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my-chemical-wheaties · 8 months ago

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Albums That I Listened to in March 2024

This month started out pretty fast in terms of how often I listened to albums (As in, there were two days where I listened to three albums in a row), and then later as the month progressed, I noticed that it was taking me longer to actually get around to listening to something. I think for next time, I need to pace myself more so that I don't get burnout. I also lifted the genre and decade restrictions that I put on myself last month and allowed myself to just listen to any album that I thought I would enjoy upon first glance.

These are the albums that I listened to this month:

Bridge Over Troubled Water - Simon and Garfunkel (1970)

Lianne La Havas - Lianne La Havas (2020)

Heard It in a Past Life - Maggie Rogers (2019)

Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends - Coldplay (2008)

Have You in My Wilderness - Julia Holter (2015)

What Now - Brittany Howard (2024)

Adventure - Oohyo (2015)

Everybody Else is Doing It, So Why Can't We? - The Cranberries (1993)

And in the Darkness, Hearts Aglow - Weyes Blood (2022)

Michigan - Sufjan Stevens (2003)

The Land is Inhospitable and So Are We - Mitski (2023)

You Forgot It In People - Broken Social Scene (2003)

Here's how I would personally rank these albums:

Michigan: The instrumentation is so unique; I love the usage of different types of percussion (Especially the bells) and a horn section on this album. The subject matter seems to mostly pertain to Sufjan's personal life, but as someone who was born and raised in Michigan, there are some parts that I can relate to and I definitely feel like the album sounds like Michigan, if that makes sense. This is the first Sufjan album that I've ever listened to, and I'm definitely interested in hearing the rest of his discography. 9/10

Heard It in a Past Life: Maggie Rogers has such a unique sound that fits my exact music tastes. This album scratches the itch really well for me and truly is a no skip album. I really like the fusions between house and indie rock on here. 8/10

And in the Darkness, Hearts Aglow: This album sounds like a deeper, more refined version of Weyes Blood's previous album, Titanic Rising. Like with Heard It in a Past Life, this really is a no skip album for me and I respect Natalie for exploring deeper lyrical topics and themes. 9/10

Everybody Else is Doing It, So Why Can't We?: This album instantly had me hooked. The instrumentation on it is dreamy and Dolores O'Riordan has such a unique and beautiful voice (Rest in peace). At least in the United States, this is a truly underrated 90s alternative rock album and I'm eager to hear what else this band has put out. 8/10

The Land is Inhospitable and So Are We: I saw Mitski live in concert this past month and so I decided to take it upon myself to listen to her most recent album in preparation. The songs themselves are pretty short, but they are all beautiful and have an almost gothic country feel to them that I really like. Plus, you cannot go wrong with Mitski's lyricism. I can confirm that a lot of these tracks sound as great live as they do as studio recordings. 8/10

Have You in My Wilderness: I feel like this is the objectively better album between it and the Mitski one, but in my head, their placements on this ranking are interchangeable. Some of the songs drag on for a little longer than I feel like they should, but I'm always down for a good art pop album and this one delivers. I especially like the usage of the harpsichord. 9/10

Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends: The only song that I have ever heard from this album was one of the two title tracks, "Viva La Vida," before last month, so I decided out of sheer curiosity to give the whole album a listen. The album overall is pretty solid, and I like some of the switch-ups that happen in the middle of certain tracks. The lyrics could use some work, though. 7/10

What Now: The first I ever heard of Brittany Howard was when I was watching the Grammys some years ago and her former band Alabama Shakes did a live performance. I didn't really seek out any of Alabama Shakes' music, but I did acquire respect for Howard as a vocalist and songwriter. Just last month, she released her second solo album, What Now, and after hearing a brief radio interview that she did, I decided to go check it out. The album is fairly short at about thirty-eight minutes, but it is a wonderful listen all the way through. The soundscape is as colorful as the album's cover. It's still the same alternative rock music that Howard has been making throughout her career, but there are touches of psychedelia and house music mixed in that give this album its own unique personality (The saxophone on "Samson" in particular is just *chef's kiss* exquisite). This also marks the first album that I have listened to in this challenge that was released in 2024, the year in which I am doing this. I will probably be going back to this one. 7/10

Bridge Over Troubled Water: This is a pleasant album to listen to. I love the vocal harmonies, and the tracks manage to all sound different from each other without losing any sonic cohesion. It doesn't really stand out to me as much as some of the other albums that I listened to this month, but I wouldn't mind putting it on once in a while. 8/10

Lianne La Havas: Lianne is an underrated singer-songwriter and musical artist, and I feel like I was overdue for listening to a full album of hers. It's a pretty solid album, but I feel like some of the tracks don't have enough interesting things going on with them. It can get kind of overly repetitive at points. 7/10

Adventure: Continuing my venture into more indie, singer-songwriter Korean artists spurred by my listening of Modern Times by IU last month, Oohyo's sophomore album is a light, smooth pop album with some pleasant electronic elements thrown in for good measure. I wouldn't necessarily say that this project enthralled me as much as some of the other ones that I listened to this month, but it was a nice album to go through. Also, the track "UTO" sounds a little like "Red Right Hand" by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds to me. 7/10

You Forgot It In People: The melodies and guitar work on this album are wonderful and there are some genuinely beautiful moments, but the lyrics come off as extremely pretentious and honestly kind of problematic, if not outright offensive sometimes (For example, there is literally a song that has a homophobic slur in it. To my knowledge, no one credited with writing nor singing this specific track is LGBTQ+. Yikes). Additionally, there are some production choices that I disliked, such as that weird vocal effect they put over Emily Haines in "Anthems For a Seventeen Year-Old Girl." Overall, I feel like this album was mid and severely overrated by the indie crowd. 5/10

I already have a few albums that I want to listen to in April, so stay tuned for when I review those next month! :)

#music #albums #album review #simon and garfunkel #lianne la havas #maggie rogers #coldplay #julia holter #brittany howard #oohyo #the cranberries #weyes blood #sufjan stevens #mitski #broken social scene

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mygwenchan · 2 years ago

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Stray thoughts while watching Love Syndrome III - EP6

Got my Ginger Ale and Taokaenoi seaweed snacks ready. Alright guys, let's do this~

And we're off to a good start with the reappearance of the magical BL towel that can cure anything, be it the common cold, depression or broken bones! Get your BL towel now! Call us within the next 10 minutes and save 50%! And surprise! You'll get not one, not two, but three magical BL towels for the small price of 9.99 (+ 99.99 shipping service). Call us now at willdaygetnakedagain-666!

Day being nice feels weird though. Is it a trap or has he decided to be a decent person for once?

Oh no, the little one is crying :( Itt needs a hug, poor thing

That scene with them holding hands and looking deep into each others eyes and the romantic music... I'm sorry, but it really cracked me up 😂

Oh! My two best boys Night and Nik are back, nice~

More cake in this episode. But won't Itt feel sick if he eats a tiny bit of porridge and a whole damn cake? Also why are there so many people in that bedroom all of a sudden?

"Are you eating or crying. Make up your mind!" Apparently Day has never heard of multitasking

Awkward cake feeding scene. There's some kink going on there, me thinks (god I hope Frank likes orange cake, cause if not... poor dude)

Well, at least Day knows he's been terrible towards Itt. Self-reflection is the first step on the way to self-improvement ☝

Ball is such a good boy, so nice. And Day is jealous as fuck lol

Itt in the garden: Darling, you really want to water your garden with that small ass watering-can? Yes? Ok... will only take you like 2 hours, but you do you

Damn, Day really did everything for Itt. No wonder Itt ended up being so spoiled...

Sinister music, weird phone call were no one is answering... My spider senses are tingling!

Day, don't talk about dying... and that sinister music again. Yeah something is definitely afoot!

Uh, is that the long-haired dude from that bar in ep1? I can't remember faces for shit... but yeah, I think that's him. I sense more trouble!!

...and the guy just answered my question lol Yeah it's him, and he has a name! Korn. And Day is jealous again. That man's tits are never calm

Ooooohhh! Day called Itt his boyfriend! That is what jealousy can do to a man 😂

Itt, I'm sorry, but you really suck at cooking. I've never seen someone peel a carrot like that

Romantic onion chopping flashback~

Oh god that scream when Day almost fainted totally gave me a fright XD

And suddenly we've got a battle between alpha dom Day and alpha dom Korn while... one of them get's a makeover? That's random, but ok 🤨

Day, calm down. Don't cut off ears in your own shop, do it somewhere else! Think about the mess your employees would have to mop up. Think about the poor working class people!

Yeah sorry, but I liked Korn better with long hair. It fit his cunt aesthetics. Also Korn, I think pissing off an ex-mafia guy who has killed people isn't such a good idea, just saying

And suddenly it's cute nose rubbing time~ Well, that's a sweet ending for this episode 🌈💕

#after i decided to treat this series like my trash watch of the eurovison #i must say that i'm actually having quite a lot of fun :)#love syndrome #love syndrome the series #love syndrome iii #gwen's watchlist

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griseldabanks · 11 months ago

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Hmm, nobody sent any asks in....

What’s something new that you tried in a fic this year? How did it turn out and would you do it again?

In one of my Hank & Connor pieces I wrote for Let Me Count the Ways, I did something I've always secretly wanted to do, and actually censored profanity beyond skirting around it with things like "he cursed" or whatever XD Because it was a dialogue-only fic, I couldn't do that, but I also couldn't think of a way to have Hank not swear, because he was really angry in that scene. So I gave Connor a profanity filter :P I don't know if I'll have occasion to do so again, because it's a very specific situation, but I'd love to try something like that again. Much more creative than writing someone swearing up a blue streak.

2. How many fics did you work on this year? (They don’t have to be finished or published!)

If you count the things I've written for Tumblr, I think the number would be 19.

3. What’s something you learned about yourself as a writer?

Unfortunately, I've realized I'm not quite as good at taking constructive criticism as I've always tried to be. Especially not at night when I'm tired. But at least that also goes hand-in-hand with more maturity (I think), as I remind myself to take a step back and try not to take things so personally late at night, and maybe revisit them in the morning.

4. What piece of media inspired you the most?

I guess it depends on what exactly you mean by "inspired." If you're talking direct inspiration, then I'll have to gesture vaguely to the Captain America movies as usual, because watching those and listening to their soundtracks are always what I use to really get me going for my main WIP and remind me why I'm doing this.

But for just general inspiration that makes me want to be creative and write from the heart...I think I might actually say TMNT: Mutant Mayhem. It was just so well done, so unique, so full of heart and laughter and realism (which is especially surprising, considering it's about mutant turtles! XD). It's just popping with life and color and heart, and I want to create something with that much love poured into it.

5. What fandom(s) did you write for this year?

Captain America/MCU, Detroit: Become Human, FMA, Harry Potter, Jak and Daxter, LotR, No.6, Sherlock, and Star Wars

6. What ship(s) captured your heart?

STARON STARON STARON ALWAYS AND FOREVER STARON <3 Also Sam Wilson and the OC I created for him :3

7. What character(s) captured your heart?

Steve and Bucky as always <3 Also my darling OC Jake; I'm so proud of you, my son! T^T Ed and Al, Frodo and Sam, John and Sherlock, Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon, and the new additions of Hank and Connor, will always hold my heart even though I don't spend as much time with them.

8. Did you write for a new fandom or ship this year?

Quite a few, actually! Courtesy of my Let Me Count the Ways ask game, I've now written my first fics for LotR (crazy, right?), Detroit: Become Human, Jak and Daxter, and No.6. It's also crazy that this year marks the first time I've ever written my favorite Star Wars character, Obi-Wan, even though I picked him as my favorite when I was eight years old @_@

9. What fic meant the most to you to write?

My Captain America fic Take Me In. It's my main WIP right now, and I actually finished the first draft this year! I've been working on this baby for five years, so this is EVERYTHING to me :')

10. What fic made you feel the happiest to work on?

TMI definitely gave me the most joy to write, but a lot of the time, it wasn't exactly fun :/ Maybe the happiest I felt was when I wrote the Obi-Wan & Qui-Gon piece for Let Me Count the Ways, because it flowed so easily and so well, even it was (bizarrely) the first time I ever wrote them. And I got to make them tell each other straight out that they love each other, hehehe :P

11. What fic was the most satisfying to finish writing?

TMI, obviously. It's not quite done or ready to post yet, but it's sitting there on my hard drive in a mostly complete form, sitting proudly as the longest thing I've ever written in my life...and maybe the best thing too? I can't wait to share this with the world! <3

12. What fic was the most difficult to write? Did you finish it?

I'm realizing most of these questions can be answered with TMI ^^' It has been very difficult to write, especially when I get into technical matters where I don't really know what I'm doing, even after all my research. I've also dealt with some massive burnout that makes writing feel like pulling teeth sometimes. But! I did finish it! I need to look back on this achievement every time the writing isn't flowing, to remind myself that if I could do that, I can do anything.

13. What fic was the easiest to write?

Hmm...probably one of my MCU prompts for Let Me Count the Ways. I'm so used to writing the FoxholeBros by this point, I have a pretty good idea of what they'll do or say in any given situation. Either that, or the Ed & Hughes Let Me Count the Ways one, because I could whip both characters out of my back pocket super easily.

14. What were your shortest and longest fics this year?

Pretty sure my dialogue-only Hank & Connor fic for Let Me Count the Ways was the shortest, at 610 words. The longest...heehee...TMI, at 386,363 words >:D

15. Rec a fic you wrote or posted in 2023

Here, have the one new fic I posted to AO3 this year, the most recent chapter of my FMA genderbender, The Other Side of the Coin. This chapter depicts the first meeting of Roy Mustang and the Elric sisters, as he tries to recruit two young girls to join the military and try to get their bodies back. Meanwhile, Lieutenant Hawkeye has a conversation with Winston Rockbell.

16. What were you go-to writing songs?

I have various playlists for whatever fandom I'm writing - usually the soundtrack, and depending on how much of a blorbo I'm writing, I might also have a playlist of songs specific to that character too. My go-to song for inspiring me to write TMI in particular is "Everything" by Lifehouse.

17. What were your go-to writing snacks?

I don't normally snack while writing, but anymore I almost can't write without a cup of tea.

18. What was the hardest fic to title?

Um...how about everything I've written for Let Me Count the Ways? ^^' I still haven't decided for sure what I'm going to do with titles once I get around to posting them on AO3.

19. Share your favorite opening line

"It was a beautiful April morning when Rose Gamgee's life changed forever."

From Rosie Runs to Rivendell, which I posted an early version of here but nowhere else yet.

20. Share your favorite ending line

"Bucky turned to share a smile with him, and Steve could see that all was quiet on the Western front."

From TMI...a;ldkgjsd;klfjdsklgfsdkflj I'm so glad I could make this line work :')

21. Share your favorite piece of dialogue

Hnnnnnnggggg if I try to pick something from TMI, we'll be here all day, so I'm just going to take that off the table. Please assume my real answer is something from that whopper. Instead, have this line I'm stupidly proud of from my first Hank & Connor fic:

“And the half-naked androids pole-dancing right in front of you had nothing to do with it.”

22. Share an excerpt from your favorite scene

I'm gonna have to veto TMI again for this, for the same reason. Besides, all my favorite scenes from TMI are chock-full of spoilers I don't want to give away, so yeah. Here, why don't we go with this moment from my Obi-Wan & Qui-Gon fic I'm quite fond of:

Qui-Gon was almost at the door by the time Obi-Wan realized he was leaving. Apparently, he'd said what he'd come here to say. “Master, wait!” Obi-Wan sprang to his feet. Pausing with his hand on the door, Qui-Gon looked over his shoulder. Nervously, Obi-Wan swallowed hard. He'd never said this to anyone, but when he instinctively reached out to the Force, it rang with the chimes of a hundred golden bells in his heart, and he knew it was the right thing to say. “I love you too, Qui-Gon. I always have. Even then.” Even when he was angry and hurt. Even when they were shouting at each other. Even when Qui-Gon left him on a war-torn planet. Even when their connection in the Force frayed and snapped, and it seemed pointless to hope they could regain even a fraction of what they'd once had.

23. Share the final version of a sentence or paragraph you struggled with. What about it was challenging? Are you happy with how it turned out?

I hemmed and hawed over this question for a long time before I remembered this paragraph from my Nezumi & Shion fic:

When Shion draped a blanket over him and tucked it gently around him, Nezumi never saw it coming. For a moment, he lay there, eyes closed, unmoving. But he couldn't ignore the soft scent of the worn fabric. A smell that reminded him of a stormy night. Laughter. A warm hand in his. Inexplicable, unbelievable, bewildering...acceptance.

The main problem with it stemmed from me writing a whole scene and forgetting what the dialogue prompt was, and then I had to go back and include it somewhere. So it took some work to make sure this paragraph went from being the end to transitioning into the bit of dialogue that started this whole thing -_-

24. What's something that surprised you while you were working on a fic? Did it change the story?

Ooof, this is a little spoilery, but it's the main one that's coming to mind. Suffice to say, originally I wrote a suicide attempt in one of my fics. Only after writing the whole scene, which had been planned from the beginning, did I realize I actually didn't want the scene to be about suicide at all. That had always been the plan, and it would make sense, but suddenly it became clear that much more interesting character development could come about otherwise.

25. What did you use to write? (e.g. writing programs, paper & pen, etc.)

I use OpenOffice for all of my story writing.

26. If you had to choose one, what was THE most satisfying writing moment of your year?

Hands down, writing the last scene of TMI and then showing it to my betas ^_^

27. Did you do anything special to celebrate finishing a fic?

After finishing TMI, I spent two weeks on vacation with my betas, and we got a cake to celebrate! ^_^

28. How did you recharge between fics?

I've been taking a break from any sort of scheduled or pressured writing since finishing TMI. We're getting close to the end of two months off, and I can see that it was exactly what I needed, because I was seriously burnt out. Hopefully I'll be ready to get back to work in another week and a half or so.

29. If this were an awards show, who would you thank?

*sniffle* I'd like to thank my besties, @rainintheevening and @sergeanttomycaptain, for having my back this whole year and encouraging me through to the end of the biggest writing project I've ever undertaken. I couldn't have done it without you!

30. What’s something that you want to write in 2024?

The actual end of TMI lol Well, I definitely want to write more Let Me Count the Ways. There will need to be something FMA to write for FMA Day. And I really hope I can start posting TMI and work on writing Take Me Beyond, its companion fic. I should probably also think about poking at some of my older fics I've been neglecting for too long.

fic writer asks

What’s something new that you tried in a fic this year? How did it turn out and would you do it again?

How many fics did you work on this year? (They don’t have to be finished or published!)

What’s something you learned about yourself as a writer?

What piece of media inspired you the most?

What fandom(s) did you write for this year?

What ship(s) captured your heart?

What character(s) captured your heart?

Did you write for a new fandom or ship this year?

What fic meant the most to you to write?

What fic made you feel the happiest to work on?

What fic was the most satisfying to finish writing?

What fic was the most difficult to write? Did you finish it?

What fic was the easiest to write?

What were your shortest and longest fics this year?

Rec a fic you wrote or posted in 2023

What were you go-to writing songs?

What were your go-to writing snacks?

What was the hardest fic to title?

Share your favorite opening line

Share your favorite ending line

Share your favorite piece of dialogue

Share an excerpt from your favorite scene

Share the final version of a sentence or paragraph you struggled with. What about it was challenging? Are you happy with how it turned out?

What's something that surprised you while you were working on a fic? Did it change the story?

What did you use to write? (e.g. writing programs, paper & pen, etc.)

If you had to choose one, what was THE most satisfying writing moment of your year?

Did you do anything special to celebrate finishing a fic?

How did you recharge between fics?

If this were an awards show, who would you thank?

What’s something that you want to write in 2024?

#ask games #ask and i shan't receive so i answered them myself mwahaha

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total-james · 3 months ago

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Simpsons Rewatch Season 1 - part 1/2

I'll be rewatching The Simpsons, I think I'll stop at season 10, because that's when it started to REALLY decline, so let's start!

Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire (written by: Mimi Pond)

A fine official start for The Simpsons! I'll say, I do have nostalgia glasses for some episodes, but this one? Not really, I do remember watching it, but it never stuck with me (this will change when we get to the Halloween Specials and a few select later season episodes.).

This episode will in fact set the precedent for the rest of the season, character-focused episodes with a ton of heart. I really enjoyed how they already had a grasp on the character dynamics and how they'd play off each other! AND as a long-time watcher, you can compare how they got... FLANDERIZED("he said the word! 😯")

The animation is definitely not really good, but it's charming and it manages to portray what it needs to (hell, we even got some well-framed shots and funny visual gags)

The audio mixing is trash! The characters' voices sound disconnected and the sound effects and music can be extremely overbearing.

Bart the Genius (written by: Jon Vitti)

"Eat my shorts."

This episode doesn't stick out in my memories as much, but damn if it isn't iconic, so many one-liners, so many scenes, and plenty of legacy characters introduced here. I do like how Martin is more snooty and Seymour has some balls and presence.

Absolutely loved Homer and Bart's dynamic in this episode, Homer is the father who is trying hard to do the best for his family, but has his shortcomings, and Bart... ADHD kid.

The animation is quite great! It's fluid and the expressions are gold. The sound mixing is also decent, thank god. Hey, the iconic opening AND couch gag? This episode feels more like a start than the last one, IMO.

Unrelated, but as the years have gone by, the more I relate to Bart, weird... (guess when I finish college I'll be Homer...)

Homer's Odyssey ( written by: Jay Kogen & Wallace Wolodarsky)

Watching this while my mum is trying to score a job is sure encouraging...

But this episode is starting the trend of "starting one way" to segway into an unrelated(eh) plot, it gets more extreme as the years go on for sure.

I found this episode pretty O.K.! I like how it gets to show that Homer may not be that incompetent, even if the signs start to get comically redundant, he still gathers a following.

The theme of this episode is the friction between "Stereotypical provider of the home" and "Unemployment" and I quite enjoy what it does with it, I didn't live in the 90s but this episode might hit even HARDER now in his economic crisis we're going through world-wide (esp. if you're from a third world country like yours truly.)

... OH hey, black Smithers! AND... Mr.Burns sounds so different here...

There's No Disgrace Like Home ( written by: Al Jean & Mike Reiss )

Oooh, the OOC episode, the premise is nice, but I can't get behind Marge, Lisa and Homer being completely different, well Homer I can almost get behind, but the other two? nah

HEY, Dean Martin's "Hey Brother Pour the Wine" (at least I know through him)

This episode is pretty nostalgic, I do love the family snooping around their neighbourhood, ha ha very cartoon-like.

Bart the General ( written by: John Swartzwelder )

Another Bart-focused episode! This one was lots of fun, some witty one-liners and cool visuals.

I really like how Bart actually acts like an unruly kid. I especially love how Marge and Homer were no help to the conflict, ha ha! Homer appearing in Bart's head is also a funny gag.

This episode finally started the "Lisa is a nerd" thing that would follow her and become her.

...Family Jewels...

This episode feels like it would be controversial in the 90s, but today it's harmless.

Moaning Lisa ( written by: Al Jean & Mike Reiss )

Ooooh, the iconic one and the first Lisa-focused episode!

I really really enjoyed this episode. From the moment it starts it sets its tone and continues from there. Lisa's existential crisis and unwillingness to live. I really like how it plays it very subtly for a comedic series.

Her dynamic with Marge is also starting to take form. I enjoyed how it showed a bit of Marge's struggle with womanhood and having to please others and how it reflects on Lisa in the Climax.

I really liked how Blues and The sax have been a defining trait to Lisa from this point on, and Bleeding Gums still has more to do in the show so I don't have anything to say here.

The animation was very good! I liked the pixelated style in the video game and how it played with the colors palletes on different scenes.

#the simpsons #the simpsons golden age #talking tags #simp rewatch

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televinita · 2 years ago

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It’s time to play...

The fandom survey that dollsome-does-tumblr so courteously brings over from LJ! a.k.a. the true reason I posted that list of shows and also fave movies earlier. I’ve wussed out on most of the most interesting questions (#11 specifically), but still had a blast writing an unwieldy pile of words.

1. Favorite fictional characters this year

Danny, Lexi, Father Chuck and Aiden Shaw (Blood & Treasure)

Literally the entire original cast of Abbott Elementary, although Jacob is on thin fucking ice with that undercut in season 2, with a special shout-out to the delightful bonkers-ness that is Principal Ava

Both versions of Mark (Severance)

Brad (as played by Danny Pudi) on Mythic Quest

Ghosts Hetty & Pete (CBS Ghosts)

Al & Lizzie (United States of Al)

Alex (and her flippin’ adorable 3-year-old) in Maid

Anyone else listed in question 2

2. Favorite ships this year

DANNY/LEXI (Blood & Treasure)

CLAIRE/OWEN (Jurassic World)

Alan/Ellie (Jurassic World)

Robert/Giselle (Enchanted)

Janine/Gregory (Abbott Elememtary)

Mark/Helly (Severance)

Erik/Helen (Sweet Magnolias)

Jay/Daisy ("Barefoot")

Fell down the rabbit hole of revisiting Daniel/Irene and Johnny/Joyce during the Siberia rewatch

And Densi always, in the background (NCIS: LA)

3. Favorite TV shows to watch this year

Blood & Treasure!, The Amazing Race, The Chase, Maid, Ghosts, Abbott Elementary, The Exes, and an apparently infinite ability to rewatch random eps of Community & Seinfeld

4. Favorite books read this year

(not necessarily in this order)

5. Favorite song, album, or artist to listen to this year

Taylor Swift ended up my most-played artist on Spotify due to me scheduling 3 of her albums for me-release (a.k.a. I hear them for the first time as if they are new releases: the Taylor’s Versions and folklore).

Tied with Josh Groban, whose music basically comprised all of my listening from April through June, most of which was not via Spotify.

6. Favorite movies of the year

Done :)

7. Favorite TV show episodes of the year

See, this is the kind of thing that’s easier to answer when you watch shows as they air...ugh! All right. I can try this, at least w/ shows that aired this year.

Blood & Treasure: 2x04, 2x06 and 2x08 (Into the Forbidden Zone; Mystery at Poison Island; The Lost City of Sana)

The Amazing Race: season 33 finale

Abbot Elementary: 1x11 (Desking); 2x06 (Candy Zombies); 2x10 (Holiday Hookah), probably more tbh

8. First fandom of the year

It’s a tie between “holy crap I love The Amazing Race” and revisiting Blood & Treasure season 1, which occurred near simultaneously with my random love for the original video game series Uncharted.

(Honestly, watching husband play Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End for most of January, while I sat next to him alternating between reading and paying attention, was one of the coziest times in my life.)

9. Best new fandom discovery of the year

Oh, for sure Abbott; it is not often that a comedy can make me care about the characters and think about them beyond the weekly episode.

Unless we count the fact that this is the first time I actually dove into the fandom aspect of Jurassic World, in which case: that by a mile.

10. Biggest fandom disappointment of the year

A) I honestly can’t think of any bummers except the Blood & Treasure S2 DVD being expensive as hell and having no extras beyond a 2-minute gag reel (that they released online anyway). Which, considering it was locked up on a streaming service while airing, I AM grateful it’s on DVD at all + I do love a gag reel, but...season 1 had deleted scenes on every episode and I really wanted more of those, ideally plus some BTS stuff about filming since this is one of the few shows where I care about every little aspect of the production.

A-2) If I’m being really picky, I am disappointed that the one shippy thing I didn’t get in season 2 was any sort of pillow talk or other snuggling in bed. I got everything else under the sun I could possibly want, sure, but not my favorite.

B) and I am of course generally disappointed in HBO Max for being a little bitch and disappearing so much of its content. None of it was relevant to me and this is the last streaming service I would ever pay for, but that sets a scary precedent.

C) I just learned that DCC: Making the Team has officially been canceled after 16 seasons, the last one covering the 2021 season. Aww. Guess I only have 1.5 left unseen. (supposedly the organization is “in the process of negotiating a new partnership and [looks] forward to continuing to feature the DCC on a new platform,” whatever that means, but that was in April.)

11. Biggest squee moments of the year

I should honestly make a new post about this, because my brain is mostly a blur of ideas re: --

* The nine thousand seven hundred and forty-four squee-worthy Claire/Owen and general found-family bits in Dominion

* every episode of Blood & Treasure S2 (I really do need to make a new post to count all the shippy bits up -- kisses and I-thought-you-were-dead moments and two other near-death experiences and reunion hugs and, and, !!!)

* THE KISS (Severance)

* Valor giving me exactly what I came for in terms of intense makeout sessions and two gunshot wounds

* too many family and/or shippy bits to count (still) in Disenchanted -- here are some of them -- and also a very unexpected yet soul-fulfilling “I used to be good at things :( “

(sidebar, I am still a MESS OF FEELINGS about the lyric I thought I’d found a place where I could makes things better / but all I did was change where I would fail. GISELLE!!)

* post-danger bed snuggles (NCIS: LA) and adoption joy!

...huh, that is actually more squee than I remember, good to know.

12. Favorite main character of the year (see #1) 13. Favorite villain of the year

"The Great Khan” on Blood & Treasure :)

14. Favorite m/f ship of the year

Danny/Lexi. Not even Claire & Owen took me to the stars like them.

15. Favorite f/f ship of the year

Normally I got nothin’ here but I would endorse the idea of Violet / Lexi in their younger days

16. Favorite m/m ship of the year

I got nothin’. The Klaine Stands Alone.

17. Your fictional true love of the year

Guess. (although, honestly, there were some fantastic dudes in books who could compete in this category too. In fact, here are my four favorites --

A. Joshua Avery (Before I Called You Mine) B. Everett St. James (Very Sincerely Yours) C. Adam Bradford (Lake Season) D. Jack forgot-his-last-name (Lease on Love)

18. Fandom that you never expected to get into

Honestly I’m still pretty stunned I found anything to enjoy about Severance and Mythic Quest at all.

Also, Hit the Floor is definitely not something I’d have been able to stand before I fell in love w/ the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders show. The fact that it is continuing to hold my interest despite having zero ships to root for and a maximum of two arguably handsome men is truly something.

19. Fandom that made an unexpected comeback

SIBERIAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA (plz watch it) (it’s on Tubi plz plz watch it)

20. Last fandom of the year

Valor or Hit the Floor

21. Overall favorite fandoms of the year (see #22) 22. Your main fandoms throughout the year

2022 will forever be the year of The Amazing Race, Jurassic World and Blood & Treasure* (*part II)

23. The most missed of your old fandoms

I do miss when there was an official @nbcsiberia Tumblr that interacted with us all

24. Fandom resolutions for next year

Find/watch more shows with shippy kicks! Finally watch the shows on my watchlist* instead of whatever low-emotional-impact nonsense I can find on a streaming service! #MyGoalsAreVerySpecific.

(*maybe this should also be its own post; I really need to make A Plan)

On a serious note, maybe finish posting my semi-to-entirely complete fics over on AO3. I thought finally making an account was the only obstacle to my inertia and everything would be fine once I posted my first fic, but nope! Still a monumental effort to convince myself to put anything out in the world.

25. Fandom predictions for next year

????????????

(I’ve been thinking for a week but I have nothing)

#year in review #fandom survey

0 notes

cipheress-to-k-pop · 4 years ago

Text

A Sister's Love

Pairing: Platonic Damian Wayne x Al Ghul!Reader

Warnings: Injuries and blood. Drugging, Trafficking and sexual assult but these are not the main themes.

Word Count: 4.9K

Summary: You realize you have a lot to learn about yourself outside of your little brother, Damian's, shadow.

A/N: Was originally gonna make this a Dick Grayson x Reader but realized it would be weird cuz of mixed families and stuff. And I don't wanna be pushing the boundaries of incest.

Growing up in the League of Assassins meant a lot of things for you. It meant that you were raised to be powerful and commanding. It meant you knew how to kill a man in 47 different ways and counting. It meant that you were raised to rightfully think that you were the best.

Although for every good thing there was always cons. Your schedule was rigid and your peers were unfeeling. Your mother most of all, but that didn't stop you from trying to win her affection. It was the reason why when your little brother was born you felt threatened.

That was until you met little Damian. Your mother had handed him to you with a smile of pride that she never showed you and you hated him. But then you saw his precious little face, a nose tinier than a button and adorable lips that were curled into a pout. He was so beautiful.

Since then, you put any differences you might have had with your mother behind you. According to Ra’s it would have been a mistake to show Damian such tenderness, to teach him about loyalty to your heart, instead of without it.

But Talia couldn't ignore the tug she felt in her heart seeing you and Damian together. You still worked hard, harder than she had ever seen before, now determined not to show that you were weak and have them take your brother from you. Damian followed your example, training to her approval, however taxing it was for him.

And more importantly, Damian loved you. You were the first woman he had ever loved and he was smart enough to know that would never be a mistake. You were his shelter in a storm, his fire in the cold. You were the best sibling that anyone could ever even dream of.

But then you had to part. At age 10, Damian went to live with his father, Bruce Wayne. You had never met the man when he was with your mother and you assumed you wouldn't need to, he wasn't your father.

Both you and Damian didn't want to leave each other. You'd miss your little brother and you'd miss the feeling in your chest whenever you'd look at him. Damian would miss home; he would miss your presence and he would miss the familiarity. But he couldn't stay.

That's something you learnt at the League. Damian couldn't stay, with you. He was meant for bigger things than you.

Another thing you learnt was that you didn't have to stay either. You wanted to see the world, see what everything else had in store for you. And your mother, bless her, gave you her blessing.

Of all the things the league taught you, there were things they missed out on. And a part of you was thankful for that. Because you enjoyed the feeling of wide-eyed wonderment when you stepped into a train station for the first time ever.

You had never tasted a chocolate muffin before, you realized as you stuffed your face at a local bakery. Coffee and chocolate muffins went well together. You liked sweet things better than spicy things, you noted when you didn't enjoy the tteokbokki you bought at a Korean food stall.

People were kind, not foolish. They smiled at you when you came in and genuinely asked you where you were headed. Like the woman you met on the tram who was heading to Washington DC. Even through the short ride, the two of you had bonded and she had left you with her phone number and a promise that if you were ever in DC, you would ring her up. Diana was trusting, too trusting. You could have assumed it was because she was stupid, but you wanted to believe it was because she was smarter than even you.

Some people were kind like her but of course, some were impolite and pig-headed. You of course didn't waste any time putting them in their place. Maybe that was why you shouldn't have any faith in humanity.

But isn't humanity just the thing you should be putting faith in?

It was fun at first, discovering new things, seeing how people really lived outside of books and things taught to you back at the League. You knew everything, you weren't naive enough to be oblivious but reading about something was miles apart from actually experiencing it.

After a while however, you got lonely, it was a huge world with people constantly moving and you've come to realize that unless you're with somebody, you can't really move from your place. Instead, you'd be stuck watching all of them. So, you sought after your brother.

It was easy enough to track Bruce Wayne, he lived in a house large enough to be seen from outer space. Getting to Gotham took longer than you expected. Time passed so easily when you didn't have a purpose but now that you had somewhere you needed to be, the train couldn't go any slower.

Gotham City was less gloomy than people made it out to be. The sun was shining and the city was bustling. In some ways, it seemed a little homey. Maybe that was because you didn't have to worry about someone hurting you. If anything, they should pray that they don't choose you as their next victim.

Of course, you could've gone to Wayne Manor and introduced yourself civilly but you wanted to see Damian more than anything and didn't want to delay it any longer. And more than that, you wanted to see Damian is his cute little school uniform.

That's what led you to wait outside of the well-reputed Gotham University, waiting patiently for the bell to ring and students to file out of it. You already knew that they wouldn't come out singing like in the movies but a very small fraction of you still hoped.

Your heartrate increased with every passing minute, excited to meet your brother after nearly a year of being apart. Eventually, the bell did ring and students began trickling out of the doors, looking like bumble bees, excitedly zipping around and talking to their friends.

'Would this have been my life if I was never born in the League?' You wondered, looking at a girl who was animatedly chatting with her friend, arms interlocked as they moved towards the parking lot where their parents were waiting.

When you finally saw Damian, you suddenly felt out of place. Like an outsider watching someone else's brother when you saw his eyes lock onto someone in the commons. Even though you weren't on the school campus, you could still recognize who it was.

Richard Grayson, oldest son of Bruce Wayne, waiting to pick up your little brother on a motor cycle.

And for the first time in your life, you experienced insecurity, watching them greet each other like brothers. The feeling was sour and you wondered if it was a mistake coming here, thinking that you still had a place here.

It was true, people didn't move from their place unless they had someone to go with. You hadn't felt fulfilled like that since your brother stopped being at your side. He was everything you knew. It was just your mistake for thinking that in the year apart your brother wouldn't have found anyone either.

***

"Drake, pull up the security cameras from today at my school parking lot." Damian ordered, stepping into the Batcave.

"No 'Hello', no 'How you doing?', it's always 'Tim, do this' 'Drake, do that'," Tim commented sarcastically but still pulled up whatever he needed, "And then as soon as I give you what I want, you're going to forget me again. And not even visit the kids."

Dick spared him a laugh at his dramatic scene, ruffling his hair as greeting and then turned his attention to the screen. The footage was played at double the speed until Damian's eyes locked onto just what he wanted to find.

It was just for a second, when Dick's motorcycle had zoomed past but that was all he needed. Damian had seen your face and it wasn't any mistake, he'd know you even if he was blind. Even though he was so sure it had been you, he still couldn't hide the way his body froze, eyes wide when he saw your face.

It was the same face he'd see every night before he went to bed and the very first person he wanted to see every time he woke up. Your image was what came into his mind when he thought of being nurtured, when he thought of being safe.

There was a time when he was younger, too young, there was a thunder storm. He doesn't remember much from the night, just hiding his face against your chest and you wrapping a blanket around him. His mother trained him even harder the next day, until he almost dropped but he'd never forget curling up to your warmth. Not even now, when he knew that thunder storms were the least of his fears.

It was as simple as that. With his father and brothers, he didn't have to worry about looking weak, he didn't think of love as a weakness, rather he considered it as the fuel behind strength. Yes, his father taught him well. And now he would show you just how much he's grown. So, you can be proud of him.

"We need to find her."

"Why? Who is she?"

"My sister."

***

Of all the things you wanted to experience, visiting a bar was one of them. Was the air really enough to intoxicate you? Were you really going to lose all sense when you stepped into it? Would be able to drink your troubles away?

You were sorely disappointed. The alcohol didn't taste good, it burned when you swallowed it and made your tongue feel fuzzy. The music was so loud that your brain began throbbing against your skull to the beat of the song.

Men were picking fights and women were having fun but even then, you couldn't find it in yourself to get up and actually have fun. I mean, how were you supposed to? How was cosying up against a drunk man supposed to make you feel better? How was getting lost in throngs of sweaty people who didn't know what personal space was meant to improve your mood?

If anything, it just reminded you of just how pathetic your life was.

You were realizing you had no purpose. Damian was all you had known for years now, knowing only to protect him with your life and love him with your heart. Who were you without him? What did you like? What made you happy outside from your duty at the league?

A man knocking into you brought you out of your thoughts, which had been happening all night. Except this man stopped in front of you and gave you a smile that turned your stomach upside down.

"Sorry about that pretty lady, let me buy you a drink to make up for it." He spoke with a voice that was trying to be smooth but instead sounded like metal scraping over each other.

"No, thank you." You said sharply, not yet done with your Manhattan anyway. You were barely enjoying your time here as it was and you were sure another drink wouldn't change your mind.

"Not a fan?"

You shook your head at him, choosing to humour the man.

"Then let me buy you another one, if you don't like it then you have nothing to lose."

You pretended to giggle at him and he swelled with pride. Did he think he was winning?

"One Boulevardier." He told the bartender who nodded and began preparing the drink. Until it was ready, you indulged the man in front of you who reeked of cigarettes and alcohol.

He placed the drink in front of you and if you hadn't known that it would burn going down and turn you into a shell of yourself, you might have been curious to what it tasted like.

"You see that dude over there?" He nodded to a man standing in the other corner of the bar and you turned to look at him. Another man, covered in tattoos who didn't look any different than the one standing behind you.

"He's my pal, owns the bar. Ask him and he'll hook you up with free drinks tonight. For a price, of course."

You turned back around to face the man and out of the corner of your eye saw something dissolve into your drink. It was only for a second but you saw the last remaining grains turn invisible and you definitely noticed the way the once steady drink was now swirling into a vortex in the middle.

"Drink up, princess."

You smirked. Tonight, might be fun after all.

***

This was boring.

You had been pretending to be unconscious for about 40 minutes while these men drove you to some undisclosed location. Their conversations were unbelievably dry and it's not like you had anyone else to talk to. Everyone else who might have been even mildly interesting were knocked unconscious.

Eventually they pulled up to some sort of holding facility and if your assumptions were correct then this would be a midpoint before they sold all the girls here to some sort of pimp.

Once they lugged you off the truck and threw you into a room with so many other people, you could hear their breathing did you open your eyes. It seemed like this was some sort of abandoned butcher or meat factory, judging by the ominous hooks hanging above your head and the metal walls. The door had been bolted shut, the only way to look through it was a small glass window.

Only after you finished taking in your surroundings did you even look at the other women who had been trapped in the room along with you. Your stomach turned.

There were so many unsuspecting faces who looked like they didn't sign up for this. Half of them looked under the influence of something, sweating profusely even in their sleep, faces scrunched up in pain. The other looked like they were forcibly taken, bruises covering their skin, hair and clothes in disarray and more than half of them had either a black eye or a swollen lip.

Maybe it was their fault for not being trained, that's what someone at the league would've said. But isn't it their captors’ fault for misusing their training, their strength, for something as vile as this?

You decided to wait, you couldn't assume that this small group of girls was the only one in the confines of the building. How many more were here?

You weren't feeling overwhelmed, not at all, not with the weapons that were littering you. A kunai hidden is either of your boots, throwing stars in your pockets hidden underneath your vest and a war fan in your pocket. You could handle these clowns without even looking up.

But it wasn't your life you were concerned about. It was the lives of these underaged, vulnerable girls who had fallen prey to these monsters.

While you were waiting a couple of the girls started to wake up. Some were still heavily drugged, still groggy when their eyes fluttered open and unable to focus onto anything. Others shot up straight as an arrow and began crying, screaming, begging for them to let them out.

They were ignored, by both their captors and you. Why try and reassure then when you weren't sure what was going to happen. More importantly, why throw off the monsters lurking outside the door that there was one woman who hadn't been phased.

Instead, you just stared blankly, trying to get comfortable and hear anything through the walls. Eventually, you heard the sound of footsteps coming towards the room. You covered the lower half of your face with a scarf, making sure that anyone who left here alive today, wouldn't be able to remember your face. Whether it be as a saviour or their punisher.

The girls whimpered and curled into one another, crying quietly and you felt sympathy. There was no way they'd be able to move forward from this without having fear stab at their heart with every step they took. You could only hope they had something in their life that would make them feel safe.

For tonight, you'd be that for them.

A few men opened the door with a cruel smile, stepping inside for a second before bolting it shut. They flaunted guns and other weapons to the girls, finding pleasure where there should be compassion and worry. You were disgusted watching their smirks twist maniacally when the girls cried harder seeing them brandish their weapons.

One of the men stepped forward and grabbed the girl closest to him who begged and cried to spare her. His disgusting hand might as well be made of acid because you almost felt the sick burn when it snaked between her legs and copped a feel while she sobbed and screamed, trying to fight him off.

You grabbed one of your weapons and returned their sick grins with one of your own.

It was going to be hard to cop a feel when he can't feel anything.

You were going to break each and every bone in his hand to ensure that.

***

"Can I borrow your phone please?" You asked the bloody and broken man by your feet. He glared at you and spat blood on your boots, unable to do anything else. You sighed and faked a pout.

"Is it here?" You wondered, holding the dirtied boot over his ribs and his eyes widened, catching drift of what you were about to do. You rammed your foot into his broken ribs, courtesy of yourself, and he screamed bloody murder. Music to your ears.

"Apparently not. Want me to check your pants?" You asked, raising a brow and he frantically shook his head, using whatever strength left to pull out his phone from his pocket and you smiled, thanking him quietly.

"Now, let's hope that one blow is enough to put you out of my misery." You sang, punching him right in the face and he passed out. Lightweight.

You took a look around the place, seeing bodies littered over the place like confetti. Blood was scattered on the ground and you're sure if people looked hard enough, they'd find someone's teeth. You on the other hand looked fine.

You sat on the floor, crossing your legs comfortably, tired after the fight and dialled a number onto the phone.

"Hello, police?"

"Yes, how can we help you?"

"Well, there's a sex trafficking scam going on at my location. Quite shoddy but they have a number of women trapped here and it would be nice if you could send backup to have them escorted home safely."

"A sex trafficking scam?"

"Well, it could be just a regular trafficking scam but I'm not too sure."

"All right, I'll have someone check it out."

"Good, and I realize you might get a lot of calls like this but please don't talk to me like I'm an idiot. Tell your people to send a couple of ambulances as well, you'll need them."

"Of course."

You could only hope the person on the other end of the line would eat their words when it was on the front of the newspaper. For now, your work was done.

In the meantime, how were you going to get anywhere from here? Where even were you? Was there anyone even conscious here who could give you directions? Or would you have to call the police again to find out where to go?

Not that you'd wait long enough for them actually arrive here. You'd return to the bar way before that for another drink. Maybe now you'd actually be able to enjoy one.

Just as you were about to leave, you heard a creak coming from the other end of the warehouse. It echoed through the halls and you leapt to your feet, soundless moving to hide in the shadows and pulling out a kunai.

The footsteps that followed it were light and airy, barely even touching the ground. They were trained, whoever they were. You kept your ears open in order to hear something.

"Whoever was here was trained." You heard someone comment.

"Are you really that stupid, Nightwing? It's obvious that my sister was the one who took out this ring and reported it." Came the snappy reply back and your breath caught in your chest. Make no mistake, that was your brother's voice.

"We must find her."

He was actually looking for you? He knows you're here? You're not entirely surprised, you haven't exactly been careful or stealthy when it came to concealing your face around Gotham. A mistake on your part but you couldn't have been more relieved.

You still remained quiet, not wanting to disturb the flow, not wanting to interrupt. You had the mind of a soldier but when there was no one to follow you seemed more like a sheep. It made you feel slight shame, that you were unable to stick up for yourself despite being so many things.

Maybe, the league wasn't the best thing for you.

Immediately you scraped the thought from your mind, berating yourself for even thinking that. The league had given you everything, everything you were today was because of them. You were strong and calculating, the leagues proud soldier.

You were proud of your roots, thankful that you grew up to be the person you were. They had given you everything, and your brother was just one of the gifts that you had been blessed with in your life.

"Damian." You spoke softly, stepping out of the shadows. His head snapped towards you, eyes widening when he took in your form. It really was you. His sister.

Damian wasted no time in bounding towards you and you knelt down to meet his eye level, catching him with open arms. A part of your heart sang when you realized he was still small enough to fit in your arms. He still held you close. He still loved you.

"I've missed you, Ya Amar." You spoke softly, cradling his head that was buried in the junction of your neck.

"I as well, Okhti."

***

Damian was ecstatic that you were in Gotham. Of course, it didn't look like it to anyone but everyone who knew him well could tell that he was happy that his sister was home with him. He didn't wait for even two seconds when you got to the Batcave (much to Bruce's surprise) to show you all his pets.

The next few days would be considered the best of his life.

Damian wanted to be as close to you as possible, sitting near you during meals, training with you, talking with you, even going as far to sneak into your temporary bedroom at night for cuddles. He certainly got more comfortable showing affection since the last time you were around.

He showed you his hobbies like painting and sketching and you were impressed. He had the skills to be doing something like this? Damian had picked up many new talents and many new stories since you last saw him and he was eager to share them all with you.

The next few days would be considered the worst of your life.

You had found Damian now, so why didn't you still feel fulfilled? Why did you feel like something was missing? Like this wasn't meant for you? Why weren't you satisfied?

Why did you feel envious that Damian got to experience so many things? Why did you feel resentment against him when you realized you never got the same things he has?

Your life felt like it amounted to nothing.

You loved your brother but so far you had just been living for him. And now that you realized there were parts of the world that you wanted to see. There were thoughts in your mind that were of your own and desires that you didn't have to explain to anyone. As long as it made sense to yourself.

And you realize one thing with an aching heart.

You couldn't stay here in Gotham.

"Does Damian know?" Bruce asked you one day when you had asked him a favour. Bruce so far had been a little cold and unfeeling ever since you had met him in the Batcave uninvited. His feelings towards you got more negative when you gave an offhanded comment about how you thought he was taller. But he was the only one you could ask for a favour. He was the father to your beloved brother and you could only hope he would offer you the same consideration.

You had asked him for a flight to Washington, to see if Diana really meant what she said. To take a leap of faith for the first time in your life.

You shook your head no, "Not yet. I'm hoping he will take the news well. It's not like I'm leaving forever. I just—I need to—" You trailed off, unable to find the right words.

Bruce nodded, "I understand. Just tell him before you go. I don't think I've ever seen him this happy before."

"It makes me feel worse." You admitted, feeling a little guilty. How could you not feel happy at your brother’s happiness?

"You need some time to figure out that your world is yours. No one else should determine how you feel about yourself."

"You are very wise," You said softly, "Thank you."

***

"I love you dearly, Damian." You tried to coerce him from his room where he had locked himself in only 5 minutes ago. No doubt he was sulking since he found out that you would be leaving for DC in two days’ time.

"If you did, you wouldn't be leaving!" His voice was muffled, as if his face was buried in his pillow or even Titus. You had been trying to coax him into open the door for 20 minutes now and had multiple offers from Grayson, which you turned down.

"Oh, for the love of—Damian Wayne, you open this door right now!" It was silent for a moment before you heard the lock click open and took that as the indication from him to step into his room.

It was large and from the moment you stepped in, it was easy to tell the space was his. There were swords mounted on the wall, paintings on the wall adjacent to it. His desk was tidy and in the corner of his room, there were multiple easels and sketch pads.

Damian was sulking on his bed and you sighed, feeling guilty. You sat beside him and ran your fingers through his hair. Even though he was upset with you, he still sank into your touch, feeling comforted by mere contact.

"It's not forever, Damian. Wherever I'm going, I'm going to come back. I just need some time to myself." You tried to explain.

"But why!"

"The league taught me well, Damian. But it taught me to live like a soldier, but not as a person. There are so many things that I don't know about myself. What do I like? What do I want to do with my life? And I need to figure it out for myself."

"Why can't you do that here?"

You gave him a pained look and realization dawned on him, "Because of me."

"Damian, in the time we spent apart you learnt so many things about yourself. That you like animals, that you like art. There are so many blanks in my life and I need the distance to figure it out. I need to understand myself." You explained wistfully.

It was true, there were so many blanks in your life. You didn't even know what food you liked better, what hobbies you enjoyed. You wanted to experience new things, without the influence of Damian, without relying on him. And more importantly, you were scared you would put Damian above yourself time and time again.

It was all you knew. Damian was worth more than your life, worth more than your heart. But if that was true, you wanted to know at least what your heart was worth to you. If you didn't hold any value to yourself, it would be foolish to think you would to anyone else.

You needed the distance. You needed something new. You wanted to dive into uncharted waters and figure out the magic for yourself, without anyone to help you.

"It's not forever," You reminded gently, "I'm going to come back, I can promise you that."

Damian began leaning until his head was settled in your lap and you chuckled, gently scratching his scalp and he nestled into your belly. Hard to believe this was the same boy who left only a year ago. You wondered if you would change as much as he did or if you were stuck in your ways now.

"Okay," He said, voice muffled and you smiled, "I hope you find what you're looking for."

"Thank you for your blessing, Ya Amar. It means the world to me. I love you; you know that."

"I do." He said, now wrapping his arms around your waist, "I love you too."

Forever Taglist:

@simonsbluee

DC Taglist:

@emmacata

@p--e--a--c--h--e--s

@sometimeseverythingsucks

@sokkas-honour

@unstable1902

@lostgirlheart

@missdisapear

@tadpole-san

2K notes · View notes

bipirate · 2 years ago

Text

ok i've finished fma: the final alchemy. final thoughts under the cut but the tldr is that it was mediocre and tried to put way too much plot in 2 hours and 15 minutes. i think out of the 3 movies i think the 2nd one was the best

things i liked:

GREED. he was perfect. perfect casting for both ling and greed :)

the costumes were once again great. loved greed's goth little outfit

olivier mira armstrong. she was so hot. the only war criminal i would risk everything for

though the execution wasn't great, i can at least appreciate the fact that they tried to salvage that mess of the first movie's plot to be more manga-accurate. and i think they did an ok job rearranging scenes that couldn't be salvaged into an at least decent and logical plot

ed's actor is so good and perfectly cast and truly the saving grace of all of these 3 movies

OH! they actually ended mustang's arc with him NOT using a stone and getting his eyesight back!!!!! i like that a lot! this is how it should be!

it was a bad movie but it was very enjoyable to watch, unlike the first one of these. that one was boring as hell

things i didn't like:

the cgi was worse in this movie than in the previous 2 tbh. i feel like the animators and sfx artists were probably working under severe crunch conditions, especially considering how close to each other these last 2 movies were released

set design: i praised the 2nd movie for the decent set design and they threw all that away here lmao like 75% of the sets were gaping empty green screen sets and it was ugly. this combined with the bad cgi just didn't make for interesting visuals

the wigs........ how can the costumes be so good but the wigs so atrocious

mustang's actor being the 3 time champion of the 'go king give us nothing' award

too much plot in too little time.... they tried and i commend them for that but it just didn't work. maybe if the first movie had actually been manga accurate they could've done a lot better

i think my biggest issue with this movie (and the previous one) is that the changes to the plot made certain scenes less emotionally impactful, be it from a lack of buildup or a complete tone shift that wasn't present in the original. An example of the previous movie is the first scar confrontation where ed's arm gets blown up and scar almost kills him. i mentioned this in my post about the previous movie, but that scene didn't land because it came on the tail end of a really upbeat and silly scene, in contrast to the manga/anime, where ed and al were extremely sad and questioning everything about alchemy and themselves after hearing of nina's death. In this movie, they really rushed the plot of the entire second half of the series. greed's arc especially got cut short. you don't feel any sense of danger for ling because not even 10 minutes after he gets turned, we're shown that he can take his body back and that greed has already turned his back on the other homunculi. in the manga, greed worked for the homunculi for at least a couple of months while the plot went on in the background. the scene where greed kills bido and has a breakdown about his previous life, which was the whole catalyst for him breaking ties with the homunculi, is not featured at all (because they never included greed and the devil's nest in the plot). this makes his subsequent arc of learning the power of friendship underwhelming at best, nonexistent at worst

#fma lb

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the-al-chemist · 3 years ago

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When Stars Ignite - Author’s Notes (the-al-chemist)

Don't stop thinking about tomorrow

Don't stop, it'll soon be here

It'll be better than before

Yesterday's gone, yesterday's gone

Don't you look back

~ Fleetwood Mac - Don’t Stop ~

I am not the sort of person to believe in love at first sight. In fact, I don’t believe in love at first sight. However, there are some moments in life when you connect with a person so quickly that you can almost tell that this first interaction with them is going to be the start of something great.

That’s how it felt when Kaze and I first started talking, and in just a couple of months, we went from strangers living in different countries to fierce friends. When the idea of the Rockstar AU came about, it was just a game - matching the characters we knew and loved to the possible roles they might play in a band or crew (a la Jack Black and his children in School of Rock) - but Kaze, being Kaze, quickly found a story that needed to be told.

Originally, it was going to be a series of 5-10 scenelets, exploring the development of Lizzie and Orion’s relationship in a more mature setting, but if there’s one thing we all know about Kaze, it’s that she does not do concise. And, let’s face it, none of us are complaining about that. Way back at the end of May 2020, Kaze came up with the idea of the showdown between Everett and Artemis. Later that evening, I had the idea of a short story/scene set in the aftermath of Everett’s outburst. I named that short story: “When the Sky is Starless”.

I thought that it was a one off, that my contribution to the Rockstar AU was done. But then, Kaze read the story, and asked me to write the story with her. It would be refreshing to have an outsider’s perspective on the band, she said. And, it would be a great balance (ha!) to have a non-romantic side-plot.

Both good points. Artemis isn’t in An Art of Balance. She is watchful and reserved and generally somewhat unsentimental. She was the perfect counter-perspective. Not only that, but she has shown no interest in forming a lasting romantic attachment with anyone. Despite my best efforts with Charlie, I could not get her to see him as more than a friend. They have this wonderful chemistry, but they are just friends. What a great subplot that would be, I thought, in all my naivety: two people forming a deep, meaningful bond, but instead of falling in love romantically, they do so platonically.

As always, Artemis decided to take my plans, and piss all over them.

Artemis Hexley has been a law unto herself ever since she came into being. Of course, as a Rockstar, she was no different. Kaze and I were nearly done with the planning stages of the story when, one night on my way home from work, Eva Cassidy’s cover of “Songbird” came on the radio, and my Artemis senses pinged.

Artemis: Oh.

Al: What do you want this time?

Artemis: Nothing. I don’t want anything. Rockstar me does though.

Al: What does Rockstar you want?

Artemis: To kiss Charlie, I think. Rockstar Charlie, not regular Charlie.

Al: Well, she can’t. He has a girlfriend, and that’s not part of the plan.

Artemis: You need to change the plan, then. Because Rockstar Me is in love with him.

Al: Are you sure?

Artemis: Positive. Now change everything.

Al: Wait. If Rockstar you is in love with Rockstar Charlie, does that mean that regular you-

Artemis: No.

Al: I’m going to break your heart out of spite.

All jokes aside, breaking Artemis’ heart was hard. Really hard. So hard, in fact, that I had to write a whole other story to balance (!) things out. I took my original idea for Artemis’ story in the Rockstar AU - Charlie Weasley taming a feisty little dragon, as told from the perspective of the dragon - and put it back into my canon universe. Of course, Artemis came along and meddled in that story, too, but I have at least come to expect that of her now.

I’ve rambled on for far too long, but there are two more things I want to include before I leave the Rockstar AU behind for good.

Firstly, I want to thank a few people: Kaze @lifeofkaze for dragging me into this mess, and becoming one of the best friends I’ve ever had in the process. Kate @kc-and-co , JD @that-scouse-wizard , Val @whatwouldvalerydo and Erin @thatravenpuffwitch for letting us borrow their characters. And you. Yes, you, reading this. Thank you for joining us and supporting us.

Secondly, and finally, I want to leave you with this passage from Antoine de Saint-Exupery’s The Little Prince:

“If you tame me, it will be as if the sun came to shine on my life. I shall know the sound of a step that will be different from all the others. Other steps send me hurrying back underneath the ground. Yours will call me, like music, out of my burrow. And then look: you see the grain-fields down yonder? I do not eat bread. Wheat is of no use to me. The wheat fields have nothing to say to me. And that is sad. But you have hair that is the color of gold. Think how wonderful that will be when you have tamed me! The grain, which is also golden, will bring me back the thought of you. And I shall love to listen to the wind in the wheat . . ."

The fox gazed at the little prince for a long time.

"Please - tame me!" he said.

…

So the little prince tamed the fox. And when the hour of his departure drew near-

"Ah," said the fox, "I shall cry."

"It is your own fault," said the little prince. "I never wished you any sort of harm; but you wanted me to tame you . . ."

"Yes, that is so," said the fox.

"But now you are going to cry!" said the little prince.

"Yes, that is so," said the fox.

"Then it has done you no good at all!"

"It has done me good," said the fox, "because of the color of the wheat fields."

#when stars ignite #hphm rockstar au #besties out

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binniesthighs · 4 years ago

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two tails | reader x minho |

One

Pairing: self insert, female reader x lee minho

Genre: strangers to lovers, neighbors to lovers, fluff

Tags: neighbors au, comfort fic, catowner!minho, catowner!reader, author!reader, bestfriend!seungmin, agedup!skz, slow burn, plot-driven, gradual romance, meet cute scenarios, lil bit of angst, strained parental relationship, explicit language

Word count: 3.9k

Chapters

P | ONE | TWO

homebody noun

: one whose life centers around the home.

₍⸍⸌̣ʷ̣̫⸍̣⸌₎

Grocery stores are a cursed place. Horrible. You might have guessed that if there were to be a special layer of hell to be reserved for you (which you sure as hell wished there wasn’t) it would likely be a grocery store.

Firstly, they are one of the messiest places that you could ever experience. Have you seen the ways that those beige-y grey floors get caked with dirt and smudges from who knows what? Have you seen the dirt and grime that hides under those produce shelves? Secondly, why is it that everyone always feels the need to get so close to eachother crammed in those isles? Why is it that you have to do that awkward shuffle when your cart and someone else’s cart gets in each other’s way and you have to do the “no you go first” and “no, you go first.”

You prayed that you had been good enough in this life to escape some kind of grocery-store induced hellscape.

Partly it was Bomi’s fault. Temperamental nuisance. Three days into her newest bag of cat food and she suddenly decided to go on a hunger strike. The internet had told you that perhaps she just didn’t like the flavor. Little did the internet know that you had nearly already tried every other flavor there was, even the expensive ones.

You stared down to your crinkled up list filled with the ramblings of an attempted grocery list and other absentminded doodles.

DONT FORGET STUPID NEW CAT FOOD

Under the reminder, you had drawn an angry little cat face with Bomi’s characteristic calico facial splotches.

“Damn cat. You’re lucky that I still love you.” You uttered under your breath.

The wheels of your cart screeched as you turned the corner into the pet isle. Of course, you were the lucky one that had to pick the cart that had only three functioning wheels and whined like your mother over the phone. You cringed to yourself, bearing through the sound and the two glances from a mother and her child throwing an obscenely large bag of dog food into their totally normal cart.

You didn’t need to, but you mouthed a tiny “sorry” to them as you passed them.

The tall metal racks appeared to touch those flickering fluorescent lights above them as you perused them, glancing over all of the brands which you had undoubtedly purchased one time or the other.

Tuna, salmon, tuna and salmon, tuna and veggies, salmon and veggies...

What would it be that Bomi would tolerate this time? Was it grains that she didn’t like? Wet food?

Merely looking at the prices for the canned cat food sprung such a headache that you wished you hadn’t looked at them at all. But, if it was what your princess would eat...

On the highest shelf, your gaze caught a brand that you hadn’t seen before, so you summoned your strength to stand on your tip-toes, stretching up your arm as far as you possibly could, teetering just a little...

“Al...most--”

“Here, I can get that, let me just--”

“--Oh no, it’s fine, I can reach it, thank you--”

“--It’s alright, I’ve almost got it...”

His elegant fingers got tangled up with yours. Had your determination been any weaker, he would have snatched it up all himself, but...

He chuckled a little. “Are you sure?”

You turned your head to affirm, “Positiv--Minho?”

“Y/n?”

You had finally had the little can in your grasp, only to feel it slip out of your fingers in your shock.

The terrible sound of the aluminum can hitting Minho’s head and glasses bonked between your fumbling arms, working just too slow.

“Ssss-OW!”

Minho’s hand went immediately to rub at the top of his head with eyes tightly shut.

“Oh my god!!! Are you okay?”

Instinctually you swooped in to see if any harm had been done.

“Ah-I’m fine, don’t--I’m fine.”

Your neighbor patted down his head, trying to craft a smile for you under his painfully crossed brows.

“Are you sure? I-I’m so sorry. God, I’m so stupid and clumsy, don’t you think that you have a concussion or something?”

He laughed out a sharp chuckle, then winced at what the action did to his head. “I don’t think so.”

“Are you sure about that?” If he could have heard, he would have noticed your heart anxiously beating at a hundred times per second.

“It’s okay, really, I’ve had worse things thrown at my head.”

“What the hell could be worse???”

“You don’t want to know.” He maintained his hopeful grin.

Even after being assaulted by cat food, he was still just as beautiful as you remembered.

“Oh! Your glasses!! Where did those go??”

Frantically, you spun around, shoving your cart aside with another startling screee. Quickly you found them nearest the bird seed.

“Here. Here you go, I hope that they’re not broken.”

“Mm-doesn’t look like it.” Minho inspected them.

“Oh thank God.”

He huffed out one more little scoff-sounding laugh. “At least you’ve got the cat food that you wanted now.

“Yeah, but at what cost?”

“I said don’t worry about me.”

Minho fluffed his hair back into place, likely hiding another rub to his throbbing head.

What even does one say to someone who you nearly wrecked with cat food?

“You uhh--what are you doing here?”

“The same as you, getting cat food.” Minho snatched a bag of food from a lower shelf. “With three mouths to feed you tend to run out pretty fast.”

“Oh! I-uh...can imagine.”

“Weird shopping here like I live here now...never thought that would happen. I’m still getting used to everything around here; never knew that I would end up back living with my mom...and at my age.”

“Don’t-don’t feel bad! It’s a nice area around here! At least I think, and it’s a... nice grocery store...”

You did not think that it was a nice grocery store, but it seemed like the right thing to say.

Minho smiled back at you warmly, just as he had done back on your doorstep, tabby cat in his arms. You had wanted to see it again.

“-Guess that means I’ll be seeing you around here more often too then.” He took the cat food can--his ex-assailant-- to drop into your cart.

“I guess so...and sorry, again.”

“Really don’t worry about it!” Minho rolled up his hands into little sweater paws on the handle of his cart. “I’ll see you later then.”

“See...you...”

Your words trailed behind him, seeing as he had already started wheeling away. As soon as he was out of an earshot, you cursed yourself out terribly--another habit you had developed since living alone; you really were your only company.

“God, Oh god. Now he thinks that I’m a recluse and a wreck, oh god--”

“--Hey! Watch where you’re going!!”

An old man with a newsboy cap griped before you nearly collided with him and his cart full of diet sodas.

“Sorry!! I’m so sorry!” You bowed profusely in apology while removing yourself from the isle as fast as you could.

Grocery stores really were your own kind of personal hell.

₍⸍⸌̣ʷ̣̫⸍̣⸌₎

The cold metal of the bus stop sign dissolved into your sweating forehead while you watched the springtime sunset fade out before you. It really was pretty, and it was just enough to distract you from how weighed down your backpack and numerous reusable bags felt. Had your hands been free, you would have taken a picture.

What time is it even?

Your watch was restricted by the number of straps around your wrists. Sometimes stepping outside of your home and onto the sidewalk was draining enough to make you feel like scurrying back inside. Big trips like this however, had you falling asleep in those uncomfy plastic chairs in (also) disgustingly messy buses.

To your right, you heard the usual hum of the number 10 bus wheel up.

“Wait! Wait!! Hold the bus!!”

Hurried footsteps came patting behind you, followed with shallow running breaths.

Hair bopping and cardigan flopping a little like wings behind him, Minho sprinted to the doors.

“Take a seat ma’am.” The bust driver snapped you out of your embarrassment over seeing him one more time than you would have liked.

“Ah-sorry, I will.”

You shuffled your way near back of the bus and attempted to hide your face behind your bags decorated with none other than flowers and cartoon cats.

“Please don’t see me, please don’t see me.” You chanted under your breath while your neighbor looked for a seat.

“Y/n? Heh, I just keeping running into you don’t I?”

“Minho!!!!” You piped, just a little too animatedly. “Huh! Didn’t figure I would see you here...too...”

Minho slid into the booth across from you. “I mean, it makes sense, we’re going to the same place basically.”

“Don’t you...have a car or something?”

“I do, but I figured that the grocery store was close enough, although, I didn’t really factor in how all of this would weigh a ton.”

“Hm, I never really do as well.”

A pair of older lades glared over at the two of you, clearly displeased that you were disrupting their peaceful bus ride. Minho cowered under their piercing and aged brown eyes, then stealthily slid into the seat next to you.

His washed out jeans brushed up against your leggings, and you felt your hairs stand on end. If there was someone out there who decided if you went to a hellscape grocery store, they must have also been able to mask the smell of your sweat. You hoped that they were listening to your pleading requests.

“It’s a really a nice evening isn’t it?”

Minho peered out your window at the little shops and bustling streets beside you. The sidewalks were decorated with little skinny trees here and there which had just started to bloom with the buds of leaves and flowers. There was a peaceful air about the scene that reminded everyone that the cold would soon be gone for good, and the sky swirled into pinks and purples.

“Oh! Yes, yes it is.”

You tried your best to ignore the fact he was leaning into you slightly.

“So. What else do you do besides be a cat parent and a part-time chucker of canned goods?”

You wanted to crawl in a hole once you saw his adorable grin once more. “I-I have a job, a couple actually.”

“A couple? And what are they?”

“I teach online college courses in creative writing and English.” your glasses fell a little down your nose bridge, so you adjusted them accordingly, “I also edit for a small publishing company--but that’s more of a side thing.”

“That’s...a lot of writing and things like that.”

“Well, it’s what I went to school for, and, I don’t mind...although my mother--”

“--Have you written anything yourself? Anything that I could read?”

You felt your cheeks set ablaze with heat. “You?! Oh no no no no.”

“What?” A mischievous grin overtook Minho’s adorable one. “Do you write provocative content?”

“No! I do not!” Your tone turned more defensive than you had intended.

“Well, what do you write? Even if you did write that kind of stuff, I wouldn’t mind. Provocative contents are trendy these days.”

“I didn’t even say that I write in the first place!”

“I just assumed seeing as you seem to do other things in this field...so, what do you write?”

“It’s embarrassing, and I don’t owe you the knowledge!!”

Minho reached over your fuming body to pull at the bus cord, letting out the little stop requested tune.

“What is it that you do then?”

“Something boring and business-y that you wouldn’t care to know about. It’s definitely not as interesting as what you do I’m sure.”

Your neighbor gathered up his bags while the bus slowed to the stop.

“You coming?”

₍⸍⸌̣ʷ̣̫⸍̣⸌₎

[19:07]

me: seung, i’m such a fool. you will not believe

seungmo: should I even guess? what? Bomi yack during your online lecture again?

me: no, worse.

seungmo: i’m listening.

i guess i don’t really have a choice though don’t I?

you’re just gonna tell me anyway aren’t you?

The cat in question purred in your lap, permitting you your usual one hour of cat-attention a day like she would during the evenings. After your day of embarrassment, you had hunkered down on your favorite place on the couch, swaddled in blankets with the TV playing some nature show that you had been trying to pay attention to. Somehow, the thought that Minho living just doors away made it all seem even worse; you were bound to see him again.

You bit your lip and started tapping away at your phone screen, regaling the entire tale to your best friend--who frankly had enough of your awkward “you-isms.” However, no matter how socially insecure you were, Seungmin appeared to stick by you. In fact, it was one of your “you-isms” that had brought the two of you together.

Four years ago at that pet shelter where you had got Bomi, Seungmin was there too looking for a dog. It was Bomi’s skittish self that leapt out of her cage and into Seungmin’s arms when his dog started barking. Bomi had nearly destroyed Seungmin’s sweater by the way that she had clawed into him. Of course, you took her crime upon yourself and insisted on buying him a new sweater. After an exchange of phone numbers, he hadn’t gotten bored of you yet. Bomi had always liked him more than you--the traitor.

[19:18]

me: ...and then he showed up on the bus, just as I had thought that I had escaped, and then started berating me about what I do for a living.

seungmo: are you sure he wasn’t just asking questions, NOT berating?

me: it felt like it.

seungmo: and why are you telling me all of this?

me: bc I wanted you to give me some comfort?? or reassurance?? isn’t that what friends do?

seungmo: what do you want me to say? I’m sorry, that was really embarrassing? get over it? stuff like that happens to you all the time y/n, I don’t know why you are making such a big teal of it.

*deal of it.

me: wow, you’re being of such help.

seungmo: you’re overthinking it. as always.

me: but i’ll have to SEE HIM again.

Seungmin’s little three writing dots disappeared, and you waited in silent anxiety for what he would say next.

[19:24]

seungmo: you’ve got a crush on him don’t you

₍⸍⸌̣ʷ̣̫⸍̣⸌₎

The evening sky had darkened, and you felt the air temperature begin to drop. It wasn’t unbearable however, and you had prepared yourself well with your giant sheep-like blanket wrapped around your shoulders. The cold wire chair that you sat in was undoubtedly pressing shapes into your bare legs crossed up on it, but you never seemed to mind it.

Bomi yowled behind the sliding glass door to your backyard, so you allowed her to exit, making her a much happier cat. The two of you enjoyed these nights together deeply--they almost felt like a brief escape from life. Bomi would sneak around the edges of the fence, sniffing and looking rather suspicious when her green eyes would glow in the light of the house. Your glasses likely looked the same reflecting the light from your computer screen.

You took one more sip of tea, then opened up your internet. A couple clicks, and you found the notification screen on your page.

hearts: 267

shares: 19

comments: 21

Your eyes scanned over the little paragraphs that some of your readers had written for you. It made your heart swell with immense joy seeing the way that they had analyzed and picked apart every little part of your prose and how they would write IN ALL CAPITIAL LETTERS about how excited they were for your next chapter.

I can’t wait for the next chapter! I’m DYING to know what was in that chest!! I really hope that Bomi can trust Davers. He just seems a little shady to me >////<

YOU’RE INSANE FOR THIS. The fact that Bomi could fight off the dragon while Blaze was confessing his feelings for her??? I could never lollll

P L E A S E protect little Herbie. He’s such a cutie. I wish that hedgehog companions were real, I would take one with me everywhereeeee

N/n, your writing is so so pretty!! I felt like I was right there in the scene with them! The way that you described the enchanted fountain had me drooling ahhh you’re such an inspiration to me as a writer!!!

Blaze fanclub?? i’m trying to see somethin’

“If Blaze were real, I’d be the president of that fanclub.” You laughed out to yourself.

Suddenly, you found you thoughts shifting from your dreamy Blaze to someone much less fictional.

Crushes on boys who were real was much better than one’s who weren’t. It was nice admitting it to yourself at last.

“Ahhhh” You sighed out, doing a little happy dance in your seat, then opened up the chat box to return to the replies.

After responding to as many as you could, you opened up a new chapter.

Chapter 22

Blaze wiped off his sword, stained with the steel blue blood of the dragon, still steaming with heat underfoot. His disheveled deep black trellises were coated in his own sweat but it didn’t make him look any less dashing--per usual.

“Princess Bomi, you still haven’t answered my question.”

Bomi sheathed her own sword, then inspected her wooden shield for any more damage. For a moment, she thought that the claw marks made it look even more beautiful and intimidating.

“Blaze. You know that I can’t talk about romance at a time like this, have you forgotten that the kingdom as stake?”

₍⸍⸌̣ʷ̣̫⸍̣⸌₎

Bomi perched at her usual spot in the window, eyes fluttering closed before she would take her nap that would last for nearly the whole afternoon. You would have been lazing with her, but that would have to wait another hour or so: with your newest paycheck, you had decided to deliver some new flowers to yourself for your garden.

The little array was spread out before you: yellow and purple pansies, pink tulips, fuchsia and baby pink peonies, and dainty while lilies of the valley were arranged where you had planned to adorn your front lawn. The aroma of the flowers lingering in the air was enough to make you feel as if you had transported yourself to the very magical gardens that you would be writing about that evening.

A pair of songbirds chittered past, carrying their whistles behind them. For a brief moment, the sun shone directly onto your arms spotted with dirt and filled your whole body with warmth. Nothing was more peaceful than this. You took to work, crackling them out of their plastic pots, and digging at the earth in holes to hold them down. After a while, you felt the dew from the grass start to soak into your work-jeans, but it was a welcome little cool feeling. Next, you popped up to hose them down with your little attachment that made the water cascade like a rain-shower. You admired for a moment how the water would create little rainbows from the spray.

“Ahem, uh-hi there!”

You choked out a gasp before swinging around, aiming the hose like your sword to the startling voice.

“STAY BACK!!’

You pointed the stream directly at them, only in your horror to see your neighbor, trademark cardigan and all, soaking wet from your weapon.

“GOD! That’s cold.”

The fabric hung onto him, adhering to every part of his body which was much more toned than you had expected.

Minho looked absolutely bewildered as the water dripped off his frame with sad little pat pat pats on the concrete sidewalk.

“Oh God. Oh God. Minho, I’m so so sorry. I-I can’t believe that I keep doing this to you--”

You nearly felt like crying, but for fear of embarrassing yourself further, you decided to turn around quickly in search of your rags. They were garden rags, but dry nonetheless.

“Here, here, I-I think that these should help.”

You dabbed at his body, although it was clear that this wasn’t helping in the slightest.

“Stop, stop,” He pushed your hands away. “I just live next door, I’ll live being a little drenched.”

“You realize that's an oxymoron right?” Your nervous hands continued dabbing.

“A what??” Minho kindly laughed at your frantic hands.

“It’s a...writing thing. Sorry...”

“I really need to be careful around you don’t I?”

Your mouth crinkled into a flustered line. “M’sorry.”

“Can you quit apologizing?? Here, I came over to give you these, my mom made some extra side dishes so she wanted me to bring them over to you.”

“Oh.” He handed you the little bundle of Tupperware containers. “Thanks.”

“She also, or--I mean--I wanted to invite you over so that you could meet my cats...and! my mom. My mom too.”

“You want me to come over?”

“I did mention that I wanted to a little while ago didn’t I?”

“Oh! You did...”

“Does next Saturday work? Around 5?”

“I-I can do five.” You brushed your muddied hand across your sweating brow.

Minho scoffed, “You’ve...got something...on your...”

“Oh! Oops.” You tried your best to wipe off the dirt, but you didn’t know you had only made it worse.

Minho squeezed out his soaked sleeve to carefully raise it to your forehead. “Here, like this.”

This close to you, his brown eyes deeply shone with the color of coffee, chocolate, the bark of forest trees after a spring rain, and a million other things that your writer brain could compare them to.

“There. It’s all gone.”

For a moment, you wondered if you really had fantasized him, or if he really was real. For you, you wouldn’t have been surprised if he was some kind of figment of your imagination: they usually were.

₍⸍⸌̣ʷ̣̫⸍̣⸌₎

[1 missed call, Mom, 09:12]

“Y/n are you there? Why is it that you never pick up your phone? I’ve told you so many times that you should pick up when I call. What if it’s an emergency? What if someone’s died?? Nevermind, I wanted to call and tell you my friend’s daughter is getting engaged and I’ve been invited to the bridal party. I think that you should come with. It’ll be good to get you out of that house.

Why is it that you haven’t gotten yourself married yet? You know that you aren’t getting any younger?? Either way, call me back. You’ll need to bring a gift too. Its impolite to show up without a gift.

Ah, I almost forgot. Your brother got a promotion at work; I’m not sure if he’s told you. We’ll be having dinner to celebrate this weekend. Can I count on you to be there?

Also, how is the job search going? Your father has some more connections for you to speak to. You need to take advantage of every one of them. You’re so close to getting something that really matters. I can feel it. Ah, I just feel like you’re wasting away there sitting at that computer with those silly classes. It’s like, barely any contribution at all. You could be making so much more money.

Anyway, call me back once you hear this.

love you sweetie, talk soon.

i know that its tuesday and i said I would publish on mondays shhh just pretend I published this yesterday ooP

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hamliet · 4 years ago

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The Girl Who Gets to Have It All: Buffy Summers

So with @linkspooky‘s encouragement, I have binged Buffy the Vampire Slayer and relived my childhood culture. And, it's a 10/10 for me. Not that it doesn't have flaws, but it's genuinely one of the best stories I've seen, with consistent character arcs, powerful themes, and a beautiful message. It's also like... purportedly about vampires and demons and superpowered chosen ones, but it's actually all about humanity.

Buffy was able to be a teenage girl, allowed to like the things teen girls are scorned for (boys, shopping, etc), to be insecure about the thing teenage girls are insecure about (future careers, dating, school, parents), and to be a superhero with its good and its bad aspects. The story wasn’t afraid to call Buffy on her flaws (sometimes she got in a very ‘I am the righteous chosen one’ mode) and to respect and honor each of her desires (to be a good person, to be loved, and more). The story listened to what she wanted and respected her desires, giving her the challenges needed to overcome her flaws while also never teaching her a lesson about wanting bad boys or romance is silly or any manner of dark warnings stories like to throw at teenage girls.

It respected teenage girls--nerdy girls like Willow, jocks like Buffy, lonely wallflowers with trauma like Dawn, and popular/snobby ones like Cordelia, girls gone wild like Faith. It never once reduced them to the stereotypes that were lurking right there: each character was fully rounded, human, flawed and yet with respected interests and goals. This is so rare for a story that I’m still in awe.

The story as a whole follows Buffy from 15 to 21, of her as she grows from teenager to adult. She acts like a teenager and grows to act like a young adult, wrestling with loneliness and duty. The adults, like Giles, Joyce, and Jenny, are not perfect either, but neither are they “bad parents” or “bad mentors” necessarily. Joyce in particular says something terrible to Buffy, but she tries to do better, and it’s rare to see a parent in YA stories shown with such nuance. Basically, it wrote the long-lasting adult characters as human beings, too.

Speaking of growing up, I appreciated how Buffy’s love interests mirrored this. Angel was someone Buffy loved and admired, wanted to be like, but who was always either extreme good or extreme bad, and combined with Buffy’s own tendencies towards black-white thinking, made for a beautiful relationship to help her grow, but didn’t necessarily form a foundation for a long-term partner. Spike, on the other hand... they both saw each other at their worst and were drawn to each other even then, and were inspired to become better because they couldn’t bear to be a person who treated the other person so wrongly. They pushed each other to become the best them they could be, and believed in each other. Also, Spuffy is an enemies to lovers ship for the ages.

(Also, most of the other ships were well-done or at least can be understood. Riley was very obviously wrong for Buffy which paralleled Harmony and Spike in being 100% wrong for each other. Cordelia and Xander were a fun ship even if we all knew it would never last, and Willow and Oz were beautiful and cute. But Xander and Anya and Willow and Tara? OTPs. As were Giles and Jenny, the librarian and the computer teacher.)

That said, it’s not a perfect series. No story is. All of the characters and ships had problematic aspects to them worthy of critique, and the writing is very 90s in a lot of ways. It’s a product of its time, and in many ways it’s good society has progressed beyond some of the tropes/metaphors used in the show. In other way, though, the show was ahead of its time, and in a good way it wasn’t bound by the fear of purity policing with its takes on redemption (many characters would never fly today).

So, in order of seasons ranked from my very favorite to my “still enjoyed it very much” (no season was actually bad, imo), here’s my review. I’ll also review my top 10 villains in the show, because Buffy does villains very well in terms of the redeemable and irredeemable.

Season 7: Yep, the final season was my favorite.

Overall Opinion: Buffy's finale is literally "f*ck them men, our power is ours" and while it seems cheesy it actually works (also, f*ck in both a literal and figurative sense). The series strongly hit all the themes: love as strength, and redemption. Buffy consistently shows love as her strength--*all* kinds of love. Friendship w Willow/Xander, familial with Joyce/Dawn, romantic with Spike/Angel. These types of love are also never pitted against each other as is so often the case in current-day media. It's beautiful. Also, Spike’s confrontation with Wood was so powerful in terms of exploring forgiveness, redemption, and reconciliation: where they overlap and where they don't, and what it means to move forward.

Unpopular Opinion: I have seen a lot didn’t like the inclusion of Potential Slayers, and while I agree they could have been better incorporated/characterized, it was a great way to show Buffy’s final stage of growing up to be ending her chosen one status and projecting/multiplying her powers over the world.

Biggest Critique: Kennedy was female Riley--the anti-Tara to Riley’s anti-Angel (by ‘anti’ I mean opposite in every way). Kennedy was annoying and immature. Her role, like Riley’s, was less about exploring her as a character and more about her just being stamped as “love interest: lesbian.”

Favorite Episodes: Beneath You, Lies My Parents Told Me, Touched, Chosen

Season 6:

Overall Opinion: I said this on Twitter, but I felt like this was Buffy’s The Last Jedi or Empire Strikes Back moment. It is polarizing and dark, deconstructing the tropes it stands on--but by digging to the core of these tropes, it actually makes what’s good about them shine brighter. Everyone’s enemy was the worst versions of themselves. Giles left Buffy, Willow's struggle to relate to the world led to her trying to destroy it, Buffy hurt everyone through her anger, Xander abandoned Anya at the altar, Spike... yeah. It ages well as an integral part of the story, and the Trio were eerily prophetic.

Unpopular Opinion: Dawn is a great character with a good arc. A traumatized teen acting out and struggling to come to terms with loss and identity? She wasn’t whiny; she was realistic.

Biggest Critique: Willow’s addiction coding (I’ll discuss this below) and Seeing Red as an episode. I see the argument for both of its controversial scenes from a narrative perspective: Willow starts the season not grieving Buffy but instead being determined to fix it with magic and needs to learn to grieve, but. Still. Bury your gays is not a good look. For the Spike scene... he conflates sex/passion and violence (”love is blood, children” is something he said way back in season 3), but like Tara’s death, it had more to do with Spike (as Tara’s death did for Willow) than with Buffy’s arc, and as for the actual execution... they really botched that. Did it like... have to go on that long or go that far? No. Also, the framing was good, but inconsistent with the rest of the series (Xander to Buffy in the hyena episode, Faith to Xander and to Riley, etc.)

Favorite Episodes: Once More With Feeling, Smashed, Grave

Season 3 (tied with Season 5):

Overall Opinion: The opening continuity of Buffy meeting Lily/Anne after saving her life in Season 2 was sweet. The Witchhunt episode had really powerful subtext: stories of deaths that aren’t even true are actually demons that possess the town and convince them to turn against their children in the name of protecting the children. It’s a good commentary on, oh, everything in society. Faith’s character arc was fantastic, and her chemistry with Buffy was off the charts (look, I may be Spuffy all the way, but Fuffy has rights). The finale was satisfying in so many ways, seeing the entire graduating class unite to destroy the Mayor and the school with it, symbolizing Buffy et al’s readiness to move on to college. Oz's relationship with Willow was very sweet and meaningful for a first romance for Willow.

Unpopular Opinion: I actually don’t really have one. Maybe that the miracle in Amends was earned? I think you can make a decent case that Season 3 is the best written of the seasons, but can only truly be thematically appreciated to its full potential in the light of subsequent seasons (which finish Faith’s arc and deconstruct Buffy’s).

Biggest Critique: It forgot Buffy killed the hyena guy in Season 1, making her continual insistence that she can’t kill people very ?????

Favorite Episodes: Lovers Walk, Amends, Graduation Day Part 2

Season 5, which ties with Season 3:

Overall Opinion: The entire season is about family and what it means, from Tara’s to Buffy’s to the Scoobies. I loved Glory aka Enoshima Junko as the Big Bad, I loved Dawn’s interesting meta commentary on retconning (like, the fact that she’s retconned in matters), and most of my ships are still alive. Joyce’s relationship with Spike is one of the most heartwarming aspects, and Spike’s arc’s desire is clearly highlighted: he wants to be seen as a person. The episodes after Joyce’s death are the most honest portrayals of grief I’ve ever seen, and absolutely brutal to watch.

Unpopular Opinion: Buffy’s choice at the end seems a deliberate inversion of her choice at the end of Season 2 (sacrifice a loved one to save the world), but it actually isn’t: much like at the end of Season 2 where Buffy skips town because she’s devastated after killing Angel and doesn’t want to sort out being expelled, her mom knowing she’s the slayer, and her own trauma, Buffy’s sacrifice here was as much about her wanting the easy way out of relationships, family, college, etc. as it was about saving Dawn. Buffy’s death is coded as a suicide, which Season 6 emphasizes as well.

Biggest Critique: Like Season 3, I don’t have a lot to critique here. I wish the suicidal coding had been a little more obvious in Season 5 itself, but also I’m not sure it could have been more obvious; it’s pretty apparent if you pay attention. Maybe also that Buffy and Riley’s relationship failing should have been more squarely blamed on Riley, you know, being insecure and cheating.

Favorite Episodes: Family, Fool for Love, Intervention.

Season 2:

Overall Opinion: Heartbreakingly tragic but exciting and revealing at the same time. It asked the viewer interesting questions about redemption and forgiveness and atonement through Angel being honest about his past, and then decided to show us his past now reenacted, challenging us. And still, we saw them save him in a parallel to saving Willow in Season 6 (but Season 2 was tragic because it wasn’t enough, while Season 6 was not). Jenny’s death was agonizing, and the scene were Angel watches Buffy, Willow, and Joyce get the news through the window was powerful. We didn’t have to hear them to get the grief.

Unpopular Opinion: Jenny’s death isn’t a fridging; it works for her arc too when you consider her history. She worked to save the person whose life she was tasked to ruin, and it cost her her own--yet she still succeeded, because Jenny brought joy and wisdom to the show. Kendra’s death, on the other hand... was because they needed the stakes to be high--but we already knew that before she died. So, her death was useless.

Biggest Critique: The subtext was Not It. It was essentially “do not have sex. Your older boyfriend will lose his soul, kill your friends, you’ll lose your family, your school, your home, and have to kill your true love or else hell will literally swallow earth.”

Favorite Episodes: School Hard, Passion, Becoming Part 2.

Season 1:

Overall Opinion: I really liked it; it’s just lower on this list because the others are just better. It’s a great introduction to the series and to its characters, from Giles to Buffy to Willow to Jenny to Cordelia. It has great subtext a lot of the time (for example, Natalie French as She-Mantis is a literal predatory bug who engages in predatory behavior with students). Additionally, it subverts the typical YA trope of two guys and a girl, in which the girl is usually the least interesting character. Buffy and Willow were both fully fledged characters from the beginning with distinct strengths (even before Willow became a witch, as she wasn’t one in season 1 yet), while Xander was the more ordinary of the group.

Unpopular Opinion/Biggest Critique: Xander’s arc showed its first flaws that unfortunately continued throughout the series: his writing was either very good or very indulgent in ways it never was for other characters. (cough, the hyena episode, cough, in which he gets to skirt responsibility--and acknowledges that he is skirting it--for something the show will later hold others to account for). Xander’s just kind of inconsistent, which weakened his character over all. (Which is why both his love interests--Cordelia and then ultimately Anya--were good for him: they did not indulge him.)

Favorite Episode: Witch, Nightmares.

Season 4:

Overall Opinion: it’s still a good season. It’s a good portrayal of college and the growing pains of branching out, the strains of college growth on relationships (romantic and platonic). It shows us the first hints of Spuffy, giving us some serious Jungian symbolism between Spike and Buffy early on, and does well in establishing Xander/Anya and Willow/Tara as beautiful OTPs. Faith and Buffy’s foiling is fantastic. The Halloween episode was very fun as well. However, it suffers because its Big Bad, Adam, is not all that compelling thematically--yet, he could have been. See, the final battle pulls off the Power of Friendship in a really strong way but notably the season does not end there. Instead, it ends on dreams of each character’s worst fears, continuing what we saw in Nightmares in Season 1. Why? Because it shows us that the characters’ wars aren’t against monsters, but monsters of their own making: their flaws. Adam, as a literal Frankenstein, exemplifies this, but it wasn’t capitalized on as well as it could have been.

Unpopular Opinion: Beer Bad isn’t a bad episode, at the very least because Buffy gets to punch Parker. It’s not one of the series’ best, obviously, but it does give Buffy an arc in that she gets her daydream of Parker begging her to come back, but she has overcome that desire and her desire for revenge. If we wanna talk about bad subtext in Season 4, Season 2′s Not It sex subtext continues in the Where the Wild Things Are episode in this season; it’s a powerful callout of abusive purity-culture churches, until the fact that the shame creates a literal curse undermines the progressive message it’s supposed to send. Also, the Thanksgiving episode (Pangs) is a nightmare of white guilt and Oh God Shut Up White People.

Biggest Critique: Riley is awful. Like Kennedy, he had “love interest:normal” stamped on him and that was it. The thing is, he could have worked as an Angel foil, representative of the normal-life aspect of Buffy to Angel’s vampire/supernatural aspect, but the writers never explore this and seemed to even try to back away from that later on. They threw all the romantic cliches at the wall to see what sticks, from klutzy “I dropped my schoolbooks, that’s how we met” to cliché lines that had me rolling my eyes. Do you know how bad a romance has to be to make me dislike romantic tropes?

Favorite Episodes: Fear Itself, Hush, Restless

Villain rankings:

Dark Willow, the only villain to be truly sympathetic. While the addiction coding was insensitive and, while unsurprising for its time, aged extremely poorly. That said, Willow’s turn to the dark side after Tara’s death worked well for her character and the story: it was believable and paid off what had been building since Season 1's “Nightmares” episode (Willow’s inferiority complex).

Glory managed to be genuinely terrifying, and humorous/enjoyable too. Her minions and their numerous nicknames for Glorificus were hilarious, as was her intense vanity. Her merging with Ben--a human being who genuinely wanted to be kind and good--added complexity and tragedy to her role.

The First. A really good take on Satan. The seventh season as well as the First’s first appearance in season 3′s “Amends” had kind of blatant Christian symbolism, and so the First being essentially Satan works. Their disguising themselves as dead loved ones and the subtle manipulation they used to alienate people was really disturbing and well done.

The Mayor, who was a terrible person but a truly good father. He provided an interesting contrast to the normal ‘bad dad’ bad guy character, in that he provided Faith exactly what the other characters refused to: he saw the best in her and offered her parental support, while the heroes didn’t and wound up pushing her away.

The Trio, who were villains ahead of their time: whiny fanboy reddit dudebros, basically. The stakes seemed so much lower than fighting Glory, a literal god, the previous season. But that’s why they worked so well for Season 6′s human themes, and were especially disturbing because we all know people like them. I also appreciated the surprisingly sensitive takes on Jonathan and Andrew, who got to redeem themselves, but Warren did not, and I don’t think he should have either.

Angelus + Drusilla. I’m ranking them below the Trio because Angelus was just sooooo different from Angel that it was difficult for me to feel the same way for him. He was still Angel, so it wasn’t possible to enjoy his villainy, but he also wasn’t nearly as sympathetic as Dark Willow, had no redeeming qualities like the Mayor, and wasn’t as disturbingly realistic as the Trio. However, the emotional stakes were excellently executed with him as the Big Bad, in that you were never quite sure how to feel and it just plain hurt. Also, Drusilla was a favorite recurring character. She was sympathetic and yet batsh*t enough to be enjoyable as a villain at the same time.

The Master, who was just completely camp and really worked as an introductory villain. He was scary enough to believe he was a threat, and was funny enough to introduce the series’ humor as well. He was, like Glory, an enjoyable Big Bad.

The Gentlemen, the one-off villains of Season 4′s Hush who were genuinely terrifying. It’s not as if they got a lot of explanation or any backstory, but they didn’t need it.

Caleb, the misogynist priest. Fitting with the First’s Christian symbolism, Caleb serving as a spokesperson of all bad religious beliefs felt appropriate. He was also a good foil to Warren--being actually supernaturally powered instead of a wannabe--and to Tara’s family in being full-out evil. I despised him.

Snyder. Okay Snyder is not a Big Bad like Adam is, but let’s face it: Adam is lame compared to the other villains. But Snyder as a principal? He was so irritating and yet really well used in the series to critique overly strict, hypocritical teachers. Like, we all know teachers like him. I loved to hate him, and his ending was so satisfying.

#buffy the vampire slayer #btvs #spuffy #buffy summers #dawn summers #spike #angel #cordelia chase #btvs giles #willow rosenberg #tillow #tara maclay #anya jenkins #xanya #xander harris #jenny calendar #kendra young #faith lehane #hamliet reviews

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codename-adler · 4 years ago

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more of Jeremy B. Knox & Jean A. Moreau

I forgot to mention it in my previous post, but did you know that "Aurélien" was the name of a famous Roman emperor who officialized a new cult in the late Roman empire... in honor of the Sun God.

coincidence? I think not!

Jeremy will schedule French Movie Nights every Sunday night, to learn French and to connect with Jean, and so Jean can hear the language and not lose it, and eventually talk with Jeremy in French

it also gives Jeremy a subject of discussion with Jean

Jean doesn’t know any movies except a vague souvenir of Disney’s classics, Tintin, Spirou, and La vie est belle

little #Lailalvarez side note:

Maria Catalina Sara Marisol Alvarez is majoring in Psychology.

Laila Dermott is majoring in English.

They will adopt Jean as their own child just as they did with Jeremy. Shut up Jean we're your moms now.

Jean is very awkward towards women, the way he would be cautious with poisonous flowers: pretty but deadly.

the examples of Thea Muldani, Laila Dermot and Sara Catalina Alvarez are self-explanatory

it takes him a while (10 MONTHS JEAN WE COUNTED!) to warm up to Laila and Alvarez, although it takes them a few months too to see past his abrasive exterior

what seals the deal is when the two girls kidnap both Jean and Jeremy to bring them to a specialized kennel

to force them to adopt not one, but two therapy dogs

remember, Alvarez's a psych major and Laila is all about tough love

the toughest love

Alvarez: We're not leaving until we add two other members to the Trojans family and they better have four legs and the fluffiest fur.

Jeremy: But I don't-

Alvarez: Cállate Jeremy

Laila: Jeremy, sweetie... You got issues. Choose a damn dog.

of course the university's funding and Coach Rhemann approve

because while the Trojans are the best at sportsmanship and all that jazz, they are ridden with anxiety and imposter's syndrome and yaddiyaddiyadda (according to Alvarez)

and these 2 girls aren't dumb

they know exposing Jean like that with a service dog would backfire monstrously

they also know Jeremy has some unresolved trauma (we'll get into that... later) and so does the rest of their team

so while Jean's getting a real, trained and licensed therapy dog, the kennel also offers emotional support dogs that aren't really trained and can just be dedicated domestic companions

that way, the girls kill like, 2, 3, 4 birds with two dogs...

now, what are the dogs?

Jean gets free rein over the choice of his dog, and even though the trainers assure him that all their dogs have passed multiple tests to be qualified, he asks which is the least agressive breed, and which runs the fastest among those they have

they direct him towards a Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever dog, a toller, if you will

it's got bright red fur, with a bit of white on the neck and nose, and it's got the most honest hazel eyes Jean has ever looked into (*ahem* except Jeremy's, but that's not the point)

and then Jean sits down, he sits down, on the dirty floor of the pen, to extand his hand towards the dog

and the dog rests his nose in it

so gently, so earnestly, it almost breaks Jean's heart

Laila and Alvarez watch from afar, proud mommies with misty eyes

Jeremy, for his part, keeps looking between Jean, the dog, and his two bestfriends, dumbfounded

that easy, huh

he also can't look at the scene for more than a few seconds or he'll genuinely cry

for the rest of their time at the kennel, Jean stays on the floor with his chosen companion

now, for Jeremy...

Jeremy does not get free rein

because he is Jeremy Knox

and his taste is not to be trusted

exhibit A: Jeremy asks the trainers for a French bulldog ("Laila, it's French! Don't you get it??")

exhitbit B: Jeremy asks the trainers for a poodle ("Al, it's fluffy! You said fluffly??")

also, this dog will be the Trojans' unofficial mascot, and it has to be a respectable one, even though Jeremy will be the one to mostly care for it

the girls have to say no to a Shih Tzu, a Bobtail, a Bulldog and, another French bulldog

they're not sure if Jeremy's messing with them or if he genuinely thinks these dogs could represent the Trojans with honor (they're hoping for the former)

(the girls also can't believe he hasn't chosen a Golden Retriever yet, as it is the literal personification of Jeremy Knox)

but that's because Jeremy is very methodic

he tries to take every member of his team into account in his decision

mostly Jean

not too big (Jean), but not too small (Trojans); not to mean-looking (Jean), but not too cute (Trojans); not too excited (Jean), but not too lazy (Trojans)...

Jeremy keeps going in circle, examining all the dogs many, many times

yet he keeps coming back to one pen, spending more time looking at it

it's not the prettiest dog, nor the most fierce-looking, and that's why he doesn't want to say anything

because he really likes it

he really, really does

there's just something about it... that thing you can't explain and that Jean probably found right away with his toller dog

Jeremy looks around, sees the girls talking with another trainer, and silently tries to get the lady trainer's attention

"This one... why does it look like that?" he asks

"Oh, it's a Shar Pei, a miniature one. All this extra skin and fat is specific to that breed. It'll always look like that, and even though it hasn't reached it's full size yet, it won't grow much bigger than that. They're very, very soft and loyal. And it's very therapeutic to pet them. There's something about their chubbiness..."

Jeremy doesn't have trouble believing her

he really, really likes that dog

maybe if he doesn't say anything, and lets Laila and Alvarez see how much he likes that dog... maybe they won't laugh

so Jeremy asks for permission to sit down and pet the dog, like Jean

they’re on complete opposite sides of the room, yet they mirror each other

when Jeremy looks up, he sees Jean already staring at him, absentmindedly petting his dog

Jeremy offers him a big and bright smile, hands occupied with is own dog

and Jean returns the smile, a small, shy one, but a genuine one

Laila and Alvarez see all of this unfold, and they smirk to each other

Mission accomplished

the four of them fill out the forms and the girls let the boys bring their dogs back to the car

the kennel had made sure to call their dogs "Boy" or "Girl" so their owners would be able to name them, and even though Laila and Alvarez secretely but totally approved of Jeremy's choice, they now feared his naming skils

as they should

Jeremy is very basic

the basic-est

he suggests Buddy, Max, Boy, Toto... yikes

Jean suggests Kevin, as a joke

(Kevin Day doesn't know how close it came to having a pile of fluffy fat named after him)

the girls throw in some ideas too, consulting the team on their groupchat

after discovering that everyone's favorite book series was PJO and HoO, they choose the best name

Grover Underwood

Jeremy is in love with his new best friend ( *cue the girls: Thanks, Jer. Really appreciate it.*)

Jean, for his part, is quite overwhelmed

he's never had that kind of responsibility before, never had that kind of freedom

how do you go about naming a dog?

he isn't bothered by the others to choose a name, they pretty much leave it to his discretion, however long it takes

after 2 days, he consults Jeremy, unable to do it alone anymore

Jeremy suggests naming his dog after things or people he likes, books he's read, movies he's seen, etc.

up til then, Jean had caught up a bit on pop culture and things he had missed while in the Nest, but it had been hard to really attach himself to these things

except music

music fills some of the void he was left with when he got away

Jeremy and the team made him listen to everything

from classicals to pop to R&B to musicals

(am I really gonna bring this up again?)

(yes. yes I am.)

Jean really enjoyed musicals

not so much the more comical ones, but the dramatic, sad ones...

yes, Les Misérables, that goes without saying

but also.

Hamilton.

(YES OKAY?)

long story short, Jean introduces his dog as Eliza to the rest of the Trojans, and he's feeling quite a bit proud of himself when they ask why and they all immediately approve

and that's the story of how Jean and Jeremy got dogs together, even though they still had a long way to go before being together

#jerejean #jerejean hcs #jeremy knox #jean moreau #the trojans #laila dermott #sara alvarez #alvarez #aftg #exy #all for the game #kevin day

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dangermousie · 4 years ago

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2020 End of Year Post - kdrama edition

You can find my 2020 cdrama post here: dangermousie.tumblr.com/post/638449659546845184/2020-end-of-year-post-cdrama-edition

This is only going to cover kdramas that aired in 2020; if it originally aired another year, it’s not on this list.

It’s been a pretty lackluster kdrama year. There are probably only 5 kdramas I truly loved and only three of them I was really obsessed over. Better luck in 2021!

DRAMAS WATCHED

(In order of liking from least to most as opposed to pure quality; I am including if I’ve seen enough to make up my mind; yes I realize that’s inaccurate, but that’s my list)

42 Born Again - so bad, so incoherent, so insane, I have no idea why the leads signed up for it (and unlike some of the other watchers, I think it was awful from the very start.) There is literally nothing about this drama that makes sense.

41 Love with Flaws - a bunch of people who should be tried under the Geneva Convention.

40 Sweet Munchies - Jung Il Woo proves his inability to pick a functional script.

39 Meow the Secret Boy - if you ever wanted to bang a cat, this drama is for you. Not being a furry, however...

38 Do Do Sol Sol La Sol - I lost braincells just typing out this title.

37 When I Was the Most Beautiful - the only way it’s not the dumbest, most pointless melo of 2020 is because Born Again considerately came out the same year.

36 Woman of 9.9 Billion - if you want to watch an artsy French movie about miserable people, but only badly made, boy do I have a drama for you.

35 Lies after Lies - screams after screams.

34 Backstreet Rookie - people were up in arms about various problematic plots. I am a survivor of many plots much more problematic but even I couldn’t survive how utterly boring and annoying this drama was and how utterly irritating the leads were. This has taken Ji Chang Wook off my top favorites into “should I even check his latest Lovestruck in the City? Probably not” territory almost single-handedly (Melt Me helped, to be fair.)

33 Men Are Men - boring is boring.

32 Dinner Mate - two beautiful boring people eat out a lot.

31 Was It Love - no it wasn’t.

30 Alice - Joo Won in the shower can make up for a multitude of sins but not plot nonsense of such magnitude. When you find yourself thinking it would be better if he hooked up with the alternate universe version of his mother because at least then something entertaining would happen, you know it’s bad.

29 More than Friends - started out OK, then made me hate basically everyone and kept going.

28 Start-Up - honestly, it’s probably more decent than its place here, but the toxic and batshit fandom for it (the worst this year) made me feel like breaking out in hives any time it’s even mentioned.

27 The Spies who Loved Me - how to take a good cast and waste it.

26 Private Lives - it was good but it never took off with its concept and spent more time on the incoherent plot than the OTP which was its one strength. It’s a decent drama but coming after Heartless City and My Beautiful Bride from the same writer, it’s a disappointment.

25 Record of Youth - as high as it is due to Park Bo Gum hard carrying this entire awful drama on his shoulders and doing it so well I finished it. Alas, while he is in one drama (and that drama is great), the rest of the characters and the entirety of the script are a pointless useless mess.

24 Do You Like Brahms - excellent first third, mediocre middle, and terrible last third. I don’t know what musical term applies to this? Diminuendo, I think.

23 I’ll Go to You When the Weather is Nice - nice and mellow but nothing much happens.

22 Forest - mainly for Park Hae Jin’s excellent and frequently naked bod.

21 The Ballot - I didn’t love it as much as everyone did but it was well-made.

20 Hyena - more romance and less weird law stuff would make it better.

19 365 Repeat the Year - surprisingly solid.

18 The Game Towards Zero - see 365.

17 When My Love Blooms - very old fashioned, very lovely.

16 Chocolate - also very old fashioned and very lovely but also with Yoon Kye Sang performing medical procedures bleeding and shirtless. MMM.

15 (tie) Secret Royal Inspector - a fun if run of the mill sageuk.

15 Find Me In Your Memory - best melo this year.

14 Mystic Pop Up Bar - surprisingly good even though I wasn’t planning to check it out.

13 Where Your Eyes Linger - came out of nowhere but was tender and hopeful and lovely.

12 Itaewon Class - Park Seo Joon hard carries a drama that is already excellent. Love it.

11 Psychopath Diary - Yoon Shi Yoon is such a treat in a hilarious, cynical, dark comedy.

10 Kairos - more like ouroboros.

9 Queen Love and War - in a year where sageuks are very rare, this was solid and surprisingly moving and shippy.

8 The King Eternal Monarch - people didn’t like it but I did. It’s no masterpiece and both the leads and the writers have better dramas, but it was a lovely romantic fairy tale for me.

7 Mr. Queen - sharp, hilarious, and some of my favorite actors.

6 Psycho But It’s OK - healing, sharp cinematography and even sharper chemistry.

5 Crash Landing on You - the last ep pissed me off so much this drama is dead to me but I loved it so much until then I can’t place it lower in good conscience.

4 Train - who knew I would go this hard for an OCN drama or that OCN would do romance so well? But this time-travel mystery romance is just incredible and I shipped the OTP and rooted for the characters and loved every last bit of it.

3 Run On - this is the drama Record of Youth wanted to be but failed. Smart and lived in, you feel like you are peeking at real people, but also even four episodes in, I am so invested in the main characters separately and together, and care for them so much, it’s a little frightening.

1 (tie) Tale of the Nine Tailed - my perfect fantasy romance. I liked it better than Goblin, yeah I said it.

1 Flower of Evil - all the tropes I love in one incredible package. I would rewatch episodes waiting for new ones trying to puzzle the story and to stay withdrawal but it works just as well on rewatch. Lee Jun Ki brings his trademark tortured intensity and for once, both his leading lady and his script back him up and are worthy of that. It’s perfect.

FAVORITE DRAMA

It’s a tie between Tale of the Nine Tailed and Flower of Evil but if I had to pick just one, FoE, because it had me seriously obsessed and guessing about the protagonist and gave me the narrative tropes I love so much and an OTP that statisfied all my hurt/comfort kinks and then some.

WORST DRAMA

Born Again - honestly, this is so bonkers it almost becomes good but alas...

FAVORITE MALE CHARACTER

Do Hyun Soo/Baek Hee Sung, Flower of Evil - he is so messed up, so on edge, so traumatized. Yet capable of so much warmth and caring even as he himself doesn’t realize his humanity. FoE is basically a story of a man pushed and punished by the world for his entire life who, because of one woman, finds a safe place and peace and slowly comes to life without realizing it, and watching his desperation to keep this small bit of normalcy is so heartbreaking and exciting all at once. Plus, you start the drama thinking he’s a psychopathic serial killer and end it (if you are me) thinking he must be protected at all costs and if anyone even looks at him wrong they must suffer, and that’s quite a change!

FAVORITE FEMALE CHARACTER

Nam Ji Ah, Tale of the Nine Tailed - she is so funny and tough and smart and loving and amazing that I will totally buy that a literal demi-god will do anything and everything for her and love her for literal eternity.

NEEDS TO BE MURDERED

Dad in Record of Youth - yes in a year with serial killers and supernatural demons, I picked a normal character from a mediocre drama. It’s his everyday awfulness to his family that hits so hard and I am sad he never got his comeuppance.

FAVORITE SHIP

Ji Ah x Yeon - a fearless reporter and an immortal demi-god who’s been hoping for his human beloved to reincarnate. A really rare set-up where the OTP is equally ride or die, so compatible and completely BAMF. I got why he waited for her for that long and then fell in love with her all over again. Perfection.

Runner up: Flower of Evil - he is so messed up he literally does not believe he is capable of love or empathy, but he falls in love with her anyway and so utterly she permeates his entire life. She is tough as nails and only believes what she sees and is the sole person who believes in him against the world. She loves him but he needs her. She needs him but he loves her. They are amazing.

FAVORITE SECONDARY OTP

Seo Dan x Gu Seung Jun, Crash Landing on You, North Korean x Conman were so good I shipped them harder than the main OTP and the end of that storyline pissed me off so much I dumped the drama and didn’t finish it for months (and it’s still dead to me.)

NOTP

Record of Youth - it started out and they didn’t have much chemistry but the dialogues were interesting and I thought the chemistry would grow. It didn’t and deteriorated, their dialogues became boring and relationship had zero development (about as much as the supposed female lead.) I think we were supposed to feel bad they broke up and they were going for a bittersweet open ending, instead I found myself happy about the break up of two incompatible, chemistry-less people and hoping for the love of God they never get back together.

FAVORITE SCENE

Yeon and the bridge of knives, Tale of the Nine Tailed - Yeon choosing to undergo the creeptastic bridge of knives for a chance to save Ji Ah, who at that point he is not aware is the reincarnation of his Joseon love because, as he says, he doesn’t care if she is or isn’t, it just would be more horrible to have her die than to undergo the horrific torture he is undergoing, and then the sequence with his catching her, her weeping over him and the fact that she is the original Joseon girl revealed and all the bandaging and his watching her sleep and all that loveliness, is everything for yours truly.

Runner up: Hyun Soo having that break-down at the cliff at the end of ep 15 of Flower of Evil as Ji Won desperately tries to convince him she is alive and he finally stumbles to her.

Runner runner up (it’s my list, I will do what I want): Do Won preparing to blow his brains out to give a chance to Seo Kyung to live in Train.

BIGGEST CRUSH

Seon-Gyeom, Run On. Yeah, I know. Im Siwan is tiny, delicate featured and has a runner’s build, none of which are things that normally appeal to me. But his character is so odd, so honest, so unflinching in pursuing what he thinks is right, so incapable of self-pity despite plenty of reasons for it, and so ridiculously attractive when he smiles, I don’t even care.

BEST SCENE STEALER CHARACTER

Kim Bum, TotNT - I started out being annoyed by him and ended up looking forward to his scenes and being distraught by his ending.

NEEDS A SEQUEL

Honestly, none. I was fine with all the endings. I wouldn’t mind seeing post-end life of Tale of the Nine Tailed characters or the OTP settling into their literal new world in Train, but I am good.

TROPE THAT NEEDS TO DIE

Time jump that solves all the problems off screen or alternatively years pass and everyone is frozen - something that kdramas need to learn and need to learn badly. See Record of Youth, Brahms and Start Up.

FAVORITE TROPE WE’VE SEEN A LOT OF

Men who are ride or die for their OTP - this was a great year for this - the male leads of four of my five dramas were beyond anything on that scale (only exception is Run On because it’s still too early to tell there.) Yes PLEASE.

BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENT

This was a banner year for that what with Start Up, Do You Like Brahms, Record of Youth, and Private Lives all starting out well and nosediving off the cliff but winner is Crash Landing on You. I loved it so much for bulk of its run but the last episode pissed me off so much I deleted all my files and called it a day.

BIGGEST GOOD SURPRISE

Flower of Evil - I had no expectations of this drama and wasn’t even planning on watching it despite liking both the lead actors because yet another “look at evil serial killer be evil” drama with no romance was not my thing. Luckily someone convinced me there might be some romance and I peeked curiously. Honestly, their promo campaign was the most misleading and dumbest thing ever.

Runner up Psycho but it’s OK - I have never liked Kim Soo Hyun in anything before and the drama premise seemed WTF but it was shockingly good and KSH totally blew me away.

Hardest Working Lead

Yoon Shi Yoon - he starred in two (!!!) dramas in 2020 playing three characters and not only were both these dramas awesome in a lackluster year, but if it wasn’t for the fact that I knew it was the same actor and the fact that the characters shared a face, I would have never believed that they were played by the same actor. So good!

2020 DRAMAS I HAVEN’T SEEN THAT I MOST WANT TO WATCH

None. Covid Year gave me PLENTY of time

BEST NON-2020 DRAMA I’VE WATCHED IN 2020

My Beautiful Bride and Deserving of the Name - I was obsessed with both of them and honestly, they were much better than the bulk of 2020 kdramas I watched.

MOST ANTICIPATED IN 2021

The Moon That Rises in the Day, Hong Chun Gi, Joseon Exorcist, Island, Frightening Cohabitation, Snowdrop.

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courtney-deserved-better · 3 years ago

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whats ur writing schedule/process like! not in a “write faster” way, but i think once you mentioned writing in script form? and i like the way you wrote ur most recent fic! just curious bc ur works are just really good :)

this is a great question!!

if its not slippery slopes, ill usually get an idea for something and periodically jot down notes when they come to me until I feel like i have enough information to start writing (or if im just motivated), that's what i did for my horror challenge rewrite. and for stuff that's like... rewrites of an episode that aren't as character-focused as slippery slopes, i usually read the episode transcripts and try to replicate that total drama style with my own writing

for shorter oneshots, i usually just get a vague idea and run with it until i find a good ending spot, then i go back and clean it up a bit so the structure works

slippery slopes is an... interesting cycle. chapters are getting long enough that i cant just write them in one sitting any more (i think ch5 was the last chapter i did that for) and instead ill agonize over the beginning (always the hardest part to write for me) but once i get going with that i usually finish the chapter within a few days. then i reread the previous chapter to make sure it flows ok (and there aren't any contradictions) and then ill give myself a break where i dont do anything total drama related before coming back to edit and post. though before I do all that I type up notes and rough dialogue bits

and then once i post it it's like... a weight off my chest? like ive been purged or something?? idk its a weird sensation but im just like i Physically Cannot Write Anything For This Right Now and i don't start on the next chapter until that goes away. and then i either start the beginning and do nothing for a week before going back and finishing the chapter or i go into a manic state and write nonstop for a few days. right now i haven't reached a point where im ready to begin writing chapter 10 but i have a lot of notes for it.

(also as soon as i finish posting a chapter i try not to go on my laptop for like 12 hours so i don't obsessively refresh my email for comments. i love reading comments so much holy shit. please comment guys it makes fic authors feel so happy we will love you for it)

as for scripts: i am working on being a writer professionally, but specifically a playwright. writing in a script format comes more naturally to me than writing prose. funnily enough, i started posting fanfic just to practice my prose (and fix stuff in cobra kai that i didnt like) but things sort of... ended up here? idk man but im enjoying it.

right, so because writing in a script format is easier when im really struggling with a section in a fic ill usually scrap whatever i had and write it like a script, then translate that into prose. i was very excited to write the family videos for chapter 9 of slippery slopes, but i was Having Issues, so i redid it as a script and then rewrote that as prose. ill put the script version under the cut if you're interested in that.

but thank you so much for the question!! i do think my writing process is a bit unconventional but hey i think things are turning out well! if you have any more questions feel free to send them in!!

ok here is the last scene of ch 9 of slippery slopes in script format:

[SIERRA]

MOM: Hi honey! Omigosh this is so exciting! I bet you’re having such a great time! Especially since Chris is there! Is Chris watching this? Hi Chris! You know, I loooved you on that ice skating show. Your hair was fantastic! Well, it always is, haha. Do you really make your own hair gel? I’ve been trying to perfect the recipe but you’re just so hard to track down! Oh, you’re such a funny guy! I laughed sooo hard when you made all those jokes about marrying Chef.

Chef: hey!

Chris: ok just for the record, I wasn’t joking, we are married, Sierra tell your mom we’re married

Sierra: …can we just turn it off please

[COURTNEY]

DAD: Courtney, sayang, I know you’ve been going through a lot right now—

MOM: So you’d BETTER make it count. You’ve made it this far before, I want to see you getting all the way to the finale this time. And winning it. Enough moping about those hideous, good-for-nothing slackers! That’s what you get for hanging around freaks like them. You’re doing this for the million, now get the million. Is that clear?

ZARINA: And kick ass!

DAD: Zarina!

Video cuts out.

Alejandro: courtney you good?

Courtney: no, she’s right. Mama didn’t raise no quitter

Alejandro: [knows she’s still upset about duncan and gwen]

[ALEJANDRO]

MOM: Hola, Alejandro. We hope you are doing well, especially in such unsavory conditions. I’m glad to see you’ve made it to the final four— we expected nothing less, of course.

DAD: You have been utilizing your skills quite well. Though I wish you hadn’t been so… blatant about it. You’ll have to work twice as hard once this is over to convince people you’re trustworthy. But surely you were aware of that going into this… odd endeavor. That’s just politics. Reputation is everything.

JOSE: [snorts] Oh, and what a reputation you have, Al. I could easily compile hours of footage of your failures, but I, unlike you, do not waste my time on the frivolities of reality television. Though you always have been lacking in taste. Especially with that bratty girlfriend of yours— oh, my mistake, aren’t you dating the whiny weakling? It’s so hard to keep track! [laughs]

Alejandro: callate!

MOM: I’m sure Alejandro is just working an angle on them.

DAD: Whatever the case is, do not disappoint us.

[NOAH]

MOM: Hi Noah, I’m sorry, I don’t have time to record a full video, but I’m proud of you! Here are your sisters!

ISWARI: A million dollars? A million [bleep] dollars? Win it, Noah! Win it!

RUTH: Dude!! This is crazy! I know you can do this— good luck! Ark misses you! [holds up Ark who barks]

MARA: Are you insane? Why aren’t you dating Alejandro already?

Noah: shut up, mara, just because you can’t keep a boyfriend—

ANYA: Don’t let ‘em trick you! No mercy! Crush their skulls if you have to— no, wait, you’re not strong enough for that. We’ll get there!

LIYA: I say this as your sister, someone who loves you but is constantly annoyed by you— for someone who is quite literally a genius, you sure can be an idiot sometimes.

BALLARI: Okay, I literally have no idea how you’ve made it this far without an athletic bone in your body— are we sure you aren’t adopted? I’m kidding

ABS: You’re stubborn as hell when it comes to me, so you better be stubborn as hell when it comes to winning! And when you do win, get me a frozen yogurt machine, will you? I promise I won’t make you rock climb again!

JAEL: If you lose this, I’ll kill you with this racket. And then use your guts to make myself a new racket. So don’t fuck it up. Again.

Noah: [frozen, ashamed]

Sierra: well that was a mess

Courtney: ok show of hands, who felt better after hearing that? [no one raises hands]

Chris: yeah I was expecting this to be a lot more heartwarming…

Chef: chris just look at them. If they had stable home lives they wouldn’t be doing reality tv

Alejandro: can we please stop talking about this. Also aren’t you supposed to be flying the plane

Chef: oh fuck

Chris: yeah sure. I think im gonna call my mom

Everyone: …

Noah: ok so that was really shitty. Why dont we all go to first class and try and ignore our problems

Everyone: yeah ok sounds good

***

Courtney: so that sucked

Alejandro: at least your dad seems ok

Courtney: true. What are your guys dads like

Noah and Sierra: bold of you to assume I know my dad. Jinx

***

Alejandro: that last girl… you mentioned a sister who does tennis and hates you

Noah: yep

Alejandro: why?

Noah: none of your business. but… it is pretty justified

#slippery slopes #ask #anon #total drama #writing #fic #my fic

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arabian-bloodstream · 4 years ago

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Why in Angela Kang I Trust

Maybe because I've been bruised and battered by showrunners and exec producers when it comes to couples and have also been rewarded (very, very, VERY rarely -- OK, like once), that is why I'm feeling positive about Caryl with regards to the spoilers.

Lemme give a bit of my history. I've had sooooo many couples, it's not even funny. I'm beyond a couple-girl. I've been involved in Harry Potter, Game of Thrones, The Vampire Diaries, Veronica Mars, The 100, Star Wars, Buffy the Vampire Slayer fandoms (and many more). Yeah, so I've been through some ups and downs in the fandoms themselves and with the end result of the product/my couple preference.

Two of the things that these fandoms taught me were (a) critical analysis of the product taking *everything* into account and not just my couple, and (b) how to deal with spoilers to keep myself sane.

NOTE: This is how I deal. I'm not telling anyone else how to feel or deal. This is my bag and what works for me and why I'm personally totally, 100% positive about Caryl despite the recent spoilers.

In one of my fandoms, I was heartbroken by how an episode played out. It made no sense to me. I had analyzed everything, paid attention to all the road signs... how could I have been so wrong? How could she choose the other guy??! It took a few weeks, but I re-thought everything and realized that I had been so focused on analyzing MY couple that I had ignored the OTHER couple. I had ignored the other aspects of the show and that other aspect mattered. It was like a bomb went off in my head. Suddenly something so obvious was now so clear to me.

From that moment on when I analyzed the show, I analyzed every character, every aspect of it and I gotta tell you all I just about nailed every character plot point. Not the twists/turns, but the emotional, character beats? I was right as rain on those. Because here's the obvious thing, no showrunner/headwriter is ever going to write for ONE character, ONE couple. They are going to write for every single character, every single couple. And if they are good writers they aren't going to take fanfic-like shortcuts to get them where we would like them to be, they are going to dig deep and explore who they are as characters to bring them organically to where they belong.

So... The Walking Dead. Angela Kang. Daryl Dixon. Carol Peletier. Caryl. (FINALLY! Ya'll say.) Angela Kang is a GOOD showrunner/headwriter. She brought TWD back from the disaster that Scott Gimple had made of the show. Seriously, I think 3-4 seasons went by and only 2 months had passed in that time. It was mostly a slow-moving morass of nothing happening with most characters doing nothing, barely connecting. Blech! It was mostly just not good. She whipped this show into shape.

Kang also took a long look at Carol, Daryl and Caryl and realized that in order to get them where they needed to be... which was TOGETHER ROMANTICALLY, they needed a helluva lot of work because Gimple had done ABSOLUTE SHIT with them for about 4 years. They had barely a handful of scenes over that time period, had been mostly separated and both characters had been decimated in completely different ways.

Carol's grief, guilt and horrendous actions had been completely and utterly sublimated. She told no one (including Daryl) about what happened with all of the children she had lost by her hand or through she felt because of her. So what did Kang do? She used the relationship that Gimple had begun with Ezekiel to create this fairytale fantasy that Carol could escape to since she couldn't be with her Alexandria family anymore because of that grief and guilt. She gave her that respite and escape until she was ready to live with the reality of all she'd done.

And then she opened the door to that grief and guilt with Henry's death, destroying that fairytale/fantasy so that she could finally begin to heal. And that is what we are finally getting now, a healing Carol. She's not whole yet, but she's stronger and she is healing. She's no longer hiding in some fantasy, she's no longer drowning in grief. And she's with her family again. She's come home.

I'm sure just as Kang looked at Carol, she also looked at Daryl and saw how Gimple had turned him into a monosyllablic follower. So, through the last two seasons, she's been building him up as the leader who's stepping up and also... HE SPEAKS! That's really the big thing, but it's such, such a big thing.

Finally, Caryl. To begin with, Kang's first episode made it perfectly obvious that it was a Zeke/Carol/Daryl triangle. However, because it's been sooooooooooooo long and the Caryl crowd has been battered for so long and the ABC crowd is so loud and even the media doesn't immediately jump to it despite the popularity of Caryl the obviousness of it just wasn't obvious. But the way Zeke proposed to Carol to which she did not say yes, his undying declaration of love to which she did not respond in kind to the way she curled up (yes, curled up!) against Daryl to tell him about said proposal and his response, clearly not happy about it, but willing to give her the go-ahead if she was happy was so obvious. I mean, DUDE! Yeah, that was textbook triangle material with the guy proposing being the clear loser in the equation in the long run. And that was Angela Kang's first episode as showrunner!

Everything that followed--the secret visits to him, her cutting his hair, her trust in him and vice-versa--to her leaving Zeke behind in Hilltop and going with Daryl to Alexandria, yeah, all of that was clearly going to be how that "triangle" ended based on that first episode. But so many Caryl fans were heartbroken, upset, furious about the Carol/Zeke spoilers. Of course, they were. We had no idea what Kang had in store. We'd been burned and battered and used and ignored by TWD, AMC, Gimple, et al. How could we possibly know that Kang had a plan all along and that the Carol/Zeke relationship was about paying time and attention to Carol's character and establishing a subtle triangle with Daryl in which he would emerge the victor?

But that's exactly what Angela Kang did. And then in season 10 she made it clear numerous times that it--only her second as showrunner--would feature the relationship of Carol and Daryl at the heart of it. So I have a few points I want to make regarding the upcoming spoilers taking ALL of the above that I've written into account:

1. Spoilers are tricky things. You simply can not know what is what until you actually watch the episode and even see the full arc play out. When you have a good showrunner/headwriter who has a plan and knows the path planned for the characters--one who has proven they know what they're doing--wait until you see what they are actually doing before assuming the roof is falling in. At least that's my philosophy.

2. I mentioned how the obviousness of the triangle aspect set-up in Kang's first episode as showrunner was so missed and a part of that is because of the fact that there is too much ambiguity in how Caryl and Daryl see one another. Is it friendship? Is it a mother/son (pfft! So fucking ridiculous!) relationship? Is it a sibling-like relationship? Or is it romantic/sexual? (YES, IT IS!) This very well may be what answers that question. (It’s the last one. It’s definitely the last one.)

3. 10x18 is STILL a part of season 10. According to Angela Kang, the heart of season 10 is the relationship of Carol and Daryl.

Finally, there are two characters left from the first season of this ten (of eleven) season show. Carol and Daryl. There is going to be a spin-off featuring Carol and Daryl. A character that Daryl has some sort of history with when he thought he lost Carol when she was married to someone else (after he had lost Rick) is NOT going to suddenly, randomly become the ONE to come between Carol and Daryl.

It doesn’t matter that this character is coming back in the final season. Sorry, not sorry, but it just does not. Carol and Daryl are the ONE for each other. This character is just another Ezekiel, a part of their story. Angela Kang has been organically, effortlessly rebuilding Carol and Daryl, and Caryl back up from the neglect and abuse that they suffered (especially Carol and Caryl) under Scott Gimple.

This is why I trust in Angela Kang.

#twd spoilers #caryl #caryl positivity #carol x daryl #daryl x carol #carol peletier #daryl dixon #the walking dead #in angela kang I trust #angela kang

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