn’t had time to charge his phone and it had died earlier that day. However, he couldn’t blame for any of this on her the slightest, so all he said was “it’s dead.”

A couple of seconds passed in heavy silence before either were willing to say anything. “What happened?”

“I was bored, so I volunteered to do Jasper’s shift upstairs. It was fine until this guy came in, bitching and screaming about how we had something valuable that belonged to him,” She recounted, getting louder and louder with each word until she was shouting again, it was easier to be mad at him. “He told me he had a bomb in his bag and I laughed. I laughed, Henry, and I told him ‘good luck with that’, I’m gonna call Captain Man and Kid Danger.”

“Char-” he started, but she ignored him and kept yelling.

“I called you right in front of him and you didn’t pick up. I called Ray, no answer. I called you again, but this time when it went to voicemail the guy was the one laughing. He was insane, making stuff up to scare me, I know that now. He didn’t know just how cruel he was being when he told me with such certainty that you weren’t coming, when he implied that he had done something to make sure of it. And I couldn’t reach you, to confirm if you were okay, or even alive.” She spoke the last three words differently, with more emotion behind each letter.

There was so much he wanted to say. He wanted to do all the right things to make her feel better, but the words weren’t coming. He just froze.

“What the hell were you two even doing up there, Henry? And don’t lie to me.” She was sick of the tip toeing around their feelings, of taking things so slow they were barely moving. She had thought that she had lost him today. None of the little things she had been worrying about going wrong could be as bad as that.

“We were talking. About you.” She folded her arms and raised her eyebrows. “I LIKE YOU, OKAY, CHARLOTTE?” For some reason, he was the one yelling now. It was out there, no take backs.

“YEAH? WELL MAYBE I LIKE YOU TOO, HENRY.”

They both strode forwards across the room, crashing their lips together. Or rather their noses. Charlotte knew she had to tilt her head, but she had angled her head a little too far to the right, bumping her nose against his. Henry put a hand on her chin, connecting their lips properly, though they were both still giggling against each other. It was less awkward after they were able to stop pretending they were characters in a romance novel. It was sweet and new and so much better than she imagined. Because this was the real Henry, not her knight in shining armor, but her best friend.

“So, is kissing me as good as in your dreams?” He asked, pulling away with a shit-eating grin and smiling eyes.

She didn’t exactly have much to compare it to. If someone had told her a few years ago that her first kiss would be with Henry Hart she would have laughed in their face. Huh.

“It’s even better, doofus,” she beamed as if the smile was permanently tattooed to her face. She’s had the shittiest day she’d had in a long while, but none of that seemed to matter right now.

“So,” he started scratching the back of his head, only now realising he was still in his Kid Danger suit, “how about a date?”

“Friday?”

“Yeah, I’ll pick you up at 6,” he replied, trying to be smooth.

“We both have work that evening so I won’t be at home anyway and you don’t have a car, Hen.”

“Fine, you’ll drive us both out from work at 6?”

“It’s a date.” The words felt foreign coming from her mouth, yet she felt a new wave of excitement. It was crazy really, they hung out together, just the two of them, all the time. But this was on a whole new playing field. She leaned back in to kiss him again when-

“IT’S A DATE?” Jasper screamed.

---

hi! if for whatever reason you’ve stumbled upon this after November 2020, you get the bonus content of the beginning of part 4 I never finished! enjoy! :

“What’s a date?” Charlotte replied too fast, she’d always been a terrible liar. Henry tried to hide his laughter by burying his head in the back of her hair, his arms around her shoulders not exactly selling her denial.

Jasper was far from the most observant person, but it didn’t take a genius to read the room. He’d literally walked in on them about to kiss. He gave her a look, holding eye contact until she cracked.

“Fine! We are going on a date, but I don’t want everyone to know just yet,” she admitted.

Henry scrunched his nose behind her. “Ray, kinda knows,” he confessed, stepping out from behind her and into her eye line.

She sighed. “That’s what you two were doing in the mancopter.”

“At least Piper doesn’t know,” Henry offered.

“Well…” she trailed off.

“Okay, is there anyone who doesn’t know about us?” He asked, only partially annoyed. It was kinda sweet that neither of them had been able to shut up about one another.

“What about you guys?” Schwoz questioned, reentering the room with the memory wiper that he had just used on the crazy guy upstairs.

“Oh, just that they’re going on a date,” Jasper replied with a smile, a full five seconds before he slapped his hand over his mouth.

“Seriously, Jasper,” Charlotte groaned, wishing that any of this surprised her. Honestly, it was a miracle that they had managed to keep their identities a secret.

“You have to admit it’s kinda funny,” Henry laughed. It would’ve been nice to try out the whole dating thing and get settled in their relationship before it was announced to the world, but in the chaos they already lived in, what was a little more.

Jasper wasn’t quite sure how to feel now that he saw the two of them beside each other. He’d had a week to get used to the idea of them dating, but it felt different now that it was less hypothetical. He made the decision there and then that he was going to be happy for them. They had enough going on in their lives than to have to worry about him. He would say something if they left him out too often, not that he thought that was likely to happen. It was still gonna be the three of them against the world, at least that’s what he told himself.

It was getting late and after the day they had and the lack of sleep the night before, they were all pretty ready to go home. The tubes came up closer to his and Charlotte’s houses than Junk n’ Stuff, so Henry made his way over to them, chewing a bubble to turn back into his own clothes as he walked.

By the time he’d changed and was on the launch pad, he looked out to where Charlotte was stood in front of him looking mildly annoyed. Wondering why she wasn’t stood at the other tube he glanced across to see Jasper stood there waiting, completely oblivious. He smiled, he’d been waiting for an opportunity to do this for a while.

“Char, c’mere,” he mumbled, opening his arms. She obliged, doing a little walk run over to him. Once she was close enough, he wrapped his arms around her, pulling her against him and she looked at him the same way she had when they first kissed.

“Up the tube.”

…

Piper groaned, perched on the end of Henry’s bed as he tried on a ninth outfit.

“She’s seen you sick and dying, you could literally wear anything!” she yelled to where he was changing in the closet, but he ignored her. It didn’t matter that he’d known Charlotte forever, tonight was their first date and he had to look perfect. He opened the door revealed his latest pairing of clothes that didn’t match. “Not that, though.”

She sighed, finally giving in as walked into his wardrobe. It took her approximately eleven seconds to pick out a top, belt, pants and jacket before wordlessly setting them out on the bed in front of him.

“I hate you, how’d you do that?”

“I follow Charlotte on Pinterest, she has a board called ‘Outfits That Would Look Good On Henry’, it really wasn’t that hard,” she laughed.

Henry would ask why she had neglected to tell him about it up until that point if he didn’t already know. He tried to look mad, but he couldn’t fight a smile. He really needed to see that board.

spoiler alert they were then going to try go to a restaurant in a car Charlotte built herself but it breaks down and she tries to fix it whilst he sits on the bonnet and orders food to the car and they sit there and watch the stars together it was gonna be cute but know life happens :/

55 notes · View notes

mediaeval-muse · 4 years ago

Text

Book Review

In Search of Scandal. By Susanne Lord. Sourcebooks, 2015.

Rating: 2/5 stars

Genre: historical romance

Part of a Series? Yes, London Explorers #1

Summary: All of London is abuzz with the tale of Will Repton. The lone survivor of a massacre in Tibet has returned to England a hero, but the traumatized explorer has no time for glory. Another dangerous expedition awaits. Nothing will deter him from his quest, and no one will unearth his secret—until Will meets Charlotte Baker. Vivacious Charlotte Baker also has a mission—to find a man whose bold spirit matches her own. When she meets Will Repton, she immediately recognizes him as her soul mate, and she’s naively willing to turn her back on the rules of propriety to ensnare him. Will is torn between his fascination with Charlotte and his vow to finish his quest. He knows what it is to risk life and limb—but what if his most perilous adventure doesn’t lie across an ocean, but within his own lost heart?

***Full review under the cut.***

Content Warnings: graphic sexual content, poisoning, physical assault (not sexual), near miscarriage; mentions of: disemboweling, blood, violence, corpses, murder (including the murder of children)

Overview: I will admit that I felt a little uneasy going into this book. Seeing “a massacre in Tibet” in the summary gave me the impression that there could be some Orientalism (or, if not, some straight up depictions of racism), but since my favorite romance author blurbed and recommended it, I decided to give it a try anyway. I can’t speak to the book’s treatment of China and Tibet, though given the history of Victorian imperialism, it felt somewhat “accurate” here; I didn’t get the impression that the region was over-exoticized, though it was treated as a subject of curiosity and characters bring back “artifacts.” I suppose it wasn’t too bad, given the book’s setting, but I still don’t know how I feel about the whole massacre subplot. That aside, the author’s prose was well-crafted, which was impressive for a debut novel. My main reason for giving this book a middling rating, therefore, had less to do with the premise or writing craft and more to do with the characters and the romance itself. I had a hard time rooting for the main couple, and I wish Lord had spent less time forcing them into awkward situations that made for a tumultuous love story and more time exploring characterization and meaningful connection. As it stands, this book receives an average rating from me, but I would be interested to see if (and how) Lord improves in her future books.

Writing: Lord’s prose is surprisingly well-crafted for a debut novel, achieving a nice balance between description and exposition using a straight-forward style that is characteristic of many romances. While Lord’s prose is easy to read, it doesn’t lack fun flourishes, vivid imagery, and compelling figurative language, when appropriate.

I do wish, however, that Lord had been more attentive to how she crafted the scenes in her book. Many individual scenes felt like they were drawn out for no reason other than to provide Charlotte and Will with a chance to encounter one another, which is fine, except that they didn’t really build on one another to create a meaningful progression in the protagonists’ relationship. They seemed rather like a series of awkward moments, following a pattern in which they would awkwardly try to make conversation, get to a point where they were feeling comfortable around one another, do something like kiss or have a sexual encounter, and then Will would push Charlotte away, usually by insisting that he’s not good for her, that he is going on his expedition no matter what, etc. which would upset Charlotte. They would part, and Will would do something to try to make up for his behavior, and the process would start again in the next scene. It was somewhat cyclical and even frivolous at times - many of Will and Charlotte’s encounters didn’t quite end with the two developing as characters or as a couple, and I wish Lord had built her encounters on something more substantial.

On the flip side, this book was also missing scenes that could have helped with characterization. We’re told, for example, that Will has nightmares, but we’re never shown him having one until very late in the book. Having a scene earlier (not necessarily the beginning) might have helped establish why his expedition was so important to him, while also revealing something about his personality that informs his behavior in his encounters with Charlotte.

Plot: The plot of this novel basically follows Charlotte, a well-educated woman entering her third season, as she attempts to find a husband that will accept her family, and Will, a man attempting to raise money to go back to Tibet to make amends for a role he played in a violent encounter. Charlotte’s predicament in itself was very compelling; torn between wanting to be accepted by London’s upper class Society and her love for her family, she struggles to find a husband that will simultaneously make her happy but also raise the status (and thus, social security) of her brother and sister. I do wish Lord had put more emphasis on this aspect of the plot, and perhaps let it be a defining characteristic of Charlotte’s personal growth. Charlotte is torn between selfish desire and doing what she thinks she must for her loved ones, and I think there was a lot of room in there for an exploration of, say, women’s self-effacement in the name of “duty” or “responsibility,” or even more of an exploration of the hypocrisy of Society.

Will’s plot is a bit less compelling. Though we do see moments when he is meeting with potential investors to fund his second expedition into Tibet (and China, by extension), it never feels urgent. While the expedition holds a lot of personal significance for Will, so much is shrouded in mystery that it was difficult to see the stakes of going versus not going, and I personally didn’t care whether Will stayed in London or traveled abroad. I think revealing more to the reader could have helped with this, and the climax of the novel could have been less focused on revealing Will’s involvement with the massacre to the reader and more on revealing it to Charlotte.

In terms of the romantic plot, I’ll discuss that in more detail below, but I will say here that a lot of the drama felt manufactured. Every situation seemed set up to throw the main couple together, allowing them to express their physical attraction while still allowing Will to be obstinate about getting emotionally involved. I especially didn’t find the marriage of convenience compelling, nor anything that happens afterward, and I wish Lord had spent more time thinking about what the conflicts in the relationship might look like if it were built on something other than Will’s own stubbornness.

Characters: Charlotte, our heroine, is something of a social butterfly. She attracts people to her and is beloved by almost everyone, and she always has something to say to fill gaps in the conversation. While I did like that she was very agentive, pursuing her desires and doing what she wanted despite what was considered “proper,” I did think some of her more interesting characteristics were overshadowed by her obsession with Society and her single-minded pursuit of Will. Lord writes of how Charlotte reads Will’s more scientific reports by begging her brother to acquire copies from the Geographical Society, which is exclusive to men. Charlotte also meets with a group of women weekly, and Lord mentions that part of what guides their conversation is the fear of men seeing them as “too intellectual.” I honestly think Charlotte’s character could have been better served by having her thirst for exploration and knowledge denied to her by her gender competing with her desire to provide for her family by marrying well. It would have presented an interesting conflict for when Will comes along, who has traveled and seen the world, but doesn’t hold the social sway of a duke or earl.

Will, for his part, wasn’t an enjoyable character. He spends much of the book speaking gruffly to others, and when he’s not wallowing in self-loathing, he was saying things to Charlotte that were at best awkward and at worst cruel. He starts out reserved, but quickly grows possessive, and his temper could become violent. His main saving grace is that he’s attentive - he brings Charlotte the flowers she likes when all other suitors ignore her preferences, and he notices the care she puts into things like her appearance. But other than that, I did not find him likable, and my sympathy for his on account of his trauma ran out quickly.

Supporting characters were a bit more enjoyable to read. I liked the bond that Charlotte had with her brother, Wally, and wish more was done to showcase their closeness. I also liked that Charlotte’s sister, Lucy, married for love, and despite being socially shunned, their happiness seems to set the bar for what Charlotte wants in her relationship. I would have liked to see some of the main, unimportant scenes between Charlotte and Will cut and more scenes devoted to Charlotte’s relationship with her family, and perhaps even more done with Wally, whose sexuality caused the family to fall from grace in the first place. Perhaps if Wally had a subplot where he finds happiness again would have been a nice compliment to Charlotte’s arc of defying Society for the sake of her passions.

The antagonist, however, was not nearly so intriguing. Starting as one of Charlotte’s admirers, he quickly becomes over-the-top evil when rejected. I guess powerful men can be reactionary when it comes to not getting their way, especially if they’re sexist to begin with, but I just didn’t care for the conflict with the villain. I was much more intrigued by the possibilities of the protagonists’ inner conflicts.

Other: As I mentioned above, I had a hard time rooting for Charlotte and Will as a couple. Charlotte admits to imagining herself with Will before they even meet, and her reaction to him when they do come face-to-face for the first time is something like insta-love. For the majority of the book, Charlotte’s one-sided love for Will and pursuit of him despite his behavior towards her feels juvenile. It felt a lot like hero worship or a celebrity crush, and even though Charlotte says she becomes disillusioned with him and sees Will as a person, the fact that she sticks around when he’s acting like a jerk did not endear me to her or their relationship.

Will, for his part, seems to fall in love with Charlotte for no reason other than she’s pretty, and even though he’s attentive to her favorite things, I couldn’t see what Charlotte saw in him. He constantly pushes her away and says or does things to upset her, including directing his unattractive anger at her, and I was wishing that Charlotte would just cut her losses and find someone better. I think their dynamic could have worked if more focus was placed on Will’s social awkwardness rather than his self-imposed denial of romantic affection. For example, if he’s shy and awkward in Society, maybe Charlotte’s social personality draws him out of his isolation and allows him to connect with people. Maybe her influence also allows him to attract investors, and he finds himself so impressed by her abilities and support for his expedition that he finds it harder and harder to leave. Something more than the manufactured drama that makes every interaction between the two feel cyclical.

Recommendations: I would recommend this book if you’re interested in historical romance (especially set in Victorian England), 19th century exploration, botany, love triangles, and marriages of convenience.

#book reviews

4 notes · View notes

shakethispeare · 4 years ago

Text

DARK : S1 - EP1 [ GEHEIMNISSE | SECRETS ]

NOTE: I'm only pouring my thoughts into this post. I'm taking notes every time I watch Dark since I heard the story-line is complicated. Also, my memories suck. It's not spoiler-free, of course. So, only read if you have seen this episode.

So, I have finally started watching this TV series. I was shocked to find that it had aired since 2017 because I've never heard of it before. It should have deserved the hype. What the fuck was I doing in 2017? Oh right, binging Game of Thrones.

Anyway, I've only watched the first episode, and I have to say, I am hooked, like a fish-getting-pulled-with-a-hook kind of hooked. The plot already nudges me in the head to start thinking and memorizing every single detail that will show up on the screen (although, I'm confident to say that I will most likely still miss some stuff). I'm sure that the makers of this series will drop valuable clues (subtle or not). Not to mention, a bunch of characters were introduced only in the first ten minutes and that’s when I feel like I have to start doing the connecting.

So, the episode starts with a grim quote:

Alright, in here, I can guess this is going to involve a series of flashbacks, probably one that is too many to count.

The date is 21st of June, 2019, and a man named Michael has a detailed mind-map filled with photos of, what I assume at first, would be the rest of the characters in the series (in other words, his neighbours). He had photos of them when they were young children and as adults. There were cuts of newspapers on a few of them too. And then, without saying anything, Michael commits suicide by hanging. But he leaves a letter with a warning that said, "Do not open before 4th of November, 10:13 PM."

JONAS KAHNWALD POV

Time-skip, the story now takes place on the 4th of November, 2019, roughly five months after Michael's death. It turns out he has a son named Jonas. I think Jonas suffers from depression after the passing of his father since it's shown that he took pills the moment he woke up. Then, Jonas goes out to meet his therapist named Peter Doppler. They both took a walk in the woods. Jonas was still mad about his father for not telling him why he committed suicide.

When he went to school, he meets his friend, Bartosz. Bartosz is currently dating Martha, who Jonas found shocking. The look he gave suggested something happened between them before. They attended the assembly where Katharina addressed Erik's issue and told everyone if they have any information regarding it, they should come forward.

Later on, Bartosz wanted to go to the cave rumoured to be where Erik hides his "stuff". Jonas was reluctant at first, but agreed to go with him eventually, Martha too. Then out of nowhere, Magnus overheard their conversation and insisted going with them to the cave.

That night, Jonas met with Martha first, who briefly discussed 'the thing that happened last summer'.

Shortly after, Magnus came, bringing along Mikkel.

Jonas and his friends continued to walk until they reach the cave, and Bartosz was disappointed not to find the weed there because Franziska had arrived first and claimed it. Interrupting Franziska's and Bartosz fight, a loud noise emitted from the cave, shocking everyone. Their flashlights go dark. Out of fear, they all ran. The last to run were Jonas and Mikkel. Jonas slipped and fell. He had a hallucination of his father covered in black liquid before starting to run again. But Mikkel was nowhere to be seen.

When he finally reached his friends, Mikkel was not with him, neither was he with his friends.

ULRICH NIELSEN POV

Ulrich's first seen having sex with Jonas' mother, Hannah. I assume a family affair is going on, and I was right. Ulrich has a family comprised of his wife, Katharina, who is a high school principal, and three kids, Magnus, Martha and Mikkel.

I feel like the dialogue above is significant towards the story. This is purely a hunch.

Ulrich works as a policeman along with a woman named Charlotte Doppler. We first see them together being confronted by Erik's parents, who admitted even though Erik used to run away before, he always returned. Ulrich thinks he ran away, but Charlotte thought otherwise, and she seemed to have set him off when she implied the situation is not the same as Ulrich's brother disappearance, which happened thirty-three years ago. Okay, so far, there have been two (prominent) people missing in Winden. I think they didn't have much luck in finding Ulrich's brother.

Ulrich's mother, named Jana claimed to have seen a creature roaming the woods, describing it to have a gigantic head. At this moment, I couldn't help but feel like this is some Stranger Things shit. Also, she found a snack wrapper his brother used to love before he went missing. Jana believes something is happening out there that their minds can not comprehend, and it's the same thing that happened 33 years ago. At this point, I'm starting to think, okay, what is up with 33 years ago?

When Ulrich heard the news that his son, Mikkel has gone missing, Ulrich ran into the forest yelling out his name. Dawn arrives, and he didn't find his son. Then, he heard a dispatcher's call claiming they found a child's body. Ulrich rushed to witness it. But after thoroughly checking to make sure it's Mikkel, it turns out the child wasn't Mikkel. I was also suspicious to see the child, because, based on his clothing, it wasn't the clothes Mikkel wore the night he went into the woods. Also, the child's eyes had burn marks for some reason. I’m suspecting it’s Ulrich’s brother. He has been missing for 33 years and if he died somewhere in between, he would not be the same age as Ulrich.

HANNAH KAHNWALD POV

When Jonas complained about the expired food and lack of electricity in the house, he yelled for his mother. His mother, named Hannah, was having sex with a man named Ulrich. I don't think Jonas knows about this. We'll see how this will fare in the future.

Hannah goes to the nuclear power plant with a large briefcase. It turns out she is a massage therapist and had massaged Aleksander, the power plant's director. He's worried about the nuclear power plant. He mentioned that it had been 33 years since the day he came to Winden. He looks like a bad guy to me. I don't think his work is clean. He gives off this Russian villain vibe who wants world domination.

Hannah went to school to attend the meeting. She meets Katharina. Katharina hasn't completely suspect her cheating with her husband. She left quietly and went outside to smoke. She met Ulrich, who was on his way, but stopped to meet Hannah.

REGINA TIEDEMANN POV

Regina Tiedemann answers a phone call from her bank who has been in business with her hotel for 20 years. She explains the reason why her hotel's business isn't good lately was due to Erik's disappearance, but it sounds like the problem has been going on for longer than two weeks. Then, Regina became angry with the bank's representative and slammed the phone down. She also mentioned that she build her hotel business by herself without help.

In the meeting, Regina had disagreements with Katharina, and when she said that Katharina should "mind her own problems", Katharina looked offended.

Everyone in the meeting received a phone call at the same time. It’s probably because of the kids reporting to the police that Mikkel has gone missing.

INES KAHNWALD POV

The old lady who's ripped out of the Kahnwald Family picture turned out to be Ines Kahnwald. In here, I don't know who she is, and the episode didn't explore about her yet. However, when Hannah called her, it doesn't seem to be her mother, so I'm guessing it's Michael's mother? Maybe. Also, Hannah seemed to harbour hate for Ines. She has Michael's suicide note and has been waiting for the whole day just to read it. When Ines finally opened it at 10:13, the camera didn't show the contents of the letter, nor did Ines read it out loud. Later, she placed the letter back in a box and cried. Perhaps the contents of the note will be explored in future episodes. I'm dying to know what's written in it.

OTHER CLUES:

In Winden's Rest Home, an old man named Helge repetitively says "It's going to happen again. It's going to happen again. It's going to happen again." What's going to happen? He knows something.

Helge then walked out of the rest home heading somewhere, chanting the same words. Eventually, Helge arrived at the school and walked into the meeting. Charlotte stopped him. He asked if it was too late before being escorted out.

---

A man walked out of the cave wearing a raincoat with a hoodie. Who is this man? I feel like he's the reason why Erik's missing. He could have kidnapped Erik or something.

---

The scene that surprised me was when they showed Erik being held somewhere in a brightly-lit room with an electric chair in the middle of it. It got me thinking where he could be. Was he abducted? Or did he go there willingly? The episode ends with Erik tied to the electric chair, and his eyes are blocked by a metal covering.

---

Despite being a therapist himself, he seemed to be troubled with something and he’s keeping secrets from his wife. I’m looking at him as a major suspect though. Not sure if the other characters are going look the same way as I do.

MY THEORY:

So my theory is this. I think Erik is hidden somewhere in the cave and the only person who knows the ways of the cave is the man in a raincoat. The deceased child found in the woods probably met the same fate as Erik. I think he got kidnapped before, and then this man in the raincoat did some experiments on him, resulting in him dead. This situation doesn't look good for Erik, though. I have a feeling he's going to die.

Also, why is it that whenever the camera showed the cave or the nuclear power plant, a forbidding soundtrack starts to play. What the fuck is going on—

#dark #dark season 1 #episode recap #dark tv series #tv series

4 notes · View notes

neshabeingchildish · 5 years ago

Text

Poly, Wanna? 11

Much more toned down, this one.

@adorkable-blackgirl @chenoahchantel @woahjusttakeiteasy-man @up-the-tube

Power of 3

Charlotte had taken the bubbly for three days and was now awaiting the acupuncturist. Jasper and Henry had went for their gym visit and would be having brunch afterwards. She didn’t want to insert herself into their ritual just because of the recent turn of events… Being that they spent 3 nights together, watched 3 sunrises, 3 dinners, went to the same bed 3 times, woke up tied around each other, and she couldn’t stop thinking about the power of 3… That anything done in threes is more satisfying, more powerful, more memorable…

Maybe it was the Biblical implications programmed into most of the Western world - the Holy Trinity, a three days rest until resurrection, etc. But, even in Pagan belief systems, 3 held power. Many witches believed that whatever energy you put out in the world, you get it back three times. Three had been significant for her as a child, with having Henry and Jasper. The three, in her mind were a three. There was no coupling. There weren’t separate pairs. She honestly couldn’t imagine them separating when they got older… But, then there was that talk with her mom and life in general and now… she was looking back at her life and looking forward to her future. Henry had called them a triad.

HENRY had said that they weren’t going to do anything without her. Henry had taken a huge step in making these claims. She said claims, because who knew what could happen while the men were alone? They were both very sexually magnetic for each other and emotionally attached, forever. Jasper had once told her that they had the nastiest, naughtiest, most daring sexual relationship that he had ever been involved in. Sometimes, they didn’t make it to privacy before they commenced. Sometimes, they were in an alleyway, a public bathroom, the vehicle, an elevator… He said it like he was condemning himself for the risky behavior, but his eyes said something else.

Charlotte wasn’t into those types of risks. She liked the roughness that he mentioned (sometimes), and really thought it would be fun and interesting for Jasper to use her the way that he’d been allowed to use Henry whenever they were doing it. But, he said that was mostly because Henry liked it so much. To be called dirty names and degraded and manhandled… He couldn’t imagine himself doing that with Charlotte, even if she begged him. She was just so tiny and soft. He sometimes worried that he might hurt her whenever he got too excited!

She loved whenever Jasper got rough. She could tell it was closer to his element, and even though he held back a lot, she felt that she could tolerate more. It was hot to feel and see him in his sexual nature. Him holding back usually made her insecure. If he felt like he had to hold back with her, 1. WTH was he doing in the first place? Donkey punching folks? 2. Could she keep him satisfied? She thought about talking to Henry about it, because he was a professional, but he also probably couldn’t be objective. So, she would have to find some other method or tough it out.

After her acupuncture, she grabbed some sleeping supplies, because Henry had recommended the Bang Bang for three days, an acupuncture appointment, and a long sleep. Jasper had cleaned up the clutter that she made in her bedroom, because she needed clear space to sleep well, but she hated cleaning up and Jasper knew that and probably that she might not feel like it anyway, with the healing in progress. Sweet soul, Jasper. She lit her deep sleep candles, turned on the music loop of the siren song from Siren, shut the drapes to blot out the sunlight, set out her choice of crystals on the headboard, sprayed her bed with a sleeping mist blend, rubbed her feet with lavender, and laid her naked body down under the fuzzy blanket, with the weighted blanket on top. She was sleeping within moments. She stayed sleep for hours.

Jasper and Henry peeked in on her whenever they got in. Henry wondered, “What in the world is she listening to?”

“It’s from some show, I think. We have to let it play, because even if you adjust the volume, she will wake up immediately.” Henry laughed. “Some things don’t change. You know what it used to be? This weird remix of FKA Twigs Two Weeks with like…”

“With meditation music? I made that for her.” Jasper said.

“You did what, now?” Henry laughed.

“I made that remix for her! You know, I can make music. I was in a band, and I did beatboxing and yodeling competitions… Not together… except for that one time that I got it in my mind that could work!” He threw Henry a glare and Henry laughed. “That was terribly embarrassing for me, despite the fact that I handled it with grace.”

“You absolutely did not,” Henry reminded him, thinking about how much of a train wreck that was.

“We remember it differently,” Jasper said and quietly shut the door to Charlotte’s room back. “I think I might need to go get her some more clothes and stuff. She didn’t say whether or not she was ready to come home, and let’s be honest - that bed is a lot more comfortable than mine. She’ll probably want to crash here instead, since you’re good now.”

“Since we’re good?” Henry laughed. “That’s what we’re calling what this is?”

“What… should we call it?”

“I’m in love with two people that I very much want to build a life with. Whatever is mine is theirs. We aren’t just “good,” I love you two, and I want to take care of you, in any way that I can.” Henry said.

Jasper nodded, “Well… You can talk to her about that. I’m gonna run home and get some clothes and stuff… and also beer, since your fridge refuses to have any. I’ve gotta go to work tonight. Should probably get some sleep today.”

Henry sighed and his nostrils slightly flared at Jasper brushing off everything that he said, but he realized that the burden of proving self was on him and he couldn’t be mad that Jasper wasn’t taking him seriously or that he was guarding his heart, whichever. “Well, I have work appointments this afternoon, so I’ll be in the office most of the time. Make yourselves comfortable, but be mindful that the living room is also a segway to my office.”

“Noted. See you later,” Jasper said and headed out.

“It’s been a few months since I began speaking on a regular basis with Jasper and Charlotte and, at this point, all I want to do is be able to be honest with both of them and build together. Most of the secrets are out. Jasper knows that I want something real with both of them. Charlotte knows what happened between Jasper and I, after her. I know that both of them have some type of feelings for me, as well. What I don’t know is if either of them want to explore those and what I don’t want is for them to take any time away from each other to figure that out. I want the three of us to reach an understanding and an agreement, or I don’t want anything. Nothing else, as far as relationships are concerned, in my current state of mind - nothing but the three of us in a committed and dedicated relationship will appease me.” *Sighs and holds up a stack of letters, tied together. “Then… There’s these…”

Henry was exhausted. He and Ray had been tracking this villain for days and when they did find him, he was stuck in the lair and it took them hours to get free. Charlotte had been searching for them, using Henry’s phone to try to figure out where they were. She had been losing sleep for days and was working for four - because Jasper wasn’t very much help, worrying about Henry and Ray, but having no real helpful skills for the situation. Piper was in the loop by then, but also way more famous and not in town. Captain Man and Kid Danger were missing. Ray’s phone was dead. Henry’s had some life, but she had to sync it with the Man Cave computer to try to lock in on the location before it died too. The computer automatically pulled up an on screen menu, which were previews of various apps and photos. She was focused really hard on working, so she didn’t pay any attention to any of it, but did, in the back of her head note - Henry sure has a lot of porn on his phone. Jeesh.

She was able to lock in on their location and Schwoz and Jasper went to try to bring aid. By the time they all came back, and she was relieved, and settled, she’d also realized something… some of this “porn” wasn’t porn. It was private messaging.

She had never in her life thought to go through Henry’s phone or spy on him. All she had to do was tap the preview on the screen to see that was a video of Bianca. She folded her arms and said, “Huh,” pensievely, then backed up his phone to a clone and went on a journey.

The journey began with a group chat - Chloe, Biana, and Henry, which seemed to be a place to shit on Charlotte, but that wouldn’t even have bothered her nearly as much if she hadn’t eventually gotten to the photos, then the videos, then the invitations. All of the offers of blowjobs and threesomes, and the playful way Henry would entertain it was troubling… but, then Henry began to talk too. About what he could just imagine. About how he would think about this or that whenever he was alone, to get himself excited. Accepting an invtitation to record their sex tape (which got “leaked” later on and was a huge scandal - 2 Girls from the Woods, Playing in Each Other’s Bushes!) And… the last one that he’d sent… “Know that threesome you’re always on about?” and a series of emoji’s that she wasn’t sure exactly what he meant by them, but it was safe to presume that he was down.

She left the Man Cave and went home, started packing her things, and didn’t even get adequate rest.

“Hey, where’d Char go?” he asked Jasper?

“I think she left,” he said.

“Without me?” Henry wondered. That was weird, because they lived together, and they had been apart for days, while he was on this incredibly dangerous mission and had almost died several times. “Did something happen?”

“I don’t know,” Jasper said. “I got back whenever you did. I saw her looking through somebody’s phone when she got on the elevator.”

“What phone?” Henry was still confused.

“Probably one of the clones,” Schwoz said. “Looks like we’re missing one.”

“The clones?”

“Yes. You take someone’s mobile cellular phone and you clone all of the information into this phone. It is a phone clone, on which you can access all of the information from the original device.”

“Oh, maybe she cloned your phone for some reason. She was using the computer to try to locate you two through it,” Jasper said, casually. He was ready to head home himself. Now that Henry and Ray were safe, he could use some shut eye. “Goodnight, Hen! Glad that we could help.” He got onto the elevator and Henry went to the tubes.

He came in while Charlotte was packing. She had hooked up the phone/computer to the TV and let the messages just scroll for him. He took a deep breath. “Shit,” he said. He found her packing and immediately began talking in a pleading voice, “I promise, I didn’t mean it. We were only joking around. It was innocent fun.”

“Innocent? Thinking about other girls while you’re with me is innocent? And, I’M not having fun.”She began to slam things into her bag.

“Okay. I said a lot of things in those messages that I shouldn’t have, but I swear that I never would’ve acted on any of that!”

“So, you didn’t record their sex tape for them? You didn’t agree to a threesome with them?”

“I… recorded their sex tape VERY objectively and I was only joking about the threesome.”

“Nobody jokes that frequently. But, you know what. I won’t let my poor dicksucking skills or uppity requirements deter you any further from your passions. Have all the big tittied white girls that you can get your hands on.” She then muttered, “Chloe’s aren’t even real, but I’M Charlotte Flat as a Page.”

“I told her not to call you that!”

“Yep, with an LOL, so she knew you meant it,” she said, trying not to cry. “I don’t care if you complain about my ‘bee stings.’ These are the breasts that my body grew and they’re the ones that I’m satisfied with.”

“I wasn’t complaining.”

“Titty fucking is really awkward with itty bitty titties sounds like a complaint, but even if it’s simply an observation, I don’t remember requesting a titty fuck. I COULD HAVE TOLD YOU it’d be awkward, as I am aware of my cup size. I don’t care about you talking about how seldom I go down on you - which YOU KNOW is because I want to make sure that everything is clean and good first and I won’t apologize for that. Do you know what kinds of things I see at the clinic? I have standards. You can meet them, or I won’t consent. Tell the world, if you wanna. And the fact that when I DO go down on you, it’s clear that I have no idea what I’m doing? I do have an idea, but I’m not a professional, because you haven’t met my requirements enough for me to get proper practice. What did you think I’d do? Practice on toys and tools? Bananas? Lollipops? Popsicles? Fine. Tell whoever you need to in order to feel better about your lazy hygiene and the consequence of not receiving pleasure. But, when you tell another woman that you’ll think of her, that’s crossing a line that I don’t have to accept. When you’re talking to other women every night about what you would do to them if I wasn’t in the picture, that’s basically you confirming that you wish that you could do things to them. I know where this road leads to and I can’t believe that I let you waste my time before I realized what fucking road I’m on.”

“Okay… Okay… Look… You don’t have to accept it. I was so fucking wrong for all of that, but Baby, I SWEAR to you, I’ve never touched another woman since you.”

“Maybe you oughtta. You wouldn’t be so unsatisfied!”

“I don’t want to be with anybody else!”

“THAT’S NOT WHAT THE FUCK YOU SAID A GAJILLION TIMES IN THOSE MESSAGES!” She pointed towards the TV in the other room, screaming louder than she even thought that she knew how to, but he was pissing her off and he STILL hadn’t just fucking apologized. “I was so fucking wrong for that” is not remorse! You made me look fucking stupid in front of AT LEAST two other women and you can’t even tell me that you’re sorry for that. You’re just trying to tell me how it isn’t as bad as I think it is, but I can fucking tell from this conversation that you don’t even know why I’m really mad. You don’t even KNOW what you did that was so wrong!”

“I mentally cheated?” He said, trying to guess.

“You cheated. I don’t put qualifiers on that… but you…” Now, she was crying, “You knew that was the ONE thing that I wouldn’t be okay with. You knew how upset I was whenever my dad finally stopped pretending with my mom and ran around this fucking town most of our relationship with different women while my mom looked like a fool and you did that to me?”

“I wasn’t… I never intended for… I’m sorry.” He started crying. “I am so sorry. That’s not what I was trying to do. You don’t look stupid. I do. I have the most perfect woman in the world and I fucked up, and I don’t deserve anything from you. But… Please… Please, let me at least…”

“Let me stop you. There is nothing you can say or do that would make me even want to see your face again, Henry. That is a true statement and I am a stubborn person. Thank you for apologizing. I believe you. Now, get the fuck out of my face and stay out of it.”

He covered his face and sat on the bed. “I can’t. We’ve been friends almost our whole lives.”

“That didn’t stop you for betraying me in the way that you of all people should have known was irreparable.”

“It didn’t stop me from being stupid and reckless, no. But, I didn’t think of this as too bad. Your dad was actually fucking other women. I’m not completely convinced, by their interactions that your dad and my mom didn’t screw.”

“They definitely did. Why else are our parents never around each other?”

“But, in my brain, because it was just some talk and some photos… that’s nothing to me. It meant nothing to me. If I was as disgruntled about scarcely given blow jobs that aren’t that good when I get them, I would have gone out and gotten better ones…” She glared at him. He wasn’t helping. “I just mean that I never did that, because even though I was venting, I knew that I actually HAD the best part of all of this. Good blow jobs, I could give up. Frequent blow jobs, I could live without. Baby, whenever Ray and I were held captive, all I thought about was getting home to you. Seeing your face and holding you close to me and looking into your eyes again.” He sobbed. “Whenever I face danger, you’re the constant on my mind that I want to get back to. You’re my beacon…”

“Weird. Because, when you’re out there, I can’t think about anything else either. But, unlike you, when you’re safe and sound, I STILL DON’T FUCKING WANT ANYBODY ELSE!And if I did - if I EVER did, I’d respect you enough to let you know where you stand. Or… I would have, before tonight. Honestly, Henry, at this point, you could’ve died tonight, I’d be relieved right now.”

He held his chest. “How can you say that?” He shook his head, “You don’t mean that. I hurt you really bad and you’re angry. You don’t mean that.”

She rolled her eyes and grabbed her bags. “Fuck you, Henry.” She headed towards the door and Henry got up and chased after her. That was not going to be how they ended things. That would not be the last thing that she said to him, especially following the previous thing… He grabbed her arm, harder than he intended and more angrily than he realized that he was feeling, and for a split second he almost questioned himself - how did he feel like he had a right to be angry? Why was he grabbing her? He should probably give her space? But, he didn’t really get to process all of that because whenever he grabbed her, she dropped her bags and by the time he’d looked at his hand clutching her arm aggressively and wondering how that was his hand… Her fist connected with his jaw. He felt it and heard it and the sound was kind of terrifying, but the pain shot through his entire head and he let go of her hand and stumbled back. “DON’T YOU EVER PUT YOUR FUCKING HANDS ON ME!!!” She screamed at him, but her hand was done for. She could hardly move it.

She didn’t know what came over her in that moment, but she grabbed her bags and left and slammed the door. When she got into her car, she just sat there and cried. She cried for hours before she was able to even think about starting the car. She didn’t know what Henry was doing in there, but whenever she finally started her car and winced every time she moved her hand, she whimpered, “Call Piper.”

“Hey! Jasper told me that you found Henry and Ray!” She said, cheerfully. “I was almost back in town, too!”

“Are… you en route?” Charlotte asked, trying to use a clear and casual voice.

“Hey… Why do you sound terrible?”

“Henry and I just got into a really bad fight. I don’t know where to go. If I go to my mom’s like this, she’ll call my dad for an excuse to see him and I’m a little banged up. They’d never believe that it didn’t get physical.”

“Why are you banged up?” Piper asked, suspiciously.

“Henry grabbed my arm and I just… I punched him… I think I sprained my wrist or something when I did. I didn’t expect to be physically in pain, too…”

“What… Happened?”

“I found out that Henry’s been talking to other girls about sex with them. I can’t forgive him.”

“Okay. Meet me at my parents in like… 20 minutes?”

“Okay. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to call his sister, but I didn’t know who else would still actually care about me..”

“I’m glad that you know it’s me, if nobody else. On my way.”

Henry was staring out of the window. He had ice on his face and knew he should probably get to Schwoz right away, but he could see Charlotte in the car crying and he was helpless at the sight of it. He did that to her. Why the fuck had he done that to her?

His phone was charging and he’d snatched everything from the TV and posted himself by the window until she pulled away. She didn’t even look at the apartment. He heard his phone buzz and he saw it was Piper.

Normally, he’d let it go, with something this huge happening, but he was fresh off of a several day mission and needed to at least touch base with her. “Yeah,” he answered.

“What did you do, you freaking idiot?”

“What do you mean?”

“Charlotte hurt her wrist punching you in the face for no good reason? Charlotte Page?”

“I…”

“Did you cheat on her, Henry?”

“I never would have touched them. I swear to God. It was just talk. It was just to blow off steam. I promise. She… She says that she never wants to look at me again. Can… Can you fix it?”

Piper sighed. Henry was always super soft when it came to Charlotte and she was often a good go between, but the way that Charlotte sounded? “I don’t know. Expect things to be over. She sounded really bad. I’ll make sure that she’s okay. No matter what happens between the two of you.”

Tears were falling from his eyes. “Thank you, Piper.”

Henry angrily demolished a shitload of his things before realizing that he was 1. Destroying his things and 2. He would have to clean this up, eventually. He just needed to rest, probably. He needed to sleep off the mission and the fight and probably after that, he could collect his thoughts well enough to beg her to listen and to spend the rest of his life, if he had to, making this up to her and proving himself to her.

He grabbed his phone and recorded himself speaking, “Charlotte… I am so sorry. I should have led with that. I should have said that I’m sorry and I’m an idiot for what I did and for not realizing how bad it was. I’ll never do anything like that again, I promise. I’ll never give you any reason not to trust me again, so long as I live. You’re the only one that I want and wanna be with. I don’t think that I could ever make it without you.” He went to sleep after that. He was drained.

Whenever he got up, he checked his phone. Ray, Schwoz, Jasper and Piper had all called him. Chloe had texted. Mom and Piper had messaged him on social media. Nothing from Charlotte, though. He tried to call her, to leave her a voicemail message, basically, saying everything that he had said on his voice note the previous night. The phone number claimed to be disconnected. He tossed his phone aside and began to clean up the wreckage from his tantrum. He was eventually disturbed when a loud banging knock sounded on the door, followed by Jasper’s voice, “HENRY! CHARLOTTE! Are you guys okay??? I’m gonna break the door down if nobody answers me! 1, 2, …” Henry opened the door and Jasper let out first, a sigh of relief, then - a gasp of horror. “What happened to your face?”

Henry had sort of forgotten that he’d gotten hit. He was so distracted by the depression, physical pain ceased to exist for a bit. “What do you want?” He asked. Jasper looked confused by his tone and this whole situation, in particular. “WHAT IS IT?” Henry demanded, annoyed by just the flicker of waiting for Jasper to answer him.

“We couldn’t get in touch with you. We were worried that maybe goons were sent in retaliation. You almost died less than 24 hours ago… were missing for several hours before that… You have responsibilities and haven’t been answering any calls. What is happening, right now? Where is Charlotte?” Jasper tried to come into the apartment, but Henry placed a hand up to stop him. “Henry. What is it? Oh my God! Is she dead? Did someone attack here? HENRY, ANSWER ME, WHAT THE FUCK???”

“She left me,” Henry said, in a low voice. He blinked away some tears. “It was my fault. She’s gone, and I don’t want to talk about it…” He sniffled, nodded his head, and repeated, “It was my fault.” He started crying a little harder and Jasper took him into a hug. He tried to shift away from it. He didn’t feel like he deserved to be comforted, but Jasper was a strong mothefucker and bigger than him. He wasn’t letting him go. He was gonna take this solace.

Henry spent hours trying to write Charlotte a letter. By that time, the others had tried to find her, too, but her parents and Piper told them to just give her some space. She’d left her Man Cave duties, but emailed Ray after she saw the doctor about her hand. She’d fractured it and would need to wear a cast over the hand, wrist and pinky for 6 weeks and resigned immediately to accept an opportunity for an integrated and applied sciences doctorate program across the country. She thanked him and apologized for the sudden departure, and sent a video message to Schwoz, thanking him for all of his time and energy spent helping to make her a better scientist and being a good boss and good friend. She met up with Jasper and asked him to collect the rest of her things for her, then treated him to a buffet, but wouldn’t talk about what happened between her and Henry. She told him that if he promised not to give it to him, she’d let him have her new number and maybe when she was ready to start talking about it, he’d be one of the few people whose number she kept.

Henry had no access, so he wrote to her. He had to get his orange overlays, record the message from voice to text and then try to copy it with his handwriting. It took him a long time to write each letter, but he was committed to it. He thought, maybe if she saw that he did this, she would change her mind and forgive him. Maybe if she read his words, in his handwriting, and deduced what he had to go through to write this much… she’d believe him. But, she never saw him or them. She never knew. They didn’t talk. She didn’t visit. Jasper, Piper and Schwoz had some access to her, but were told that if that was shared with Henry, they’d lose it. So, he settled for hearing new things - she got a teaching position at an organization, she was in a serious relationship, she was out of the serious relationship, she was moving overseas, she was back in the US… But… he had a feeling that even they weren’t getting the good details. Maybe Piper, but Piper wasn’t easily moved by his plight. This was his fault, after all. Still… he continued to write her a letter, every day…

“467 days 1.2794 Years = 1 Year, 3 Months, 1 Week, 3 Days, 16 Hours, 19 Minutes and 59 Seconds... That was how long I spent writing Charlotte every single day since she left me. I only stopped whenever it was my first “anniversary” with Jasper and I realized that I, maybe, had been involved with Jasper for a year, but also that I had been nurturing an obsession over someone who I’d hurt and lost. For some reason, up until then, somewhere inside of me, I thought that it wasn’t over. That she was just still upset, like I was still upset about making the mistake. For everybody else, a year had passed, more than a year. But, for me… It was almost like it had just occurred to me that she actually broke up with me and that we were done. It had just occurred to me that I had been in a new relationship for a full year.” *Shakes his head, “Sometimes, I feel like this shit had to have happened to someone else. Like, who WAS I? Whoever he was, I’m glad he’s dead.”

Jasper came back and went to bed in Charlotte’s room. She was still sleeping and he knew that he needed to get some sleep before it was time for him to go to work. He hadn’t been in a few nights and was a bit worried about having to leave Charlotte alone to go in, but also… They were all three in a similar place. He woke up a couple of hours before he’d have to be to work (because he needed to shower, get dressed, eat, all that jazz. Charlotte was still asleep. He checked to make sure that she was alive. She was…

He went into his own room to get ready. He didn’t want to wake her up, and whenever he came out, Henry was in the dining room, staring at a stack of letters, tied together. “Hey. What’s that?”

“Remember when we were first dating, how I used to write those letters everyday?”

“The apology letters to Charlotte?” Jasper said. “How could I forget. I always felt ‘othered’ in the beginning, and those letters were a huge part of that… Is… Is that what those are? Because… it’s been a really long time and I don’t think that’s normal, to hold on to.”

“It’s not normal. But, also… everything that she’s currently curious about and everything that she feels like she has the right to know is in these, and they’re in their truest form. I could dress up all this information with my 20/20 hindsight, but… She deserved to know then and she deserves to know now. I just… wanted to talk to you about it. If you don’t want her to have them, I will burn them tonight.”

“I don’t think that it’s fair of you to put this on me. If I say no, I run the risk of getting in the way of something that might bring Charlotte closure. If I say yes, it’s read like I agree that you should give them to her! And to be honest, these letters were stressful for me, the first time around, so to even bring them to me is at least disrespectful!”

“I’m not trying to come between you two. I want to bring the three of us together. I thought maybe that you would want to know what emotions were blocking your love from my view back then, too.” He picked up the stack of letters and came over to Jasper, “These are as much for you as they are for her.” He pushed them forward and Jasper accepted them and shook his head. “It’s… the last thing that might get in the way… of… us…” Henry said, desperately.

“Yeah, okay.” Jasper sighed and put them into his messenger bag. “I want to talk to her about it before anything else and she’s still asleep.”

“Okay.” Henry nodded his head. “Well, I’ve got stuff to make sushi, caviar and champagne, if you want me to make you dinner before you go.”

“Ummm… Yeah.. I was gonna just grab a burger or something.”

“Oh, NO! I just got this shipment in and have been ACHING to try out some new recipes and arrangements on someone! Burger. The only burgers that you’ll ever need to eat are the ones that I cook. Oh! I can cook you a burger, if you want?” “I don’t think that’s…”

“I’ve got thawed ground beef… Yeah. I’ll make you one of the best burgers that you’ve ever had in your life! But… also… I do have sushi supplies and caviar… I’m… gonna make a caviar burger recipe that I think I’ve only made once, a while back…”

Jasper bit his lip and set his bag on the floor. Henry was actually trying and it would be so crushing for him to tell him that he was doing too much. He was, but Jasper was content to try to appreciate it and would tell him some time after the fact, maybe when he wasn’t as emotionally high strung that he didn;t have to be this accommodating.

Charlotte smelled food. That was a surefire way to get her to get up, which Jasper should have realized, but wasn’t really thinking about. “There she is!” Henry cheered. She made a confused face and kissed Jasper on the top of the head, and played in his hair.

“He’s in the zone,” Jasper whispered.

“Char, I’ve got caviar burgers, sushi, and champagne. Glad you could join us before Jasper heads off to work,” Henry said, still moving around in the kitchen. Charlotte gave Jasper a thumbs up, then approached Henry. He yelped at her closeness, out of nowhere and then smiled, “Just, have a seat.”

“Why, has Daddy got it taken care of?” She asked, teasing him for his calling himself that a few days ago.

He played along. “Daddy does.” She shook her head and rolled her eyes, but she was smiling. She began to grab stuff and try stuff. “Umm… Char… Daddy’s not done.” She made moaning sounds and continued. “Charlotte…”

“These are good!” She said, reaching for more.

“Char!” Henry snapped.

“Henry… Please chill out, okay? You’re acting all fancy and I’m literally in an oversized shirt, barefooted, eating your caviar with my fingers. Jasper can’t even tell you the difference between these fish, much less the caviar. We are impressed. You can calm down.” She took another portion of sushi and stuffed it into her mouth. “I’ve been asleep all day. Hungry. Shoot.” Henry furrowed his eyebrows and prepared plates. Charlotte scratched his belly and he looked down at her hand, then up at her face. She wasn’t looking at him, so this was an unconscious act. She was looking at the plates and asked, “You gonna put more on mine?”

He narrowed his eyes and pushed a plate in her direction. “Fix your own,” he said. She cackled. Don’t mind if I do.

Whenever she got to the table, Jasper was shyly eating and Henry was still setting up stuff to make his experience optimal. She grabbed three flutes and set the down. “Where’s the champagne? I wanna make a toast,” she said. Henry smiled and rushed to get it for her and popped the bottle open. When they each had there’s, she lifted hers into the air and they followed. “To, the power of three.” she said.

#Poly Wanna #Nesha HD Fics #henry danger #henry hart #charlotte page #jasper dunlop #hd ot3

23 notes · View notes

aion-rsa · 4 years ago

Text

Harlots: A Witty Blend of History and Fiction

https://ift.tt/3kayLkC

Like all the best TV opening titles, Harlots’ comical, brazen credits sequence announces its personality in miniature. A collage-style animation set to modern music, it shows cut-out characters from William Hogarth’s 18th-century painting series A Harlot’s Progress clustered around a giant, luridly colored female nude. They tuck into her crevices, canoodle on her mountainous behind, nestle between her buttocks, and peep out over the top of two plump hillock breasts. In the shadow between her thighs, female prisoners toil (just another day at the mine), and finally, she’s on her back, legs spread wide as the show’s title appears dead centre: Harlots. Come on in.

It’s a bold start that announces Harlots’ defiantly effervescent approach to a period and industry – sex work in the 18th century – that could in other hands be wall-to-wall syphilis and woe. It uses Hogarth’s instructive moralism (the six paintings of A Harlot’s Progress depict an innocent girl falling under the wicked spell of a city bawd, becoming a courtesan and a streetwalker, going to prison, and dying of the pox) for its own ends, wittily repurposing a historical cartoon as the entryway to a rich human drama.

‘The whore’s eye view’

“Everything from the whore’s eye view,” is the rule on Harlots, says producer Alison Owen. Nudity and sex acts are obviously central to the show’s premise, but it presents them from a new angle. Literally.

Having noted how often sex scenes on TV are filmed with the camera looking down on a supine woman, Harlots wanted to show things differently, co-creator Moira Buffini told The Frame. Key to that approach was the use of female directors, led by head director Coky Giedroyc.

“We knew right from the word go that this would really work seen from a female gaze,” says Buffini. Unlike elsewhere on TV, Harlots’ brothel scenes wouldn’t offer titillation; they would show a workplace at work.

After the first and second seasons went out, co-creator Alison Newman was delighted with positive feedback received from viewers in the sex industry who said they recognized their own working lives and experiences on screen. Harlots is set two and a half centuries ago, but its themes are timeless.

Buffini has described the role of sex in Harlots as the same role played by violence in The Sopranos – it’s the characters’ job, which is what makes them unusual, but not what makes them interesting. Just as The Wire’s focus on the drug trade widened to explore its impact on politics, education, and the press, Harlots’ focus on the sex trade widens to explore justice, religion, the aristocracy, and, at the root of it all, money.

‘The only safety is in money’

That’s the mantra of Margaret Wells, former harlot, now a bawd who runs her own “Disorderly House.” Played by Samantha Morton, she’s mother to celebrated courtesan Charlotte (Jessica Findlay Brown) and her beloved new-to-the-game Lucy (Eloise Smyth). Despite a backstory as terrible as they come, Margaret has emerged a fighter with a keen sense of how to survive in a world where even aristocratic women have little economic power.

Economics is Harlots’ real subject, says Buffini. The sale and purchase of sex, its fluctuating value (virginity, real or fabricated could be auctioned off to aristocrats for £50 – closer to £1000 in today’s money – while others made shillings standing up in alleyways) and the short lifespan of those who sold it isn’t just a backdrop to these characters’ lives, it’s the fabric of them.

Harlots to Air on BBC Two in the UK Later This Year

By Louisa Mellor

Harlots Canceled After 3 Seasons at Hulu

By Tony Sokol

Keenly aware of what her girls are up against in 18th century London, Margaret teaches that “money is a woman’s only power in this world,” and only lasting wealth can make them free. It’s a shrewd perspective from a strategic thinker. Margaret Wells is certainly no hero, but her resolve and gumption make her fascinating to watch.

Equally fascinating is Lydia Quigley, played by Lesley Manville. The owner of an exclusive and fashionable brothel, Quigley is a monster shaped by her own abusive start in life. A sadist and kidnapper who profits from feeding corrupt appetites, she’s a villain. And yet … Manville makes her human, and between them, she and Morton make the Quigley/Wells rivalry darkly layered and involving.

Elsewhere, Holli Dempsey is vibrant and thrillingly unpredictable as the headstrong Emily Lacey. Findlay-Brown is captivating as Charlotte. Dorothy Atkinson, Dougie McMeekin, Bronwyn James, Hugh Skinner… It’s a strong cast, packed with entertaining characters each on journeys of their own.

The Covent Garden Ladies

Harlots doesn’t feature real historical characters, but its ensemble is drawn from a variety of real-world sources. When Buffini and Newman began to research the period, a starting point was historian Hallie Rubenhold’s 2005 book, The Covent Garden Ladies: The Extraordinary Story of Harris’s List. The list in question was an annual directory/review compendium of London’s brothel workers that’s been described as the equivalent of an 18th-century Yelp for the sex trade. Among its entries is courtesan Charlotte Hayes, who, along with the infamous Kitty Fisher, provided inspiration for the character of Charlotte Wells.

The Old Bailey trial records provided another source of real-life cases tried against bawds and sex workers – like Ann Duck, the inspiration for Violet Cross (Rosalind Eleazar). Merely touching on real-world inspirations leaves Harlots free to rewrite history to suit the needs of the story, and not to slavishly follow a prepared path for any of its characters.

Buffini and co. found a paucity of surviving 18th-century writing by women in the industry, so were forced to make several leaps of the imagination while planning the series. The autobiography of sex shop owner Teresia Philips offered some help. Lydia Quigley’s real-world counterpart – Elizabeth Needham – who was notorious enough to feature as a caricature in the Hogarth paintings used in Harlots’ opening credits (she’s the woman luring the freshly arrived innocent to her sordid doom) offered a little more. The inspirations that fed into the characters of Nancy Birch, Harriet Lennox, and Mary Cooper are all discussed in this excellent and detailed article by historian and Whores of Yore curator Dr. Kate Lister.

‘The flip-side of the Jane Austen novel’

It wasn’t only real life that provided inspiration for Harlots, but also the literature of the age. In this interview, Buffini explains that the character of Anne Pettifer, a young woman in Quigley’s employ, was inspired by one of Jane Austen’s creations. “Our idea for Anne Pettifer was that she’s Lydia Bennet,” explained Buffini.

In Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, the Bennet family experiences a scandal that, if not resolved, would stop all four of Lydia’s sisters from marrying well. 15-year-old Lydia runs away to London with an older man who has no intention of marrying her until he’s paid to do so by a wealthy benefactor.

“What would have happened to Lydia Bennet without a shadow of a doubt (if she hadn’t been rescued) is that she would have ended up in a house like Mrs. Quigley’s,” Buffini said. “Our drama is about the Lydia Bennets of this world, who don’t get rescued by men, and the girls who have even fewer economic choices than Lydia Bennet.”

‘Dancing on the edge of an abyss’

If that makes Harlots sound bleak, it isn’t. Yes, its historical period was a desperate time for many. Its characters face unmentionable hardships and almost perpetual existential threats – from the law, from poverty and disease, from their “culls,” and from each other – but this isn’t a drama mired in woe or pity. It’s about survival. Its world, just like ours (because in many ways, it still is ours), is awful and funny, terrible and warm, sad and joyful at the same time.

That combination, pitched somewhere between high drama and comedy, is part of what made Harlots a peculiar sell. As Buffini explained to The Frame, the channels they took it to before landing on US streaming service Hulu struggled to grasp its tone. They didn’t understand the role of humor and wit in hardship. After three series, Hulu cancelled the show, after which point the BBC bought the UK airing rights.

“We think it’s about women who are dancing on the edge of an abyss,” Buffini said, “But they are dancing on the edge of an abyss. Right from the word go, we thought that we would show them dancing.”

Harlots series one arrives on BBC Two on Wednesday the 5th of August at 9pm with a double-bill

The post Harlots: A Witty Blend of History and Fiction appeared first on Den of Geek.

from Den of Geek https://ift.tt/39YYl7x

#aion-rsa #Den of Geek

1 note · View note

tyrantisterror · 5 years ago

Text

Revenge of the ATOM Create a Kaiju Contest: ENTRY ROUNDUP!

Twenty three wonderful monsters were submitted by twenty three wonderful people to the second ATOM Create a Kaiju Contest. Let’s give them all their due before the winners are announced, shall we? Just as with last time, I went ahead and sketched them all, because I’m a masochist who enjoys hurting his carpal tunnel ridden hand, and because I feel like it gives every monster a fair shake.

@bugcthulhu starts us off with Rohobaron, a hot-headed retrosaur/crocodile chimera that can superheat his body to ignite the landscape and incinerate enemies with a touch. Despite the fairly nasty powers, Rohobaron actually has a somewhat sweet personality, being quick to make friends and staunchly loyal to his allies, though his short fuse can also make him drag his friends into danger.

Design-wise, Rohobaron’s got a very solid concept, with those dynamic fuckoff-big arms and horns being the most obvious selling points, along with little dashes of character like the gharial lump on his nose and the heavily armored plates on his chest. You wouldn’t confuse him with the other retrosaur kaiju in the series, that’s for sure. The idea of a monster this burly and gnarly looking being a sweetheart is the kind of “appearances can be decieving” thing that ATOM thrives on, and giving a kaiju powers that reflect its personality (in this case, hot-headedness = heat powers) is always cool. There are some minor continuity issues with the bio given what’s going to happen in ATOM Vol. 2, but Rohobaron doesn’t lose points for not reading a book that isn’t fully written yet. All in all, a wonderful submission!

@akitymh is next with Charlotte, a retrosaur of the herbivorous persuasion. Exactly what clade of herbivorous retrosaur it belongs to is intentionally unclear, as Charlotte has a thagomizer like an armored goliath, but also shares some quirks with horned goliaths, despite lacking horns itself. A missing link, perhaps? She’s also unusually large for an ATOM kaiju, which suggests she’s been around for a long time - reinforced by her calm and sometimes protective nature, as the older kaiju tend to be less fight-focused than the young ones in ATOM.

Charlotte’s design is very interesting, and I like the idea of having some retrosaurs who don’t quite fit into any one given clade - it makes it more like real life taxonomy to have some oddballs here and there. Her smattering of armor plates gives her and interesting look, and I like how her long hind legs allow her to go bipedal as well as walk on all fours. Her neutral personality also makes her stand out among the mostly fight-happy monsters of ATOM. All in all, a solid entry!

We continue the prehistoric theme with @ariccio50‘s marvelous armored retrosaur, Scolosurtr! An genetically modified armored goliath, Scolosurtr’s most prominent features, as you have no doubt noticed, are the two massive yet hollow spikes on his back, which are connected to the kaiju’s two massive hearts and occasionally shoot projectiles when he’s pissed (though this is painful for the reptile to do). Scolosurtr can superheat his blood as a defensive mechanism, which in turn allows him to melt the ice that often clings to his body in the frosty countries he tends to roam. The armored monster is very easily stressed out, particularly by his fellow kaiju, and will even bite his tail in an attempt to calm down.

Scolotsurtr’s design is rad as hell - I love a giant monster that looks like a mountain, and the mini-volcano shaped shoulder spikes are such a cool pokeon-esque design feature (I say that as high praise). His icy, antisocial personality is a fun contrast with his fiery look, and the personality tick of biting his own tail to calm down is a very endearing quirk. Also, can we appreciate how wide this fella is? Just an absolute unit. His powerset allows him to stand out from the mostly tooth and claw fighters of ATOM, while still being balanced thanks to the pain it causes him to use it. A very well rounded entry!

@scatha5 brings us our fourth entry, the enormous armadillo Rerradon! Shy but willing to fight when backed into a corner, Rerradon is a formidable enemy when roused, with thick armor keeping him well defended and enough claws and spikes to make other monsters rethink their choice to attack him.

Mammalian kaiju are, as many have noted, very rare, and Rerradon is an excellent contribution to their small but growing ranks. I’m a sucker for armadillos too, and Rerradon keeps all the traits I love about them while still having a unique and monstrous look to him. My favorite detail on this fella, though, is one of his alternate names - “Dracula’s Weird Dog.” Why? Well, because of the fact it references some obscure monster movie trivia - both in the 30′s when the Bela Lugosi Dracula first came out, and the 50′s when it was prominently re-released, armadillos were not a particularly well known creature, and would have been considered exotic and strange by most Americans. As a result, the film-makers of Dracula put an armadillo in the vampire’s haunted castle, banking on viewers thinking it was some sort of strange monster. And, at the time, it works - most people who saw the film had no idea what the strange lizard rat thing was, though I imagine anyone living in the Southwest probably wondered why the hell an armadillo was in Transylvania. Obscure references to monster movie minutia are exactly ATOM’s jam!

Our next monster is @quinnred‘s flying saucer mimic, Mogul! An enormous descendent of the sea cucumber, Mogul needs both Yamaneon radiation and water to survive, and causes a great deal of chaos in the process of feeding until scientists realize dehydration can drive the creature away, While too simple in nature to exhibit much of a personality, Mogul’s mysterious nature and accidental imitation of interstellar travelers allows it to leave a mark nonetheless.

An incredibly clever design that I wasn’t quite skilled enough to capture in my sketch (you should always check out the links to the originals here, folks), Mogul is tailor made to a great 1950′s style monster story. You have the initial mystery with an inherent red herring built into it (i.e. everyone thinking the creature is initially a UFO), the startling discovery of what we’re really dealing with, and a creative solution that scientists come upon when studying the monster’s biology. While Mogul’s simple nature means it might have trouble in a kaiju vs. kaiju story, it’s incredibly well suited to a stand alone tale, the kind that could really flesh out ATOM’s giant monster crisis.

@cerothenull brings us our first big arthropod, Acanpetax the enormous assassin bug! A gnarly insect that wears the bones of kaiju its killed as armor, Acanpetax is a cruel and vicious hunter of its fellow monsters, though over time its vicious ways soften.

Kaiju bones turn to Yamaneon when they die, and Yamaneon crystals are shaped in a way that would give them a very coarse, spiky texture (if my muddied memories of Geology 101 are correct, anyway), making the insect’s armor even more evil-looking, which is great for a monster that (initially) plays a Heel role. This guy has the makings of a great villain monster, and I like that, in ATOM fashion, he still manages to get a heroic turn over time, especially the implication in his bio that it comes from communicating with the spirit of the snake monster whose skull he currently wears as a hat. It’s delightfully weird! A big bug with a solid visual to work off of and a great role and character arc baked into his personality, Acanpetax is a strong contender!

(no seriously you really need to check out the original postings, my sketch here does not do this fella justice)

@evolutionsvoid also shows ATOM’s big bugs some love by bringing the fungus infested Megaria into their ranks! Originally a larval cicada that was parasitized (and likely to die) by a fungus, Megaria’s sudden transformation into a kaiju brought her into a more balanced symbiosis with her parasite. Neither an attacker or a protector, Megaria is a spectator of kaiju fights, and will eagerly watch her fellow giants battle without participating herself. She is a force to be reckoned with when backed into a corner, though, as Megaria’s fungal growths have given her a variety of sound-based abilities, many of which she is not fully in control of.

It hasn’t been touched on in ATOM much yet, but plants and fungi are affected by Yamaneon radiation in a very similar manner as animal life, and Megaria presents a fun opportunity to explore that. The idea of a parasite and its victim becoming partners post-mutation is really interesting, and Megaria’s design is just as interesting to look at as its concept is to think about. Her fungal symbiote also gives her a great number of unique powers and abilities to make any fight scenes she’d be in unique, while her personality as a kaiju spectator allows her to stand out (I can see her making cameos in other stories as a background monster). Another solid contender for the contest!

@highly-radioactive-nerd takes us back to the past with the helmeted retrosaur Tsunoking! Technically a paleo tyrant, Tsunoking sports several defensive adaptations that are similar to those sported by many herbivorous retrosaurs as well, though perhaps his most notable adaptation is the crown of horns that gives him his name (see, he’s pointing to it in my sketch! It’s a nice crown.). A proud but honorable monster, Tsunoking is a powerful fighter who prefers to fight similarly powerful foes, and is also rather fastidious when it comes to personal hygiene.

I love the chimeric mix of features here - the dragon-y snout, the pachycephalosaurus dome skull, and the ankylosaurus tail club all give Tsunoking a very unique silhouette among the many carnivorous retrosaur kaiju in ATOM, and would no doubt provide some fun speculation for ATOM’s paleontologists. The vanity gives his heroic personality a fun flaw to work with, and I likewise think his Samurai-esque honor code could be interesting to work with in a story. A wonderful prehistoric monster to add to the roster!

@dragonzzilla brings us a very strange and melancholic monster, the bipedal caribou Najjuk! In addition to its striking humanoid stance, Najjuk emits a great deal of toxic gas as a byproduct of its Ice Age biology, and its inability to cope with warm temperatures results in it becoming incredibly aggressive and dangerous whenever it leaves its arctic environment.

There’s a clear (but not too heavy handed) metaphor for global warming in the threat Najjuk presents, as the warming of the earth leaves it less cool spaces to seek refuge in, and the caribou’s methane emissions actually contribute to the problem that’s destroying its home. The monster also has a great deal of pathos built into it - a herd animal that is the last of its kind, forced to live in a habitat that’s too inhospitably cold for most other kaiju to tolerate, making it an incredibly lonely monster. Combine the symbolism and pathos of its plight with a very striking mammalian design and you have an incredibly unique entry into ATOM’s menagerie of monsters!

@virovac gives us a truly bizarre entry with one of the most clever descriptions I’ve read so far, the low budget monstrosity known as Nematerror! A mutant roundworm, Nematerror is one of the monsters considered too simple in nature to have a personality, though it still seeks what it needs with enough voraciousness to be considered a threat.

The really ingenious thing about this entry lay in its description, as virovac chose to describe how the creature would look if it were an actual prop in a low budget 50′s monster movie. Made from a garden hose, stuffed socks, and some other trash, Nematerror is the kind of cornball monster puppet idea that could only be carried out in the atomic era of creature features, the kind that Joel and the bots would have a field day with. There’s even a description of how its hose nozzle could be turned around to represent a nematode’s malleable mouth parts! It’s very clever, and definitely the sort of idea that suits ATOM’s love of cheesy monster movies.

@skarmorysilver brings us the old and crusty mole monster, Gnomoran! A sadistic curmudgeon, Gnomoran is a deeply unpleasant monster to face in battle. With venomous spit and caustic pus secreted from its many facial sores, Gnomoran’s natural weapons give it a revolting edge, which is made all the more nasty by its mean-spirited personality. However, Gnomoran is also in immense pain, as its healing factor has been thrown off kilter, giving it the kaiju equivalent of cancer.

The design of Gnomoran is excellent. Like many of the previous ATOM CKC entries, it plays on the secret connection between ATOM and my Midgaheim stories, in this case using my mole-derived Gnomes/Dwarves as a starting point, and working back to show their more explicitly rodent-like roots. The star-faced mole nose, long beard, big ol’ horn, and lumpy tumors all give him a bunch of iconic design details, and his power set of venom and caustic pus is uniquely gross. He’s a great Heel monster, with a nasty attitude to match his equally nasty looks and power set, all while still having the ability to be sympathetic. Figuring out how to explain why his healing factor has gotten so out of whack presents a bit of a continuity hurdle - Gnomoran has symptoms of both cancer and old age, which normally aren’t possible in an ATOM-verse kaiju, so that would need a good explanation. But design and personality wise he’s a damn good fit!

DA user Lediblock submitted the chicken/retrosaur hybrid Galiente! Made by splicing DNA from Tyrantis’s blue nemesis, the Terror, with that of a chicken, Galiente is a panicky, defensive monster who is tormented by the knowledge that other kaiju find his flesh ridiculously delicious.

Galiente’s design is a freakish mix of reptile and bird that goes for body horror, with a patchwork mix of scales, feathers, and raw skin, twisted limbs, and, somewhat inexplicably considering the two animals it’s a mix of, velociraptor feet. The result is a very tortured looking creature, which fits its nervous and tragically aggressive personality - Galiente is a monster that picks fights because it fears it will get hurt if it doesn’t make the first move. There’s a sadness that goes along with its wretched appearance and attitude that’s very sympathetic. The monster’s backstory would probably need some tweaks, though - the many ways it is tied to Tyrantis specifically seem a bit unnecessary, with the “people mistake it for Tyrantis” angle being a bit implausible (and somewhat redundant, given Tyrantis already has two enemies that are his twisted doppelgangers as is), and I’m not sure a monster hunting organization would recruit a chicken farmer into their ranks, no matter how good his business savvy is. Still, a plausible backstory wasn’t one of the contest requirements, and design and personality-wise Galiente is a very solid concept.

@protagonistprepblog submitted Gentil, an armored monster with a sweet disposition! Gentil is designed to be something of an earth elemental, with a mix of traits from various creatures associated with that element. He sports a healing mist/aura, a poison blast from his mouth, venomous claws, and the standard kaiju powers of strength and nigh invulnerability. He’s also smart enough to join an organization specifically to help people.

Gentil has a very striking design, albeit one that’s (intentionally) hard to place taxonomically. He would probably be the result of genetic modification in ATOM’s world, though the way his creator described him as the kaiju of the Earth Element makes me think the intention is for something more magical in origin. The sweet personality suits his name very well, and as far as monsters go he’s very friend-shaped. Most of Gentil’s information was shared with me by his creator via DMs, and he’s a very thoroughly developed concept, albeit one that seems to fit a story of protagonistprepblog’s creation a bit better than ATOM. A wonderful submission nonetheless!

@dinosaurana submits the nuclear gator known far and wide as One-Armed Louie! Already a menace when he was just a big, one-armed alligator, Louie became a true menace when he survived the explosive failure of a nuclear power plant, resulting in a number of wild mutations that, among other things, allow the massive crocodilian to assume a semi-bipedal stance. Louie’s aggressive nature and history of getting into mischief ironically make him a pretty good kaiju to have around, as he will more often than not turn those shit-starting instincts on his fellow giants and end up keeping them in line as a result. Even Jim Madson, a gator hunter turned kaiju wrangler, can’t help but appreciate how the “rat bastard” has become something of a boon to humanity since becoming freakishly large.

One-Armed Louie brings a true crocodilian to ATOM’s cast, which warms my reptile loving heart. One could argue that the retrosaurs are all just very weird crocodiles, of course, but while that may literally be the case, most of them don’t look like crocodiles - they don’t have that pure crocodile vibe - and Louie makes up for their deficiency by being very much a big ol’ crocodilian. Big ol’ gators and crocs are a giant monster movie archetype just as much as big ol’ bugs, and Louie gives them their due very well. He also looks absolutely hardcore, which fits his aggressive “rat bastard” personality to a T. A very solid entry for the contest!

@iamthekaijuking submitted the modified martian monster Nyergolep! Originally from the planet Mars, Nyergolep was kidnapped by the Beyonder Alliance and experimented upon until it developed psychic powers. Designed to be a sort of anti-Kemlasulla, Nyergolep is a nervous wreck who hates combat and desperately wants to escape the Beyonders.

Nyergolep’s design takes a lot from Kemlasulla’s, albeit with a lot of twists - fitting for the “Anti-Kemlasulla.” Its tentacles are much more massive than its legs, with the roles of each set of limbs being reversed (i.e. using tentacles for locomotion instead of grasping, using legs for grasping instead of locomotion), and it lacks all of the armor Kemlasulla has, including the bony plates protecting the head and eye. The result is a very fragile looking martian, the squishy mage to Kemlasulla’s rough and rowdy fighter. I like the wiggly line of its upper jaw the best - don’t ask me why. “Nergle’s” design is a little too closely tied to Kemlasulla’s for me to give full marks in that category, though I do love that wiggly mouth. Its personality is pretty damn good though, fitting with the other shell-shocked war veterans in the Beyonder Kaiju army.

@dragonseeker-rex submitted the cactus/bird hybrid Orothorn! In a story that feels like it came from one of the more light-hearted Twilight Zone episodes, Orothorn began as a normal gilded flicker that happened to befriend an cowboy actor named Mick Auricson (specializing in playing cowboys was A Thing in the 1950′s) after Mick nursed the little bird back to health. An ill-placed dynamite explosion near a hidden Yamaneon deposit not only supersized Orothorn, but fused it with some of the nearby cactus (violent bursts of Yamaneon radiation can do this kind of shit on occasion), creating a massive, thorny-skinned bird monster with a heart of gold and a fondness for humans in general, and Mick Auricson in particular. The feeling is mutual, as Mick even commissioned a special kaiju-sized scarf for the bird to wear (which I forgot to illustrate, whoops!).

Birds are lacking in ATOM’s roster (we don’t even have any in the core 50 files), and Orothorn is a unique take on the concept, with cactus thorns sticking out from between his feathers. Him being a kaiju that specifically emulates the heroic behavior of a cowboy (actor) is also adorable and so very in line with ATOM’s sensibilities, it’s genuinely cute and I love it. It’s a giant bird with cactus thorns that wears a scarf and thinks it’s a cowboy, how can you not love that?

Dracosaurus Rex submitted the enormous tuatara kaiju Tuatani! Initially mistaken for being a retrosaur, this three eyed reptile can shoot energy blasts from his third eye and carries a virulent disease in his blood that infects any who encounter it. A lonesome creature, Tuatani is very placcid during the day but will go on nightly rampages from time to time, apparently in a fit of vengeful despair at being the only one of his kind.

A clear homage to the Beast from 20,000 Fathoms, Tuatani nevertheless has a lot to set him apart from his inspiration, with a multi-eyed motiff that sports an actual third eye as well as several eyespots. The loneliness that drives him to lash out is a nice nod to both the film and the short story that inspired it, and his status as a Tuatara descendant would make him the last modern reptile missing from ATOM’s pantheon. The nature of the disease in his blood would need some elaboration, as the immune systems of ATOM kaiju are very strong (being able to regenerate white blood cells almost instantaneously makes it very easy for them to learn which micro-organisms need to be destroyed), but it’s an interesting power for the monster to have. A very solid entry!

@umbercario-sablesable gives us the giant silkworm, Munchy! A caterpillar whose head, jaws, and true legs are covered in a metal alloy. Munchy lives to eat, and with metal jaws he can eat quite a lot of things! While the insect will eat any non-living matter it comes across, it prefers not to eat living things, which makes it one of the few monsters who finds buildings more appetizing than the people inside them. Though Munchy has little desire in this world outside of sating its gluttony, it isn’t a malicious creature, and so long as your house isn’t in its path you have little to fear from the monster.

Silkworms have a short but important role in kaiju history, as Mothra’s larva form is based on a type of silkworm, so making a silkworm kaiju plays into a very grand tradition. Munchy goes for a more morally neutral route than Mothra, though, taking the voracious appetite of a caterpillar and exaggerating it to a proper kaiju scale. The simplicity of it actually makes for a rather unique kaiju, as Munchy’s single-minded desire to eat as much non-living matter as possible makes it a very different sort of antagonist than the somewhat more complicated kaiju villains of ATOM. Add to that the massive variety one can find in silkworms and you have a recipe for a very good monster!

(Apologies at the possible inaccuracy of my illustration - google could not find images of the wakabayashi landrace species of silkworm that he is specified as being, so I had to just look up silkworms and hope I was somewhere in the correct ballpark - and then I missed the detail about his first pair of false legs being long enough to give him a bipedal stance so uh... well I think he’s still pretty cute, that counts for something?)

Sir K brings us the lung/ryu kaiju Yokaigon the Incredible! Mistaken for a retrosaur by its initial discoverer (we certainly have a lot of scientists in ATOM who are very bad at taxonomy), Yokaigon is capable of affecting the weather like some of the few psychic kaiju in ATOM’s setting, suggesting latent psychic powers on the reptile’s part. He is also able to absorb electricity and may or may not be able to fly. Introverted and antisocial by nature, Yokaigon isn’t driven to seek out combat like most other kaiju, and prefers to be left alone.

With a backstory inspired by an absolutely terrible dub of Varan the Unbelievable!, Yokaigon is a fun homage that winks at some of the mythic creatures that existed in ATOM’s universe long before the series takes place - a surviving Loong/Ryu, much as Kraydi is a surviving dragon and Gorgolisk a surviving basilisk. While Loongs aren’t covered in my Midgaheim Bestiary project, I have done sketches of what they would be like before, and it’s fun to see them mixed with a suitamation look here. I don’t think a sea monster necessarily needs to make storms to still feel appropriately mythical, but the hydrokinetic ability to summon sea storms is plausible enough in ATOM (I’ve got a Yeti who summons blizzards in roughly the same way, so who am I to judge?). And people always want more dragons.

@toothlessloveshiccup brings us the prehistoric arthropod Insectra! Despite appearances, Insectra isn’t actually an insect, but actually a much older arthropod that is more closely related to horseshoe crabs. Forged in a conflict between natives and an encroaching military force in the South Pacific, Insectra protects the local human civilization of her island home while repelling those who would destroy it. With EMP blasts in her already powerful arsenal, she is a formidable enemy for anyone, man or kaiju, to face.

Insectra’s design has a great Hanna Barbera bug-monster vibe, the sort of thing you could see going toe to toe with the Herculoids or Space Ghost. It’s simple in some places, but to the point, with great big spears for hands and wide, stompy feet. Her motivation as a protector is a great nod to Mothra, while having an even more explicit anti-imperialist bent to it. A very well rounded entry for the contest!

Shadyserpent brings us the draconic reptile Karax! Another mythic creature sneaking into the world of ATOM, Karax is a serpentine beast whose vestigial wings allow it to fly (Yamaneon’s ability to defy gravity doing some of its most implausible work yet). With terrible venom and a better-than-average healing factor, Karax is a deadly opponent, the dragon-like beast is thankfully more focused on collecting shiny objects than waging war against man or kaiju, though his desire to add to his hoard sometimes causes trouble.

See? I told you people like dragons! Karax’s design retains the ATOM-approved level of scientific plausibility, with his wings being fairly simple/under-developed compared to the more fantastical dragons of my Midgaheim stories. He retains the prehistoric monster vibe that other Midgaheim survivors like Gorgolisk and Kraydi have, towing the line enough to fit in with ATOM’s menagerie while still winking at the mythic side of things. His fondness for shiny objects is both a nice nod to his draconic nature and a fun character quirk that can get him into the kind of trouble that stories are made of, and the fact that he’s also got more than a few references to the classic giant monster movie Reptilicus is also a plus! A very good entry.

@titleknown brings us Neuro-Idiom, a brain monster who creates psychedelic mass hallucinations! Formed from a bunch of aliens fusing their minds together, Neuro-Idiom conjurs other creatures out of thin air with its psychic powers, and has pretty much every other psychic power to boot!

Neuro-Idiom’s primary design, that of a big walking brain creature, fills a monster archetype that hasn’t been present in ATOM thus far - i.e. the big, ambulatory, disembodied brain, and yes, that is a SUPER popular archetype for 1950′s/60′s monster fiction. Its psychic projections also pay homage to various monsters in fiction that were actually just the manifestations of an unsound mind - the Id monster from Forbidden Planet, the crawling brains of Fiend Without a Face, and the Crackler from Godzilla: The Series are examples of this concept. The backstory of this monster would need to be reworked since it kind of ignores that “kaiju” in ATOM is a word with a very specific meaning (you can’t have a kaiju without Yamaneon involved), and the monster having amplified versions of EVERY psychic power makes it significantly more powerful than anything in ATOM’s canon, so that might have to be toned down a bit as well, but all in all it’s a lovely brain monster!

@drrockso20 brings us our final entry, the massive bison Chief Wrigley! With gorilla-like arms and enormous horns, this big bovine has the muscle he needs to protect his herd and territory from any creature that dares to challenge it! He’s not all brawn, either, as Chief Wrigley is clever enough to use the environment to his advantage, and even makes use of simple tools from time to time. He can telepathically communicate with others, and can sometimes generate electric blasts from his horns.

With a very unique design, power set, and personality, Chief Wrigley has the makings of an excellent protagonist/hero kaiju, the kind who could headline his own corner of ATOM’s kaiju-verse. Bison are a really underused basis for a kaiju, too - they have very unique heads, and their bodies are build in a way that’s very good at conveying mass. With just enough special powers to make combat scenes interesting, but not so many that he feels out of place in ATOM’s world, Chief Wrigley is a strong contender in this contest!

Those are the entries! Who will be the top three winners, and who will get the grand prize? You’ll have to wait a bit longer to find out, but for now, let’s appreciate how many wonderful monsters we made here! In a way, they’re all winners in my book, even if I can’t give prizes to the whole batch!

#Revenge of the ATOM Kaiju Contest #The Atomic Time of Monsters #kaiju #giant monster

43 notes · View notes

dumbfinntales · 4 years ago

Text

So yeah, yesterday I beat the main story of Trials of Mana. I know there’s a super long end game dungeon and a 4th class, but for real? I don’t feel like playing the game anymore. I thought I would enjoy this game a lot more, but the journey ended up being reluctant.

Throughout my playthrough I had to keep reminding myself that this is a remake of a very old game so I shouldn’t judge it by modern standards, even though it has modern visuals. Visuals is one thing this game got right. It’s vibrant, colorful and beautiful to look at. But despite this I couldn’t help but to feel disinterested through my playthrough. The game is very basic. You run through prettily colored corridors fighting hordes of enemies until you’re greeted with a laughably embarrassing cut-scene and a boss fight ranging from decent to good. There’s also a lot of pointless running back and forth. The game tells you to talk to a character, the character say they’re not ready yet, the game tells you to talk to a bunch of pointless NPC’s with pointless dialogue, okay now go back to the same character and you can continue. There was also a mind boggling moment where the game told you to go inside a house, once inside your character utters a single line to themselves and the game tells you to leave the house. For what reason?

Oooh, the cut-scenes and voice acting. Never before in my life have I cared so little for a games characters, story and the world. The cut-scenes look awful and all the characters move in a lazy janky way, the voice acting doesn’t help either. Many key moments in the game fell flat and none of the “emotional” moments had any impact. The game presents tragedy, but then pulls the “oops they’re alright after all haha” ending. Kevins journey, to avenge his friend Karl becomes pointless because Karl shows up alive at the end. Also you don’t get to fight the douchebag beast king, so what’s the point? I’m 100% sure that the characters and story worked much better in the SNES original that didn’t have “elaborate” cut-scenes and voice acting. Not all of the voice acting was bad, but there was like no quality control at all. I really liked the villain Goremond. He was a little over the top at times, but he wasn’t bad.

The beginning of the game also felt like a slog, like it took ages for the game to truly start. Man this is ending up pretty negative, huh? How about stuff that I did like, because yes, I did like some stuff. The combat for one was really fun. Even though it did get a little boring at times, I still had fun with the combat and I loved how you evolved every time you unlocked a new class. New skills, new combos and a new look. It was awesome. Even though unlocking the third class was stupid. I was like level 45 before I could unlock the third class for my main character. The boss fights were definitely my favorite part of the game. There was a huge variety of boss encounters and they were all pretty fun. The end game where you hunt down the 8 Benevodons was amazing, a fun dungeon ending with a even more fun boss. If Trials of Mana was just the end game it’d be a solid 8/10 in my books.

So yeah. That was Trials of Mana. A weird little game I expected to like more. Maybe I didn’t appreciate it as much because I don’t have nostalgia for the original, I dunno. I wonder what OG fans of the franchise think. But yeah. This is one of those games I probably won’t be replaying. Ever. Trials of Mana gets WHO THOUGHT CHARLOTTES VOICE WAS OKAY out of Fun boss fights.

#trials of mana #a review type of deal

1 note · View note

dangersgood · 6 years ago

Text

A/N: This story is really just a plethora of fluff and cute moments. Chenry and a little bit of Jenry. (Fair warning, it’s kinda long.) Thanks for reading!

"Just let me finish-"

"It's MY straightener—"

"YOU DON'T EVEN USE IT! YOU DON'T STRAIGHTEN YOUR HAIR, WHY DO YOU NEED—"

"I DON'T USE IT BECAUSE YOU STOLE IT MONTHS AGO AND IM JUST NOW FIGURING OUT WHERE ITS BEEN—"

"JUST BACK UP CHAR, JUST—"

"YOU DON'T EVEN NEED IT YOUR HAIRS ALREADY STRAIGHT, LITERALLY WHAT ARE YOU DOING-"

"GUYS?!"

It was Jasper's panic-stricken voice that made Henry and Charlotte finally stop screaming at one another. They stood there in their awkward poses for a few seconds—Henry's long arm stretching over his head as he held up the hair straightener so Charlotte couldn't reach it, Charlotte's knee propped on the bathroom counter as she was about to climb onto it to gain some height and rip her straightener out of her annoying best friend's hand, her arms outstretched and awkwardly tangled between Henry's other arm and the leg he'd held up to keep some distance between them, his entire body leaning away from her until he looked like the letter 'r'. "Yes?" They asked him calmly.

"I was using it first!" He yelled, pointing toward his head. Half his hair was curly and half was straight. He'd been in the middle of doing his hair when Henry ran in to tell him he needed to use the straightener to fix the ends of his hair real quick, but when Charlotte had walked in in hopes of finding her diamond earrings, she'd snatched the thing out of Henry's hand and stared at it in awe. She hadn't seen her straightener since last October! When had she taken it to Henry's house?!

"All I needed to do was straighten my tips—"

"All you need to do is give me back MY straightener!" Charlotte huffed. As Henry relaxed his body, she snatched it out of his hand and shoved it in Jasper's direction, causing him to shriek and jump back. She rolled her eyes and shook her head. "You finish up while Henry and I look for my earrings." She ordered.

"But I don't want to look for your earrings." Henry pouted. She sent him a dirty look and yanked him out of the bathroom and into his bedroom. "You check under your bed, I'll check in your closet."

"Why would they be under my bed?" He questioned, sending her a puzzled look. She rolled her eyes. "They could've been kicked under there if I dropped them while I was carrying all my stuff in."

He nodded in agreement. That made much more sense than what he'd originally thought. He just assumed that she'd been hiding under his bed without him knowing for some reason.

He grunted as he slid to the floor, his body disagreeing completely with his movements. He was sore and stiff from the fight he'd had with some crazy ass villain last night. What was his name? Barge? That guy was massive.

He was already exhausted and prom wasn't for another hour and a half.

"Those stupid earrings are the only earrings that I brought, and I can't show up to prom earring less! That's just not right! And they go perfectly with my shoes, they literally tie the outfit together. And they were expensive! If I can't find them my mom is gonna kill me! But more importantly, if I can't find them then that means I can't go to prom. My look relies on those stupid ear accessories! They match the little diamonds in my dress, the diamonds in my hair, the diamonds on my shoes—what's my mom gonna say about me losing her fancy earrings when I promised I'd be responsible and—"

Henry had found the earrings almost as soon as he'd laid down to look for them, but Charlotte rarely lost her cool like this and he found it a little amusing that she was going crazy over a pair of earrings that she was sure she'd never see again despite the fact that he was holding them in the palm of his hand as she spoke. Plus, now that he was looking under his bed, he noticed that a lot of the stuff he'd been looking for for months was right under him the whole time. The other halves of quite a few pairs of his socks, the remote control he'd had to replace because he was sure he'd thrown it away accidentally, about six pairs of headphones, even a jar of Nutella that had probably been under there since a few years ago when he thought he was fired from being kid danger...He wondered if there was any way it was still some good.

"—My mom told me that my great aunt went to her prom without earrings once and she was never the same again. She wasn't crowned prom queen which sent her life spiraling. It was all downhill from there, and long story short, she's on death row now...Of course, my mom didn't exactly say that all that was because of her lack of earrings, but I'm smart enough to be able to draw my own conclusions. I mean, why else would she shank that man that had in the earrings that looked vaguely like the ones she'd planned to wear to prom?" Charlotte paused her frantic movements—she'd been throwing all of Henry's things around the whole time she'd been talking—and stared off into space for a moment. She shivered after a second and got back to throwing things around. "I really don't wanna have to shank someone because of earrings."

Henry knew he'd probably be on the receiving end of whatever abuse Charlotte was gonna be giving out over her earrings, so he decided now was the time to announce that he'd found them. He stood up with a loud groan and popped his back before turning toward her. "I found your lobe rings." He announced before looking at the mess she made. "Charlotte, what are you doing?! You're destroying my closet!"

"You found them?! You found the rings for my lobes?!" She screamed happily, running toward him. He shoved the earrings in her general direction and away from him in fear of getting tackled. Once she'd snatched them out of his hands, he walked toward his messy closet. It wasn't that bad to be honest, and maybe it even looked better than before because he wasn't too keen on keeping it clean, but he knew an opportunity when he saw one. "You're gonna have to reorganize my entire closet, you know?"

Charlotte wasn't stupid even when she was distracted by the beauty of her dazzling earrings, but she agreed, only because she'd been wanting to do something about his ridiculously messy closet for a long time now.

***

Everyone looked stunning. Jasper had on a white suit and tie with a gold undershirt and gold shoes. It was a bold choice, but both Henry and Charlotte were shocked at how nice he actually looked. He'd even done his makeup, despite the fact that he refused to admit that to them even though they told him there was nothing wrong with a dude wanting to dress his face up. He'd made sure to do his eyebrows perfectly and added a subtle pink lipstick to his lips.

Henry was wearing a black suit with golden flowers all over it. He'd promised Jasper that they'd match in some way or another, and he really liked this suit anyway so why not?

Charlotte, as Henry had said many times in the last three minutes, looked like some sort of goddess. She had somehow managed to put little diamonds throughout her curly hair—something that both Jasper and Henry thought was majestic as hell. They couldn't understand how she could've possibly managed to make them stay in there. They thought it must've been witchcraft—and her dress was bright red, clung to every curve, and went all the way down to her feet. There was a slit in the left thigh that allowed her to show off her fishnet stockings which also had diamonds in them. Her shoes really did match her earrings, they were completely diamond too. Her necklace and bracelet tied the outfit together perfectly, along with her beautiful makeup. Red lipstick and gold eyeshadow with the perfect highlighter.

Henry was in awe. She looked magical. She looked like a literal, actual princess. Sure, she always looked good, but he'd never seen her looking this good. "We look good." He grinned after he was finally able to pull his eyes away from Charlotte.

"We better get going before we're too late to be fashionable!" Jasper exclaimed as he looked at the time on his phone. They were supposed to be thirty minutes late, not forty! And if they didn't get moving soon, they would be! Charlotte rolled her eyes at him and let out a small laugh which drew Henry's attention right back to her.

When had his best friend started looking so...good?

"You should probably go see how Piper is coming along." Charlotte blushed as she noticed him staring again. Henry nodded, but he didn't move.

Jasper watched as his two best friends had a short staring contest, both of them letting out awkward laughs every now and then but never attempting to move or break eye contact. It was as if they were both in a trance that was only broken when Jasper waved his hand between their faces. "Henry?" He questioned.

"Right, Piper!" He cleared his throat and stumbled away from them and toward the stairs. He needed to go to Piper's room and see what was taking her so long. She had been the first of them to start getting ready, she should've definitely been done by now.

It was only when he was at the very top of the stairs and turning the corner that he stopped looking at Charlotte. Cause she was no longer in sight and he literally couldn't.

He speed walked down the hallway and knocked impatiently on Piper's door, now suddenly in a hurry to get back downstairs. Charlotte was probably doing something cute right this second and he was missing it because he had to talk to his sister!

"Come in!" She screamed. He opened the door quickly and practically ran in, only to see her taking off her jewelry. He scrunched up his face, confused, and held out his hands, silently asking her what the hell she was doing.

"I'm not going to prom."

Well, if she'd said that a few years ago it would've made more sense and it would've actually been true. Piper wasn't even old enough to go to their school dance, yet she'd been going to it since she was in fourth grade. Her school didn't have dances and she needed an excuse to wear fancy dresses at least once a year! So, she'd been insisting on going since she was younger and since the principal was practically scared of her, he allowed her and a few of her friends to come as long as they all agreed not to drink the punch.

"What do—what do—what do you mean you're not going to prom?" He exclaimed in confusion. She rolled her eyes and kicked her shoes off. "I'm still gonna drop you guys off, I'm just not going in myself."

"Why not? You love prom. You've been talking about it for months. 'Oh I can't wait to dance with Jack!' 'Oh Jack is gonna love my dress!' 'Jack is gonna look so great!' 'Jack Jack Jack Jack Jack!' What happened to that?" Henry questioned dumbly. She shrugged her shoulders and let out a small sigh. "There is no more Jack. He decided he didn't want to go to prom anymore. I mean—with me. He's going with Jana—"

"Don't you dare say Tetrazini!"

She nodded. "Jana Tetrazini."

"Ough!" He shook his head and punched the air in frustration. "That little jizzbag! Why's he going with her?"

"Because she asked him?" Piper looked at Henry as if he was dumb and then plopped onto her bed "He was excited to go with me all the way up until two hours ago when Jana apparently called him and told him that her date, Bobby Butouski, got sent to the hospital because of an allergic reaction to mint flavored gum and wouldn't be able to make it to prom. So, she asked Jack to take her and he agreed."

"Why would he do that when he knew he already had plans to go with you?"

"Because Jana's better than me." Piper rolled her eyes and grabbed a large pillow to hug as she slid toward the wall her bed was up against. "Whatever she wants, she gets, and she wanted my man." She grabbed the remote that controlled her stereo, pressed a few buttons, and within a few moments 'Mr. Lonely' by Bobby Vinson was blasting throughout the room. "Leave me." She whispered dramatically before leaning over to grab some shades and the Icarly toy remote she'd purchased a few years back. She pressed the 'boo' button over and over until Henry walked over and snatched it out of her hand. He pulled her shades off, turned the music off, and snatched the pillow away from her, much to her dismay, and then sat next to her.

"Piper, look, what Jack did was wrong. He's a real asshole if you ask me—" she sent him a look. She'd cursed a few times before and he'd scolded her for it, yet he was allowed to say whatever he wanted? "—but that doesn't mean your whole night has to be ruined. You invited half your grade to our prom," he rolled his eyes. "You're telling me you wouldn't be able to find another guy to hang out with?"

"I don't want to," she shook her head. "I don't wanna show up. Do you know how humiliating it's gonna be having to watch Jack and Jana together along with the rest of my grade, who all know that me and him are supposed to be each other's dates? Everyone's gonna laugh at me and I can't threaten everyone."

"You won't have to! Charlotte, Jasper and I will watch out for you."

"You don't wanna spend your whole prom night dealing with me and my drama."

No, he certainly didn't, but he was almost sure that it wouldn't be as bad as Piper thought it'd be. She'd get there and be shy for a few minutes and then she'd started talking to her friends and she'd see that they weren't judging her and everything would be fine. Probably.

"It'll be fine." He assured her. "You put your jewelry back on and meet me downstairs in five minutes. You're going to prom, and you're gonna enjoy it!"

With one last sigh, Piper finally nodded and got up. Henry grinned and walked out of her room, closing the door behind him and then nearly ran down the stairs.

"She'll be out in a few. She's having boy troubles."

"Boy troubles?" Charlotte raised a perfectly arched brow and Henry sent her a goofy smile. Boy, she sure was attractive. "Yeah, Jack is now the date of Jana-"

"Don't you dare say Tetrazini!" Jasper warned Henry. Henry nodded. "Tetrazini."

"Ugh!" Charlotte and Jasper groaned at the same time. "That girl is such a witch!" Charlotte shook her head.

"She came into junk n stuff once and spit her lollipop pieces in my favorite bucket!" Jasper exclaimed. Henry and Charlotte both side eyed him but said nothing.

"I'm ready!" Piper came down the stairs with no pep in her step. She looked great, though! Her dress was a white two-piece with lots of lace on it, the skirt long and dragging behind her. Her hair was in a curly updo. Her makeup was simple and subtle but really brought out her features, and she too was wearing a couple pieces of diamond jewelry.

"Wow, you look great!" Charlotte encouraged.

"You clean up nice, pipes."

"You look good, baby sis."

"Thanks," Piper sent them all a small smile. "Let's get this show on the road!"

***

They showed up to prom thirty-five minutes late and Jasper figured he could deal with that. The first thing he did when they stepped into the building was head toward the food table, and Charlotte followed close behind. At first, it was with intentions of keeping him from spilling anything on his white suit, but the moment she saw the nachos that was canceled. She didn't have time to care about Jasper or his suit when there were cheesy nachos with various toppings staring her right in the face. She quickly slapped away the hand of some guy who'd been trying to grab a nacho from the big bowl. "Wait your turn!"

Henry walked Piper toward the area where her friends were, his hand resting on her shoulder and guiding her along despite the fact that she didn't wanna face them. "Now listen, if anyone gives you any trouble, just text me and I'll come find you. I don't think you have much to worry about, though, because it's not like—"

Before he could finish talking, Piper was falling forward. Someone had bumped into her nearly hard enough to knock her down. Henry quickly caught her and made sure she was okay, and by the time he'd done that, Jana was standing in front of them with one hand on her hip and the other hand holding Jack's. "Sorry, didn't see you there, you kinda blend in with the room." She giggled. "The walls and floor are white, but they aren't human shaped so you're lying!" Henry exclaimed, pointing an accusing finger at her. Jana giggled and Piper squeezed her eyes shut before patting her brother on the shoulder. "Thanks, Hen." She sighed.

"You're welcome." He nodded, feeling accomplished.

"So ugh...Where's your date?" Jana questioned. By now, a small crowd had formed around them, so Piper didn't wanna say that Jana had stolen her date out loud so that anyone who didn't already know could. Besides, Jana already knew that. Piper glanced at Jack who looked apologetic as he stared back at her, but that look was quickly replaced with a large smile when Jana tugged on his hand and made him look at her.

"You stole him you...you date thief!" Henry announced. Piper growled in frustration and threw her hands up in the air. Earlier when he'd talked to her he'd actually succeeded in making her feel better, and he even made her think that things would be okay and that he'd help, but now she regretted showing up and believing that her brother could make anything about this situation any better.

Luckily, Charlotte and Jasper had grabbed all the food they wanted and came to stand by Henry and Piper.

"Oh, so you couldn't find another one?" Jana questioned, tilting her head in mock confusement. "Gee Piper, if I'd known that nobody besides Jack actually wanted to be your date, I wouldn't have taken him from you." She smirked.

Piper narrowed her eyes at her and then turned to look at Jack again. He was still too busy drooling at Jana to actually say anything.

"Piper doesn't need a date to have fun." Charlotte jumped in as soon as she'd chewed her nachos up. "She's happy enough with herself to be able to function properly when she's alone. She doesn't need a guy to be by her side just to have a good time, and that's a great quality to have, because guess what? When no guy wants to be around you anymore, you're gonna wish you were able to live with yourself, singular, not plural!" Charlotte stepped closer and closer until she was towering over Jana by the time she was finished. Jana took a few steps back, looking uncomfortable and maybe even a little scared. Henry took a few steps back too, only because he was shocked. His face scrunched up as he looked all around, trying to see if anyone else had just witnessed what he had. Charlotte had never been sexier to him. When had she gotten so badass? Seriously!

"Charlotte's right! Piper doesn't need a guy to have fun!" That was Jasper's only contribution to the conversation before he was digging back into his own nachos and shoving another finger sandwich in his mouth.

"Gee, Piper, are you just gonna stand there and let everyone talk for you the whole night? Must've lost your voice at the same time as you lost your man." Jana and a few other girls giggled and Piper rolled her eyes.

"There's no hard feelings, Jana." She shook her head.

"There's not?"

"I have a few hard feelings, myself."

"I wouldn't say that."

Piper glared at Henry and his friends and they got quiet again. She turned back to face Jana again and smiled at her. "I think it's really nice of you to put everything Jack said about you behind you so you guys could come and enjoy prom together tonight."

"What are you talking about?" Jana questioned, eyeing Jack. Jack shook his head at Piper as discreetly as he could, but Piper kept talking. "Yeah, I mean, if someone had talked to all their friends about my weird stench I would not have taken them to prom." She laughed. "And, oh my gosh! The fact that you forgave him for being the reason you lost more than thirty of your followers on TwitFlash—" "WHAT?"

"Yeah! He's so funny—he literally got the whole dance team to unfollow you because he told them that you'd been talking about how their routines were terrible and you could do better in your sleep!"

"Oh yeah...I forgot all about that." One of the girls who'd been laughing with Jana earlier turned to glare at her.

"Plus, remember that video of you falling into the Swellview Well that was going around online? He begged his friend to send that to him and then posted it!"

Jana had almost forgotten about falling into that stupid well, and so had everyone else, but now that Piper had mentioned it they were all laughing at her expense once again. Jana's cheeks turned red as she snatched her hand away from Jack and stomped her foot.

"Gee Jana," Piper mocked, laughing as she watched Jana pout,"Yeah, there's no hard feelings! I just think it's really nice that you can be so forgiving! Enjoy your night."

Piper quietly thanked her brother and his friends and told them she'd be alright by herself and then walked toward a large group of her friends who immediately began talking about Jana's nasty fall again. Jana stomped off in the opposite direction with Jack chasing after her and frantically apologizing.

"Glad I was able to help her fix that." Henry grinned. Charlotte rolled her eyes and Jasper groaned as he ate his last bit of food. "The nights only getting started and it's already awesome!"

***

Henry was beginning to sweat because of all the dancing he'd been doing. The DJ was playing random music. It went from 'Imagine' by Ariana Grande to 'Almost Love' by Sabrina Carpenter to an older song called 'Moonshine' by Bruno Mars. He changed dance partners every song, mingling with some of his fellow classmates that he didn't talk to all that much. He was having a great time, but he kept scanning the large crowd for Charlotte and he was disappointed every time he failed to locate her. He didn't see her anywhere and he was beginning to get worried. He hadn't seen her in at least thirty minutes, and it wasn't like it was the largest building in the world. She wasn't by the food table, she wasn't on the dance floor, and she wasn't sitting down. He'd looked plenty of times and he was sure she was nowhere to be found. The only thing that made him feel a little better was the fact that Jasper was missing too. That meant they were probably together, so at least she wasn't anywhere by herself.

That made him feel better for a short amount of time and then he felt sick. Why were they alone together on prom night?

They'd been best friends for a long time now and Henry was fairly sure that they didn't have any feelings for each other, especially because he was also fairly sure that Jasper wasn't as into girls as he wanted everyone to believe, if at all, but still you never know.

Henry was so unsettled with the thought of his friends potentially getting together, though, that he left the dance floor mid-song and decided to look around for the two of them again. This time he found Jasper in no time. He was sitting by himself at a large table, not easy to miss. A bright light was shining right on him and he stuck out like a sore thumb at that table all by himself while the ones around him were full of people.

Henry was relieved that he and Charlotte weren't together after all, then he was upset again because now Charlotte was by herself somewhere and he didn't like that. He walked up to Jasper quickly, taking a seat next to him. His intention was to figure out what Jasper knew about Charlotte's whereabouts and then speed off to find her, but once he noticed how upset Jasper looked he temporarily changed his plans.

"What's wrong, what happened?" He questioned immediately. Last time he'd seen Jasper, he'd been drinking an excessive amount of punch and talking to some guy who was wearing the weirdest yet coolest suit Henry had ever seen.

"I asked someone to dance and they said no," Jasper mumbled. "Well, actually, I asked a lot of people to dance and they said no, but I expected that." Henry's face softened at that. "I didn't mind that, though. It's just that the last person I asked...I wasn't expecting it. I thought they'd say yes for sure."

"I'm sure you'll find someone else to dance with, Jasp."

"I don't want to find anyone else to dance with! I wanted to dance with that particular gu—girl because...she...has been acting like...she...is into me for a while now. We've even become pretty good friends and I just—"

"Jasper, I think it's great that you like guys, and I wish you'd told me that instead of me having to figure it out for myself." Henry grinned as he punched Jasper's shoulder. "Of course, I'm not in any position to judge. I kept a huge secret from you for a long time too." He chuckled. His chuckle turned into a laugh as soon as he noticed Jasper's dumbfounded expression. "Figured it out ages ago, and I've just been waiting for you to tell me, but you never did..."

"I—I just thought that maybe it'd be weird or—"

"You're a really weird guy, Jasper. But your sexuality is not."

"That means a lot to me, Hen. Thank you." Jasper grinned and went for a handshake but Henry pulled him in for a hug. "It's no problem, dude. So why won't he dance with you if he likes you?"

"I asked him that and he said he did want to dance but he's too...ashamed." Jasper sighed. "He doesn't want people to see us dancing together because then they'll know that we're...you know."

"Do you feel that way too? Like you don't want people to know?"

"No. Now you know, and Charlotte definitely knows if you know because she's good at figuring stuff out, and that's all I care about. I don't care how or if other people find out."

"Well...what do you say we find where your guy is and dance? He'll see us dancing together and get jealous, or at the very least realize that no one's gonna say anything."

"I don't know, Henry, I know you came over to ask me where Charlotte is."

Henry had forgotten all about that now that they'd gotten into this conversation. "I'll find her after. We can dance for five or ten minutes and then I'll find her. She's probably not in any real danger."

"I don't know..."

"No seriously man, come dance with me."

"...really?"

"You're not just gonna sit here and look sad all night as long as I'm here, alright, so come on."

Jasper nodded and smiled at his friend. Henry grabbed his wrist and practically dragged him onto the dance floor. It took them a few minutes to find where Jasper's crush was, but once they did and they were sure he could see them, they began to dance to the pop song currently blaring through the speakers.

Henry and Jasper ended up dancing for twenty minutes, mostly acting goofy and trying to outdo each other. Henry did the backpack kid's dance and twirled around like a ballerina and Jasper...well Henry wasn't sure what Jasper was doing. He was just flinging his body around wildly and people made sure to stay out of his way so they wouldn't get hit.

When a slow song finally came on, Jasper stopped dancing and blinked at Henry. He didn't want his friend to feel awkward, but as Henry shrugged, smiled, and held his hands out playfully, those worries were washed away. Jasper was happy he had such an amazing best friend.

"I'm gonna blow your mind." Henry lifted his chin proudly as he enunciated his words. After the summer he went to flower camp, he ended up going to a courtesy camp. His etiquette and his slow dance skills were impeccable.

Unfortunately, he wasn't able to show them off to his best buddy because almost as soon as the song had started, Henry felt a tap on his shoulder. "Mind if I steal him?" It was Jasper's crush who had asked, but Henry had forgotten about that already and he was beyond ready to show off two months worth of ballroom dance lessons. "Yeah, see, I went to courtesy camp, alright? And I learned some really amazing moves that I'd like to show Jasp, so if you could just move it along—"

Henry was cut off by Jasper practically shoving him out of the way and yelling that yes, he would love to dance with the oddly dressed boy.

Jasper yelled a quick 'thank you' to Henry as Henry walked off the dance floor and bumped right into Charlotte.

"Char! I was gonna come looking for you a while ago, but then I got distracted with Jasper and—"

"Ohh I saw." She smirked. "You two are both terrible dancers you know?"

"Where were you?" He asked, ignoring her (false) statement. "You were gone for a while."

"Yeah, I had to find Piper and get her to give me her keys so I could go back to the car and grab my spare diamonds cause I felt like I really needed a few more in my hair. Then I got distracted cause when we came back in, Jana was having a dance off with some girl and ended up falling down again. Right through the floor."

"What? Are you serious?" Henry laughed. Charlotte nodded. "I told you it was gonna happen to somebody one day. They really need to get this place fixed up...Why were you looking for me? Is everything okay?"

"Yeah! Yeah, everything's great I was just ugh—Just worried about you." He rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly as he stared down at her big brown eyes.

"That's sweet, Henry." Charlotte smiled. The wheels began turning in her head as she stared at her friend. He'd been giving her heart eyes all night, excessively complimenting her and keeping close tabs on her. And actually—it hadn't just been tonight. It'd been every single time they were even remotely close to each other for the past month and a half. Charlotte was too smart to play dumb. She knew he liked her, though she had been questioning herself for thinking like that. At first, she thought maybe she was just overanalyzing things, but there was really no denying it now.

Charlotte probably should've been weirded out by the fact that her best friend seemingly had feelings for her, but she wasn't. Henry, while sometimes difficult and sometimes prone to making stupid decisions, was a pretty amazing guy. He was funny, understanding, pretty caring, and not to mention great looking.

Usually, she'd take the time to think about all the possible consequences that could come with her being anything more than friends with her best friend, but it was prom night and she didn't want to think sensibly. She wanted to let loose and have fun. She'd been doing a pretty good job of that all night and she wasn't about to stop now.

"I need a huge favor." She broke their silence and Henry nodded quickly. "Yeah, anything, Char."

"I need you to dance with me! The one thing I haven't done tonight is the main thing I came to do. Dance with a cute boy."

Henry grinned like a Cheshire Cat and practically yanked Charlotte onto the dance floor. The songs had sped up, but Henry didn't care. He was gonna show off his slow dancing skills no matter what.

"I went to Courtesy camp." He told the guy closest to him.

*** A/N: I've literally never been to a prom before because I just never wanted to go, so I hope this is kinda accurate (you know, foodwise and stuff.)

I'm so proud of this! I think it's really cute and I wrote this long ass thing because I really wanted some Henry Danger fluff. I needed a story with great Henry x Charlotte X Jasper friendship, supportive big brother Henry + supportive friends for Piper, supportive Henry of gay Jasper, Chenry ofc, and even a lil bit of (Henry and Jasper)

I think I covered all that pretty nicely! Only thing missing is ray. :(

#henry danger #henry hart #charlotte bolton #charlotte page #jasper dunlop #prom #blurb #fluff #chenry #jenry #jace norman

128 notes · View notes