#the netflix show.. half of these characters if you showed them to me id never guess theyre a mob psycho character

[irradiatedsnakes]

looking at the mp100 stage play portrayals then looking at the mp100 netflix live action show portrayals is so funny

[miekasa]

I’m in love with the idea of twitch streamer bf eren

OKAY ME TOO!! Easily top 3 best Eren concepts imo it’s just so good and so... him, he falls on the gamer himbo boyfriend side of the scale for sure

Let’s start with his setup: purple and/or green with a dark wood tabletop. He keeps the lights green during the day or when his computer is idle, and mixes in the purple when it’s dark out because he likes the Ambiance. 

Only one monitor and do not let him buy another one no matter how much he claims he needs it. He does not. He has a TV in his room tho, but it’s not mounted above or near his desk; it’s on the opposite wall that faces his bed. Laying down and watching Netflix takes priority.  

He’s a sucker for themed keyboards/keycaps. If he finds a set themed around his favorite show or a character he likes, he’ll buy it. No self control.

The majority of his keyboards have that super clacky almost officey sounding click to them, and he’s obsessed with it. Sometimes he fucks around on Google Docs typing nonsense just to hear the keyboard make noise.

Puts in special keycaps on the ones with your initials on whichever keyboard he’s using at the moment <3 gamer boyfriend things <33

Always swears he wants to do some kind of special event or thank you for subscriber/follower milestones, but he never catches his own milestones 😭😭 by the time he realizes he has 100k subs, he’s already on 103k or something 

Then he calls you, his friends, and his subscribers fake for not pointing it out to him like sir it’s right there on your screen please. All you had to do was LOOK

If he’s in the middle of a game and he really has a to pee, or he’s gotta go do something, he’ll yell for you, and you come in, obviously slightly worried, but then Eren is just hurriedly giving you instructions, “Here, press left or right to move, spacebar to fire, avoid these, kill those. That ugly look thing to the left is Jean, and over there is his character. You’re teammates, I’ll be right back,” before he puts his headphones on your head and runs off. Now you’re left to fend for yourself, good luck.

He can be gone anywhere from 30 seconds to 30 minutes 😭😭 if he’s gone for a short amount of time, he comes back with just as much chaotic energy to take back his headphones and shoo you away as he did to throw it all on you pls.

Other times, he’ll go and make a whole ass meal and come back sauntering in with a half eaten grilled cheese in hand, “Oh shit are you still playing, babe—hey you’re doing really well, look at you go!”

When you’re not there, he mentions you a lot, because he’s always thinking about you no matter how small it is; even just the design of a character would prompt him to a make a comment, “I don’t think my girlfriend has ever played this, but I know she’d main this character.” 

Does he invite you to play a game he knows you’ve never played or are bad at with him on his stream, knowing full well he’s an ace at it and will crush you publicly? Absolutely. Without a doubt. 

There’s always a very shameless, not at all subtle shoutout to his Instagram in the middle of all his streams please, he’ll be playing a game and randomly it’s like, “Fire pic on Instagam by the way, go like that.” 

His comments are pretty respectful whenever you’re there or he mentions you; there’s a few cheeky randoms who like to make donations whenever you’re on the screen or say some inappropriate stuff, but Eren’s learned to just ignore it. It doesn’t make him happy, and he might tell people to chill if it’s excessive, but he won’t call out anything explicitly and make you uncomfortable while you’re there. 

Sometimes Connie will make a comment about how you’re hot, and that’s definitely something Eren will call out and bring attention to, more so to mock Connie than anything. 

At one point, his subscribers keep asking for more content with you (especially if you’re not there often/it’s been a while since people have seen a peek of you), to which Eren will pout because, “Hey, this is my Twitch-- now, look, you’ve gotten your Eren’s hot girlfriend privileges revoked for the week.”

Terrible at doing unboxing videos whenever he gets sent product because he just rips things open 😭😭 he’s too eager to do ASMR or gentle/detailed unboxing, he just wants to test out the new parts as soon as possible. 

Abuses his spinny gamer chair. Spins himself dizzy on it (yes, while he’s streaming and waiting for lobbies/things to load), spins you dizzy on it when you’re just trying to be comfy, spins the both of you dizzy when he’s trapped you on his lap. 

He’d be one of those lucky people who gets a cool single name user/ID. Like he gets just @eren or @jaeger/yeager, because his name is pretty unique, but I can totally see him going the typical fun gamer tag route. 

His content is anything from him streaming Overwatch and COD to terraforming his Animal Crossing island, he does not discriminate. One day you could get Eren calling Jean a fucking dumbass for not healing him, and the next day he’s doing his best impressions of Timmy and Tommy.

Do not put it past him to build you a whole ass PC setup if you express the slightest interest in one, even if it’s not solely for gaming/you wanna use it for work/school. He’ll do it. He’ll make his hyperfixating work for him. 

Plus then he’d get to give you one of his old keyboards and give you special keycaps with his initials and go on about how he’s officially got a gamer gf even if all you can do is press the spacebar <33 

[algrolo]

Cyberpunk: Edgerunners ended so badly that I gotta say, as a whole Id say the show was bad. The first half of the show? Awesome, colorful, action-packed, well done. The second half? Complete and utter trash.

They had this great concept, this young kid sinking in debt and a loss of a recent lpved one, causing him to get this cybernetic spine upgrade which makes him Fast. He gets pulled into a local crime group and starts running with them to make ends meet and develops this found family.

Then, and this is where it just nosedives, a plan goes south, the crew loses their leader and his girlfriend, so the kid steps up and we get this timeskip. Gone is the lovable, kinda buff but overall slim kid, and he just looks like your average "buffed up action guy except its all cybernetics and chrome". And the story pivots from him to his girlfriends lore. He, like his mentor (the ex-leader) gets too much fucking chrome, causing issues with having too much tech while still being a person.

So many issues here. 1. Whyd you change the character model he looks so boring now. 2. The reason he went metal is so he could fight better. Which is stupid because his advantage was speed. Seeing the bulked up guy going fast looks dumber than the lanky kid zipping by 3. Absolutelu 0 learning about having too much metal. Your old leader died from it, idiot. 4. The kid was introduced as actually being quite proficient in school, yet this is never applied in a literal sense, ever. He just becomes leader and has good charisma? Those things are unrelated to school smarts.

I feel like its either a product of Netflix anime demands or the studio culture surrounding action animes, but something about the past 3 Ive seen strike me as odd. The setups are inherently so cool and interesting, only to have completely lackluster endings, due in part to the narrative falling to pieces. I dont need high volume action scenes every god damn episode if their purpose is only to look cool. Give me some plot, please. Actually connect the dots of your story instead of being in the drawing room and going "hey wouldnt it be cool if this happened". Thats just bad writing.

Worse yet was this was a Studio Trigger project which means they were working on this dumb project based off a failure of a game instead Of Just Working On ANOTHER SEASON OF BRAND NEW ANIMAL!!!!

[jikseud]

[17:26]

pairings: felix x gender neutral reader

wc: 2147

genre: fluff with a bit of angst if u squint hard.

warnings: mentions of cheating (?), y/n being an ass idk what else, pls lmk if there are things to include hehe

a/n: I don’t really write that often soooo...

“I don't get why characters in horror movies are this dumb,” I whispered to Felix as we were watching this horror movie that we randomly found on Netflix. I heard him chuckle softly at my statement.

“That just adds to the thrill and interest, I guess,” he replied. He kissed my temple before pulling me closer to him.

My phone suddenly rang on the first half of the movie. I quickly went to see who it was and my heartbeat immediately picked up its pace after seeing the caller ID being “My love💖”.

Okay, now we're starting...

I am turning into a such a nervous wreck right now. My hands are starting to shake and my heart is starting to beat so loud that I could basically hear it in my ears. I stood up, looking at Felix silently excusing myself. I walked a little towards our room's window -which is not too far from where he is- before picking up the call.

"Hello? Sorry, I'm with him right now. I'll call you later," I ‘said’ quietly to the 'person on the other line' before ‘hanging up’. I looked up at Felix to see his reaction and saw that he's looking at me so seriously I felt my knees buckle. I tried to smile at him but failed nonetheless.

“Who was that?” he asked. I opened my mouth to answer him but nothing came out as my throat went dry. He raised his eyebrows at me. I lowered my head.

Okay, here we go.

"I-," I tried to speak but I just couldn't find the words. I sighed before looking back up at him. "It's no one," I told him, still trying to calm myself. He then rolled his eyes at me.

“If you're going to fucking fool me like this, then do better. I'm not stupid, Y/N. I clearly saw the caller ID,” he replied harshly. “And "I'm with him"? Really Y/n? If you're going to do this to me, give a little respect at least.” he added and my legs shook at his tone.

“Then why'd you still ask if you knew already?” I talked back quietly, too weakly for my own liking. He snickered.

“Because I wanted you to explain yourself at least,” he said and I swallowed hard.

“What's there to explain, though. You've already seen it, it's all that there is,” I told him and he scoffed.

“You could've at least told me where I went wrong... where everything went wrong? Y/n, you can't do this and expect me to not ask you for any explanation, I'm not as stupid as you think I am," he paused a little before continuing, "On what aspect of this fucking relationship was I lacking, huh? Are you getting too bored with me that's why you did this? Am I not enough for you anymore that's why you decided to find another one? Am I not loving you enough for you do this to me huh, Y/n? I thought we were having something special? I thought you said I was and will always be the one for you? What happened, baby? When did everything change? When did things go wrong between us? What did they do to get you sway that easily?” he questioned, his voice shaking from hurt. I sighed, every word was like a stab in my chest. He looked at me, his eyes searching mine for some explanation… any reaction. When they didn't give him anything, he spoke once again.

“When did this start?” he asked. My breath hitched. 

Well now, it’s working. 

It took me a while to answer but I did when I saw that he was getting impatient. “Just today,” I answered, stifling my laugh. He looked at me confusedly and I looked back at him trying to hide my smile.

“What do you mean ‘just today’?” he asked again.

I can't take this anymore...

“It's a prank, you dumbo!” I told him as he sat there, his confusion clouding him even more. I sat back down beside him as I tried to hug him but I was shocked when he moved away from me. “Why?” I asked. He stared at me with such hatred now and I couldn't help but feel nervous once again with the look he's giving me.

“What do you mean ‘Why?’ Y/n?” he asked. “You talk as if I didn't just caught you cheating on me,” he said. I gasped.

“Baby, I told you, it was a prank,” I replied with hurt in my voice. He looked at me, still not trusting my words. “I'm serious, Lix. It's just a prank. Do you not trust me enough? Go on and check if you want. I could never do something like that to you, you know that,” I told him with shaking eyes as I handed him my phone. He gave me daggers while he took my phone in his hand. When he finally held my phone, I felt my hand start to shake a little harder as I retreat it back and I think he noticed it with the way he glared at me.

“If you're being honest then what are you so nervous for?” he asked me skeptically. My eyes shot up at him, looking at him with wide eyes.

“H-huh, who said something about being nervous, h-hah-ah. Pffft I'm not nervous, shut up,” I told him. He glared at me once again before going back to checking my phone. I saw him swipe from left to right, probably looking for something that would prove my innocence.

It took him a few minutes -because he practically opened every single app in it just to be sure- before finally getting to the last page where he saw the widget labeled "To the man I love the most.💖" that I had prepared for him. I looked at his face just to check his reaction and then I saw him looking at it confusedly. He stared at it for a solid five seconds while his thumb was hovering over it.

The widget looked like it was excitedly shaking from my point of view, just waiting to be finally pressed and when the thumb above finally clicked on it, that's when all hell broke loose.

My mind had gone crazy by the time he started reading it. Tons of thoughts clouding my head and spilling continuously out of it like a water inside a broken dam, just like how every feeling I had has been spilling on Felix at the moment...

The widget leads to my notes app wherein a letter is written in a pink background. A color I know he really loves.

“To my baby,

Hello, my love! It's weird talking to you like this because I wasn't really fond of letters and all these sweet things but for you, I'm alright being cheesy and all that. First of all, I'm so sorry if I ever hurt you in the process of this thing... whatever this is... whatever it is that I did before you finally get to read this poorly written letter of mine which contains everything that I wanted to say to you but couldn't because I'm too shy hngg *insert cute face right here*. Anyways, I hope that you finally believe me that what happened before this was all a prank (the proof is literally beside this widget which is the Fake Call app, so don't fuck with me). Felix Lee, aka my sunshine, my happiness, my everything... I wanted to thank you for being the best man ever for me. Thank you for making me happy everyday, for taking care of me and or loving me every single moment that you have. You are seriously the best guy I have ever met (next to Harry Styles, of course... kidding) and I love you for that. I am so thankful that the Gods have given you to me (yes, bitch I own you... lol kidding again... but I'm not sure if this'll still be a joke after this though) and I am so thankful that you decided to stay with me even though I'm just... me. Felix, I don't know what else to say but just know that I love you and every single thing about you. I love how you scrunch your nose up whenever I make an awful joke but still try to laugh just to satisfy me (you're evil btw). I love how you cook for me when I don't wanna just because I'm too lazy (yes chef, go off!!!). I love how your eyes lights up when you're talking about something you love and something that you reaaally love doing (a.k.a ME). I love how your hair looks in the morning and even when you always say that you hate it, you still look so beautiful nonetheless. I love your freckles as well because it feels like I am looking at a sky full of stars and you're the sun wtf does that makes sense though? There are many things that I would like to say to you but I don't know how so... Anyways, what I'm trying to say here is that, you are so amazing that I don't know how to put your amazingness into words and that I appreciate everything that you are. I love you, Felix and thank you for making me the happiest person in the world. But do you mind making me happier by marrying me?”

By the time he was finished reading my shitass letter, he was shedding tears with a smile on his face. Weird combination, I know. But it is so unfairly unfair how he still looks beautiful looking like this.

He stared up at me with tears still flowing out of his eyes as I slowly took the ring off from my own finger.

“I don't know what else to say to you, to be honest. I am so bad with words and you know that. I love you, though. I could go on telling you this everyday just to show you how much but I'm afraid I'd have to go on forever so will you finally answer my question and marry me? I promise I'd try and learn how to cook so you won't have to anymore… oh and I will try not to complain as much when you leave too much mess in the house,” I tried to joke just to lighten up the mood but I was confused when he started bawling out. I felt my eyes burn from tears as well and I let a few escape from them. "Why are you crying, stupid?" I asked wiping his tears off. He glared at me before pulling me into a hug and crying loudly on my shoulders. “Baby, stop crying, please. I don't know what's happening but I'm going to bawl out as well if you continue,” I told him. He sniffled before pulling away slightly.

"You... you bitch, I hate you so much for doing this to me," he said in between hiccups. "I hate you so much," he told me before bawling and hugging me again. I laugh at his cuteness even though I felt my hands shake once again. His possible answer finally clouding my mind.

I rubbed his back before kissing his neck lightly. "So are you gonna answer my question or what?" I asked him, getting a little impatient now because of nervousness. He pulled away from me.

"I hate you so much. I was supposed to be the one doing this and not you. I hate you," he said despite his eyes showing the exact opposite and still crying them out. "But just because we're here already, I have no choice but to say yes, I guess? Because I'd probably feel so bad if I rejected your goodass offer," He joked. I glared at him. "Kidding. I'd say yes anytime, you know that. I'd say yes a billion... trillion times," he told me and I smiled before putting the ring on his finger. He smiled so wide seeing the piece of jewelry on his finger before taking my face on his hand and kissing me hard.

"I love you so much, y/n," he told me after pulling away. I closed my eyes, feeling the moment. I leaned my face more to his touch.

"I love you more, baby. More than you could even imagine," I replied.

"Your prank is shit by the way," he stated after a while in silence as I hit him on the chest.

“Shut up, I still got you with my acting skills and you don't know how nervous I am while doing that thing when I didn’t have a solid plan,” I told him and he scoffed.

"Sucks for you then," he replied.

"Yeah? Well, sucks for you I'm not sucking you."

[miniwolfsbane]

Sweet Tooth S1 thoughts (BIG SPOILERS)

First off, I am disappointed we were shown a PURRING PUPPY BABY in the trailer and had 0 follow up with it? Did he/she escape to Istanbul with it’s parents? Get captured? Live a nomadic life? Live in the forest? I WANT ANSWERS!! :( Also, puppies don’t purr, so I want answers to that too. Unless they were trying to go for a whimper or an animal noise and just went with that instead.

BIG SPOILERS under the cut

Anyway, the only two things, aside from the bits of gore and violence (Reviews are all like “IT’S A FAMILY SHOW!” And I counter back with “I would not let any child under 13 watch this and I have never seen a family show with three seconds of guts being removed and two scenes of implied, live vivisecting on sentient beings without anesthetic.”), the only things I didn’t like about this were using 2 overused cliche’s. One being the hero hanging off a bridge for what seems like 12 years above peril, and the other I can’t remember. It was Jeppard nearly missing the train. The only thing that saved it was the flashback.

The other thing was that, while dark, there’s a bit of predictably and not much depth to the story. I realized last night that the comic source material my have the depth I’m craving out of the story. Just because it has child actors doesn’t mean the story can’t be dug into deeper and have more meaning. I applaud them for what they did and how they handled it, mixing in human-ish vivisecting with neighbors burning down their friends houses and being murderous hypocrites into a story about children, but it wasn’t enough for me. I wanted more.  Edit: Not more violence, obviously, just more to the story. dig into the universe, hard. Like gardening, just shove both metaphorical hands into that story soil and root around in it. Find all the gems that are the interesting parts of this universe and answer our questions. 

Sadly, I see someone on tumblr called it...something. Like, were we even watching the same show?? A multi-racial cast that gives all it’s characters dignity isn’t...that.

Bobby isn’t creepy to most and not shown that much. If you really think Bobby is that creepy, you need to go see original Bobby and get back to me. https://www.bing.com/images/search?view=detailV2&ccid=mv4YBZHa&id=071BD6BDAA183CA5965247E7F8F68E873375399B&thid=OIP.mv4YBZHau8dTzxGoK0L0ggHaHD&mediaurl=https%3A%2F%2Fvignette.wikia.nocookie.net%2Fmarvel_dc%2Fimages%2Ff%2Ffc%2FBobby_Sweet_Tooth_001.jpg%2Frevision%2Flatest%3Fcb%3D20150813115735&cdnurl=https%3A%2F%2Fth.bing.com%2Fth%2Fid%2FR9afe180591dabbc753cf11a82b42f482%3Frik%3Dmzl1M4eO9vjnRw&pid=ImgRaw&exph=616&expw=647&q=sweet+tooth+comics+bobby&simid=608026455638091252&ck=7A4DBACCF6BFE43E3B1E799F7F88C55A&selectedindex=0&adlt=demote&shtp=GetUrl&shid=3fb5000d-4d63-494a-986d-006fedeb28d5&shtk=Qm9iYnkgKFN3ZWV0IFRvb3RoKSB8IERDIERhdGFiYXNlIHwgRmFuZG9t&shdk=Rm91bmQgb24gQmluZyBmcm9tIGRjLmZhbmRvbS5jb20%3D&shhk=NjRWN4Jv1KDrxu8T30I3UN0IQ71oVtCAEnsLIeSmFl4%3D&form=EX0023&shth=OSH.nyb0RMh%252Bnm%252B%252B%252FIH1cnkhHw

Okay, kid does sorta look like a gremlin mixed with a Furby in the show, like one post said, but I’ve seen worse. https://www.bing.com/images/search?view=detailV2&ccid=F9mlBjUo&id=49C0257935E4A941563E579C7E9DCF48B72BEC01&thid=OIF.eyTVbAuEqt0R%2bKFmrIK4gA&mediaurl=https%3a%2f%2fepipoca.com.br%2fwp-content%2fuploads%2f2021%2f06%2fE3NUK2kVoAE5Ct_.jpg&cdnurl=https%3a%2f%2fth.bing.com%2fth%2fid%2fR17d9a5063528805f1ade0ea77464df86%3frik%3d%26pid%3dImgRaw&exph=675&expw=1482&q=sweet+tooth++Bobby&simid=297111136187&ck=7B24D56C0B84AADD11F8A166AC82B880&selectedIndex=49&FORM=IRPRST&ajaxhist=0&ajaxserp=0

Sometimes stuff goes over my head. I had no idea that the babies were being born and not made in a lab. When they showed them in the maternity ward, I genuinely thought they had been experimented on and didn’t come out of the womb like that. Apparently I missed that it was a maternity ward in a hospital. That’s my other problem with this show I forgot to mention: It defies logic and you really have to turn off your brain to accept the hybrid concept. I’m guessing the virus or other means (possibly according to the comics, I tried to avoid big spoilers), mutated them in utero. That still doesn’t satisfy me. Thankfully, Gus was somehow lab created, so that helps. (More information and context would be appreciated. Was it, like, they were experimenting with in-vitro or what?) Edit: This article https://screenrant.com/sweet-tooth-theory-purple-flowers-cure-sick-virus/ explains that putting the virus in a chicken egg produced Gus. Which makes even less sense. Edit: This MAY or MAY NOT be right. Someone on YT pointed out they never said this in the show.

 IRL, Virus + chicken embryo=would never randomly produce a human/deer hybrid baby. It’s so freaking random it sounds like nonsense or the delusions of a madman, not a rational comic book author with a presumably sane mind. Just...I’ve said it before...things have to make sense, even in fiction. 5 step process of anything cannot equal random result. It goes against all science, right? And made up worlds have to have rules, even silly worlds. Like I said, you have to turn your brain off, but this stretches even my disbelief. Hybrids, I get, fine, but that? I’m sorry, what? *headdesk* I don’t know, maybe the comics had something I’m missing since I never read them.

I’m eager to learn the connection to the kids and the virus as we go. And if we don’t get a season 2, I’ll be getting the comics to satisfy my thirst for this show.

Gus is my baby and I don’t understand how a kid could be that cute. Jeppard is the GOAT (lol) Bear could use better line delivery at times, but her acting will improve I’m sure. Nice to see Diana Ramierez acting again, her character is likeable. Wendy is cute, but kinda just there for me. Needs more traits or character development to get on my favorite characters list. Bear also needs more than just backstory and a tough girl persona. She’s not bland, she just needs more spark to her as a character. More personality, if that makes sense. 

Lastly, I wanted a tiny bit more from the make-up department. Wendy and rabbit kids (yes, I took note of this detail and I love bunnies) make-up is on point, but the rest look like kids dressed up in dollar store feathers and fur for a school play. Get more creative if you’re gonna show these hybrids, even if it’s just for a few seconds. You have the budget!! (But I think most of that went to Bobby’s puppetry/CGI and Jeppard’s baby, to be honest.)

I wanted a cat girl or boy, because the lulz for the anime community (Also, because I have 2 cats and stuff), but at least we got bird kids, even if they weren’t cockatiels like mine. I’m ready for Season 2, hurry Netflix!!

I can see why people wouldn’t like this show or wouldn’t recommend watching it, but I see many have embraced it. It’s either you’re thing or it’s not, but you should give it a chance and see. Just don’t shoot it down if you hate it, there’s enough wet blankets out there and we all have different tastes.

Edit: One last thing. I do have a problem with hybrids being half-human. Like, you would think that being half-human, they’d still have all the problems humans have with causing wars and all. I know it’s a dark story with a good outcome, but there’s something too saccharine about hybrids having “The best parts of us.” What exactly are those best parts? Last I checked, humans are selfish and vain at their core. Even the most altruistic, giving person can be greedy about something or want more. It’s like Genie said in the new Aladdin, “You can have all the money and power in the world and it still won’t be enough”.  Wouldn’t bird people and pig people and deer people all want to side with each other instead of living in some grand utopia? Fighting over land and resources? Portraying hybrids as taking over the earth after people are gone from extinction and everything going peachy doesn’t quite work for me. Not that I’d want it to still be dark, but, eh, they’d have to have SOME problems, wouldn’t they?

[kinetic-elaboration]

July 17: 2x26 Assignment: Earth

Finally finished up S2 of TOS yesterday. That was... a rough episode tbh. I’m just gonna say it: back door pilots are bad! They’re bad. If I wanted to watch that other show, I’d watch it.

Wow, they’re just really jumping right in, huh? “Here we are, on a routine mission into the past, using a time travel method that we invented nbd.”

Investigating desperate problems in the year 2020...2016.... no wait 1968.

Ooh, Spock in the transport room today. Does he have a whole extra random station there? That’s so weird; I’ve never seen that before. It’s like hidden in the corner.

Cat!! Cat!!

What a good actor. I’m still bitter that wikipedia has a whole section about the casting for “Isis the cat” that talks entirely about the human who played Isis for 2 minutes and nothing about the talented feline actor. Where did they find her? How did they teach her to act?

She has a lot of thoughts about Kirk.

I wrote down “Scully, you’ve got to see this” in my notes and I’ve already forgotten what it refers to lol. Some moment that I thought would fit well with my favorite x-files meme.

Change history, you say? Spock is intrigued. ...Admittedly, Spock is often intrigued.

“What if it turns out you’re an invading alien from the future?” Honestly...let him invade. You’re not supposed to be here anyway.

I’m pretty insulted by this. The aliens went through all this trouble to help in 1968...where are our alien helpers NOW?

The cat straight up attacked his face.

Kirk is so fond of Spock being fond of the cat.

“It’s a lovely animal. I feel myself strangely drawn to it.”

Kirk is way too confused by Seven--an allegedly human person with super-human abilities that he says come from aliens--and yet, he’s met Charlie X so??? Is this not the same?

Kirk’s got the whole crew checking in on zoom.

(I actually do like this sequence of him getting video calls from different parts of the ship.)

“Weren’t orbiting H-bombs a huge problem in 1968?” Looks at the camera like he’s on The Office. Not the subtlest bit of writing in the “social commentary” genre. I do say this with love, though. I always enjoy when they comment on contemporary problems.

“He has a totally perfect body.” Lol don’t distract these two bisexuals.

[soft meowing]

“The prisoner has escaped.” The way this is shot, it looks like he’s talking about the cat.

Hmm, I do love the decor. Very 60s. This honestly immediately feels like a different show, and a much more dated show; even when the Enterprise time travels, it tends not to time travel to... office space.

Love the little sounds the computer makes.

So is Isis supposed to be one of the fancy aliens? It’s never explained but one must assume she is.

Aw, he’s petting her paw.

So I assumed the cats sounds are real, but just dubbed. They’re not lol. Which I guess isn’t surprising: this cat makes a lot of noises! They were provided by a human voice actress.

Damn.... I want a secret bookshelf that turns around to reveal a super computer with a big screen. “Computer... play Netflix.”

That’s what Seven does in his spare time.

The computer is an AI. “Beta 5 snobbery” lol.

Where are OUR alien overlords to stop US from destroying ourselves before WE can mature into a peaceful society?

This is really masterful exposition lol. Not forced or awkward at all.

ST sure does love the snooty female computer trope.

“Get us the proper costumes.” Yes, get Spock his Requisite Hat.

Omicron IV....that’s one of the names they use in Futurama lol. Such nerds.

Another excellent Spock Hat.

I love Seven’s various IDs. Great style. I wish my driver’s license looked like those.

“Who do you think you are?” He hasn’t decided yet. That’s why he was shifting through his IDs.

Seven is not smart lol. Like, he should have figured out way faster that this lady isn’t one of the Alien Overlords. He asks her the code question, she doesn’t understand it, and he... assumes she’s just really in character? Dude, that’s what the code questions are for!!! To help you identify people! Otherwise you could just straight up ask: are you an alien?

Instead he’s like “oh, you silly alien, you’re playing with me,” and then is forced to trap her, reveal his whole mission, and ultimately ensnare her in his plan.

I want that typewriter. Voice recognition typewriter.

"My incompetence has made you aware of very secret devices." Well at least he knows.

Trained cat!

The alien overlords were killed in a random car accident. That’s ironic.

Oh look, a real rocket!

Brown pants + short sleeved shirt + tie is such a Classic 60s look.

This security guard doesn’t think it’s weird that this random dude has a cat with him? Is this part of Isis’s alien power?

Except for the part where it’s a weapon, it’s pretty cool to see all this build up to, like... launching stuff into space. Exciting.

Isis likes to be on shoulders. Just like Little Guy.

New hat for Spock. His outer wear hat, and now his fancy hat. There is something to be said for this ep, and that is Kirk and Spock in suits.

Amazing how they literally launched rockets with computers that old. Like seeing the big bank of primitive computers is totally wild. We put people on the moon that way! Amazing.

“Meow.” Lol, Isis is stressed so she’s speaking like a cat. That’s a pretty funny joke actually.

Seven is so incompetent. If he’d just let the Enterprise help, Scotty could have fixed that rocket issue in like 3 seconds.

Lol everyone’s just pulling Gary through space. Now on the Enterprise. Now in the office.

Why does this computer have a hug black screen if it only displays images on the small white circle?

"Spock and  I in custody. Main characters, doing nothing, knowing nothing, totally useless and irrelevant. I have never felt more helpless." Literally what is even the point of them today? Does Spock even have lines outside of “I like the cat”?

Isis is jealous of Roberta. Is she.. in a relationship with Seven lol?

Uhura is listening to everyone in the world. She probably has a universal translator on, but I do feel like this scene implies she just...understands all the languages.

So now the warhead is armed and heading to somewhere vague... in other words, everyone has collectively made the situation worse.

....Or this was Seven’s plan all along? To scare people into ceasing to be so careful with nuclear weaponry? As someone who knows humans better than this guy, I think this is a dumbass plan.

“That’s why so many people in my generation are kind of crazy and rebels.” Same, sweetheart.

Really this is just a story about bad communication. If Seven had told Kirk his plan upfront, Kirk would have helped him. And if Kirk weren’t so insistent on involving himself in something just because he happens to be somewhere he probably shouldn’t be, we wouldn’t have this issue either. The hubris of everyone.

Overall, just a really forced narrative imo.

Or that’s how it was supposed to be lol. The Irony of time travel. By it’s nature, everything has already worked out.

Kirk and Spock are like “You’re welcome. Peace out.”

Honestly... Isis was the only good part. Such a talented cat actor!! Or trio of cat actors, I guess. Had to do all those stunts and stuff.. .amazing. I also liked the concept of Isis. How she turned into a human later just to troll Roberta. How she’s never really explained--one must assume, an alien? Plus I pretty much never get tired of human + animal teams where the animal makes animal noises and the human just understands and answers in English.

As a stand alone sci fi concept...it was okay. Kinda dated by now. The alien tech was nifty and Roberta could have grown on me. Maybe even Seven, though he left a lot to be desire. That said, the narrative relied a lot on people getting in each other’s way for no reason, which I find very frustrating.

But as a Star Trek episode....no. The main characters were just nuisances on the side lines!! I’m not even sure what Kirk’s mission here was--to try to figure out what Seven was doing? And stop him if necessary? But he never really decided if it was or not, until the point where not trusting him would basically cause a nuclear war? I don’t know, I found it all very frustrating. The melding of the original show and the spinoff was not smooth.

If I were watching this in 1968, I’d feel very cheated. THIS was the season finale? That’s it? I don’t even get a real Star Trek episode and now I have to wait months for anything new?

And what I get after all that waiting is Spock’s Brain?? I’d be tempted to quit. If I had a tumblr in 1969 I’d be writing multi-paragraph rants about how the best show on television has completely nose-dived lol.

But then there’s The Enterprise Incident, which is one of the best episodes... I don’t know, man. It’s a conundrum. I’ve only seen maybe half of season 3 but from what I remember it’s very uneven: some of the best eps (The Enterprise Incident, For the World Is Hollow, Day of the Dove) mixed in with some of the worst (Spock’s Brain, The Paradise Syndrome), plus some that are good concepts but shoddily executed (The Way to Eden). So we’ll see what I think about it when I see it all in one piece, in air date order.

[catboymingi]

mirror, mirror on the wall - veninder chap. 8

navi/masterlist

story masterlist

pairing: mingi x reader

genre: slight angst, fluff; soon best friends to lovers

word count: 6.2k

warnings: language

det har været et problem / siden vi blev alene / [...] / det er kærlighed, det kan være svært - it’s been a problem / since we were alone / it’s love, it can be complicated

mingi had no right to be as cute as he was, still running his fingers through your hair as you were about to start another movie, something that was only interrupted by a message to the group chat.

[san]: he either managed to fix things or y/n broke all his bones

[san]: no matter what it is i support you @y/n

you looked at the redhead with an expression you didn’t even know how to interpret yourself, because you didn’t know what exactly was going on in your head; looking at him had been more of an instinct than anything, but apparently it looked questioning or curious, because he started explaining.

“they almost beat some sense into me. i just really didn’t realise that you didn’t hate me until san was about to kill me, so that’s probably why they suspect you might’ve done the same. not that i wouldn’t deserve it.”

and even though the tiny mean part of you agreed that he did deserve it - maybe not to have his bones broken, but some kind of angry outburst - the much bigger part was able to tell that he was clearly still feeling horrible about it and knew that he hadn't meant to hurt you, and that part shut his self deprecation down right when it started.

"you don't. don't say that. you don't deserve to be hurt at all." your hands had gone back to rest on top of his which were still crossed in front of your body, giving them a small squeeze to show that you weren't angry and didn't harbour any thoughts of hurting him in the slightest.

"thank you."

his forehead was resting on your shoulder and you knew he wasn't just thanking you for saying that he did not, in fact, deserve an ass beating, but also for having accepted his apology so readily. as if there'd ever been any doubt about that, but apparently to him there had.

"what do you want to watch now?", you tried to change the topic, because while you weren't angry or upset with him you didn't exactly want to be reminded of being ignored for so long and also the reason why that had even happened in the first place. you wanted to forget that in this moment, just wanted to enjoy his presence and his warmth and that he was there.

"i don't know. do you have a recommendation?"

you thought some, and you did have one, but you weren't sure if you should suggest it. you'd watched random romcoms with him before, but that had been less a matter of recommending and more a matter of just accepting what netflix suggested. you felt a little awkward recommending a romcom, especially now that you were… in a weird emotional situation. or maybe it wasn't weird, but it wasn't one hundred percent clear where exactly you were, either - you were best friends with feelings for each other and an inability to act on them before you could be certain it wouldn't ruin things. were romcoms appropriate in that context?

"you're overthinking." of course he noticed, and you nodded.

"it's silly, but i feel like it's a little different now that there's… like, not even unspoken feelings, but feelings, in the air. i don't want to, i don't know, lead you on? even though it's not like i wouldn't technically want to lead you on, it's just… i don't know how to say it."

he hummed in reply, because while he didn’t worry about anything of the sorts he could understand why you did.

“just try not to worry. what do you want to watch?”

you didn’t want to overthink anymore, didn’t want things to be awkward, so you told him, even though part of you still felt a little odd. it was the first time you were even remotely close to a relationship, so you didn’t exactly know how to act, but you tried to do as mingi said and not worry too much.

“to all the boys i’ve loved before. i’ve watched it like seven times already, and there’s a sequel, too.”

but you still didn’t move to put it on, so he leaned forward, squishing you in a little between his chest and your legs, and put the movie on.

“it’s this one, right? everything is in finnish”, the last part almost a whine because it was near impossible for him to navigate your netflix.

“mhm”, so he put it on, leaning back again and pulling you with him because he wanted to be close to you and he wanted to hold you. then you stayed like this, watching the movie, in comfortable silence except when one of you let out displeased sounds at the main characters’ inability to figure out their feelings or their dumbass behaviour. you watched the sequel, too, and then more movies that were on your watchlist because mingi honestly didn’t care much about what you were watching as long as he got to hold you, first interrupting your spontaneous movie marathon to eat a little. that was the first time he actually had to let go of you that day, and he didn’t like it, but you had to eat so he accepted his fate.

it was getting somewhat dark about one third through the next movie, something that made you feel very cosy and somewhat sleepy, the screen of your laptop being the only thing that was illuminating your room. it wasn’t late enough to sleep yet, and you weren’t tired enough to sleep yet, but you were aware of the fact that you’d be incredibly tired quite soon, and you wanted to ask mingi if he wanted to stay the night, not if he was still awake enough to go home.

“mingi?” you were surprised that you already did sound somewhat tired - it was probably just because you were so comfortable, and also because crying all week had exhausted you.

“hm?” his voice came from above you, his chin resting on your head as it had for most of the movies.

“where do you want to sleep tonight? we have uni tomorrow.”

“can i stay here?” his voice made it clear that he half expected you to say no, but you wouldn’t.

“if you want to? that’s why i asked.”

“i’ll text the boys to bring my bag. or we could go fetch it together?”

you thought for a moment, then made a decision.

“can we stay at your place? i kind of want to go over when i’m not crying. and your bed is bigger.”

not that you’d need a lot of space - whenever you shared the bed you were wrapped so tightly around each other that you might as well be a single person -, but he agreed. the boys would probably be glad to see that you were doing better, and it might spare him an ass kicking if he brought you over without having broken your heart.

“which movie is this? we can finish it there.”

you texted him the name, then replied to the boys, whose previous messages you had ignored and who were making bets on whether or not mingi was still intact.

[y/n]: were coming over soon and i want ice cream

where the ice cream idea came from, you didn’t know. you just knew that you wanted ice cream now. it was a spontaneous craving, but one that the boys seemed to be willing to fulfil.

[yunho]: which flavour?

[san]: and do we need to plan for mingi too or did you knock out his teeth?

[y/n]: wouldnt he need even more ice cream if id knocked out his teeth tho?

[y/n]: but hes fine

[y/n]: and surprise me

“i don’t think san’s going to let me live this down anytime soon”, the redhead almost whined, and even though you hadn’t even done anything you felt like you should apologise.

“sorry he’s so angry at you.”

“don’t apologise. he just really cares about you, i can’t blame him”, then, to distract you before you’d start overthinking again, “let’s go.”

you shut down your laptop and grabbed your university bag along with your wallet, keys and phone charger, and then you left to the boys’ place, almost falling asleep on the train ride, but if you had your best friend would’ve carried you without hesitation. since you managed to stay awake he opted for carrying your bag instead, holding your hand all the way just so he could be sure you’d stay there with him. sure, the risk of you randomly running away was small, but never zero, and he wasn’t about to risk anything. and he just really enjoyed holding your hand, now having full permission to simp because you were apparently simping as well, though he wouldn’t call it that for you. you were cute, he was embarrassing, or so he felt.

“my favourite!”, san greeted you as soon as you entered, forcibly removing you from mingi because he decided it was necessary to hug you tightly even though he’d last seen you this morning. your linked hands hadn’t gone unnoticed, though, so his next words were him asking you if that meant he had to sleep by himself again.

“i’m sorry, sannie”, and you genuinely seemed to be, because he had been there for you all week and you felt a little bad for “ditching” him like this, even though he’d never blame you or be actually upset. he’d just threaten mingi to wait and see what would happen if he dared to break your heart again, because as much as he’d enjoyed having you there to cuddle he most definitely hadn’t enjoyed the fact that you’d been crying your eyes out on the daily.

“just give me half of your ice cream and i’ll forgive you”, and “deal” you said because it felt like a fair compromise.

“no bones have been broken?”, seonghwa, who had now entered the living room/hallway area as well, asked, and the tall idiot shook his limbs (and managed to kick your lower leg in the process) to show that he was still entirely intact.

“yet”, san warned, glaring at his friend because he’d noticed you flinch when he’d accidentally kicked you.

“don’t hurt him, he needs to dye my hair on tuesday”, you tried to convince the black-haired boy to leave your best friend alone, and that worked as a distraction, because now he was excitedly asking about which colour you’d chosen.

“technically, i chose”, mingi felt the need to make known, because while he wasn’t going to reveal the embarrassing almost-kiss and the following rejection he did want to somehow let the others know that he was still special, still your best friend. like a kindergartener arguing about who was cooler.

“which colour did mingi choose, then”, san repeated his question with the slight alteration, rolling his eyes but smiling because things seemed to be okay again.

“red”, you informed him and the other boys that were now all gathered in the living room and about as curious as san about your soon-to-be makeover.

“is that why your hair looks like this right now? preparation for a whole new look?” yunho hadn’t asked with any malice, but you’d honestly forgotten the mess your hair was whenever you brushed it, especially if you went outside after having brushed it, any humidity higher than 2% leaving you looking like your hair had exploded.

“that’s just what it’s like when i brush it”, exasperated because you were scared they’d think it looked bad - your parents, who had the straightest hair you’d ever seen (which had frequently left you wondering if you maybe were adopted), had always thought it looked bad and told you to straighten it to fit in better, even though there was absolutely no use to straightening it because if you didn’t empty an entire can of hairspray on your head the humidity would make it explode again in no time.

“if you do this in red that’s going to look really cool”, jongho told you, and you were strangely relieved. your hair was quite a source of insecurity, so you were glad they didn’t hate it.

“where’s the ice cream?”

your cravings were still going strong, you wanted ice cream now, and you also wanted to change topic from your hair to something with less focus on you.

“we got several flavours, so you can pick and the rest has to accept whatever you leave for them”, and because yunho had been the one to get the ice cream the boys didn’t even have the right to protest when he explained the rules of ice cream division.

“san, do you like banana?”

the boy in question nodded, so your choice was made. mingi fought for the right to be the next to choose and picked the second tub of banana flavour, and the rest managed to solve it a little more democratically. san was considered the least democratic, however, seeing how he not only had his own but also a third of yours (he’d been joking when he said he wanted half of yours, but you wouldn’t leave him alone until he’d accepted a third of it, at least), and mingi turned out to be more democratic than expected, having fought for the second tub of banana so he could share with you and avoid you getting less ice cream than the rest when you’d been the one to ask for ice cream in the first place.

once the ice cream was devoured everyone moved to do their thing, which, in the case of mingi and you, was finishing the movie you’d started at your place. rewatching, rather, because you couldn’t be bothered to look for where you’d left off. after that you decided to sleep, having to borrow clothes from your best friend again because you’d forgotten to bring a pyjama. he was glad about it, secretly, though he’d never admit it, because he thought you looked cute drowning in his clothes, it made him feel soft.

“goodnight, teddy bear”, laying half on top of him because you’d missed sleeping in his arms and because he was warm and comfortable.

“goodnight, y/n.” and though it wasn’t quite how it should be yet, though you weren’t his, he was happy.

//

having to leave you alone for class was the worst thing life could possibly demand from him, but life didn’t care. he (and the other boys, but that didn’t matter much to him) got to spend lunch with you, though, and you still hung out after university, even though you didn’t need to teach him anymore. monday was over fast, tuesday was almost there, and he was hardly able to fall asleep even though you were again half on top of him because he was so excited to get to dye your hair.

“you’ll look so cool tomorrow”, he informed you when you wanted nothing more than to sleep, but you couldn’t even be mad at him keeping you up because he seemed so excited. more excited than you, even.

“only if you do a good job”, you teased, head on his chest and able to hear his heart race.

“i definitely will.”

“what do i get if you don’t?”

it was just jokes, but he took his chance to make some sort of advance, because while he did want to show you that he genuinely did like you a lot he was still nervous about actually acting on it. what if you’d think he was stupid?

“a cinema date, and i get you all the snacks you want.”

“will you sleep if i say okay?”

you were trying to hide the giddy feeling in your chest by teasing him like this, but you were also starting to get incredibly tired - the clock had already crossed the line between monday and tuesday, and you just wanted to sleep. class wasn’t all too early the next day, but both you and mingi would have to get up early since you were planning to buy the hair dyeing essentials before university, so you needed the sleep.

“fine.” he wouldn’t be able to fall asleep right away, but he could try, at least. and stop moving so incredibly much.

“okay. now sleep, you need to do a good job tomorrow.”

“goodnight”, pressing you tight to his chest because he’d just scored a second date with you.

//

“can you please just turn off your alarms, just one single day?”, the redhead whined out the next morning when it was 5am again and he was forcefully removed from the land of sleep by the tone he’d come to hate because it did this every single morning he woke up with you, and you just plain refused to turn your alarm off by this point.

“maybe if you ask really nicely. good morning.”

then you crawled out from his embrace to turn off the alarm for now, looking at him with a smile on your face. he was still so tired - he’d gotten maybe four hours of sleep because of your inability to get up at a normal time -, and he looked adorable, rubbing his eyes for like ten seconds just to force himself to be a little more awake.

“good morning”, he replied, even though he was still somewhat grumpy at your alarm. he just couldn’t not say it.

“today’s the big day”, the day where you’d finally go back to looking more like you, and also the day where you’d match with the sleepy idiot in your bed. though he seemed significantly less sleepy as he realised that he’d be dyeing your hair today, sitting up so fast you wouldn’t have been surprised if he’d lost balance and fallen off the bed.

it seemed to be pure torture to have to wait for a more appropriate time to leave the flat, seeing how he was constantly checking his phone for the time, but it only left him all the happier when it was finally time to leave. he’d gotten dressed hours ago, in an attempt to get time to pass faster because maybe it would if the time gods saw that he was ready to leave - which it, much to his dismay, hadn’t at all, but it didn’t matter anymore now that he finally got to leave.

the store was near university and he bought everything for you, not wanting to let you pay because it felt like it was a treat for him that you were letting him dye your hair so he didn’t want you to spend money on it, even though you were just as excited. then you went to class, and you were relieved he was there with you when one of the girls approached you when you were about to sit down.

“oh, you went back to the old boytoy? didn’t like the one we picked?” her voice was sickly sweet, and if you hadn’t been clinging to mingi’s hand the way you were he probably would have done something he’d regret later.

“this boytoy is more than ready to do things you really wouldn’t want me to do if you try shit like that again”, steam coming out of his ears if that were anatomically possible, “so i suggest you fuck off.”

you were glad he was towering in front of you, protecting you with his body from someone that was supposed to be your friend, because while the girls hadn’t left you alone since the party reminders of it still hurt. and they’d especially hurt last week, when the redhead hadn’t been there with you, something that hadn’t gone unnoticed and given them a reason for even more teasing. you just wanted to forget all about it and you didn’t want to see the smug expression that would without a doubt be on her face.

“you’re no fun”, but she did leave and you visibly relaxed, the grip on the red-haired giant’s hand loosening.

the class went okay with him there, lunch with the boys was fun (they were teasing a certain redhead about how he seemed to be attached by the hip to you), and the last class of the day went by without any major happenings, either, and then, then it was finally time to go home and dye your hair, something mingi’d been waiting for ever since you told him he could do it. the train ride felt way longer than it usually was, and he decided to pick you up and run with you because he didn’t want to be so slow, a plan that was quickly discarded because running with you on his back did prove to be slightly more difficult than anticipated. he still urged you to hurry, though, and because you were physically unable to not do what he asked you to when he was excited like this you ran the last hundred metres to your dorm’s building, laughing loudly when you were at the door.

once inside he immediately beelined for the bathroom, wanting to start right away, but you told him you’d have to brush your hair first if you wanted a decent dye job.

“can i do it again?” and of course he could, because he was, admittedly, better at doing so without hurting you than you were yourself.

his movements were careful and he once more managed to get rid of all the knots without any major pain, running his fingers through your hair to make sure he hadn’t missed anything before going over to his bag and getting out something that looked suspiciously much like one of his t-shirts.

“i always wear this when i dye my hair, and since it’s already dirty i thought i’d bring it along”, he explained himself, throwing the shirt towards you so you could put it on.

“let me in when you’re dressed.”

your best friend put on the plastic gloves in the meantime - he’d had to buy new ones because your hands were definitely much smaller than his, and so were your plastic gloves -, waiting for his cue to start the dyeing ministrations on your hair. he most likely had a worse case of nerves than you did, because you knew how to treat your hair and he had no idea and he was scared that he’d mess up big time and you’d violently kill him for ruining your hair.

“get to work, teddy bear”, you told him when you opened the bathroom door, and you didn’t need to tell him twice. he prepared the bleach (with some help from you because if the bleach wasn’t just the right texture your hair simply would not accept it and dyeing wouldn’t work), then he carefully spread it on your hair, starting with the tips and working up so your scalp would get a break and you’d be spared the bleach sting for as long as possible. he was careful and you really enjoyed the feeling of his hands in your hair, the attention he was paying to his job, making sure he didn’t miss a spot.

you looked absolutely silly with the blueish paste in your hair, but that was half the fun of dyeing hair, looking like a complete mess until the job was done. because of the amount of hair and bleach you waited in the bathroom rather than doing something else until it was time to wash it out, mingi checking how light your hair was every now and then.

when both of you were pleased with the result he told you to lean over, carefully kneeling next to you, who was now on all fours with only your upper body leaning into the shower, and checking the water temperature before he went to wash out the bleach. his movements were slow and soft, making sure every last bit of bleach was gone before he handed you the towel that you’d used before whenever you dyed your hair black and which was, as a consequence, already covered in colourful little splotches of badly washed out dye and residue pigment that was coming out after showering. when he realised that you wouldn’t be able to grab it without either dripping onto the bathroom floor and all over yourself or landing face first on the shower floor he started drying your hair for you, too, attempting one of those towel turbans but not very successful at it.

“thank you”, you said once you’d sat up, smiling at him. he smiled back, then told you to dry your hair so he could see what you looked like blonde and finally put the red in.

“you’re so impatient”, but you were laughing because it was kind of cute, if you were being honest.

“yes, so hurry up.”

you had no choice but to comply, drying your hair as much as possible with the towel before asking him if he was ready for the big reveal.

“just show me”, the so far still lone redhead whined, and you finally did as he’d begged you to, showing him what you looked like blonde.

“so?”

he didn’t know what to say, because he thought you looked stunning, but he also didn’t want to embarrass himself by saying so when you weren’t even going to keep this hair colour. but maybe one day he’d have to go blond with you.

“if we weren’t going to match i’d tell you to keep this” was how he decided to let you know that he really liked it without seeming all too whipped. but maybe it was time to be whipped, because he did want to show you that the feelings you seemed to doubt were genuine, from his side. so, he added: “you look really beautiful with blonde hair.”

“let’s hope i look good with red, too.” he’d flattered you and you were a little flustered, so you tried to get his attention away from your looks and back to the task.

“you will.”

he first noticed that he hadn’t opened the dye when he was already wearing the plastic gloves, sending a sheepish grin your way and asking you to please open it for him. you did as asked, handing him the little tube so he could continue, and he once more carefully put the dye in, trying really hard to not miss a spot and spread it evenly. then you waited, again, until it was time to wash it out, which he did with the same amount of care as the first time.

once it was all washed out, however, he near caused you a heart attack.

“i think i messed up”, mingi informed you, and your head shot up in fear without caring about the fact that you’d be dripping all over the bathroom floor, because you half expected your hair to be falling out. you rushed over to the mirror, trying to see just how bad it was.

“what are you talking about? it looks great!” relieved that you would not have to rock a buzzcut again, because growing your hair out after the first had been a pain and you were so glad that it was as long as it was again, chest length and still going strong.

“no, i definitely messed up”, and now that you were able to look at him you saw the playful glint in his eyes, “so i owe you a cinema date.”

“you’re a fucking idiot”, heart still racing from the moment of panic he’d caused you, “if you scare me like that again you’re not going to get any date, ever.”

his expression quickly changed from playfully teasing to a very specific emoji, one with big, sparkling eyes, as he apologised.

“i’m sorry, please forgive me, please don’t do that”, something that only worked because you were so incredibly soft for him, especially when he looked like that.

“fine, i forgive you. but you can just ask for a date instead of near killing me.” how you managed to act like the butterflies in your stomach weren’t doing somersaults was beyond your comprehension, but you stayed cool, something you were happy about. relationships were weird and somewhat intimidating, as were feelings, and you didn’t want to make it even more intimidating and embarrassing by showing him just how excited you were about the idea of going out with him.

“let me try again, okay?” and before you had a chance to reply he continued: “will you let me take you out on a cinema date this week?”

“yes, but now we need to dry my hair before i ruin your shirt”, because the dye-water mixture that was dripping from your tips was leaving small stains already.

“it’s fine, that’s why i brought this one.”

but he still dried your hair for you, carefully, before looking at the finished makeover.

“do you like it?” you were nervous, fiddling with his shirt because what if he regretted his idea now? what if he thought you looked stupid?

“yes! you look cute, but also really cool, i don’t know, but it suits you so well.”

“i’m glad.” then, grabbed by the sudden desire to hug him, you wrapped your arms around him tightly.

“thank you for dyeing my hair.”

even though your hair was still moist and a little uncomfortable against his cheek he held you just as tight, happy that you seemed to like your new colour.

“do you want to go to my place? show the boys.”

you wanted to keep hugging him, but you’d have to stop that sooner or later anyway, so you might as well.

“okay. but you help me decide what to wear tomorrow.”

he followed you to your closet, and for the first time since he’d known you did he notice that it was divided, in a way, that you had two shelves for pants, shirts, skirts and so on. you pointed to one side of the closet - the shirt shelves were next to each other at the same height, as were the others -, telling him that this was where you kept the remnants of your alternative phase.

“can i take some clothes out? so i can get a better look.”

you nodded and soon half your closet was spread on the bed because he wanted to try putting together different outfit combinations.

“hold on, i have something i just remembered”, you interrupted him, walking over to your closet and fetching something from a drawer he hadn’t dared to open because he suspected he might be greeted by your underwear. you didn’t fetch underwear, though, instead throwing several pairs of fishnet tights at him, then a pair of what he assumed to be socks, and then, the biggest surprise, thigh garters.

“maybe this helps spice things up”, and it did, because you also owned a pair of red fishnets, something he chose as the base for the outfit. then, black high-waisted shorts with a distressed hem, an oversized black crop top (that crop tops could be oversized was new to him, but he imagined it would look cute), and of course, the socks that revealed themselves to be thigh highs and the spiked thigh garters that had almost cost him an eye when you’d thrown them at him carelessly.

“this?”

the redhead was curious to see what you’d think of his amateur alt attire - he had no idea if you’d like it, but at least he knew you weren’t opposed to the clothes as individual items because they were quite literally yours.

“i think you have a secret alt girl hidden somewhere deep inside you, and she broke free when she saw my clothes”, you joked, though obviously approving of what he’d picked out.

“just don’t like her more than me”, joining in on the joking, pouting at you before a grin spread on his face because he wasn’t able to hold it in anymore.

you collected the outfit he’d picked out, some makeup and your pyjamas, then you texted the boys that mingi was coming with a surprise.

you hadn’t bothered to change out of the hair dye shirt, your hair was still slightly damp, and your friend had red splotches on his forearms from where the gloves hadn’t covered his skin. it was pretty obvious that he’d just dyed your hair, which the two of you thought was kind of fun; maybe it was just the excitement from your first somewhat-date, but both of you were full of energy still, even though the dyeing was done already.

when you were in front of their door mingi texted the boys, telling them to gather in the living room and keep their eyes closed - he’d check, he informed them -, and while you were kept outside until he’d checked you luckily didn’t have to wait for long because they’d done as asked.

“open!”

you were the surprise, sporting a bright red hair colour and your hair looking straighter than they’d ever seen it, even though it was slowly regaining its regular curliness and puffiness.

“you look like you’re way too cool for us”, yunho decided, and the others agreed.

“that’s because she is”, mingi let them know nonchalantly, wrapping an arm around your shoulder and pulling you against him. he hadn’t considered how that would leave him unable to decently walk, though, starting to waddle towards his room while gently pushing you to move along with him.

“we’re going to watch a movie”, and off he went.

“what movie are we gonna watch?”

you were half sitting, half laying on his bed, watching him as he got out his laptop and joined you, motioning for you to make room for him so he wouldn’t fall off. his bed was big, sure, but you had to actually make use of that space, which you were very much not doing, leaving barely enough room for him if he were to lay on his side, which wasn’t the best movie predicaments. you readily scooted closer to the wall, though, sitting up more so you’d be able to watch him choose the movie.

“i don’t know, it feels like we’ve already watched so many.”

he was right; you’d watched about a dozen different movies by now, maybe more, so you were slowly running out of options.

“we could listen to music? just relax a little.”

“but we’re not going to listen to those songs you put on at the pyjama party”, he told you. “they weren’t exactly relaxing.”

“you can pick.”

he did, selecting some random relaxing lo-fi beats playlist on youtube. and because you were going to relax he put the laptop on the ground, laying down and making some grabby hands-adjacent movement at you so you’d come cuddle with him. and you did, wrapped yourself around him the way he’d been wrapped around you during your first movie night, an arm and a leg slung around him and your head not on his shoulder, not on his chest, but the space in between, and both of his arms were around you. he drew on your back, nothing in particular but just because you’d told him once that the movement relaxed you, switching which hand he used when the current arm started to feel heavy but not stopping even for a second. this situation made him happy, having you there and everything being calm; he wished it could last forever.

“are you tired?” mingi didn’t know why he’d asked - maybe because you weren’t moving at all, maybe because your breathing was slow and even, maybe because he was a little bit tired himself.

“mh, not really? just cosy. you’re like a big soft teddy bear.”

he felt so warm when you told him that, full of joy, full of soft feelings. you hadn’t talked about your feelings after that embarrassing and incredibly emotional situation at your place on sunday, but knowing that he did hold a special place in your heart, that you did like him the way he liked you, was enough to already make his heart grow to twice its regular, anatomically correct size.

his hands continued roaming your back, taking turns, sometimes trying to draw an actual shape, a heart, on your back, thinking you wouldn’t notice because you didn’t expect him to actually try to draw, but after several secret hearts you did notice that sometimes his movements seemed more coordinated, and then you noticed that he was drawing a heart, something that made you smile. he obviously wasn’t expecting you to realise what he was doing, so it was a genuine display of affection, not at all to convince you that he did like you but just because he wanted to.

even though both of you were convinced that you weren’t actually tired your eyes started feeling heavy about an hour into the playlist, despite the fact that it was barely past nine, and even though you maybe shouldn’t be sleeping in your street clothes you couldn’t be bothered to change, especially not when you realised that getting changed would mean waking up the gentle giant, whose movements had stopped and who was snoring just a little bit in your arms. you couldn’t possibly wake him up, and you couldn’t possibly bother him to turn off the laptop, so you just rubbed your cheek against the soft fabric of his shirt and closed your eyes, ready to doze off as well.

[namluve]

paring: hoseok x reader rating: 15+ genre: soulmate au! fluff, crack, a little angst warnings: talk about death, a little kissing, wedding that might make you cry a little word count: 5.7k note: I am somewhat back, trying to write again after what seemes like forever due to many life changes. I want to thank @spicykoreantatertots​ for beta reading this mess that turned out way longer than I planned.  collab: april showers, bring may flowers @bangtanscenery 

read part one, love on borrowed time if you haven’t first!

Waking up in the middle of the night, laying on your side you stared at the wall that was in front of you. Your mind in a state of calm before reality hit you. Hoseok was gone. He was most likely laying beside you, lifeless. At this point and you felt the tears beginning to form in your eyes.

Suddenly, you heard the toilet being flushed.  That… should not happen. It can’t really flush itself… can it? Mortified, you turned around, expecting to see Hoseok laying next to you, but to your surprise, he was gone. Did he know he was going to die? Did he leave the bed so you wouldn’t have to wake up next to his dead body tomorrow?

The sink had been turned on in the bathroom. Something was not right. Finding courage, you sat up on the bed, ready to face whatever was in your bathroom. What if it was a burglar? Or worse, a murderer? The sink was turned off and it was quiet.

Suddenly the door opened, and you screamed, too caught up in your own thoughts and scared to death by the action. What you didn’t expect was the person on the other side of the door screaming as well.

“WHAT ARE YOU DOING?” You scream out as you see Hoseok… well and alive?

“HOW ARE YOU ALIVE?” He screamed back at you and you did a ‘what’ motion with your hands. Wait, did Hoseok think you were going to die? Did your clock tick down to this day just like his?

“What do you mean?!” You shout back, not as loud this time and you see how Hoseok pounders, thinking about the next words he is about to say.

“Your clock… It should be zero right now… you shouldn’t…” He began to quietly explain, still trying to wrap his head around the situation.

Hoseok knew the day he met you that he wouldn’t have much time with you. The clock on your wrist showed that you only had a little over half a year left to live. He wished so many times he would have met you sooner so that he could have had more time with you. The fact that you were still alive and well in his bed made him think his wish might have come through somehow. A smile on his face as he looked on your distraught form. You were alive.

Hoseok threw himself at you, tackling you down onto the bed, holding you so tight you could barely breathe.

“Hobi…I can’t… breath…” You choked out and Hoseok immediately let go of his tight grip around you, but still held you in his arms. Tears were streaming down his face as his eyes met yours.

“I thought you… Your wrist said…” Hoseok incoherently choked out as he took hold of your wrist, examining it.

By now, you had gathered all the signs and clues together to solve the mystery of Hoseok’s weird behaviour. He thought you were going to die. His eyebrows furrowed together as he, still confused, examined your wrist, not believing what he was seeing. Suddenly it all made sense.

The way he held so tight when you were about to sleep. How he took the day off to spend it with you. His proposal… Wait- Hoseok proposed to you? Knowing, no, thinking you were going to die?

“You thought I was going to die?” You asked him and he nodded. Sitting up, you escaped his grip on you, your breathing ragged. Thoughts and emotions spinning uncontrollably around in your head.

“Yah! You proposed to me thinking I was going to die? The day before I was supposed to die?!”

“Yeah?” Hoseok looked up at you with his puppy eyes, confused at your sudden outburst. You, however, didn’t imagine your proposal like this when you were young. You always imagine it would be out of love, not just because the other person is dying. The thought of Hoseok only proposing to you because you were going to die filled you with an unexplainable sadness.

“You can’t just do that!” Holding back the tears in your eyes as you spit out the words angered with the fuel from the never-ending thoughts that maybe, just maybe, Hoseok didn’t mean anything he said yesterday, at all.

“Why not?” He questioned, and you sighed, brushing away the tears that had escaped going down your cheek.

“Because… marriage is not supposed to be taken lightly… it’s something you go ahead with when you know you love the other person and wanna spend the rest of your life with them.”

“But I love you… and I actually get to spend the rest of my life with you…” Hoseok murmured, mostly to himself because frankly, he still couldn’t believe it. But you still heard it, feeling bad for reacting the way you did and also feeling butterflies in your stomach at hearing Hoseok say ‘I love you’ for the first time. He said it quite often, to his mom, friends, all the animals he’s meet but this, this was the first time he had ever said it to you.

“You love me? So… you didn’t just propose to me because you thought I was going to die?”

Now, you felt stupid. Why would you even think that in the first place? Hoseok had poured his heart out to you yesterday and you said to him was yes. If anyone should be doubting, it should be him.

“No!” Hoseok answers fast, upset that you could even think of such a thing, “I meant what I said last night, I wanna spend the rest of my life with you.” Letting out the breath you were holding it, you sigh. Crying uncontrollably as you throw yourself onto Hoseok, holding him tightly. He didn’t doubt your love for one second, never again would you doubt his.

“I love you too… I can’t believe you’re here…” You choke out as you begin to cry, “I really thought you were going to die.”

At your words, Hoseok crooked up his head, taking hold of your shoulders, pushing you back to create distance between the two of you.

“What do you mean you thought I was going to die?” He questions as the cogwheels begin to turn in his head, connecting the dots. “Yah! Did you only accept my proposal because you thought I was going to die?”

“No, I- “

“Is that why you were accusing me of not loving you? Yah, you really are something aren’t you ‘___’?” Crossing his arms Hoseok looks at you while shaking his head as you start to defend yourself.

“Yah, what else was I supposed to think? I was so happy when you proposed last night it seemed unreal and then… I find out you thought I was going to die?” A silence settled between the two of you, the realisation of your current situation sinking in as Hoseok carefully whispers out his next words.

“So… you do want to marry me?” Hoseok’s question caught you of guard but your answer was still the same, just like it would always be.

“Yes… And you still want to marry me?” Laughing, Hoseok throws himself at you, hugging you once again tightly, placing kisses all over your head and face. Laughing at his sudden attack on you, you no longer feel any sadness at all. Only joy. Only love.

“Yes, yes and yes. Always.”

A few days later, things went on as usual. As if you and Hoseok were never destined to die that fateful night. Things were quiet in your shared house. The storm that had raged the night the two of you were fated to die had ended the next morning.

You and Hoseok were sitting on the couch, watching Netflix. The drama you were watching felt almost bland compared to the life you would get to have with Hoseok. Sure, they were in love and their love story was interesting but did the characters cheat faith like the two of you had? Was their love so strong that it saved one and other somehow? 

Maybe your time was really up, and this was just some middle stage, even though, that made no sense either. So, you decided to keep believing that it was the love you had for one and other that saved you somehow, looking down on Hoseok’s wrist, seeing the 00:00:00 mark, no longer counting down.

Your thoughts were interrupted as Hoseok’s phone started ringing. The vibrations startled you, making you jump closer to him, if that was even possible considering how close the two of you had cuddled up. Hoseok smiled, muttering ‘cute’ under his breath.  

Turning off the sound on tv, Hoseok began taking up his phone awkwardly from his back pocket as you were pressed flush against him, refusing to move. As he saw the caller id being ‘mom’ he pressed a finger against his lips, a quiet ‘shh’ leaving his lips before he pressed answer.

“Hi mom!” He answered and their conversation went on. With your head still laying on his shoulder and arm wrapped around him, you began to feel sleepy. Your brain going back to your previous thoughts. You had googled a lot, not finding much about the phenomenon, except that it had happened a few times before. A total of four cases had been recorded so far.

As you tried to recall the articles you had been reading, you closed your eyes and laid your head comfortably on Hoseok’s chest. After a little while, you began snoring and Hoseok laughed quietly to himself, his mother wondering at what.

“Nothing… ‘___’ just feel asleep on me.” He spoke a little quieter, smiling as he looked down on you, your face pressed into his chest. Hair messily laying around on his t-shirt, some of it falling down your face. Carefully lifting his hand, Hoseok removed the strands of hair, pushing them behind your ear.

“I’m happy to hear that.” His mother began as she tried to figure out how to pop the big question she was really calling him for. “About your fiancé…”

Hearing his mother call you his fiancé made Hoseok freeze. Yes, he knows he just proposed to you. Yes, he knows you accepted his proposal. Still, hearing someone call you his fiancé made him freeze because that meant it was all real. Not just some dream that you actually survived that night, despite your clock showing 00:00:00. Neither had the two of you discussed that night really, the thought of it still making Hoseok uneasy.

“Have you decided on a date for the wedding yet? I know that’s a big question, but I just wanted to know if I could be of any help.” His mother's soft voice woke him up from his thoughts and Hoseok realized that the two of you had not talked about the wedding, at all.

The weekend following the phone call from Hoseok’s mother was spent planning. Or rather, passionately discussing, because you refused to call it arguing. Both standing of the opposite ends of the kitchen. Arms crossed. The tile floor being the battleground between the two.

“Why can’t we have it in the summer? It’s warm, nice and my favourite season.” Hoseok argued and you shook your head. You had been through this already, while summer was Hoseok’s favourite season, you thought it was the absolute worst. Bugs everywhere, burning sun in the sky making the air feel suffocating. No thank you.

“Do you know how much I will sweat under the dress? I won’t be able to be in a wedding dress.” You argued back and Hoseok smirked.

Raising an eyebrow, you looked skeptically at Hoseok as he began to close the distance between the two of you.

“What?”

“Then don’t wear one,” he said as he reached you and you scoffed, “it’s going off anyway at the end of the night.”

At his words, Hoseok picked you up, throwing you over his shoulder and you yelped. If this is how he planned to carry you on your wedding night to your suit, you would make damn sure to never show up at your wedding, at all.

“HOBI!” You screamed as he began to carry you towards the bedroom. You knew exactly where he was going with all of this. He had been more touchy and clingy ever since that night and kissing always seemed like a good solution whenever you wouldn’t agree with him. You were much more tolerable tugging at his hair, kissing his lips than when you were disagreeing with every suggestion he made.

“What? It’s true.” He said as if he had just won the argument as he entered the bedroom. Rolling your eyes before you were thrown onto the bed, a smug smile plastered on Hoseok’s face that you’d do anything to wipe away. He crawled on top of you, placing a sweet kiss to your lips.

“I’m pretty sure that’s not how the groom carries the bride,” you tease, your annoyance being replaced with playfulness as you remember that a week ago, you never thought this would be possible. You and him, playfully bantering in the bed and he smiles at your words. His eyes filled with love as he looked down at you.  

“If she walks in without a wedding dress, I’m pretty sure that would be precisely how the groom would carry his bride. Which is how I imagined you.”

“Hobi!” You exclaim as you smack him playfully on his shoulder. He only laughed, connecting your lips once again. More passionate, more desperate and needy this time.

Planning a wedding turned out to be harder than you thought, but you wouldn’t have it any other way. As long as you got to spend the rest of your life with Hoseok.

Suddenly, into the kiss you felt your cheek getting wet. Breaking the kiss, you meet Hoseok’s gaze that shows nothing but sadness, tears in his eyes as his shaking hand caresses your cheek.

“Hobi, baby… what’s wrong?” His hand never leaving your cheek, eyes filled with sadness and uncertainty as he lets out a shaky breath before speaking.

“What if… I lose you tomorrow… What if… the clock is broken or something and starts ticking again?” You didn’t even know what to say. How could you reassure him when these were the exact thoughts running through your head, over and over again, every day? How could you comfort about something you felt deeply burden by as well?

You decide to say nothing, embrace Hoseok in your arms, hugging him tightly. Finding comfort in each other as you finally begin to talk about that night and try to understand what had really happened.

Spending hours in bed talking about your fears, your hopes, and the future. Actually managing to plan the wedding a little bit at the end after both of you had opened up to one another.

The wedding would be held at the end of the summer, on the beach near where you grew up and suddenly, everything felt okay.

A month later, you and Hoseok had most things planned out when it came to the wedding. It would be held in the end of August since Hoseok wanted it during the summer and you wanted it during autumn. You had to compromise about a lot of things but in the end, as you started to see the pieces all come together, you couldn’t be happier.

The thought of a future together with Hoseok making you happy in a way you didn’t even know was possible. The kind of happy that you can’t ever see to end, filling you with warm fuzzy feelings of comfort and joy.

The only problem was how you were supposed to fund it all. Both of you had big plans, well not that big, but bigger than your budget. Both of your parents wanted to help which you and Hoseok respectfully declined, wanting to be able to say the two of you did it all, together. Just like you had survived that night and still kept on living with the 00:00:00 marks on your wrists.

That day, a news segment on the tv caught your eye. Scientists talking about a possible gene modification that allowed soulmates to live, even though their clocks had ticked down to zero. Since it was so rare, scientists tried to reach out to the public and offer them a sum of money if they came in and took some tests.

Since you and Hoseok needed money for the wedding and also wanted answers for what happened that night, you called in as soon as the segment was over. Booking a trip to Seattle for the coming week, excited to contribute to new discoveries and hopefully, find answers.

Boarding the plane, holding Hoseok’s hand, it felt like this was fate. The two of you were meant to have a beautiful wedding, just like you’d imagined and dreamed of. 

Live a long life together. The talk about children even being brought up in your conversations. The house you were living in did have a spare room after all. You and Hoseok would often go into it and imagine a little bed there instead, your first born sleeping peacefully in it.

“You doing good baby?” Hoseok asked as the two of you had lifted off the ground, the plane now high up in the sky above the clouds. Still holding hands as you sit comfortably in your seats.

“Couldn’t be better, just a little nervous.” As Hoseok squeezes your hand, he gives you a reassuring smile. Eyes sparkling with hope.

“Me too,” he answers and for the rest of the flight you watch movies, talk about your wedding and everything the future holds. The future you were both blessed to be able to have that you would hopefully find some answers to in Seattle. 

Months passed by since the two of you, along with the other couples that had gotten tested, finally would be able to get some answers. Sitting by your computer, Hoseok adjusts the volume as you join the zoom meeting, greeting everyone that had joined so far.

Once everyone had joined and small talked for a bit, the head researcher asked for everyone’s attention, her intern standing beside her.

“We are happy to say that we are certain that the gene modifications you both have are a different kind of soulmate clock.” Doctor Jean began as each and every contributor of the scientific research from all around the world, including you and Hoseok, listened carefully. Nervous and excited to finally get some answers as to why your clocks worked differently.

“We were able to discover that your clock doesn’t tick down to your death, but to the moment you start loving your soulmate.” As Doctor Jean spoke those words, you and Hoseok both exhaled in relief. Worrying about what it all could have meant all these months to find out it was something as pure as falling in love.

Her intern began showing the results, pictures of what gene, how common they expect this phenomenon to be and how it would affect future generations. The gene was dominant, meaning, your children would have this type of soulmate clock as well. It was the future for humanity. It was no longer an advantage of knowing when your soulmate would die, as opposed to thousands of years ago. In today's age it was more important to know when your soulmate would fall in love with you so the two could move forward in their relationship.

Your children would never have to experience that night that you and Hoseok had. They will grow up, knowing what their clock is ticking down to. Reassured, happy and excited you and Hoseok leave for bed once the meeting was over and all the results had been presented.

“You can never not love me now. The clock says it.” Hoseok says as he lays down on the bed next to you. Shaking your head, you roll your eyes.

“That’s totally not what the doctor said… but you don’t have to worry about that. In two months… I’ll be yours.” Giving a peck on Hoseok’s lips, smiling as he pulls you closer, not giving you any time to pull away.

“You already are,” he says as he gives you another kiss, this time, with his arms wrapped tightly around you, holding you tightly as if you would shatter if he didn’t.

“You know what I mean.”

“Yes, but I want you to say it.” Wrapping your arms around Hoseok’s neck, you look at him, smiling. Saying the words he wanted to hear each and every second if he could.

“I’m all yours.”

With now only a week left until the wedding you were both busy running errands, preparing and making sure that everything goes as planned. With Hoseok’s parents staying in your guest room and always being around the house, it felt as if you never had the opportunity to be alone with Hoseok. To spend time with him and to just be with him. It almost made you wish that the wedding was today so you could just get it over with and spend time with him again.

‘Soon’ your mother would always remind you when you vented to her on the phone. The word following your thoughts every day. Soon, you would be married, soon Hoseok would be your husband and soon you would be married. Husband and wife, til death do you apart.

That week went by faster than you could’ve ever imagined, now standing at the beach, in your wedding dress, as you wait for the cue for you to walk in. It was a sunny day with a little wind blowing occasionally, the breeze caressing you every now and then, comforting you.

You were standing by the cliff, the rocks nearby covering you as the altar stood far down by the ocean shore, but not close enough for the water to ruin your shoes when you would stand by the altar as the waves hit the shore. If you peaked around the stone formation, you could see Hoseok nervously kicking in the ground as he was speaking with Yoongi, his best man.

Your hands were sweaty, holding the bouquet of flowers close to your body, afraid you’ll drop it somehow. Today was the day and all you could think about is how would you be able to walk in your high heels up to the altar without tripping in the sand? Seriously, how was a beach wedding one of the few things you and Hoseok agreed upon and you never considered this factor?

Hoseok wasn’t thinking about that at all. He knew you would stroll down with ease, carefully placing one foot in front of the other. Looking like a goddess on her way to great Poseidon, not to marry Hoseok, that’s how beautiful you would look.

He hadn’t seen you with the dress yet but he knows it in his heart. You looked like a goddess without it in whatever clothes you would wear, however you would style your hair, with or without makeup, you always looked like Aphrodite, the goddess of beauty. 

As the music began to play, both of you were pulled from your thoughts, now present in the ceremony that would bind your love together forever.

You started walking. One foot in front of the other as everyone turned their heads to face you. Your friends, your family, all staring at you as you continued walking down the aisle, not remembering how you managed to get there really from behind the rocks. But you did, almost freezing as your eyes met Hoseok’s, filled with tears of joy as he saw you.

He had been watching your every step in awe of your beauty, not believing how lucky he was to have you as his partner. His soulmate. His fiancé that would soon be his wife. That he was lucky enough to be able to spend the rest of his life with.

Thinking back about that night almost made him want to just run up to you and hug you, to be sure this is all still very real and not just in his head. A dream that he would soon wake up from, lonely as the bed would be empty and your warmth gone.

Your thoughts had also been drifting back to that night, being grateful at fate for giving you a second chance at love. To find the right one but also to give you time with him. To give you a future with him and give your life new meaning.

Trying not to tear up, you took your final steps to the altar. Your feet sinking lightly into the sand as you do. You had been reciting your vows in your head, making sure you would remember them. You reached the altar and took your place standing next Hoseok in front of the priest. 

Smiling widely, you took Hoseok's hand. He squeezed your hand with his, as though he was making sure it was real. Holding the bouquet in your other hand, cursing on the inside for not choosing a smaller one, the weight of it heavy in your hand.

As the music stopped, you heard the waves more clearly, bringing a sense of calm to you. You turned your body toward the priest, Hoseok followed your lead, still holding your hand tightly.

“We’re gathered here today…” As the priest begins to speak you end up in your own thoughts, watching the waves crash into shore. Feeling the light breeze graze your skin.

Turning your head to look at Hoseok, you see the tear that he had been holding back. It almost made you cry, so happy to be here with him today. There was no one else in the world who you wanted to spend your life with. It was Hoseok. It always had been.

Hoseok never turned his head once towards you while the priest was speaking, afraid he was going to lose it and cry as soon as he did. He felt your gaze on his face, watching him, and he wondered what you were thinking. Did you feel just as blessed as him? Did you also think that maybe, just maybe, the past couple of months was just a dream?

“Do you, Jung Hoseok take Y/N Y/L/N to be your wife?” Hoseok was awakened from his daydreaming as the priest addressed him.

“I do.” He says without a doubt, smiling at you, tears running down his cheek.

“Do you, Y/N Y/L/N take Jung Hoseok to be your husband?”

“I do.” You answered equally eager, equally happy to finally be able to say it.  

“You may now say your vows to each other,” the priest spoke. Turning your body towards him as he did the same, bringing up your other hand to place it in Hoseok’s. Holding both of his hands as you stared into his eyes.

“I want to start,” you announced, and he let out a sigh of relief. Usually, he wasn’t nervous about talking in front of people, but you always made his knees weak. Made him stumble over his words and thoughts, not able to think straight in your presence.

“The night you proposed to me… you poured your heart out and I haven’t had the chance to do the same…” It had been something you had been thinking about for a while, having a hard time finding the words you wanted Hoseok to know. Swallowing hard, you saw a tear leaving Hoseok's eye.

“Hobi… You are the best thing that has ever happened to me. Before you, I didn’t know where my life was going or where I would end up staying. I am glad to know that I’ll be wherever you are, by your side, building our future together.” You paused, sniffing as you try to keep your own tears at bay to no avail, your cheek wet, glistening as the sunlight hits it.

“The first time I saw your time mark and figured out we wouldn’t have much time, life just felt so unfair,” you remembered it all so clearly. Hoseok must have had the same thoughts at the time, he sniffed and gave you a weak smile. “I found the person who could always make me smile, even when I’m crying. The person who always made me feel safe and loved. The person… I love the most in the entire world.”

Choking on your tears, you tried to finish your vows. Hoseok stood in front of you speechless, attempting to hold back his own tears without any success. His tears slowly fell down his cheeks and onto his suit. The tears in your eyes made it difficult to keep eye contact with him.

“I want you and I want you for the rest of our lives. I love you so much Hobi and I can’t imagine a day going by without thinking about you. I just love you and want to spend the rest of my life with you.”

As you finished your speech, you wiped away your tears and finally had a moment to take in Hoseok’s appearance. You notice how his usually sparkly eyes were puffy, red and filled with tears. Tears that kept falling from his eyes. He still couldn’t believe you were here with him, pouring your heart out in front of him and everyone important in your lives.

“I don’t think I’ll be able to beat that…” he joked, laughing  a little, trying to collect his thoughts, ”but I do have some things that I want you to know.” Wiping away his tears, he took a deep breath and looked deep into your eyes.

“Even though this last year have been one of the most difficult ones, it’s also been the one with the most joy… because of you. You make everything better and I’m always excited and happy to get home from work just to see you. Even though I sometimes come home to the kitchen being almost on fire,” your guests laughed as you and Hoseok both let out a chuckle, “I do really think I need to tell you in front of everyone not to try all the recipes you find on Facebook.”

You laughed, your tears replaced with the thought that Hoseok really did it. He managed to expose and embarrass you on your wedding somehow and you wouldn’t have it any other way.

“I hope you know I’m serious,” you almost rolled your eyes but kept it in. Seeing how happy Hoseok is to tease you about your cooking skills made you forgive him in a heartbeat.

“Even though you almost burn down the kitchen once a week, it’s one of the things I admire the most about you. You always try your best and you always have new ideas, want to try new things and…” Hoseok trailed off as he watched your lips form into an even bigger smile than the one you were already wearing before.

“Where was I... Oh yeah! And you always make life more interesting, willing to try anything to put a smile on my face. Even when you fail… You always make me smile anyway because I know how hard you try.” You can barely look him in the eyes as he speaks so softly about you, just as he did the night of the proposal.

Almost as if Hoseok had heard your thoughts, he began speaking, bringing up one of the saddest nights of your life.  

“Now… I know you said you didn’t want me to bring up that night but… It was the scariest night of my life… Going to the bathroom… Thinking you were laying there dead in our bed, I was so scared I didn’t even want to leave the bathroom after I went to pee…”

He had never told you this, never did you think much of it to ask either. He must have been in the bathroom for a long while, not wanting to go out and face your dead body laying in your shared bed.

As you began crying again you could hear a few sobs coming from your guests sitting below. They couldn’t even imagine what you and Hoseok had gone through.

“But what was even scarier was finding you sitting on our bed, very much alive, and screaming at me. I swear I had just gone to the toilet but I’m pretty sure I peed myself in that moment…” Laughter was once again heard throughout the crowd and you tried your best not to laugh at his bad joke, but failed miserably.

“Now… I want to end this on a positive note so I don’t want to drag this out any longer even though, I could tell you all night about all the things I love about you. I want to end it by saying I love you… I love you so much and I’m so happy to be here today with you and I can’t wait to spend the rest of my life with you.”

As the two of you cried, squeezing each other’s hands, the priests began speaking.

“You may now exchange your rings.” Letting go of each other’s hands, the both of you took hold of the rings that your little sister brought to you.

Taking hold of your hand, Hoseok took his ring and placed it over your finger as you did the same with his. Enjoying the quiet moment, hearing the waves in the background, you just held hands for a few seconds. The feeling of another ring on your finger still foreign, but in a good way.

“You may now kiss the bride.” As soon as the words left the priest's mouth, Hoseok’s hands were cupping your face, his head bending down to capture your lips. The music started just as your lips met, loud cheers being heard from the audience as he kissed you even harder. Refusing to let go of your sweet lips, the ones he now would be able to kiss every day.

The lips that would greet him each day as he came home to your shared house, starting your new life together with everything life had in store for you. Together, forever and ever. 

[overthinkingkdrama]

Exit Review: My Country

Synopsis

This drama is set in the transition between the Goryeo and Joseon dynasties, and follows turbulent friendship turned fraught rivalry between Seo Hwi and Nam Seon Ho. Seo Hwi’s late father was the greatest swordsman of Goryeo, but after being framed for embezzling military supplies he was executed as a traitor, a stain which hangs over Hwi and his sister’s lives. Seon Ho is the illegitimate son of a powerful state official, but due to his mixed parentage he can never fully belong to his father’s world and has an insatiable ambition and bitter resentment toward his father which drives him.

Hwi and Seon Ho have been close since childhood, but when they end up going head to head in the state military exam a tragedy follows that will drive a terrible wedge between them. Eventually circumstances will force them to pick sides between General Yi Seong Gye (the first King of Joseon) an his ruthless son, Yi Bang Won, in the fight which will give shape and purpose to a newborn country.

Review

Story: My Country is a difficult drama for me to review objectively, in part because I loved it so much. Watching this drama was a truly absorbing and gripping experience for me, and it plays to so many of my story preferences. I was unequivocally obsessed with this drama from the premier to the finale, but during the weeks between airings I couldn’t help but feel like I was arm wrestling with the script.

It was characterization more than anything that gave me fits. I wouldn’t go so far as to accuse the show of giving us thin or two dimensional characters. To the contrary, each of these characters has a fully realized matrix of conflicting desires, loyalties and ambitions that inform their choices and alignments. However, it is often difficult to sift through those murky motivations and draw a clear line between a character’s internal desires and their external actions.

This drama starts out with an incredible cold open that raises all sort so questions about who these characters are and immediately invests you in finding out how they ended up in this situation. It’s truly masterfully done, and I probably rewatched it upwards of 10 times through the run. It kept me asking those questions all the way until the pay off. But because the writers were so invested in keeping their cards close to the chest, clear characterization was sometimes lost in the shuffle.

That said, this drama really is one beautiful, tragic escalation after another. Just taking the first two episodes in isolation is quite a ride. I really thought after the first few weeks, or hell, the first half, that the drama would get bogged down in plotting and politics or have nowhere left to go, but to my great joy it really doesn’t let up a single moment until the finale.

Acting: Where to even begin with the acting in this drama? All three of the main male leads: Yang Se Jong, Woo Do Hwan and the inimitable Jang Hyuk are perfectly cast and give inspired performances. Everything from posture to voice to subtle microexpressions is so stunningly on point.

I came into the drama already a big fan of both Woo Do Hwan and Jang Hyuk as actors, having followed them through other projects, so it wasn’t surprising to me that I liked them both here as well. However, what did surprise me was the extent to which they were able to show off their range and talent. As a long time Jang Hyuk fangirl, I would confidently argue that this particular rendition of the Yi Bang Won character is him at his absolute best. I also went into My Country relatively indifferent to Yang Se Jong, or at least not overly familiar with or impressed by his previous work. I’m happy to announce that that is no longer the case, as his performance of Hwi is one of the most memorable of the year for me, and his sheer level of commitment to the role is awe inspiring. There’s a video of him talking behind the scenes about a moment early on where he actually yelled himself hoarse embodying a moment of panic and grief, which made me appreciate the level thought and effort he put into playing this character.

I don’t want to limit my praise to just that trio of actors either, because the entire cast is incredible. I didn’t know much about Seolhyun before this role, but I thought she was really strong as well, though her character doesn’t feature as heavily as one might like or expect from the promotional material around this drama. The villains too are captivating, especially the detestable Nam Jeon played by veteran actor Ahn Nae Sang. Wow, you are really going to love to despise this guy. I just cannot say enough about the performances from top to bottom, because we would be here all day. The acting is really what makes the drama, especially the stunning chemistry between the characters, and more specifically the chemistry Yang Se Jong has with all the other leads.

Production: There is some movie quality cinematography throughout this drama. It just looks very, very good both in the way it is shot and the attention to detail, the props, the costumes the sets. There is a beautiful long tracking shot following Hwi through a battle field in episode 3 or 4 that was just jaw dropping. It really felt like they were flexing, honestly, and it’s refreshing to see this kind of cable quality coming out of South Korea and ending up on American Netflix for people to watch and appreciate.

I love the music in this drama. Some of it can come across a bit camp, like the electric guitar and strings heavy instrumental “My Country” that accompanies many of the sword fight scenes, but I loved Bang Won’s wailing violin theme music every time it showed up, and the OST definitely sets a mood.

One of the more distracting choices the drama made was to allude to certain historical characters like Poeun, Sambong and Choi Young but never have them actually appear as characters, in the present or in flashbacks, opting to address certain important events and philosophies through fictional expys such as Nam Jeon and Seo Geon instead. They even resort to filming certain scenes in strange oblique ways so that we understand Sambong is in the room but we don’t see his face.

The only thing I can figure is the writers wanted to use the audience’s familiarity with these historical figures without chaining the story too closely to the actual flow of historical events. Or perhaps they decided to exclude these characters in order to avoid too much direct comparison to the critically well-received and highly rated drama, Six Flying Dragons, which covers much of the same time period.

Feels: For me My Country watches like a bitter-sweet tragi-romantic melodrama centering on a toxic love triangle with a historical backdrop. And when I say “love triangle”, I am 100% referring to the interplay between Seon Ho, Hwi and Bang Won (my sincere apologies to poor Hui Jae) because that’s how the entire drama is structured. My Country is one of the most purely homoerotic things I’ve ever watched. If it weren’t for a few limp attempts to imply Seon Ho’s romantic interest was in Hui Jae and not his former friend, I would say “unapologetically homoerotic” but alas, South Korea isn’t quite there yet.

The romance between Hui Jae and Hwi never quite caught fire for me, though lord knows they were trying. It always felt like a side dish to the main course that the drama really wanted to serve: namely the star-crossed relationship of Hwi and Seon Ho. (And this is not meant as a dig toward those who liked the Hui Jae/Hwi romance. This section of the review is just about my subjective experience.)

There were moments where I worried, or couldn’t quite tell where the drama was taking us with regard to Seon Ho and Hwi, or where I feared everything was going to end in senseless destruction and they couldn’t successfully bring the plot to closure in just 16 episodes. But for the handful of issues I had with the writing of the drama, its final resolution was poetically, heart-wrenchingly, perfect.

My Country just pushes so many of my narrative and aesthetic buttons and plays heavily to my id. This is a drama that I’m going to be thinking about for a long, long time. I will definitely be watching it again and I will try to get as many other people to watch it as possible. I liked it that much.

Would I recommend My Country: The New Age? Yes, oh god yes. Please watch it. Watch it and then come talk to me about it. Definitely one of the best of the year.

9/10

[letterstothemidnightsociety]

THAT’S RIGHT BITCH! It’s October and I am still watching and inexplicably blogging about Supernatural - a dinosaur of a television show that’s been on the air longer than most children I know have been alive. 

I know I’m An Old because I don’t think kids these days understand the struggle it was watching television before streaming. We had to wait for episodes. Hell, I don’t think kids these days even really have to wait for seasons. I mean, Voltron premiered on Netflix in 2016, capped off their seasons at 13 episodes a piece and, oh yeah - aired seasons 5 - 8  all in 2018. Was I mad about that? No of course not. Do I also say phrases like “kids these days? Yes, so who even knows if what I think is relevant anymore. 

Alright, so speaking of seasons, last time I looked at pilots and pilot seasons and how the streaming era is changing everything we know about starting a TV show. But once you’ve got your pilot down, now what? 

Not this kind of pilot. Also, based on the prerequisites for demon possession, we’re all agreed this co-pilot’s like, an alcoholic, right?

There’s a rule in TV (sort of) that the first six episodes (some might argue the first season entirely) should be a kind of rehash of the pilot. The pilot sets up your premise and once you’ve got your pilot down, your job as a TV writer is to re-establish that premise over and over again. You’re building your world, you’re writing it’s rules. You’re setting up a template, a formula for how your episodes are gonna play out. This helps your audience get to know the characters, get familiar with your world, get comfortable spending time with them. Essentially, you’re getting your audience to trust the show that they’re going to be tuning in to for at least the next 20-some-odd episodes. 

I’d also argue that this is important so that later, you can break that format later. I’m not saying you should break the trust your audience puts in you, and that’s probably a real fine line of distinction. But if you break your rules right, it can hit the audience with a big emotional sucker punch. Or, it can stand out as a real breakout, tentpole of an episode - I’m thinking specifically about Ghostfacers! In season 3, or Once More, With Feeling, from Buffy. Those episodes work, really work, because they deviate from the formula, but they only work because we know the formula so well.  And these aren’t big changes to the way episodes are done, they’re just shifted ever so slightly that they felt new again.. 

So what is the premise of the first four episodes Supernatural? What’s the formula they set up for the rest of the series? 

Brothers. I said it in my last post, I’ll say it again, Sam and Dean/Jensen Ackles and Jared Jared Padalecki are what makes this show. Full stop. I think we could have gotten 5 seasons out of a show starring two other dudes. I do not think this show could have gotten 15 seasons with two other dudes. So from the pilot through Phantom Traveler, we learn that Sam and Dean have a sh*tty home life - their mother was killed by some mysterious evil thing and their father raised them to be little demon-hunting child soldiers while they look for the killer. Oh yeah, and Sam’s girlfriend died the exact same way which we will never forget because Sam’s gonna have a dream about it almost every episode from here on out. We set up the tension between the brothers - that Sam got to go to college while Dean stayed with their dad like a good boi. We learn that everybody hates each other probably because they are deeply and unhealthily codependent love each other so damn much. 

Next we get the basic rundown of the season arc: 

Dad’s on a hunting trip and he hasn’t been home in a few days. The Winchester brothers are looking for him and by extension, looking for answers as to what killed their mom/Sam’s girlfriend. We also get the basic rundown of every episode: dad is a mysterious and elusive sonuvuabitch, so every episode they go about, say it with me now:

“The family business.” I would also accept “Killing as many evil sons of bitches as I possibly can,” but why can’t I find a gif for it?!? 

Backtracking on this but you know what else gets hecking established with the Winchesters? Sam is the cute one with the people skills and the puppy dog face, so you’d naturally assume that he’s the soft one. No. Not the case. Dean is the Sofffft Boi. The SOFTest boi. Dean wants Sam to talk about his feelings, Dean wants Sam to not keep things bottled up, Dean is the one who desperately wants to keep a hold of his family and also is just deeply broken and traumatized on the inside and oh no, I told myself I wouldn’t do this but I did it anyway. Sorry not sorry. This watch, I’m really picking up on the fact that Dean is, weirdly, the Mom Friend in this first season. Like, he’s basically a Trailer-Trash-Teen-Pregnancy Mom who’ll give you spaghettios five nights a week and a shot of whiskey so you’ll quit yer bitchin’ and go to sleep faster, but he’s the Mom nonetheless. Later in this season and in other seasons, I think you even see him do his dumb-baby-best filling in as the Mom when John went off the deep end. Anyway, I have a lot of feelings and we don’t have time to unpack all of that so I’ll just move on.

RUDE.

Next we set up our Supernatural Bag of Holding - what’s in it? What are the mystical artifacts they use to kill those evil sons of bitches? First up is The Car. Damn, I am not a cars girl, but that 67 Chevy, it does things to me. 

This car has some weird pavlovian trigger for me, it’s not NATURAL. 

The journal. 

John Winchester, you journal the way I imagine a psycho killer journals and I would just really appreciate it if you could be ANY MORE ORGANIZED THAN THIS.

The Trunk Full of Weapons - I love that in these first few episodes (and possibly the rest of the series???) they give this HELLA conspicuous look every time they open the trunk full of weapons. It’s hilarious EVERY TIME.

No, you’re not being obvious at ALL, guys.

The Fake ID’s - from credit cards to impersonating feds, these boys are not afraid to break the law to save some lives and I feel like that’s...that’s the theme of the show maybe? They’re here to save people and they’ll do what they have to to do that? In a world that clearly establishes a dark vs. light/good vs. evil dichotomy, the Winchester make it their job to live in a world of grey? Basically? 

Next on the checklist for this first season of Supernatural - it’s spoopy. *Spoop mileage may vary.* I said it last time, but I’ll say it again: this first season aired at 9:00pm at night. That means it’s primetime stuff for the 18 - 25 year old crowd, but they don’t want to risk some 13 year old watching it and getting too scared before bed. 9:00pm is X Files time slots, Fringe time slots. 9:00pm says you’re gonna get something a little more gruesome and gory and shocking than at 8pm. 8pm is for Friends. Vampire Diaries aired at 8pm its first season. 9pm is for the real adult content (but not too adult because the audience is still mostly children). 

SPOOP!

But yeah, let’s look at the real horror vibe that you get off of these first four episodes. We talked about La Llorona from the first episode - this is a legit ghost that they fight. The kids at the end that literally drag their mom to hell? Pretty spooky stuff. The Wendigo in episode 2 is a literal monster of the week and so for me personally, it’s not that scary, but it is a cannibal monster that eats human flesh. Dead in the Water has vibes from both Jaws and Friday the 13th. Everything from the lighting to the sound design let’s you know this is a horror show, or as horror as you can get on network television. Listen to the scenes just before somebody dies and you get a nice creepy “Come play with me” whisper coming out of the water. I’m a little spooked just thinking about it now. Yes I know I’m a chicken, and I’m OK WITH THAT. And if we go past my season 1 disc 1 into episode 5, Bloody Mary is STILL terrifying and I STILL watched that episode with half my face covered. That’s where I am these days. It’s 2020 and the world is a nightmare but imagining Bloody Mary creepin’ out in my mirror does not need to be a part of it. 

SHE F*CKIN CLIMBS OUT OF THE MIRROR GUYS! I DIDN’T KNOW SHE COULD DO THAT!!!

Then we get Phantom Traveler and our very first case of black-eyed-demonic possession. Watching this episode now, it’s like watching someone’s home movie of their first steps as a baby. They’ve never even done an exorcism before guys! They have to read the exorcism rite out of the journal! It’s so cute!!! Let’s not think too hard about how they got that full sized bottle of holy water past TSA in a post-9/11 world. And try to ignore how poorly these special effects have aged - the smoke from the demon possession?? OMG! THIS EFFECT! I’m pretty sure I could make that effect with my first ever graphic design software on my, like, 2009 mac book pro. So cute and soooo good! I’m gonna leave that CG plane alone, they’re doing their best. 

SO cute and SOOO good!

You want to know what my favorite established staple of Supernatural season 1 is? The extras. LOOKIT these guys - 

Wendigo you have Cory Monteith who later goes on to star in Glee. 

You have Alden Ehrenreich, Debatable Han Solo, doing a lot of face work with very little dialogue. 

You have Gina Holden who is in SO. MANY. Spooky-type things! My personal favs are Blood Ties and Harper’s Island, but she’s in Fringe, she’s in the SAW franchise, she’s in the Final Destination franchise, she was in some deleted scenes on an episode of Teen Wolf! I LOVE seeing Gina Holden, anywhere she pops up. 

And speaking of Harper’s Island, you’ve also got Callum Keith Rennie who played John Wakefield in Harper’s Island, a show that was A+ Great and I highly recommend if you like Agatha Christie and/or murder mysteries. 

Honestly, Rennie looks like he’s about to murder a bitch in this episode of Supernatural, it is not a stretch to believe he’s a psycho killer.

Dead in the Water you’ve got Amy Acker, a regular in Joss Whedon and Whedon-adjacent type shows.

Good LORD, this wardrobe was SO 2000′s WB and it PAINED me.

And finally in Phantom Traveler, you have Jaime Ray Newman who also shows up in a lot of the shows that I like to watch. She was in Eureka, she was in Midnight Texas, both kind of terrible shows that I love because they are terrible, but she was ALSO in Bates Motel and Veronica Mars, which are generally considered to be more quality, so there’s that. 

This still implies that they actually LIT scenes, which is a SURPRISE TO ME. 

Point is, seeing these actors in Supernatural back in the early 2000’s felt like I was seeing the start of their careers. That may or may not have been the case, but as a viewer it was exciting to see them pop up again in other things.

So what about TV now? Do we still use those first 6 (sometimes more) episodes to re-establish the premise? Well, it certainly hasn’t gone away. Look at any network show that still produces 22 - 24 episodes a season and you’ll still see that the pilot season just keeps re-iterating the premise established in the pilot episode, specifically in anything that’s procedural - that’s you’re monster/problem-of-the-week shows. Think sitcoms like Brooklyn 99 or Superstore or dramedies like Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist. The reason being that these shows play in the traditional model of television - on a network, once a week. They are not releasing episodes all at one time or relying on their audiences to stream a whole season in one sitting. These are shows that still assume that someone out there is going to tune in or stumble across their show one night while they’re surfing channels (lol) and need to be told, no matter what episode they’ve just turned on, what the premise of the show is. They need to be formulaic so that people can pick it up anywhere at any time.

But what about shows that don’t follow this traditional model? I mentioned in my last post that seasons are getting shorter and shorter, so when you’re writing a show that only has (8) episodes instead of 22, how much time do you really want to spend establishing the premise? Because of these short seasons, you’re also dealing with shows that are more serialized and less procedural than their predecessors - meaning, you’re dealing with a show that focuses on a season long story (think Game of Thrones or Stranger Things where each episode is an important chapter that you can’t skip) vs. a procedural (think the shows I mentioned above or any cop drama really) where each episode is it’s own contained story, neatly wrapped up at the end. These are shows where you can skip an episode and still know where you are in the show no matter where you start or stop watching. Supernatural is a little bit of both - procedural with their monsters of the week AND serialized with a season long arc. We’ll talk more on that in a later post. 

Not only are we getting shorter seasons, but we’re also dealing with shows that are not released over long periods of time. A few streaming channels, like Disney+ and HBO Max, make a deliberate point to slow-drip their seasons, but most streaming channels will release entire seasons in one shot. You don’t need to worry about your audience missing an episode because they have 24/7 access to all the episodes all at once. And for the most part, they’re designed to be binged. They start at full speed and they don’t slow down to keep driving you to the finale. 

Do I think the procedural is ever going to go away? No. As much talk as there is about dropping the cop drama from TV all together, I think audiences still love a good mystery series. And you can’t just think of procedurals as cop dramas either - a procedural also covers most if not all sitcoms. New Girl, Letterkenny, Parks and Rec, Superstore - these all have a premise that doesn't change from week to week. They may make tiny shifts away from what they set up in the pilot, but by and large, you know what you’re getting into any time you turn on an episode. I think we as an audience still like that kind of familiarity. We may be seeing a bigger swing towards more serialized content, but that doesn't mean that the procedural is dead and gone. 

So that’s what we’ve got for Supernatural - two dudes, driving around in a car full of spears and hand guns, killing bad guys. Some day, they may even find that father that’s missing. What could possibly go wrong? A lot. Stay tuned. 

[taurusjaehyun]

kiss me // j.jh

♦️Pairing: jaehyun x fem reader

♦️Other Members/ Characters: 97 line GC (Eunwoo, Jungkook and Mingyu) + Jihyo of Twice (also a 97 liner)

♦️Genre: smut, fluff,, bf Jaehyun, uni au

♦️Warnings: rough sex, nipple play(?), slight cock warming, squirting, overstimulation, multiple orgasms, badly written smut lmao, mentions of RuPaul’s Drag Race bc I’ve been binging on it after Netflix put all the seasons on!!!

♦️Word count: 3,981

♦️Story: Finals are done and you finally have proper time with your boyfriend Jaehyun but he barely pays you any attention. He won’t even give you a kiss you because of a stupid mobile game.

Note: A request by anon for bf!Jaehyun. Also, yeaaah, this isn’t proof read, sorry for the shitty aftercare and the shitty writing in general lol. Tell me what you guys think, please! I’d love feedback so I can improve hehe <3

"Kiss me." You say as you push yourself up closer to your boyfriend’s face, who was currently focused on his phone as he laid next to you in your bed, playing whatever mobile phone game he was addicted to with the guys. It was kind of annoying, really.

 You purse your lips and make kissy sounds, making him chuckle. You roll your eyes at him but he doesn’t notice, because he was too focused on his phone. You couldn’t believe how he’d rather play with his phone and his friends rather than spending time with you, his girlfriend, despite it being a free Sunday for the both of you. Finals were fucking finally over for all of you after the two of you, along with your friends had spent every day studying (more like cramming) to try and ace your tests.

 It was safe to say the two of you hadn’t had sex in a while. Plus, this was your only time alone together after a while as your roommate, Jihyo was on a date with her boyfriend, Eunwoo. Jihyo was a bit anal about you bringing in Jaehyun to your dorm to have sex after she had caught you and Jaehyun fucking a few times (it was more than a few times, honestly). You couldn’t hold it against her because she never had sex with Eunwoo in your dorm. Ever. Or not that you know of.

 You pinch Jaehyun’s side, making him yelp but he barely spares you a glance. You pucker your lips again and make kissy faces at him, trying to annoy him more than anything at this point. Jaehyun tilts his head towards you, eyes still focused on the screen of his phone as he blindly pecks at your face, kissing your nose instead of your lips like you wanted to.

 Feeling annoyed, you grab the phone out of his hands and turn it off. You set his phone on your nightstand, straddle him and cup his cheeks, squishing and pinching it with your hands. His hands automatically make his way to your hips as he looks up with you with a less than pleased expression.

 “I was about to beat Mingyu and Jungkook, you know,” he grunts in annoyance, taking hold of your hands that started to pinch his cheeks painfully. He pulls your hands off his cheeks and intertwines his fingers with yours.

You laugh, “Baby, today’s our free day. You can kill them some other time!” You started to grind your hips against his, testing the waters. You really wanted to take advantage of the time alone you had with the love of your life and do anything and everything you’ve wanted to do for the past few weeks. Also, fucking the built up stress away wasn’t a bad idea.

 Jaehyun watches you, grinding and circling your hips, almost as if he was hypnotized. He bit his lip and gives you a pointed look, “I thought we weren’t allowed to have sex here anymore?”

 You lean back and shrug, “Jihyo isn’t here anyways. What does she know?”

 “Well Jungkook and Mingyu know how important my ranking is in that game to me. And they know I’m here with you.” Jaehyun chuckles, “they’re already probably going off in the group chat that we’re already fucking and you know Eunwoo’s in the chat too.”

 You stop grinding on him, and sighed before blowing a raspberry, “I honestly don’t give a shit. Jihyo knows I’m putting RuPaul’s Drag Race over everything, including you so I could just say I forced you to watch.”

 Jaehyun scoffs and looks at you as if he’s offended, “so you mean to say you finished the season we were watching WITHOUT ME?” He lets go of your hands and holds onto your thighs, squeezing.

 You explode in laughter, knowing well that Jaehyun took offense in it. You both were big fans of the show that you’d do marathons of it together, especially the most recent All Stars season. “Trinity-“

 He puts up a finger to your lips, “ok, spoiler queen. I don’t need to know. I’ll watch it for myself.”

 “No, I’ll tell you right now! Trinity and Monet-“

 Jaehyun puts his hands over his ears, closes his eyes and starts howling, and basically doing every annoying sounds he could produce, just to shut you up.

 You laugh, trying to pull his hands away from his ear, telling him about the finale. Each second he goes on with his act, the more you found it funny so you ended up bellowing in laughter, weak as you fall down on his chest, shoulders shaking.

 Jaehyun sighs as he wraps an arm around you, patting your head gently. “God, you’re annoying.”

 Still in fits of giggles, you sit up again and hover over him, staring at him. Jaehyun was probably one of the most beautiful men you’ve ever seen in your life and you thought you were blessed to have been given a chance to be one of the people he loved in this world. “You love me, though.”

 Jaehyun gives you a goofy smile, “that I do, sweetheart. So fucking much. You have no idea.”

 “Prove it!”

 “How?”

 "Kiss me."

 Jaehyun didn’t have to be told twice. His hands find its way on the back of your head, and he pulls you close while he lifts his head up to meet you halfway and locks his lips with yours.

 You chuckle and proceed to kiss him. Deep and hard, always. His tongue swipes on your lower lip and you grant him access and soon your tongues wrapped around each other. You didn't know how long you were kissing but all you knew was you were already feeling dizzy and breathless but you just wanted to taste him again and again.

 People might call you crazy but every time you saw him, he still gave you the butterflies he made you feel from the first time you saw him. That was how you knew you were already in love with him. You were so into in him that his mere touch sent shivers up your spine and when he makes love to you, you’re afraid you’ll burst into tears because of the overwhelming feelings he gives you.

 You pull away and pull off the large t-shirt that you used as pyjamas. Underneath it, you weren’t wearing anything because you knew you’d be fucking your boyfriend. You shoot him a smile as you cup your breasts for him, earning a whistle from him. You knew he loved your nipples and right now, they looked too appetizing to him, already so hard and begging to be sucked by him.

 He bites his lips at the sight of your naked and pliant body. He knew how conscious you were of your body but he loved how you trusted him too much that you were confident naked in front of him. He was thankful for that because for him it was a way to really say how much you trusted and loved him.

 You grab his hands and rest them over your breasts as you start to circle your hips on him again. He had an obsession with you boobs that he would find a way to suck your nipples most of the time, that when you would sleep over at his dorm (which was better because the athletic department had budget and gave them solo rooms) even before you sleep, he sucks your nipples. It was endearing.

 You were his and he was yours. As soon as he lets go of your nipples, you kiss his neck, making sure to rub you hard nipples against his chest as you pull up his shirt and help him fully take it off. He cups your face as you kiss and you rush to undo his jeans. You plant kisses down his neck, chest and stomach as you go lower, pulling down his jeans.

 His half hard cock pops out as you pull down his underwear and help him get both his jeans and underwear off around his ankles until the both of you were buck naked. You settle between his legs, kissing his thighs, just taking your time but your hands find his cock, the tip leaking with clear liquid.

 You spit on your hands, easing the friction and starting to jerk him off. You use the pad of your thumb to rub the slit of his cock, watching how his cock twitches and gets harder at the action. His dick continues to leak pre-cum, enough for you to spread it around the sensitive mushroom head of his shaft.

 “Fuck, baby. Stop playing and suck it if you’re going to,” he hisses, fisting the sheets beside him.

 “Ok, ok.” You laugh but you continue to play with his sensitive head. You gather your spit in your mouth and drop it slowly on the head of his dick, circling your tongue to the air so the spit goes around and covers the rest of his cock. “I’ll get your dick wet first, you big baby.”

 Jaehyun moans as you start to jack him off, your left teasing the head and the right jerking the rest of his cock. He watches you as you bite your lips in concentration as you jerk him off, using the tricks that are fool proof to make him feel good. Especially that jerk-jerk-twist-jerk movement that had his hips bucking.

 Without a word, you start to suck on his head, slurping on the salty precum, making him hiss in pleasure. You use your now free left hand to fondle on his balls as you keep jerking and sucking him off. When the moisture from your spit around the rest of his length dries, you slowly take him in your mouth, deep throating him.

 You keep your thumb in your fist, trying to keep your gagging down as you used your left hand to hold onto the base of his cock as you take him deeper inside your mouth until your nose was touching his belly, his trimmed pubes prickling you.

 Jaehyun was always amazed how you manage to take in his whole length but then again, you always managed to surprise him and managed to exceed his expectations which was one of the reasons for why he fell in love with you. Out of all the girls around him, you managed to catch his attention and he found himself unable to keep you out of his mind until the two of you got to work together since you were both in student government.

 You lift your head a little and bob your head, keeping his dick down your throat, knowing this would surely cover the whole of his cock with your spit. Jaehyun had always been a loud grunter and moaner so it was no doubt that the room was filled with Jaehyun’s sounds of pleasure and curses as you make him feel good with your mouth. Once you couldn’t hold your breath anymore, you pull away from his cock.

 You take the spit stringing your mouth to the head of his cock with your fingers and jerk him off. Jaehyun looks at you, mouth swollen, eyes lidded and tears forming at your ducts. You lean forward, rubbing the head of his cock against your nipples, making him groan at the sight. You take him in your mouth again, this time, just comfortably sucking him off, just taking in the length you could casually and jerk the rest of his shaft.

 He grabs a hold of your head, pushing your pony tail back and tucking the strands that came apart from the vigorous bobbing of your head on his cock. Jaehyun starts to thrust his hips up so you stop moving, your arms on either sides of his hips on the bed, letting him fuck your face at his own pace. When he thrusts to particularly deep, you end up gagging and you pull away, coughing.

 Jaehyun gasps in worry, immediately sitting up and cups your face. “Sorry, sorry! I didn’t mean to! I’m so sorry, sweetheart.”

 You let out a giggle and peck his lips, “it’s ok, love.”

 "So now, it’s my turn to please my lady." He grins as he kisses you on the cheek before he maneuvers you to the head of the bed and pushes you down until he was hovering over you and in between your legs. He licks the tips of his fingers and rubs at your clit, making you twitch. He reaches down and slips two of his fingers inside you with no warning, making you gasp. “You’re this wet for me, sweetheart? Well shit.” He grins at you, teasing as his he finds a comfortable paces to fuck you with his fingers.

 You close your eyes, reveling in the sensation of his fingers stretching you and rubbing against your spot as you squeeze your breasts. God, he knew just how to make you feel so good, and you couldn’t wait for the main event: his cock but his fingers were doing more than good that you find yourself bucking against his hand as your orgasm comes over you fast, like it was unexpected that you didn’t realize you were cumming until it you started to scream and tremble.

 “That was fast,” Jaehyun teases, pulling his fingers out of you slowly, watching your pussy juice stringing as he separates his fingers. He takes the fingers from inside you and shoves it in his mouth and licks it clean. It as a shame you couldn’t see it as you were still basking in the after effects of your orgasm, eyes pinched close. “I didn’t even touch your clit!” He says, giving you a teasing look. “You must’ve waited for this long, huh?”

 You grin at him, but still trying to calm yourself down by taking deep breaths. “We haven’t had sex since Jihyo made us stop having sex here and finals was a bitch, Jae. I was stressed!” You close your eyes, clutching your chest dramatically.

 Jaehyun laughs at you and kneels in front of you, lifting your hips and pulling you to him. He lifts your hips and settles it on top of his legs. You feel him line his cock to your slit and pushes his head in.

 “Wait! I’m not ready yet!” You whimper, using your legs to push yourself off but his grip on your hips was strong and he had already pushed inside you, the whole of his length inside you. Your eyes roll back as his tip presses against your sweet spot but at the same time, the burn of the stretch makes you hiss in pain. He was never an easy size to begin with.

 “Relax, babe.” He says gently as he takes a hold of your waist but you see how he has his eyes closed and his mouth agape. “You’re fucking tight.”

 Still feeling the stretch, you lift your head and hit his hand on your waist, making him laugh. “You’re an asshole. I’m still sensitive.” You pouted.

 “I know, love. Your pussy’s still throbbing.” He gives you a sweet smile and grabs your legs to wrap them around him. He takes his time, keeping his cock inside you while he takes his time into admiring your serene face and running his hands on your skin. “You ok?” He intertwines your fingers and plants kisses on the back of your hand, watching you remain silent with your eyes closed.

 You eventually give him a sign but don’t answer him, instead, you smile at him as you squeeze your walls around his cock, making him wince. “Your cock is-AH!”

 He starts to move his hips, just grinding do every roll of his hips, his cock hitting your sweet spot. "Ah, shit. You're so fucking tight." He groans as he finally pulls his hips back and drove into me slowly, bottoming out and slamming back in, making you moan at the sweet pressure inside.

 You wrap your legs tighter around him as he moved his hips up, hitting your sweet spot at a different angle as he leans down and sucks at your nipples. Fucking Jaehyun wouldn’t be fucking him if he wasn’t sucking on your nipples while he was fucking into you. You keep his head close to you, as if you were holding a baby’s head sucking on its mother’s nipple. Honestly, with the amount of times he was sucking on your nipples, you wouldn’t be surprised if you started lactating out of the blue.

 He lifts your legs as he starts slow but deep thrusts and puts both of your legs over his shoulders as he leans down, basically folding you in half. He captures your lips while his hips pick up pace. He kisses the sensitive spots on your neck as he builds up a steady pattern of fucking you, making you eyes roll back in pleasure. He licks the skin from you ear to my neck, making you shiver and buck your hips, easily receiving his hard cock.

 He eventually goes into full force and you’re left to nothing but a moaning mess as he drives his hips to yours forcefully and in a pace beyond what you could handle. He was so deep inside you that you could the sweet pressure of his hard cock jabbing your cervix.

 You claw at his back and grabbing onto whatever you could, holding on for dear life as he drives into you relentlessly, with his hands lifting up your hips for easier access. "F-fu...fuck! Ah! Soooo goo-...ood! Ah!!"

 He pulls out and you groan at the loss of his cock inside you.

 "Jaehyun, no," You groan desperately as he smirks at me.

 "Patience, love." He smiles and lies on his back, making me straddle him.

 Needing no words, you straddle him and slip down his length, releasing a sigh of pleasure at the fullness you’re feeling. You lean down and kiss him and he settles his hands on your ass cheeks, massaging and slapping. You pull away, moving your hips slowly, forward and backward, taking him in deep inside. You lean your head back, moaning from the pleasure.

 He leans forward and sucks your left nipple and plays with your nipple with his hands, rolling the hard pebble with his fingers, pulling and squeezing. He groans in pleasure as you tighten your walls around him. He moves to your riģht nipple and sucks, and gives the same treatment as he did with your other nipple.

 Jaehyun then pushes you down towards him and holds you tight as he starts thrusting hard and fast from below you. You squeal at the intense, hard pleasure coming in, giving you no room to breathe.

 "JAEHYUN!!!!" You scream as you push your hips down to meet his thrusts and take him in any deeper, if it was possible. "FucK! AHH!!" You let myself go and my body becomes limbless at the excessive pleasure. You feel the drool escape your lips as you lean your face on the crook of his neck.

 Without effort, he maneuvers you off of him and throws you on the bed then kissing every exposed inch of my skin he could reach. Once he reaches down, he doesn’t hesitate and proceeds to eat you out like a fucking maniac, making you scream and shiver in so much pleasure. There were lots of things Jung Jaehyun did well and one of the top things besides academics, basketball, cooking and fucking, eating you out would be included. And it didn't help that he knew your body like the back of his hand.

 "Jaehyun! I'm cummimg!" You scream and before he could react, you were trembling, already in your second orgasm of the day. He never stopped sucking on your clit and started fingering you again, jus jabbing at your sweet spot while you were on the verge of your orgasm. You wanted to keep away but he had your hips on hold. Pretty soon, you felt it coming again and this time, you ended up squirting.

 He looked pretty proud of himself after you were left a shivering mess. “There we go, good girl!” He smiles, kissing the back of your hand. “I told you I’d make you squirt, right?” The last time you had sex, knowing it’d be while before you could again, the two of you had rented a room and tried every position you wanted to try out and tried finding out your limits. He had made you squirt then and you both were amazed after seeing it once so he had promised you that he would be making you do it again.

 “Jihyo’s gonna be so fucking mad when she gets home…” you trail off, still a bit high from your orgasm. “God, I’m dead. I need to find a new roommate.” You take a deep breathe, “also, I think… I’m gonna pass out.”

 Jaehyun laughed, “at least let me cum before you pass out!”

 “I fucking hate you right now.” You could feel the slight sheen of sweat on your body, besides from the body liquid you just expelled earlier.

 “Excuse me, Ms. Y/N? You were the one that wanted this, remember?”

 You wanted to pass out but you were sure Jaehyun wasn't over yet and besides, you always wanted Jaehyun’s cum inside you. It wasn't done until he came inside you. “Fuck me now, come on.” He immediately enters you and starts working his hips in a pace fast and hard.

 "Fuck! Slow down!" It was too good that you could feel fresh tears drip down your temple. "Wait!!! Jaehyun" You try to push him away to at least slow him down but he holds you tighter and drives into you harder, constantly pressing against your g-spot. It was honestly like his cock was made for your pussy as he’s always hitting the places inside you that made you see stars.

 "Ah, fuck! Your pussy so fucking tight for me!" He exclaims, followed with a plethora of curses as he does a steady pace of strong, deep, fast thrusts. He kisses you and holds tight on your breasts, squeezing them.

 "I'm cumming!" You scream as you quickly cum on his cock which triggers his orgasm as well, but he keeps his shallow thrusts until he's emptied his cum all inside of you, filling you a few weeks worth of cum, filling you to the brim that some spill out even though his cock acted as a plug.

 He stays inside you as the two of you kiss again, lazily this time, so you both could catch your breaths too. "I love you, y/n." He smiles at you, kissing your chin.

 You laugh at his sweetness as you focus on breathing to slow down your fast heartbeat. Was it because of his words or your exhaustion? Or both? But you did know the exhaustion was taking over you. You close your eyes, basking in the warmth of his body against yours. Your ears were blocked and you were still trembling but you weren’t complaining.

 Jaehyun knew you so he wasn’t expecting your reply and he already knows your answer anyways. Pretty soon, you quickly fall asleep, surprising him. But it was understandable because he made you spent so he cleaned up after you, wiping your body and your crotch with a warm towel and dressing you in panties and one of the shirts he’s left intentionally after he had cleaned himself up. It was the least he could do.

 From Jung Jaehyun | 10:30AM

To Cha Eunwoo

So, what are you willing to do for me not to tell y/n I caught you and Jihyo fucking after ur gf made us stop fucking in their dorm? Send me your most expensive skin, Cha and try to beat me!

[smokeybrandreviews]

Smokey brand Reviews: What Is a Man

I wanted my next review to be The Invisible Man but i keep putting that thing off. I think it’s the pacing. it’s kind of funky. I’ll get around to it eventually. Spoiler alert, it’s pretty interesting so far. In the meantime, i finally caught up on a show that dropped and didn’t see when it first released; Castlevania! I passed on actually reviewing he first two season, well, season and a half. That first season was, like, six episodes. This ain’t the BBC, son. Thirteen or bust! Anyway, since we’re about three days from being under marital law, i figure i got time to revisit and review the series so far. Plus, i mean, i need to catch up since the fourth season has already been announced. F*cking Netflix, man. In that vein, pun in tended, here is my review of the series as a whole so far.

The Good

This show is not anime. It’s not. Avatar is not anime. It’s not. This is a sanitized facsimile of what the Japanese do with their animation. Stop calling this sh*t anime! That said, on it’s own, outside of that hilariously unflattering comparison, it can be pretty dope. I don’t think this sh*t holds a candle to studios like Trigger, Madhouse, Gainax, or Shaft, but it’s the best animation coming out of the US i’ve seen in years. The fight scenes in particular are absolutely gorgeous. You can really tell that Netflix invested the necessary resources to make this show look dope, even if the framerate is a little iffy between set pieces.

Now that i’ve died on my anime cross, i just want to acknowledge how good this show looks. It’s f*cking gorgeous, man. I mean, the world, alone, is a feat for the eyes, but i am absolutely in love with the character designs. If you google the characters from the games they are mad cluttered and full of extra nonsense. I’m never a fan of, like, flair on my characters. That’s why i hate the look of Mortal Kombat. That sh*t is gross. Castlevania has that same issue, culminating in the design vomits of Judgement. That game was gross to look at. Gross. This show takes the ludicrously gaudy designs of the games and make them presentable while still paying homage to the core design of the games. Sh*t is miraculous and i can’t help but marvel at that ingenuity. I mean, f*cking Carmilla, dude. Just look up Carmilla in the games and tell me this show ain’t good at it’s job.

Castlevania’s writing is kind of miraculous. As a cat that’s been playing these games since the late 80s, I’m mildly aware of the interconnecting lore between titles. It’s a mess. It’s a goddamn mess. There’s a dope story there, in the muck, but it’s so mired in melodrama, retcon, and years upon years of independent development, it’s completely lost. I appreciate Konami giving storytelling a shot during a time when gameplay was the principal seller of games, they didn’t have to do any of that, but, at some point, clean your sh*t up with a manga or reboot or something, man. The later titles do this sh*t fine. I adore Shanoa and Soma. Their games got the best of both worlds. The Belmonts? Not so much... This show does an amazing job of cutting through the bullsh*t and sharpening that story to a fine point. This is Trevor’s story, the first Belmont we take control of in game, so watching his line grow through the years, with this quality of storytelling, is mad compelling. I mean, you get right into it and it grips you from start to finish. I can’t wait to see where this goes.

The character work in this show is pretty legit. I was thoroughly surprised since the games themselves are rather bare bones and nauseatingly campy at times. Not this show. Nope! This sh*t is grim, dark, and violent. I love it! You can feel the plight one people and the rage of the vampires. Each main character s is beset with pathos and trauma and consequence, for two seasons. Season three is kind of light on growth but does a decent job explaining certain things. Like, this is Belmont’s tale but Sypha is definitely the most interesting character in the show. Everyone does a great job but there are, of course, a few standouts.

Speaking of my girl, did i tell you that Sypha is f*cking amazing? Ma is the most adorable, most badass motherf*cker in this show! I thought she was going to be kind of a weenie, like she is in the games, but nope! Ma is out here, burning motherf*ckers alive and slicing dudes up with ice blades, all the while being her peppy, adorable, kind of bloodthirsty self. F*ck, love Sypha and her voice actress, Alejandra Reynoso, is perfectly cast! She bring a levity and vulnerability to a woman who can take on an army all y her lonesome. I love that sh*t!

I have to mention how dope Dracula is in this how. He’s f*cking badass and, surprisingly, hilarious. His wit is as sharp as his fangs. Even with such overwhelming power, dude is still amazingly human, often time reminding you that he is just a broken, lonely, man. It’s incredible to see. you actually empathize with an entity hellbent of slaughtering humanity. I couldn’t believe that sh*t. A lot of that has to do with the writing but Graham McTavsh does an excellent job delivering those subtle emotional cues.

I feel like is should say something about Richard Armitage’s Trevor Belmont. Dude is dope. he’s how i always imagined Trevor to be. And Armitage is a seasoned veteran at this voice acting game so he does a great job. I’m not blown away or anything but he’s dope. Considering dude is kind of a supporting character in his own show, i think my indifference is warranted. He’s good, though, don’t misunderstand. I’m not decrying his performance or anything. Gold star for sure.

The best thing about season three, outside of my darling Sypha, is Lenore. Holy sh*t is she a great character! I was thoroughly surprised by how brazenly manipulative she turned out to be. Lenore is a f*cking genius and her feigned naivety is brought to life by an absolutely outstanding performance from Jessica Brown Findlay. Ma is on the long con and Carmilla might have some competition to look for.

I like Issac. This last season did wonders for developing his character. His arc is probably the best after Syph’s, mostly because he’s the only other character that even had an arc. His voice actor, Adetokumboh M'Cormack, does a great job developing the enigmatic Forgemaster into a character more than his humdrum game origins.

The Bad

This show is not anime! Stop telling me it’s an anime!

Alucard’s arc in season three was a little... me. I thought he was the one character let down by the writing but it’s not a terrible slight. I just felt he deserved more of a exploration than what he received.

Season three was straight up filler. I guess it has that in common with anime, even though most modern anime ha move away from the Filler system. I mean, i liked a lot of what went on and the character work was delightful but none of this is really of consequence. Most characters either didn’t grow or are exactly who we thought they were. It feels cheap.

Hector. What the f*ck, Hector. What the f*ck.

The Verdict

Season One showed a ton of potential. I enjoyed the whole Dracula arc, even though this was more a story about his disillusionment with humanity rather than how he became Dracula. Season two is the Castlevania know from the games. It was dope seeing that narrative removed from the shenanigans of that Konami narrative jank. I thought they id the characters dope ass justice and the story itself, was rather compelling. I didn’t mind the character changes and the stuff they added felt organic. Season three is the closest thing to a slice of life anime i’ve seen in this show and it’s ridiculous. Like, nothing really happens of consequence and it feels like setup for later seasons but it’s easily the best looking of the three seasons.

Overall, as a whole, Castlevnia is really good. It’s easily one of the best video game adaptions available. This show takes it’s liberties, of course, but it does so in a very respectful manner. The core of the Castlevania lore is revered and embellished with creative additions while keeping the characters true to their game selves. For the most part. I really enjoyed thee character of Dracula when he was around and, oh my god, Lenore is the goddamn best! Sypha is the MVP of this show, though, and i need you people to know that. The art style is beautiful, the narrative is compelling, and you’ll fall in love with the character work. Castlevania is dope and you should go binge all of it since there is literally nothing else to do under quarantine.

[simonjadis]

Anon I’m ASSUMING that these are from the same person; apologies if they are not

I would say that my feelings are similar to yours, but not quite identical ...

Disney’s handling has been imperfect, and some of the mistakes have been made the highest level (I know that people give Kathleen Kennedy a hard time, but if rumor is to be believed, some of the interference that made IX kind of weird came from higher than that)

for example, Kennedy said in an interview that she tries to find people who just make big, successful movies to make sure that these are also big, successful movies. I can understand that as being a safe bet from a business stand point, but that’s not the same thing as finding someone passionate about very specifically telling good, new Star Wars stories, which we did not really get in the Sequel Trilogy

(one of the most common theories that I saw from TLJ apologists was that people didn’t like that it was new/different than what they were expecting, which was really not the issue for me or my friends. Also it was just a speedrun of parts of Episodes V and VI)

I think that I’m “too close” to Star Wars to see it as a financial asset rather than a beloved universe full of characters and stories that I adore, but I don’t think that “literally just rehash the Original Trilogy for two movies and barely acknowledge any other part of Star Wars until IX” was a good idea

Rey deserved her own story. and Luke deserved to not be retroactively robbed of his

as for George Lucas, I do think that years of backlash over the Prequels sucked the fun out of it for him. Also, who doesn’t want four billion dollars? it was a sweetheart deal for Disney, of course

the sad thing is that this meant the end of Clone Wars, because Disney took one look at Lucasfilm’s budget and was like “OH NO YOU CANNOT SPEND THAT KIND OF MONEY ON A CARTOON” which is why Season 6 was paid for by Netflix and why Maul: Son of Dathomir was a comic

I love Star Wars Rebels and I’m not trying to knock the show at all, but the budgetary difference was palpable. Clone Wars did have it a little easier because of the Clone Troopers (all having the same face), but on Rebels, you notice that 90% of the Imperials are the same guy wearing a hat with his visor obscuring most of his face. market scenes show just a few people (but plenty of Storm Troopers)

the designs of the main characters -- Ezra, Hera, Sabine, Zeb, Kallus, Thrawn, Kanan, etc -- are great and loving and detailed and most of those change a little over time, but there’s a reason that we only see so many planets on Rebels. look at the huge armies and crowds in Rebels. my friend @drunkkenobi​ is the first who pointed out to me that in Clone Wars, you sometimes see lines of ships (Space Traffic) and each ship in line will be unique, distinct from the others

it’s not Rebels’ fault that they didn’t have that kind of budget. that’s also why their space battles (and space ships) never quite look right. meanwhile, for Clone Wars, if they wanted a particular scene or ship that went over their planned budget, all that they had to do was ask Uncle George

eccentric billionaires funding expensive media isn’t necessarily the most sustainable model for storytelling, but it sure worked out well for Clone Wars and for The Expanse

(Jeff Bezos personally called up the head of Amazon Prime programming, who had already been considering acquiring the extremely good but expensive show, and was like “hey the cast from this show is at a thing where I am, I’d love to just tell them that their show is saved, give me it?” and we saw as many new locations in Season 4 as we did in the first three seasons)

but streaming -- where you actually get money directly from customers who then, through their activity on your platform, show you exactly what they want to see aka what is keeping them on your platform -- offers a new opportunity for high quality genre media. remember, scifi and fantasy were EVERYWHERE in the ‘90s and the early aughts, and then because too expensive for regular TV unless they had huge audiences. only through streaming do we have these new Star Treks, The Witcher, and the real possibility of a new Stargate series

why do I bring up streaming? because

The Mandalorian goes to show that Disney can 100% do good Star Wars. Rebels was good, despite its budget, but can you imagine how much better it would have been if it had aired on Disney+

as with the DC movies (three of which are good and I’m also excited for Birds of Prey), the solution to the our-movies-made-a-lot-of-money-but-aren’t-strictly-speaking-good is literally just “let the people who do the cartoons make the movies”

and now we’re getting a final, seventh (half) season of Clone Wars! twelve episodes looking better than the show has ever looked!!

if you’re like me, you probably thought to yourself “gee, only 12?” and, cynically, you figured that it’s a trick -- announced at ComicCon in 2018 to build up the first wave of hype for Disney+

and it is ... but it 100% worked on me, I signed up for Disney+ and will pay anything for Clone War

my HOPE is that this is a test run to see if people really like high-quality animated Star Wars stories enough to continue with it. there’s only so much clone wars that one can cover (my suspicion is that we will see Ahsoka fake her death during Order 66 in these eps, so yep, that’s the end of the Clone Wars right there)

imagine a well-written series with everything that Clone Wars had in terms of content and visual quality, but it’s set after Episode IX. to my frustration, IX ends with effectively the same worldstate as VI which essentially means that nothing much happened in the Sequel Trilogy. but imagine a series set after IX. we could see a new set of (Force-wielding) characters. we could see Rey, Finn, Poe, and Rose during some episodes. Rose could finally get to do something that’s not an insulting fool’s errand (she deserves so much better!!!!!)

we don’t need a new Big Scary Empire/First Order thing, just organized crime and pirates and Hutts and bounty hunters and individual planet systems going to war as the characters try to assemble a NEW New Republic (gods I hate the unchanged worldstate)

now, I know that Star Wars Resistance is not ... reassuring. this is the only screencap that I have from it because I couldn’t get into it. it’s not the animation (I enjoyed Tron Uprising and Iron Man: Armored Adventures and this is the same kind of deal), but three things:

-I watch Star Wars for the Force primarily; other stuff can be cool but I need the Force

-I will never care about ships racing and really I don’t care about an individual ship flying; I’m a Command Ship kind of space nerd

-apparently the writing doesn’t improve much during the first season. people tell the main character to not do something, then he does it, and disaster ensues. that’s ... it’s fine, it’s fine to exist as a show, it’s just not for me

obviously, not all Star Wars media is for me, but when something -- like TLJ or the Sequel Series as a whole (even though VII and IX are enjoyable) or Resistance -- disappoints me, I would never accuse it of “ruining Star Wars”

Star Wars is a whole franchise. the breadth of canon isn’t all wiped away by some disappointments. was the MCU ruined by Age of Ultron? no. it was a bad movie but from the same franchise that gave us The Winter Soldier and Thor Ragnarok. hell, Dawn of Justice doesn’t “ruin” Wonder Woman or Aquaman or Shazam. bad movies aren’t contagious

for the past several years, the Entitled Dude crowd has felt empowered. they were radicalized in the altright/redpill/MGTOW/meninist/nazi/gamergate/comicsgate/etc spheres of the internet and now they just have a reflex where they see any sort of representation and decry it as “SJW,” which they also seem to think is a bad thing

in the same way that well-meaning people on tumblr can get radicalized into being antis/puriteens, people with certain vulnerabilities on reddit or youtube can get sucked into a world that tells them that they are the default and that other people existing is “political” in media and in real life, and that people being upset by outright cruelty towards them is both funny and means that the cruel person is the victor. they need therapy and studios need to not listen to them

unfortunately, sometimes there are movies that are bad despite having things like solid representation. Ghostbusters 2016 was a delight, but my friends and I with whom I saw TLJ (all of us queer feminists) left the theater angry. we’ve bitten our tongues a lot (even if it seems otherwise) because publicly criticizing the film too often leads some incel monster to chime in with agreement, and we’re just like

the redpillgate crowed et all is a natural ally of conservative white evangelicals, even though the former group is generally made up of New Atheists (the short version is atheists who hold socially conservative views because racism/misogyny/transphobia benefit them without using christianity as an excuse). it’s kind of like how terfs will side with conservative hate groups because, though they’re natural enemies, they both despite trans people just for existing

unfortunately, when you’re looking at who went to see a movie or who hated it, not everyone posts with an ID card saying exactly their demographic. which is only going to make studios like Disney even more nervous about including queer content in Star Wars and in the MCU (I mean real queer content with characters whose names don’t have to be searched on a wiki)

that was a bit of a tangent, but yeah. sorry if I missed anything

[smokeybrand]

Smokey band Reviews: What Is a Man

I wanted my next review to be The Invisible Man but i keep putting that thing off. I think it’s the pacing. it’s kind of funky. I’ll get around to it eventually. Spoiler alert, it’s pretty interesting so far. In the meantime, i finally caught up on a show that dropped and didn’t see when it first released; Castlevania! I passed on actually reviewing he first two season, well, season and a half. That first season was, like, six episodes. This ain’t the BBC, son. Thirteen or bust! Anyway, since we’re about three days from being under marital law, i figure i got time to revisit and review the series so far. Plus, i mean, i need to catch up since the fourth season has already been announced. F*cking Netflix, man. In that vein, pun in tended, here is my review of the series as a whole so far.

The Good

This show is not anime. It’s not. Avatar is not anime. It’s not. This is a sanitized facsimile of what the Japanese do with their animation. Stop calling this sh*t anime! That said, on it’s own, outside of that hilariously unflattering comparison, it can be pretty dope. I don’t think this sh*t holds a candle to studios like Trigger, Madhouse, Gainax, or Shaft, but it’s the best animation coming out of the US i’ve seen in years. The fight scenes in particular are absolutely gorgeous. You can really tell that Netflix invested the necessary resources to make this show look dope, even if the framerate is a little iffy between set pieces.

Now that i’ve died on my anime cross, i just want to acknowledge how good this show looks. It’s f*cking gorgeous, man. I mean, the world, alone, is a feat for the eyes, but i am absolutely in love with the character designs. If you google the characters from the games they are mad cluttered and full of extra nonsense. I’m never a fan of, like, flair on my characters. That’s why i hate the look of Mortal Kombat. That sh*t is gross. Castlevania has that same issue, culminating in the design vomits of Judgement. That game was gross to look at. Gross. This show takes the ludicrously gaudy designs of the games and make them presentable while still paying homage to the core design of the games. Sh*t is miraculous and i can’t help but marvel at that ingenuity. I mean, f*cking Carmilla, dude. Just look up Carmilla in the games and tell me this show ain’t good at it’s job.

Castlevania’s writing is kind of miraculous. As a cat that’s been playing these games since the late 80s, I’m mildly aware of the interconnecting lore between titles. It’s a mess. It’s a goddamn mess. There’s a dope story there, in the muck, but it’s so mired in melodrama, retcon, and years upon years of independent development, it’s completely lost. I appreciate Konami giving storytelling a shot during a time when gameplay was the principal seller of games, they didn’t have to do any of that, but, at some point, clean your sh*t up with a manga or reboot or something, man. The later titles do this sh*t fine. I adore Shanoa and Soma. Their games got the best of both worlds. The Belmonts? Not so much... This show does an amazing job of cutting through the bullsh*t and sharpening that story to a fine point. This is Trevor’s story, the first Belmont we take control of in game, so watching his line grow through the years, with this quality of storytelling, is mad compelling. I mean, you get right into it and it grips you from start to finish. I can’t wait to see where this goes.

The character work in this show is pretty legit. I was thoroughly surprised since the games themselves are rather bare bones and nauseatingly campy at times. Not this show. Nope! This sh*t is grim, dark, and violent. I love it! You can feel the plight one people and the rage of the vampires. Each main character s is beset with pathos and trauma and consequence, for two seasons. Season three is kind of light on growth but does a decent job explaining certain things. Like, this is Belmont’s tale but Sypha is definitely the most interesting character in the show. Everyone does a great job but there are, of course, a few standouts.

Speaking of my girl, did i tell you that Sypha is f*cking amazing? Ma is the most adorable, most badass motherf*cker in this show! I thought she was going to be kind of a weenie, like she is in the games, but nope! Ma is out here, burning motherf*ckers alive and slicing dudes up with ice blades, all the while being her peppy, adorable, kind of bloodthirsty self. F*ck, love Sypha and her voice actress, Alejandra Reynoso, is perfectly cast! She bring a levity and vulnerability to a woman who can take on an army all y her lonesome. I love that sh*t!

I have to mention how dope Dracula is in this how. He’s f*cking badass and, surprisingly, hilarious. His wit is as sharp as his fangs. Even with such overwhelming power, dude is still amazingly human, often time reminding you that he is just a broken, lonely, man. It’s incredible to see. you actually empathize with an entity hellbent of slaughtering humanity. I couldn’t believe that sh*t. A lot of that has to do with the writing but Graham McTavsh does an excellent job delivering those subtle emotional cues.

I feel like is should say something about Richard Armitage’s Trevor Belmont. Dude is dope. he’s how i always imagined Trevor to be. And Armitage is a seasoned veteran at this voice acting game so he does a great job. I’m not blown away or anything but he’s dope. Considering dude is kind of a supporting character in his own show, i think my indifference is warranted. He’s good, though, don’t misunderstand. I’m not decrying his performance or anything. Gold star for sure.

The best thing about season three, outside of my darling Sypha, is Lenore. Holy sh*t is she a great character! I was thoroughly surprised by how brazenly manipulative she turned out to be. Lenore is a f*cking genius and her feigned naivety is brought to life by an absolutely outstanding performance from Jessica Brown Findlay. Ma is on the long con and Carmilla might have some competition to look for.

I like Issac. This last season did wonders for developing his character. His arc is probably the best after Syph’s, mostly because he’s the only other character that even had an arc. His voice actor, Adetokumboh M'Cormack, does a great job developing the enigmatic Forgemaster into a character more than his humdrum game origins.

The Bad

This show is not anime! Stop telling me it’s an anime!

Alucard’s arc in season three was a little... me. I thought he was the one character let down by the writing but it’s not a terrible slight. I just felt he deserved more of a exploration than what he received.

Season three was straight up filler. I guess it has that in common with anime, even though most modern anime ha move away from the Filler system. I mean, i liked a lot of what went on and the character work was delightful but none of this is really of consequence. Most characters either didn’t grow or are exactly who we thought they were. It feels cheap.

Hector. What the f*ck, Hector. What the f*ck.

The Verdict

Season One showed a ton of potential. I enjoyed the whole Dracula arc, even though this was more a story about his disillusionment with humanity rather than how he became Dracula. Season two is the Castlevania know from the games. It was dope seeing that narrative removed from the shenanigans of that Konami narrative jank. I thought they id the characters dope ass justice and the story itself, was rather compelling. I didn’t mind the character changes and the stuff they added felt organic. Season three is the closest thing to a slice of life anime i’ve seen in this show and it’s ridiculous. Like, nothing really happens of consequence and it feels like setup for later seasons but it’s easily the best looking of the three seasons.

Overall, as a whole, Castlevnia is really good. It’s easily one of the best video game adaptions available. This show takes it’s liberties, of course, but it does so in a very respectful manner. The core of the Castlevania lore is revered and embellished with creative additions while keeping the characters true to their game selves. For the most part. I really enjoyed thee character of Dracula when he was around and, oh my god, Lenore is the goddamn best! Sypha is the MVP of this show, though, and i need you people to know that. The art style is beautiful, the narrative is compelling, and you’ll fall in love with the character work. Castlevania is dope and you should go binge all of it since there is literally nothing else to do under quarantine.

[daresplaining]

Who are your favourite DD villains? Fisk, Bullseye and Mr Fear all sound brilliant from what I know of them, but are there any others with similarly iconic influence on Matt?

    There are! Daredevil comics aren’t known for their well-crafted villains to the extent that, say, Spider-Man or Batman comics are, but I really enjoy a lot of Matt’s rogues gallery. Fisk and Bullseye are probably the two biggest names, but there are many others who have had major impacts on his life, and the Marvel Universe in general, over the years. Here are some of the most notable DD villains, in my opinion:

Gladiator (Melvin Potter) is a major antagonist who, over the years has become arguably one of the most nuanced and interesting Daredevil characters. I wrote a longer post about him, way back when we thought we might actually get a Gladiator origin story in the Netflix show, but in general, a lot of his lasting appeal comes from the complexity of his character. When he was first introduced in Daredevil vol. 1 #18 he was a pretty standard Silver Age villain: a guy with semi-logical origin story, a funky costume, and a penchant for monologuing. Specifically, Melvin Potter was the owner of a costume store who was sick of being disrespected by his customers, and so decided to make a name for himself by attacking people with spinning blades. 

[ID: A panel from Lee’s Daredevil run. Daredevil is battling the Gladiator. Daredevil hoists himself up on a big crate to dodge one of the Gladiator’s spinning wrist blades.]

Matt: “He’s not fooling with those wrist blades… he’s fighting for real! But, why? I’m certain I’ve never met him before!”

Melvin: “You can’t keep dodging me forever! And the moment you slip, you shall have the honor of being my first victim!”

Daredevil vol. 1 #18 by Stan Lee, John Romita, and Sam Rosen

    Over the years, various writers have worked hard to add nuance to his character. Despite his fearsome appearance and goal of gaining respect, most early Gladiator stories involve Melvin being manipulated by stronger, smarter supervillains. Later, he becomes even more sympathetic: a dangerous killer who, at heart, is gentle and naive and hates when he loses control and hurts people. This creates an inherent discord in his character that adds an emotional hook to all of his stories. Matt tries to help him, and Melvin is grateful for Matt’s friendship and returns that favor when he can, but sometimes they end up having to fight each other. Essentially, Melvin’s story is the relentless tragedy of a man who wants to live a peaceful life but keeps falling victim to his own demons and the cruelty of the world around him. 

[ID: A page from Miller’s Daredevil run. Matt Murdock, in civvies (a tan suit and blue tie) confronts Melvin Potter, who is in a prison uniform and holding his Gladiator helmet.]

Matt: “Melvin, we’ve come so far. I know how much you want to be well… to go straight. We can help you, Betsy and I.”

Melvin: “I been trying, Matt. I been sitting in that courtroom, listening to them say those things about me, feeling my guts churn up, wanting to rip them all to pieces… They hate me. They all hate me… so I’m gonna hate them back!”

Matt: “I’m not letting you off that easy. If you want to become the Gladiator again, you’ll have to get past me.”

Melvin: “Past you?! Look at you– you’re just a skinny little blind guy! I’d break you in half! It’d be easy…”

Matt: “Is that what you want?”

Melvin: “Why not? I’m the Gladiator! The Gladiator! When I’m wearing my armor, I’m unbeatable, I’m…” 

[ID: Melvin throws the helmet and falls to his knees.]

Melvin: “I’m all alone. Help me… please…”

Daredevil vol. 1 #173 by Frank Miller, Klaus Janson, and Glynis Wein

    This complicated and heartwrenching characterization has helped Melvin to remain a fresh and popular antagonist (anti-hero, even) and a regular guest in Daredevil. He is one of several characters who complicates the hero/villain dichotomy, and thereby both emphasizes and challenges Matt’s own heroism. 

Typhoid Mary/Mary Walker is another one of the more famous Daredevil villains, and someone who has had a significant impact on Matt’s story over the years. I wrote a longer post on her as well. Female antagonists in particular seem to suffer from a variety of weaknesses in their depictions, and Typhoid– as a sexual character by nature, as well as someone who plays upon “crazy” villain tropes– has had her share of not great depictions over the years. However, at her core, she is a wonderfully compelling character and a dangerous villain who is literally multifaceted by design. Even moreso than Melvin Potter, Mary plays upon the concept of a good person who is powerless to prevent themself from doing violent things– in Mary’s case, through genuinely having multiple psyches inhabiting one body. She is in constant conflict with herself, as gentle Mary and bloodthirsty Typhoid battle for dominance. As much as she is an antagonist to Matt and the other heroes whose paths she crosses, she is her own arch-enemy. 

[ID: An excerpt from Nocenti’s Daredevil run. Typhoid Mary and Daredevil are both underwater, in the East River. Mary looked panicked partway through strangling Daredevil, and flees out of the water.]

Mary/Typhoid: “Don’t kill him! You! Shut up! I love him! Stop! Get out of my head! You can’t kill him! Get out of my head! Oh, god! Where am I? Why am I dressed like this? What have I done?!”

Matt: “Curious. That’s a completely different woman running away! What came over her?”

Daredevil vol. 1 #256 by Ann Nocenti, John Romita Jr., and Christie Scheele

    Matt’s dealings with Mary have brought about some of the more unheroic moments in his career. In Joe Kelly’s attempt to integrate the Man Without Fear-verse origin story into the 616 universe, he proposed that Matt nearly killed Mary on his first superhero outing. When Typhoid, in her introductory arc, is hired to seduce Matt, it works– he cheats on Karen with her. Later, when attempting to bring down the Kingpin’s empire, Matt removes Mary from the equation by sleeping with her to get her guard down and then forging documents to have her locked away in a psychiatric hospital. She hits all of his weak points: as Mary, she is a victim who needs rescuing… and an attractive one at that. As Typhoid, she is a dangerous enemy who must be stopped. In addition to her skill with weapons, she has all kinds of awesome psychic powers– including, most notably, pyrokinesis– and something about her physiology messes with Matt’s senses and makes her difficult to fight. She is a challenge on every level, and in many ways, Matt serves the same purpose for her– Mary (and, arguably, Typhoid as well) accidentally falls in love with him, representing a loss of power and control that she can’t stand. 

[ID: Excerpt from Nocenti’s Daredevil run. A series of panels alternating between Daredevil falling off a bridge and a tear sliding down Typhoid Mary’s cheek.]

Daredevil vol. 1 #260 by Ann Nocenti, John Romita Jr., and Christie Scheele

The Hand I love the Hand– which is to say, I love the Chaste, and part of why I love the Chaste is because I love their rivalry with the Hand. On some levels, the Hand are your standard Big Bad Secret Organization, but I also find them to be a lot of fun, and they have been a significant force in Daredevil comics since they were introduced. The Hand are key players in Miller’s updated version of Matt’s origin, which introduced Stick and gave him a purpose for training Matt. They also had a huge role in Elektra’s origin, since her attempt to singlehandedly bring them down from the inside led to her becoming an assassin. And of course, Matt’s role as leader of the Hand and temporary vessel for their patron demon, the Beast, was a defining moment in recent DD comics and a low point of Matt’s career. The Hand are dangerous because they are vast, and their high-ranking members have all kinds of cool powers, which I love. And there’s also a certain amount of weakness and dysfunction to the Hand that makes them appealing. They are a once-great organization relegated to being mercenaries-for-hire. Their low-ranking members are fairly weak– as Matt quips in Volume 1 #380, “a little harsh language and [they’re] up in smoke!” They were led by a Skrull (disguised as Elektra) for a while, and didn’t even notice. Arguably their most dangerous enemy, Master Izo, mostly just bothers them with Hand puns. 

[ID: A panel from Diggle’s Daredevil run. Daredevil, seen from the back, is standing in an empty room. The light from the sunset streams in through the windows. Izo is sitting behind him on the floor, drinking tea.]

Matt: “Look, you wanted me leading the Hand, you got it… but I never agreed to be your puppet.”    

Izo: “‘Hand puppet.’ Heh.”

Daredevil vol. 2 #503 by Andy Diggle, Roberto De La Torre, Marco Checchetto, and Matt Hollingsworth

    I also enjoy the way the Hand and the Chaste operate and Matt’s relationship with them. Matt isn’t an official member of the Chaste (like Elektra, he was rejected for being too emotional– which, in his case at least, is a fair assessment) but he still teams up with them on occasion, and the experience almost always puts him out of his depth in really entertaining ways. Matt is one of the Hand’s biggest enemies and one of the Chaste’s most useful allies, so he gets dragged into their business even when he doesn’t want to be involved. 

[ID: Excerpt from Daredevil: Ninja. A conversation between Daredevil and Stone in a series of face close-ups.]

Stone: “We need your help.”

Matt: “You should have asked me to come.”

Stone: “Would you have?”

Matt: “I hate this ninja crap. I hate it. Every single time it’s nothing but lies, half-truths, and misguided loyalties. Stay away from me and my life.”

Daredevil: Ninja #2 by Brian Michael Bendis, Rob Haynes, and David Self

    There are also two excellent (and, I’d say, influential) alternate universes in which Matt joins the Hand and thrives in their presence: What If? Daredevil vs. Elektra and Earth-65 (Spider-Gwen-verse). 

Lady Bullseye (Maki Matsumoto) And if we’re discussing the Hand and the Chaste, I have to mention Maki– undisputed head of the Bullseye Fan Club and another of my favorite Daredevil villains. She’s relatively new (she was introduced during Brubaker’s run) and so hasn’t had a particularly big long-term influence on Matt, but she is a great character with extensive connections to Daredevil history. One thing I love about her is the fact that while she modeled her look and identity on Bullseye, she isn’t treated as just female version of him, as her name might suggest. They actually have very little in common; she just chose to honor Bullseye because he played a role in her origin story by indirectly rescuing her from a human trafficking ring.

[ID: Panels from Brubaker’s Daredevil run. Bullseye is single-handedly beating up a bunch of gun-toting mobsters in a warehouse building. Maki Matsumoto watches him between the bars of a large cage.]   

Caption: “She remembers that so vividly. Remembers the joy she beheld that day from her cage. She had never seen anything so beautiful, she thought. Of course, she was nearly insane already by then. But then, like a miracle… freedom.”

[ID: Maki reaches between the bars of the cage and grabs a key from a dead mobster’s pocket. As she tries to escape, another mobster runs toward her.]

Man: “You– back in your cage, girl!”

Maki: “I think not.”

[ID: Without looking at him, she slices his throat with the key.]

Daredevil vol. 2 #111 by Ed Brubaker, Clay Mann, and Matt Hollingsworth

    Since then, Maki has teamed up with Bullseye– mostly notably, resurrecting and caring for him after his death in “Shadowland”– but more often, she operates on her own as an assassin. Like both Elektra and Matt, she was trained by the Hand and the Chaste without forming an official allegiance with either, and it seems her primary teacher was Master Izo– thus making her Matt and Elektra’s ninja aunt and/or sister in the Chaste Family Tree that definitely exists in my head and nowhere else. 

[ID: Excerpt from Brubaker’s Daredevil run. Lady Bullseye and Izo are standing on a Manhattan rooftop as the sky brightens behind them. Pigeons are flocking around them; Izo has one perched on his hand.]

Maki: “You said I would lead the Hand.”

Izo: “I said a lot of things when I was training you, girl… Said whatever I needed to say.”

Maki: “You’re as bad as them.”

Izo: “No. I didn’t put you in a cage and sell you to the Yakuza.”

Maki: “You still used me.”

Izo: “Yes, I did… but I’m not going to apologize.”

Maki: “Someday I’ll kill you for this. You know that, right?”

[ID: Izo leaps off the roof.]

Izo: “Yeah, well… get in line.”

Daredevil vol. 2 #500 by Ed Brubaker, Michael Lark, Stefano Gaudiano, Matt Hollingsworth, et al.

    Maki masterminds the destruction of Matt’s life that leads him to join the Hand. She is extremely smart (she passes herself off as a lawyer during Brubaker’s run and fools both Matt and Foggy; as far as anyone knows, she might actually have a law degree…?), an excellent fighter (arguably better than Matt, not quite as good as Elektra), an absolute badass, and an all-around great antagonist who deserves her own solo series (hint, hint, Marvel). 

Death-Stalker I’m not sure Death-Stalker counts as a major Daredevil villain, but he was used about once a week in late 70s Daredevil so he’s certainly been a recurring presence. I also just find him really cool, conceptually. One of the interesting things about Death-Stalker is that he started his existence as a completely different supervillain: the Exterminator, who is best known for “killing” Mike Murdock! The Exterminator had a weapon that could shift its victims out of sync with the time-stream. When Matt blows it up to fake Mike’s death, the Exterminator is caught in the blast, with shocking consequences: 

[ID: Excerpt from McKenzie’s Daredevil run. A series of flashback panels: the Exterminator (a kind of goofy-looking villain with a purple and white costume and blue antennae on the side of his mask) watching Daredevil pull a lever, then the Exterminator getting caught in an explosion and falling into a void.] 

Death-Stalker: “How many long and empty years has it been, Murdock? How many… since you so callously destroyed my awesome Time-Displacement Ray… catching me fully in the time-shattering explosion?! How long has it been since I was hurled through the fabric of time? But what you believed to be my death proved instead a macabre rebirth! I found myself in a timeless limbo! Unobserved, I could go anywhere! Do anything!”

Daredevil vol. 1 #158 by Roger McKenzie, Frank Miller, and George Roussos

    Thus, the Exterminator returns years later as Death-Stalker– a villain who can move freely through time and space, become intangible at will, and whose mere touch is lethal. This, combined with his new appearance (glowing eyes, bony hands, huge billowy cape…) makes for an excellent creepy character concept, and some of the Death Stalker issues feel more like horror stories than the typical Daredevil comic. 

[ID: Excerpt from Gerber’s Daredevil run. A tired Daredevil is making his way through a swamp. Death-Stalker appears behind him out of the fog and puts a skeletal white hand on his shoulder. Daredevil collapses.]

Matt: “H-he’s gone! Nothing but an empty cape! It’s not possible! It– where did he go?!”

Death-Stalker: “Here, Daredevil. I am here. Death is at your back.”

Matt: “Huh? Wha– No!! My… shoulder… your fingers… like ice–!”

Death-Stalker: “Like death, Daredevil. Like the grim, glacial embrace of the North Wind. No use to flee… you can’t outrun the wind.”

Caption: “For Daredevil, for this sightless adventurer, all the world is blackness, all the time. But now, a different kind of darkness envelopes him, a sort of oblivion he has never known before. He hears his heartbeat slow… feels his mind empty of all thought… feel his every nerve tingle, then go numb… and he knows that he is… dying. And that is all he knows when the darkness claims him and the Death-Stalker relaxes his grip.”

Daredevil vol. 1 #114 by Steve Gerber, Bob Brown, and Stan G.

    Sadly, though, I don’t feel he was ever used to his full skin-crawling potential, particularly considering how dangerous his power-set was. He was mostly just a nuisance who rarely got the upper hand, and he was killed in Daredevil #158 when he accidentally materialized through a tombstone during a fight with Matt. One of my favorite details about Death-Stalker isn’t Death-Stalker himself– it’s that his mother lived in a booby-trapped mansion and owned an army of exploding robotic children that she sicced on Matt to avenge her son’s death. But that’s a story for another post… 

Jester (Jonathan Powers) The Jester gets no respect, and it’s a shame because he’s both genuinely a great villain when he’s used well and highly entertaining when his 1960s goofiness is played up, and he manages to embody both of those characterizations with absolute panache. He has played a role in some fairly major Daredevil stories over the years and I’d consider him a staple DD villain. His origin story is pure Silver Age silliness: he was an actor who received bad reviews for his first major starring role, found his career heading downhill, and so decided to become a supervillain instead. This is pretty typical of motivations for villains of this time period (see the Gladiator’s origin story above, and Stilt-Man below), but even this aspect of his character has been put to good use. Daredevil #218 features a surprisingly touching story of the Jester stealing the chance to reprise that first starring role– and of Matt keeping the cops distracted (by pretending to be the Jester!) so that his enemy can finally live his dream. 

[ID: Excerpt from O’Neil’s Daredevil run. The Jester is dressed as Cyrano de Bergerac. He pulls off his false nose and bows dramatically to Daredevil and the cops who have come to take him in.]

Jester: “A moment ago you unmasked. Now I shall perform a similar gesture… I am your humble and obedient servant… the Jester! At your service!”

Matt: “You deserve the bow. You were magnificent.”

Jester: “Indeed! I trust the critics will change their tune.”

Daredevil vol. 1 #218 by Denny O’Neil, Sal Buscema, and Christie Scheele

    Throughout the issue, Matt draws comparisons between himself and the Jester: their shared mask-wearing and the experiences of disillusionment that shaped their lives– and while it certainly doesn’t give the Jester the emotional depth of certain other Daredevil villains, it’s a memorable connection. 

    But where the Jester is at his most dangerous is not as an actor looking for attention– it’s as a creator of chaos. The Jester is a master of illusions and media manipulation. In his introductory arc, he frames Daredevil for his murder and turns Matt into a wanted criminal. Later, he uses a campaign of false news reports and misinformation to sabotage Foggy’s run for District Attorney, turn the superhero community into targets, and throw the whole country into an uproar. Most recently, in Waid’s run, he manipulated TV footage to cause rioting in NYC in the wake of an unpopular and highly publicized court ruling. His plans don’t always succeed, but even then, the scope and effectiveness of the damage he causes makes him a truly formidable villain.

[ID: Excerpt from Waid’s Daredevil run. The Jester is sitting in front of computer monitors in a dark room, yelling into a microphone. In the next panel, we see random civilians in a cafe, watching “Mayor Jameson” (played by the Jester) on TV.]

Jester: “Listen to him. God, he’s so smug. No matter. This is a minor setback. Daredevil’s not the ultimate target, after all. The city’s the target, and it’ll burn. Voice synthesizer on… People of New York… this is Mayor Jameson! Effective immediately, I am rescinding all handgun regulations in Manhattan! Take up arms– for your own protection– and await further instructions!”

Daredevil vol. 3 #32 by Mark Waid, Chris Samnee, and Javier Rodriguez

The Owl (Leland Owlsley) The Owl has, unfortunately, been overshadowed by the Kingpin for most of his existence, and as such, hasn’t been given anywhere near the same amount of character development or nuance. They were created based on the same character concept: a high-powered mobster with a shadowy network of pawns who controls the city’s criminal underworld. 

[ID: A series of panels from Lee’s Daredevil run, showing a man in a long green coat and brimmed hat walking into an office building. His face is not shown; the people he passes looked at him with fear.]

Caption: “This is Wall Street, heart of New York’s Financial District, where fortunes are made and lost by the world’s greatest financial wizards! And, within the canyons of this street, we are about to find one certain man… a merciless man… a man with no friends… no loved ones… nothing to connect him with the human race, save the fact of his birth! Let us follow this man… let us study him as he walks into a towering office building, his heavy footsteps reverberating through the huge marble lobby! For we shall see much of this man on the pages that follow… He walks slowly, but with a sure, steady tread… looking neither to the right nor the left… ignoring those he passes and those who pass him! But he himself cannot readily be ignored by others! His very presence seems so fraught with evil, with menace, that his fellow humans shrink back from the mere sight of him! There are some who recognize him… who speak his name in whispers… for his wealth is said to be legendary, and his power almost beyond measure!”

Daredevil vol. 1 #3 by Stan Lee, Joe Orlando, and Sam Rosen

    Unfortunately, the Kingpin just ended up doing it better, and while there are a few Owl story arcs that I really like, I’ve never found him that interesting. However, he is hugely significant because he was the very first Daredevil supervillain, introduced all the way back in Daredevil #3! (In #1 Matt fights the mobsters who killed his father, and in #2 he fights Electro, who is a Spider-Man rogue.) Thus, he has had an impact on Matt’s life simply from having been around for so long. This also means there’s a huge range in his stories, verging from extremely ridiculous (he sometimes eats rats, and used to own an owl-shaped airplane. How cool is that?) to slightly more grounded. There is a great Owl story arc in which his bird-like body modifications start killing him, which gives his law-breaking more nuance, because he is doing it to look for a cure. Matt, upon discovering this, tries to help him. 

[ID: Excerpt from Chichester’s Daredevil run. Daredevil and the Owl are on a fire escape together. The Owl has metal cybernetic legs and has collapsed. Daredevil is comforting him.]

Matt: “You’re going to make it, hear me? You’re gonna–”

Owlsley: “You should’ve let me…”

Matt: “Unh-uh. You take my hand– you’re willing to take my hand– I don’t let go. You’ve got some long ways to go, mister… but you can count on me…”

Daredevil vol. 1 #303 by D.G. Chichester, M.C. Wyman, and Christie Scheele

    There’s also great point in Bendis’s run when the Owl, in a surprising demonstration of cleverness, hires a lawyer to sue Daredevil for breaking and entering. It doesn’t work, but it throws Matt off and is absolutely priceless. 

    The Owl has also had several children– two unnamed young kids who were introduced in Alias, and Jubula Pride, who was introduced in Daredevil Volume 4 and worked alongside Matt to rescue her father. Jubula’s brief-but-memorable appearance added a bit more depth to the Owl– allowing us to see him in the role of a parent as well as a villain. But mostly, over the years the Owl has remained one of the more insidious of New York’s mob bosses, always scheming to stay in power and fight his way out of the Kingpin’s shadow. And he’s been doing it for so long that he feels like an integral part of Daredevil comics. 

Turk Barrett He’s not a costumed supervillain or even much of a threat, but Turk has become an iconic Daredevil antagonist for both his sheer ineptitude and his plucky ability to stay alive. Of all of the recurring low-level mobster characters, he has the most engaging personality, and his dynamic with Matt is one of long-held friendly animosity. Daredevil isn’t the most dangerous person in Turk’s life, Turk isn’t the most dangerous person in Matt’s life, so they mostly just annoy each other. They’ve even been known to team up, when Turk thinks the odds of survival are in his favor. 

[ID: Excerpt from Daredevil: Love and War. Turk Barrett (dressed in a white shirt and blue pants) is mopping the inside of an elevator. The doors open, and Daredevil walks in. They ride the elevator together.] 

Matt: “Turk! You got the job!”

Turk: “No, man… this… I mean, I’m working undercover, man… I’m your backup!”

Matt: “I believe you, Turk.”

Turk: “Even know what level the doc’s on, man… So how’d you get in, Devil?”

Matt: “I flew in, Turk.”

Turk: “…Course. I knew that. ‘Spose the window locks weren’t much trouble…”

Matt: “Melted them with my heat vision.”

Daredevil: Love and War by Frank Miller and Bill Sienkiewicz

    Turk is an underdog. He’s kind of a goof and he’s certainly a criminal, but he’s also a small fish in a big and dangerous pond, working in a career where most people eventually end up at the bottom of the East River in concrete shoes (or a taxi, as the case may be). He’s slippery and resourceful, he stays just harmless enough to keep himself out of danger, and you can’t help but root for him, even when he does dumb things like stealing Stilt-Man’s stilts or trying to kill Daredevil for the hundredth unsuccessful time. 

Stilt-Man (Wilbur Day), of course, requires no introduction. He is another personal favorite of mine, and a rare case of a goofy Silver Age villain surviving into the modern era while remaining exactly as goofy as he was when first introduced. The great appeal of Stilt-Man is, in fact, that he’s a bit of a joke, while at the same time being quite dangerous, in a comic book physics-kind of way.  

[ID: Excerpt from Lee’s run. Daredevil is battling Stilt-Man on a daytime city street.]

Wilbur: “Hah! You missed!! Have you forgotten so soon how easily I can change my height, thanks to my magnificent hydraulically-operated stilts?!!”

Matt: “Mebbe so! But I haven’t forgotten that I’m the gent who whumped you good last time fought! (Man! It sure is lucky I was here! If Stilt-Man ever managed to get the Leap-Frog safely away, what a team those two would make! But, I hear the boys in blue hauling that human jumping jack right now! Which means Stilty and I can go it alone!) Heads up, dad! It’s time for fun ‘n games again!”

Wilbur: “Hah! Didn’t expect me to seize your cable, did you? I should have warned you, little man– I’ve modified my protective armor in such a way as to double my strength! Which means I’m more than a match for your limited talents!!”

Daredevil vol. 1 #26 by Stan Lee, Gene Colan, and Artie Simek

    Part of the charm of this characterization is the fact that he’s a joke in-universe as well; most of his appearances in modern comics consist of Stilt-Man being made fun of and/or of the audience being reminded that he’s actually a threat. This creates a great balance in his depictions; the jokes are fun, the sight of various superheroes being beaten up (at least a little) by Stilt-Man is fun, and he remains an enjoyable, mostly lighthearted presence in a landscape that has become dominated by Dark, Serious, and Disturbing villains. 

[ID: Excerpt from Bendis’s Daredevil run. Matt is sitting at his desk in his darkened office, talking to Wilbur Day– a short, bald guy in a black jacket, with his arm in a sling.]

Wilbur: “Wilbur Day– I’m Stilt-Man. We’ve met four hundred times.”

Matt: “Stilt-Man– Huh. Oh, you mean that burglar guy Stilt-Man? Who wears the stilts and robs things?”

Wilbur: “Can we please just–”

Matt: “We’ve met when?”

Wilbur: “I–”

Matt: “Are you in some kind of legal trouble? Is that why you’re here?”

Wilbur: “Okay, fine.”

Daredevil vol. 2 #41 by Brian Michael Bendis, Alex Maleev, and Matt Hollingsworth

    Stilt-Man is just a short guy in a ridiculous outfit who wants to commit some crimes and get a little respect– and really, who can’t relate to that?  

Ikari (???) I’m mentioning Ikari not because he’s a long-established Daredevil villain– he’s not– but because I am fascinated by his potential. He’s a favorite of mine as much for what we don’t know as for what we do. In his introductory arc, we learn this: He was engineered/commissioned by Bullseye to kill Matt, his fighting abilities equal Matt’s, he has hypersenses, and (as a horrified Matt discovers later) he can also see.

Ikari: “Someone has, in fact, managed to re-create the toxic chemicals that blinded you, gave you enhanced senses. Someone whose hate for you keeps him alive. But he didn’t waste the process on weak, malnourished vagrants. He used it to baptize a warrior. A fighter trained to be every bit your equal in skill– and now, in power.” 

Daredevil vol. 3 #25 by Mark Waid, Chris Samnee, and Javier Rodriguez

    And that’s it. We don’t know who he is or where he came from, or what the consequences are of having that degree of sensory perception (presumably his vision is heightened too?). We don’t know what his personal goals or motivations are, since we’ve only ever seen him as a pawn– first of Bullseye and then, later, of the Kingpin. But the concept of his character as someone who shares Matt’s powers plus some– who is essentially, skills-wise, a criminal version of Matt– and all the mystery that surrounds him, is hugely compelling to me. 

[ID: Excerpt from Waid’s Daredevil run. Both Ikari and Daredevil are out on the street, being shot at by cops. As Daredevil hides behind a parked car, Ikari attacks the cops and cuts their guns in half with his blades.]

Matt: “The cops are hunting me under an open-fire command. Presuming they’ve been advised of Ikari’s prison break, I’m sure the same order applies to him. I wish it scared him. I wish anything did.”

Daredevil vol. 4 #17 by Mark Waid, Chris Samnee, and Matt Wilson

    In his last appearance he was killed by the Shroud, but his body was stolen, leaving the door open for him to maybe return sometime in the future and receive more development. I hope he does. 

[theliberaltony]

via Politics – FiveThirtyEight

Welcome to Pollapalooza, our weekly polling roundup.

Poll of the week

President Trump’s tweets often dominate news coverage, particularly on cable news. But let’s be honest: We here at FiveThirtyEight have occasionally written about them too. What is more, well, newsworthy than the words of the chief executive of one of the world’s most powerful nations? And since politicians are known for boring, repetitive, long-winded speeches, what could be a better political platform than one that literally forbids using more than 280 characters at a time? Twitter seems good for Trump, too: As his allies often say, it gives the president a way to speak directly to the American electorate, getting around the media’s filter. Trump’s Twitter account is followed by 52 million people, not that far off from the nearly 63 million who voted for him in 2016.

But some data released this week should give Trump and his supporters pause about the power of his Twitter account in directly reaching American voters — and push the media to think carefully about its coverage of Trump’s tweets. Only 8 percent of U.S. adults say they follow Trump’s Twitter account (@realDonaldTrump), and only 4 percent say they follow his account and regularly read the president’s tweets, according to a new Gallup poll. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, about 250 million Americans are age 18 or older. So Trump’s Twitter followers, based on the Gallup data, are about 20 million Americans of voting age. And the real consumers of his tweets are about 10 million.

Twenty million people isn’t nothing. Neither is 10 million. It’s more people than read FiveThirtyEight most days or watch any of the network news programs. But it’s nowhere close to the 52 million followers Twitter says he has. And it’s a small share of the roughly 325 million people who live in the U.S. or even the more than 137 million people who voted in the 2016 presidential election.

Of course, the Gallup number is just one poll, but it makes for a more realistic estimate of Trump’s Twitter audience than his official follower count. Twitter estimates that it has more than 69 million total users in the U.S., but we know that many Twitter accounts, particularly those who follow celebrities like Trump, are bots or otherwise fake. Also, remember that people of all ages and people outside of the U.S. can use Twitter. So Trump’s 52 million followers surely include some American teenagers, as well as, say, Brazilian or Japanese citizens who care about his decisions. Third, Gallup’s estimate that 26 percent of American adults have Twitter accounts is fairly close to the results of a 2016 Pew Research Center poll that found 21 percent of U.S. adults were Twitter users.

In any case, here’s why this data matters: If Trump is really speaking to 10 or 20 million American adults with his tweets, then they’re not really a means of directly reaching the American electorate at large. (Gallup estimates that just 15 percent of Republicans follow Trump on Twitter, so he’s not even directly reaching much of his base.) This data argues for treating Trump’s tweets more like presidential statements to elites, the press and other fairly politically engaged people.1

Such statements may still be important. But Trump is not really getting around the media filter via Twitter if so few voters are actually seeing his messages on the platform itself.

The Gallup report makes me think that Trump’s tweets should be covered more — not less — carefully by the press. If Trump’s tweets were just appeals to his political base, one that we know is susceptible to believing falsehoods like the claim that Barack Obama was not born in the U.S., that might argue that the tweets should be taken, well, seriously but not literally. If, on the other hand, these tweets are reaching a fairly small actual audience but are heavily influencing media coverage, that would suggest the actual messages in the tweets matter more. When I covered Obama as a White House reporter for The Washington Post, I was more interested in what he told small, elite audiences (Democratic congressional leaders, for example) than what he told crowds at rallies, as he was usually more candid and described his political strategy in more detail in the former settings.

It’s worth considering whether we think of Twitter as Trump’s megaphone and bully pulpit but it’s really his inside voice — Trump’s version of the off-record meetings with influential journalists that past presidents used to shape the views of other insiders.

Other Polling Nuggets

A poll from the Pew Research Center found that 71 percent of Americans support direct negotiations between the U.S. and North Korea over the latter’s nuclear program. That includes 85 percent of Republicans and 63 percent of Democrats. About half of Americans, however, believe that North Korea’s leadership is not serious about addressing concerns about its program.

The Associated Press, working with Fox News, is launching an interesting new exit poll project for the 2018 midterms: AP VoteCast. Basically, the idea is to get away from the traditional in-person method of surveying voters by adding in opt-in online surveys.

Americans are split on whether they favor or oppose using torture to obtain information from terrorism suspects. According to a YouGov poll from this week, 32 percent are in favor, 36 percent are opposed and 32 percent are not sure. The poll also shows a partisan split, with Republicans more likely to support using torture on terrorism suspects and Democrats more likely to oppose it.

According to the same YouGov poll, 46 percent of Americans approve of the way Trump is handling North Korea. That’s up about 9 percentage points from last December.

Harris Poll conducted a survey of over 1,000 mothers aged 25-39 with infants, toddlers or preschoolers and found that 87 percent believe that maternal and child health care in the U.S. needs immediate improvement; 89 percent of the moms interviewed agreed that access to quality prenatal and child health care should be a right, not a privilege.

Polling nerds unite! This weekend is the annual conference of the American Association for Public Opinion Research. If you’d like to get nerdy about polling, you can follow #AAPOR on Twitter and see what your favorite pollsters are up to.

SurveyMonkey took a closer look this week at Trump’s improving job approval numbers. They found that the number of Americans who perceive him as someone who “can get things done” is up 10 percentage points since its low in November 2017 and is back at levels previously seen at the start of his term.

A poll of Jewish Israelis conducted by the University of Maryland this month found that 73 percent support Trump’s decision to move the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, an additional 20 percent believe he should have waited to move the embassy in the context of a peace plan, and only 5 percent oppose it altogether. A poll conducted in August of last year by the polling firm SSRS showed much more division over the issue among Jewish Americans, with 44 percent opposing the move.

A Gallup poll found that even if driverless cars were common on the roads, 75 percent of Americans would opt for a human-operated car. Just over half of Americans said they would never want to use a self-driving car even if they were certified by government auto-safety regulators.

The Muslim holy month of Ramadan begins this week. A YouGov poll of residents of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt commissioned by Netflix showed that TV viewership increases 78 percent during Ramadan. That’s an average of three extra hours a day of watching TV shows or movies!

Trump approval rating

On Monday of this week, Trump’s approval rating hit 42.4 percent, the highest level since last May, before the firing of then-FBI Director James Comey. It had slipped slightly by the end of this week, to 42.3 percent. On May 7, about two weeks ago, Trump’s disapproval rating was below 52 percent for the first time since last May. It is now up to 52.3 percent.

Generic ballot

The Democrats are at 45.3 percent in the generic congressional ballot, their lowest standing since last June. But they remain about 6 points ahead of the Republicans, who are at 39.5 percent. Polls suggest that about 15 percent of voters are undecided on which party they will back in the midterms, and that bloc is looking increasingly important.