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be-gay-do-heists · 3 years ago

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hello yall :) the holy month of elul started last night, which is typically a time for contemplation, so since it is impossible for me to stop thinking about leverage, i decided to write an essay. hope anyone interested in reading it enjoys, and that it makes at least a little sense!! spoilers for leverage redemption

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Leverage, Judaism, and “Doing the Work”: An Essay for Elul

When it comes to Elul and the approaching High Holidays, Leverage might seem like an odd topic to meditate on.

The TNT crime drama that ran from 2008-2012, and which released a new season this summer following its renewal, centers on a group of found-family thieves who help the victims of corporations and oligarchs (sometimes based on real-world examples), using wacky heists and cons to bring down the rich and powerful. In one episode, the team’s clients want to reclaim their father’s prized Glimt piece that had been stolen in the Shoah and never returned, but aside from this and the throwaway lines and jokes standard for most mainstream television, there’s not a ton textually Jewish about Leverage. However, despite this, I have found that the show has strong resonance among Jewish fans, and lots of potential for analysis along Jewish themes. This tends to focus on one character in particular: the group’s brilliant, pop culture-savvy, and personable hacker, Alec Hardison, played by the phenomenally talented Aldis Hodge.

I can’t remember when or where I first encountered a reading of Hardison as Jewish, but not only is this a somewhat popular interpretation, it doesn’t feel like that much of a leap. In the show itself, Hardison has a couple of the aforementioned throwaway lines that potentially point to him being Jewish, even if they’re only in service of that moment’s grift. It’s hard to point to what exactly makes reading Hardison as Jewish feel so natural. My first guess is the easy way Hardison fits into the traditional paradigms of Jewish masculinity explored by scholars such as Daniel Boyarin (2). Most of the time, the hacker is not portrayed as athletic or physical; he is usually the foil to the team’s more physically-adept characters like fighter Eliot, or thief Parker. Indeed, Hardison’s strength is mental, expressed not only through his computer wizardry but his passions for science, technology, music, popular media, as well as his studious research into whatever scenario the group might come up against. In spite of his self-identification as a “geek,” Hardison is nevertheless confident, emotionally sensitive, and secure in his masculinity. I would argue he is representative of the traditional Jewish masculine ideal, originating in the rabbinic period and solidified in medieval Europe, of the dedicated and thoughtful scholar (3). Another reason for popular readings of Hardison as Jewish may be the desire for more representation of Jews of color. Although mainstream American Jewish institutions are beginning to recognize the incredible diversity of Jews in the United States (4), and popular figures such as Tiffany Haddish are amplifying the experiences of non-white Jews, it is still difficult to find Jews of color represented in popular media. For those eager to see this kind of representation, then, interpreting Hardison, a black man who places himself tangential to Jewishness, in this way is a tempting avenue.

Regardless, all of the above remains fan interpretation, and there was little in the text of the show that seriously tied Judaism into Hardison’s identity. At least, until we got this beautiful speech from Hardison in the very first episode of the renewed show, directed at the character of Harry Wilson, a former corporate lawyer looking to atone for the injustice he was partner to throughout his career:

“In the Jewish faith, repentance, redemption, is a process. You can’t make restitution and then promise to change. You have to change first. Do the work, Harry. Then and only then can you begin to ask for forgiveness. [...] So this… this isn’t the win. It’s the start, Harry.”

I was floored to hear this speech, and thrilled that it explained the reboot’s title, Leverage: Redemption. Although not mentioned by its Hebrew name, teshuvah forms the whole basis for the new season. Teshuvah is the concept of repentance or atonement for the sins one has committed. Stemming from the root shuv/shuva, it carries the literal sense of “return.” In a spiritual context, this usually means a return to G-d, of finding one’s way back to holiness and by extension good favor in the eyes of the Divine. But equally important is restoring one’s relationships with fellow humans by repairing any hurt one has caused over the past year. This is of special significance in the holy month of Elul, leading into Rosh haShanah, the Yamim Noraim, and Yom Kippur, but one can undertake a journey of redemption at any point in time. That teshuvah is a journey is a vital message for Harry to hear; one job, one reparative act isn’t enough to overturn years of being on the wrong side of justice, to his chagrin. As the season progresses, we get to watch his path of teshuvah unfold, with all its frustrations and consequences. Harry grows into his role as a fixer, not only someone who can find jobs and marks for the team, but fixes what he has broken or harmed.

So why was Hardison the one to make this speech?

I do maintain that it does provide a stronger textual basis for reading Hardison as Jewish by implication (though the brief on-screen explanation for why he knows about teshuvah, that his foster-parent Nana raised a multi-faith household, is important in its own merit, and meshes well with his character traits of empathy and understanding for diverse experiences). However, beyond this, Hardison isn’t exactly an archetypical model for teshuvah. In the original series, he was the youngest character of the main ensemble, a hacking prodigy in the start of his adult career, with few mistakes or slights against others under his belt. In one flashback we see that his possibly first crime was stealing from the Bank of Iceland to pay off his Nana’s medical bills, and that his other early hacking exploits were in the service of fulfilling personal desires, with only those who could afford to pay the bill as targets. Indeed, in the middle of his speech, Hardison points to Eliot, the character with the most violent and gritty past who views his work with the Leverage team as atonement, for a prime example of ongoing teshuvah. So while no one is perfect and everyone has a reason for doing teshuvah, this question of why Hardison is the one to give this series-defining speech inspired me to look at his character choices and behavior, and see how they resonate with a different but interrelated Jewish principle, that of tikkun olam.

Tikkun olam is literally translated as “repairing the world,” and can take many different forms, such as protecting the rights of vulnerable people in society, or giving tzedakah (5). In modern times, tikkun olam is often the rallying cry for Jewish social activists, particularly among environmentalists for whom literally restoring the health of the natural world is the key goal. Teshuvah and tikkun olam are intertwined (the former is the latter performed at an interpersonal level) and both hold a sense of fixing or repairing, but tikkun olam really revolves around a person feeling called to address an injustice that they may have not had a personal hand in creating. Hardison’s sense of a universal scale of justice which he has the power to help right on a global level and his newfound drive to do humanitarian work, picked up sometime after the end of the original series, make tikkun olam a central value for his character. This is why we get this nice bit of dialogue from Eliot to Hardison in the second episode of the reboot, when the latter’s outside efforts to organize international aid start distracting him from his work with the team: “Is [humanitarian work] a side gig? In our line of work, you’re one of the best. But in that line of work… you’re the only one, man.” The character who most exemplifies teshuvah reminds Hardison of his amazing ability to effect change for the better on a huge stage, to do some effective tikkun olam. It’s this acknowledgement of where Hardison can do the most good that prompts the character’s absence for the remainder of the episodes released thus far, turning his side gig into his main gig.

With this in mind, it will be interesting to see where Hardison’s arc for this season goes. Separated from the rest of the team, the hacker still has remarkable power to change the world, because it is, after all, the “age of the geek.” However, he is still one person. For all that both teshuvah and tikkun olam are individual responsibilities and require individual decision-making and effort, the latter especially relies on collective work to actually make things happen. Hardison leaving is better than trying to do humanitarian work and Leverage at the same time, but there’s only so long he can be the “only one” in the field before burning out. I’m reminded of one of the most famous (for good reason) maxims in Judaism:

It is not your duty to finish the work, but neither are you free to neglect it. (6)

Elul is traditionally a time for introspection and heeding the calls to repentance. After a year where it’s never been easier to feel powerless and drained by everything going on around us, I think it’s worth taking the time to examine what kind of work we are capable of in our own lives. Maybe it’s fixing the very recent and tangible hurts we’ve left behind, like Harry. Maybe it’s the little changes for the better that we make every day, motivated by our sense of responsibility, like Eliot. And maybe it’s the grueling challenge of major social change, like Hardison. And if any of this work gets too much, who can we fall back on for support and healing? Determining what needs repair, working on our own scale and where our efforts are most helpful, and thereby contributing to justice in realistic ways means that we can start the new year fresh, having contemplated in holiday fashion how we can be better agents in the world.

Shana tovah u’metukah and ketivah tovah to all (7), and may the work we do in the coming year be for good!

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(1) Disclaimer: everybody’s fandom experiences are different, and this is just what I’ve picked up on in my short time watching and enjoying this show with others.

(2) See, for example, the introduction and first chapter of Boyarin’s book Unheroic Conduct: The Rise of Heterosexuality and the Invention of the Jewish Man (I especially recommend at least this portion if you are interested in queer theory and Judaic studies). There he explores the development of Jewish masculinity in direct opposition to Christian masculine standards.

(3) I might even go so far as to place Hardison well within the Jewish masculine ideal of Edelkayt, gentle and studious nobility (although I would hesitate to call him timid, another trait associated with Edelkayt). Boyarin explains that this scholarly, non-athletic model of man did not carry negative associations in the historical Jewish mindset, but was rather the height of attractiveness (Boyarin, 2, 51).

(4) Jews of color make up 20% of American Jews, according to statistics from Be’chol Lashon, and this number is projected to increase as American demographics continue to change: https://globaljews.org/about/mission/.

(5) Tzedakah is commonly known as righteous charity. According to traditional authority Maimonides, it should be given anonymously and without embarrassment to the person in need, generous, and designed to help the recipient become self-sufficient.

(6) Rabbi Tarfon, Pirkei Avot, 2:16

(7) “A good and sweet year” and “a good inscription [in the Book of Life]”

#leverage #miko speaks #jewish stuff #jumblr #leverage redemption #spoilers #lr spoilers #leverage redemption spoilers #written for a non leverage audience because i want my rabbi to read it alskdjflaksdjf #elul

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love-takes-work · 4 years ago

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Notes on SU Commentary Tracks

I watched the commentary tracks on the Complete Steven Universe DVD Set and I took some nerd notes.

The episodes with commentary tracks are “Reunited,” “Change Your Mind,” and “The Future.”

I’ll bold stuff that was maybe bigger news or more surprising for easier reading. And yes, some of this was already known from podcasts, other Q&As, or interviews, but I listed it if they said it again here.

Read on after the jump to read these and other highlights:

Steven’s original wedding speech

Older ideas on dialogue for Lapis when she came back to the beach

Scrapped concepts for the scene that ultimately included Steven communicating with the others in a mindscape

Discussions of earlier concepts for White Diamond having a power to “freeze” Gems into statues to make them perfect and having a gallery of them on Homeworld

Pink Pearl’s original fate

The translation of the writing on Obsidian’s sword

The origin of Pink Steven’s design

What Rebecca did to pitch the “SHE’S GONE” scene

Earlier plans to include Shep in “Change Your Mind”

An unused concept of how Steven feels about Biggs

The inspiration for the Heaven and Earth Beetles’ healed design

How Volleyball/Pink Pearl was almost a mini-villain

Discussion of how they did not get to share the origin of the Diamonds

Jasper’s scrapped participation in the movie

“Reunited” -

Commentary with Rebecca Sugar, Ben Levin, Matt Burnett, Hilary Florido, Joe Johnston, Ian Jones-Quartey, and Kat Morris.

In 2015, an episode idea called “If You Love Yourself So Much” was discussed but rejected. It included some early ideas that ended up getting incorporated into “Reunited,” most notably Garnet marrying herself and putting rings on both hands.

The idea of the Cluster arm wrestling was planned for a long time. A scrapped idea of Steven banging his fist on a vending machine to get some Chaaaaps was supposed to visually parallel some of that scene, but it was axed.

When they got pushback on the wedding idea, they kept adding more and more “high entertainment value” items like a big musical number so the episode would be absolutely unmissable and appealing to everyone.

The song at the beginning of the episode was meant to check in with the entire cast and sort of remind you they exist and what their state of mind is going into the wedding.

Ian made a comment joking about “All 15 people in Beach City” being in the audience.

Just about everyone on the Crew touched this episode, despite that there are four main storyboarders credited for “Reunited.”

In 2016 Ian Jones-Quartey proposed marriage to Rebecca Sugar. They felt like the characters based on them (Sapphire and Ruby) HAD to get married in the show now because otherwise it wouldn’t be honest. But then their characters got married before they did.

They really love the idea of having characters get married who have known each other for a really long time, versus the fairy tale trope of movies ending with weddings between people who have met very recently.

Steven’s speech as officiator at the wedding used to be longer in its first draft--it was described as being weird and full of jokes, and there would have been a scene with Pearl getting weepy and pulling tissues out of her pearl.

Ian mentions loving a joke Jeff came up with having Greg play one chord to make Steven fall asleep--it’s sort of a “dream” chord you hear in cartoons a lot before a dream sequence.

The Crew discussed what it might be like if someone had never seen the show before and started with this episode.

Ian really wanted Steven’s psychic powers to figure into the episode.

Blue using a sadness wave to attack the Gems was a very old idea they’d planned for a long time. So was Lapis’s arrival.

There was a discussion of having Lisa Hannigan performing her lines as Blue VERY early in the morning.

Ian was happy the sword got broken because it was so momentous but it was just a sword. And later appeared on a shelf in the house as an artifact.

Miki had drawn a torn dress for Garnet at one point so she could be shown fighting and moving around more accurately, and this led to a long discussion of whether Gem clothing can even actually get torn the way human clothes can. They concluded that no, it shouldn’t be torn, so they backed up and gave Garnet an open-front dress from the beginning so the fighting version would make more sense.

Lapis originally might have had a longer speech upon arriving back on the beach. They eventually decided to just have her say “Hey.”

The barn falling on Blue Diamond was an intentional Wizard of Oz reference.

They point out that Steven even once said “drop the barn on the beach” (in a previous episode, “Can’t Go Back,” which was also a Miki episode).

Destroying the house was a big deal, and they always thought they’d end up doing it but backed away from it until “Reunited.” They almost even did it back in “Coach Steven”! But it just ended up with a little damage to the porch.

The Crew thinks Miki is really good at drawing ensemble shots.

Rebecca was always overwhelmed whenever she got to have Patti LuPone record for Yellow.

Originally the giant figures of everyone’s statue bodies in the mindscape were too dark and had to be revamped so they could be seen.

An earlier idea of Steven’s “psychic-ghost-situation” had him as a ghost actually trying to interact with the other characters during fighting action, but it was pulled back to this mindscape so there wouldn’t be as much confusing action to keep track of and more focus on what Steven was doing to encourage his teammates and contact the Diamonds.

Hilary was glad not to have to block out a fight.

Ian mentions loving having Bismuth back in the group.

They originally wanted the “Diamonds sensing Pink’s energy” plot to happen when Steven was in the palace somehow, but everything got moved to this scene--which the Crew all agrees turned out incredible, like how cool it was to have Steven essentially reminding each character why they fight and summing up their whole arc in a sentence.

“Change Your Mind”

Commentary with Rebecca Sugar, Ben Levin, Matt Burnett, Hilary Florido, Joe Johnston, Ian Jones-Quartey, and Kat Morris.

They like to refer to this episode as “The movie before the movie.”

They loved incorporating “princess tropes” into Steven’s time on Homeworld, which is why there were so many references to “mice” (well, Pebbles) making clothes, being locked in a tower, being reminded of his manners, loving animals and freeing imprisoned pets, etc.

Deedee did the voice of the rainbow worm pet. She apparently didn’t find it memorable and was surprised when she was reminded she did the voice.

Rebecca was super excited for the confrontation with Blue.

There was some discussion of how Steven would have died of starvation if he didn’t have someone practical like Connie to remember to bring food.

They love working with the huge scale the Diamonds present.

The Crew always wanted to put someone in Blue’s hair loop. Originally they wanted Blue to tuck Greg in there when she kidnapped him, but they didn’t end up being able to do any hair-loop-carrying until this episode.

The Crew bantered back and forth about what the heck those Pebbles’ names were and how hard it was to track them.

They agreed that Paul draws the best Yellow Diamond, which makes sense since he also drew the first episode with Yellow (and her stink face).

The scene where Yellow asks Blue to stop using her powers on her and then realizing she’s crying on her own was one of Rebecca’s favorite scenes to get to finally.

Steven Sugar thought Gems would spend a lot of time in their own chambers/rooms just not really doing much of anything unless they had to fulfill their purpose.

Some of the Homeworld ideas were based on a Soviet artist’s concepts, Boris Artzybasheff, and also many ideas were inspired by Busby Berkeley regarding how people were objects and furniture.

The mech was an old idea. Once they had the hand ship from “Jailbreak,” they knew there had to be bodies somewhere.

They focused a lot about what could be the coolest and funniest way for something to happen. The concept of the yellow and blue spaceship arms appearing out of the sky to smack the White Diamond mech around was one of those.

Rebecca really wanted things to look more and more cartoony and bizarre as you get deeper into Homeworld.

They spent a very long time trying to decide on characters’ new outfits.

The trash can lid is said to be a reference to “a flying bear cartoon” and they dance around speaking a direct reference because they’re not sure they’re allowed to say its name.

In discussing the powers of the Diamonds, there were debates on what White’s power would be; with Yellow being physicality-based and Blue being emotion-based, they thought White as identity-based made the most sense.

Different ways to express this were played with before settling on the idea that she thinks she’s perfect and others’ colors make them less like her and less perfect. But then she becomes a hostage to her own beliefs about herself because if she does anything that reflects on everyone else, so it’s best to do nothing.

They had some cool earlier ideas of White’s powers making statues out of other Gems and having a gallery full of frozen Gems, frozen by White to make them perfect.

They also weren’t sure what fate befell the original Pink Pearl and discussed whether she might have been destroyed.

Rebecca discussed how creepy it was to have White Pearl speaking in Christine’s voice and not Deedee’s--that we should find it fundamentally disturbing at this point.

Tom Herpich came up with the crack on White Pearl’s face.

In real life, pink diamonds aren’t understood as well as yellows and blues. It’s more known what makes a diamond yellow or blue, and some of those facts Rebecca researched were originally woven into the speech White gave about their “impurities.” But it turned out to be too dry and most of it got cut.

Rebecca loves having Lapis with pants and sandals for easier cosplay.

Ian had to draw the scene where Steven is falling and fusing with inert characters--he wasn’t able to properly explain it to Rebecca so she had him draw it.

They really wanted Rainbow Quartz 2.0 to have a scarf, but they couldn’t figure out how to get that into Pearl’s design. They miss the scarf.

It was really important to have these Fusions display call-forwards of the Gems’ new outfits which we hadn’t yet seen.

Rebecca points out that Sunstone’s design breaks a design rule and she feels like Sunstone should have Garnet’s pant leg colors on their legs, but at the same time she understands the rule of cool and likes it like this.

It’s discussed how none of Steven’s fusion weapons are exclusively offensive weapons either.

Rebecca still really wants a suction cup Sunstone toy.

Sunstone’s ability to transcend reality and break the fourth wall was a joke that exploded in the discussion room among the Crew. As soon as the idea was pitched everyone kept coming up with ideas. Sardonyx’s fourth-wall-breaking is more snarky, but Sunstone’s is helpful.

Rebecca was disappointed that the rule about Steven’s clothes wasn’t always followed with having his clothes appear on Obsidian’s hand, but she was delighted that you could see them in one scene.

They spent a lot of discussion time on making sure Steven-Obsidian was different somehow from Rose-Obsidian. The hair is different.

Old versions of Obsidian were drawn with wrapped-together Twizzlers legs, which sort of is reflected in the present design.

The sword had been planned forever--and it first appeared in “Bubble Buddies.”

Miki worked on the Ninja Turtles show so Rebecca was really excited to see her depictions of Bismuth and Sunstone.

An early plan to have Obsidian draw the sword from their mouth was complicated because fusion weapons should be combinations, so they finally reached the solution of having them combine to make the hilt, then get the blade out of Obsidian’s mouth.

The blade of the sword is thought to say “We’ll always save the day,” but you’d have to ask Steven Sugar.

Another really old idea was climbing into the White Diamond mech eye.

Rebecca was disappointed that some of the merch made of White Diamond did not feature her cape sparkles.

There were many debates early on about where Rose might “actually” be. There were tons of references to this fundamental question throughout the show--introducing Lapis as a Gem trapped in an object, having Pearl ponder pulling Steven’s Gem out as a baby, straight-up wondering what would happen to him in “Bubbled” when Eyeball was trying to take his Gem, etc. They all decided Rose was definitely gone but that the idea of her possibly being inside him should be on his mind a lot, leading to disturbing images like dreaming about coughing up her hair.

Yellow Diamond and Blue Diamond both challenged Steven about things he was very confident about, but White’s question of his identity got to him because he in fact is not confident about that.

The black and white eeriness of the fuzzy background and the other characters having their colors washed out helped make the scene in White Diamond’s head so disturbing and creepy.

The split screen showing Steven’s two perspectives was exciting to Rebecca, and was a pretty old idea. And she points out it sort of “breaks the show.”

The Gem Steven, Pink Steven, was represented by a slightly modified version of his model sheet. Everyone laughed when they saw what was getting used.

They decided that an earlier idea of Pink Steven looking angry should be replaced by an emotionless version of him. All the emotion should be with Organic Steven.

In the pitch meeting for this episode, Rebecca herself screamed “SHE’S GONE!!” and shocked the hell out of everyone. She pointed out how no one expected this of her because she’s pretty quiet, but she just wanted to shock everyone the way Steven would in the show.

They point out this is the first appearance of the geometric shield that got so much use in Future.

The fact that Steven is Steven is the ultimate reveal of the show. Usually in fantasy shows there’s some other kind of revelation, but Steven just being amazingly human and amazingly Gem and amazingly himself is wonderful here.

They like having the pilot reference with “What’s your excuse?”

If Rose had somehow still been alive in him, all of this would have been cheapened.

Ian loves that you can faintly hear Sadie’s concert from way out in space as the camera approaches Earth.

They got a lot more use out of the Beach-A-Palooza stage than they thought they would when it had to be designed for “Steven and the Stevens.” There was a joke about how at one of the conventions a real Beach-A-Palooza stage was constructed and they had a thought about how oh good, it’s getting reused.

Sadie having green hair in the finale was a late change but they liked showing her progression.

They had originally kicked around the idea of Sadie already having her new partner Shep at this point, but decided to develop that in Future instead.

They compare White Diamond’s stepping gingerly into the fountain to skeptically getting into a public pool.

Some silliness they didn’t get to use was that Biggs would be “beloved by everyone” except Steven. They never got to cover it, but originally Steven was just going to not really understand why everyone loves her so much and doesn’t personally much care for her.

The Heaven and Earth Beetles are based on the Mothra Ladies.

The healed Gems’ horns are supposed to be side effects of the corruption that they continue to bear in the present.

Larimar and Orange Spodumene ended up different in the ending scene than they became in Future. Many of the designs were retroactively pulled into this scene after being designed for the movie.

Rebecca wrote “Change Your Mind” as a personal song to express her feelings surrounding her fight for the wedding.

“The Future”

Commentary with Rebecca Sugar, Kat Morris, Alonso Ramirez Ramos, Hilary Florido, Joe Johnston, and Ian Jones-Quartey.

The animatic for this episode ran SO long--they’re supposed to be just over 11 minutes but this one was 17 minutes.

Steven’s calisthenics routine, a callback to “Future Vision,” was on the chopping block to make the episode shorter but Rebecca wouldn’t allow it to be cut because she wanted to show that Steven’s been taking care of himself.

They were very excited to get a chance to cover some of the things in Future that they couldn’t squeeze into the original show, like the unbubbled Rose Quartzes, Volleyball, etc.

The new writers on the show also helped bring forward the idea of Steven finally making some of his OWN mistakes to fix.

This also helped construct the idea of Steven essentially being the “final boss” of his own battle.

Usually stories that involve someone being in a fight and winning don’t explore the effect just being in a fight has on a person, regardless of whether you won.

Rebecca really wanted to play Ocarina of Time after beating it so she could go back to all the places and see how people were doing. She wanted this epilogue series to explore that a little too.

Little Homeschool is sort of a Tiny Toons reference--older cartoons teach younger cartoons how to be cartoons, and this is Gems teaching other Gems how to be Gems on Earth.

Lamar came up with the silly joke about receiving that art set with all the different media types in it--the one artists are always getting from a well-meaning relative at holiday time.

A scrapped plot idea involved Volleyball/Pink Pearl as a sort of “mini-villain,” with a focus on her activating the un-activated Pearls.

There’s discussion of how victimization turns people into villains sometimes. But since showing that happening with Volleyball wouldn’t have served the interests of Steven’s arc, they couldn’t fit it in.

There was also a “very specific” Gem origin and Diamond origin story that’s quasi-religious in nature--it’s very cool and complicated. But they do not tell us what it is.

Ian and Joe both really wanted to have Jasper living alone in the woods and stacking rocks. They’re glad they got this series to do that with her.

There was originally an idea for a B-plot involving Jasper in the movie. They don’t discuss the specifics.

There were many ideas they didn’t get to work on because they would have started new arcs and Future was not about kicking new plots into gear.

“Mr. Universe” was the last episode they wrote/finished.

Miki really wanted to include a kiss between Connie and Steven to show their relationship was okay. Among the Crew everyone knew their relationship was basically eternal but Miki wanted to make sure WE knew that.

Steven driving conveyed momentum for Future; in the original show, we always came back to the laundry hand, back to home, but in Future that’s changed and home isn’t what it was.

They were really excited that a gourd family made it to the crowd scene in Future.

Thanks for reading!

Note: The movie had some commentary tracks too, but the one on this DVD set is the same as the one released on the original standalone movie DVD, so I did not outline it here. Here is my post about the DVD commentary from the movie.

#steven universe #steven universe future #rebecca sugar #crewniverse #my su analysis #myblog

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suitsusboth · 3 years ago

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Season 2 simultaneously makes happy and sad. Happy because I think I over all enjoy it for what it is, but it could have been so much better.

Highlights of my favourite scenes:

— Anthony’s interviews in episode one (hysterical)

— their first meeting in the park (cute and fun)

— Kate overhearing Anthony with his ‘friends’ on the terrace and handing him his ass (amazing — perfectly set up their conflict) (side note I loved that she went looking for him 🥺)

— shutting the door on Anthony’s face and smirking (peak comedy)

— fencing (I love sibling scenes!)

— the whole races scene

— Pall Mall and the Bee Scene

— the flashbacks (heart wrenching and so well acted!)

— Pretty much all of Daphne at Aubrey Hall

— the harmony ball (pure Bridgerton family fun!)

— the gazebo (though, I think it was weirdly edited and I will never get over it being outside where they could have been easily caught)

— the Featherington ball dance (literally makes me wanna cry)

— Anthony’s speech (literal perfection, the best thing I’ve heard, no notes)

The bad:

I think the writing was very clunky and not cohesive throughout the entire season. I think episode six really highlights this, but it’s all over for a lot of characters. The Bridgertons themselves also felt very off to me as well. I didn’t feel the family love and playfulness as much as I did season one. At points they were literally downright mean to Anthony for no reason. I think they were going for teasing but really missed the mark. I hope that is improved for the next season. (They we’re also downright oblivious? Violet and Benedict especially?)

I know they’ve started to market this as an ensemble show, which sure okay I can see the thought process, however — you have to promote the main leads and storyline better!!! Also…maybe have better subplots? I can’t really say I found any of the other characters stories this season particularly interesting. Lady Featherington’s one especially, Colin’s and Eloise’s. I mean I sort of understand what they were doing - they were setting up season 3 just as they did season 1 for Anthony. But it didn’t interest me as much (note I went into season 1 knowing nothing and not particularly loving Anthony at first but he grew on me!)

Kate felt very sidelined to me at points throughout the season I would have loved to have seen her more fleshed out and I think this ultimately comes down to the lack of the Sharma family set up. The dynamic was odd. To me, I didn’t see a loving and caring family.

I think they tried to get Kate to mirror Anthony a little too much by her taking on the at the time traditional masculine role. Realistically for the time, Kate marrying would have been the best way to secure her family’s safety. I understand they wanted to close the age gap (totally fine with that, the age gap between E + A creeps me out, same with any other big age gaps in the show/books). The backstory just didn’t make sense. I would have loved to have seen Mary be more of an active character, she was completely sidelined and basically made out to be a absent parent? Like she didn’t care that much about Kate at all and arguably Edwina too. She just sort of let everyone else do everything. I think if Mary knew about the Sheffield plan along with Kate would have been interesting. I understand keeping it from Edwina so she could find a match without this overhead pressure.

Finally…the Edwina of it all. I think they focused so much on Edwina not being a plot device she kind of was anyways? They really dumbed her down and while she had some lovely moments (the Penelope at the party, when she spoke to Anthony about her love of literature etc). I really thought for a while she would cotton on to what was happening (Aubrey Hall, the lake scene etc) but nope. The wedding was painful to watch for a variety of reasons (I think it’s my least favourite episode and should never have happened but hey that’s television) but this really started the decline of the character and that’s just down to poor writing. It honestly felt like they wrote that episode first and then tried to work around it and it just didn’t work. (I also want to say I think the actress did an amazing job with what she was given, my complaints are in no way directed towards her). The immediate shift of blame to Kate as odd to me too. I’ve seen it been said that Edwina is more upset with Kate because she loves her more but to me at least it was obvious Kate had feeling for Anthony during the bangle bit but for sure that Anthony had a thing for Kate. I don’t know that’s just my interpretation. And I’m not saying the justification for Edwina’s anger wasn’t there, I understand the reaction. There’s just somethings you can’t forgive coughcoughHALFSISTERcoughcough. Her also taking forever to decide to go through with it was weird to me too (personally would have called it off immediately but hey that’s me) and really dragged the episode out. Finally I remember watching Edwina’s big speech in chapel with K + A and the whole “you have lost your power” but I got so confused I had to replay the scene I couple of times because none of it made any sense??? tldr: episode six was a mess.

What I would have found more interesting for Edwina would have been her not enjoying the Diamond title and the Ton as much as she thought she would and realising maybe this life wasn’t actually what she wanted (also befriending Eloise and having intellectual conversations would have been cool!). Also…meeting a cute scholar would have been nice (justice for mr bagwell)

#bridgerton brainrot #olivia speaks #i just have to rant to the universe because no one i know irl loves this show like i do #i love kathony but S2 really makes me want to scream at my TV at some parts #i remember my first watch through just being uncomfortable whenever anthony and edwina spoke to each other #she's so young #and he's so dumb #bridgerton #justice for kate sharma #s2

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marlahey · 4 years ago

Text

(and I'm feeling like) it was only ever you

a little voice fic pairings/characters: bess/samuel, general ensemble, ella the pupper being loved the most warnings: language, excessive sexual tension episode tags: fills in some of many gaps between 1.08 sea change and 1.09 sing what I can’t say cause I got wine drunk instead of finishing this before the finale as planned. +post-finale rating/warnings: explicit. read: resolved sexual tension aka les sexy times. lyrical title courtesy of: part of me – by the coast (watch their fanvid set to this song and prepare to cry) notes: so @brilligbraelig told me there was no fluffy fic in the tag, which– sorry. we’ve been in sad time hours for WEEKS and I blame the writers for never giving bess a moment’s peace. I’ve never really been one for cavity-inducing sweetness, not because I don’t love some pure joy, but as a writer I’m always a little more interested in the messier moments that just enough longing brings. if the question is ‘how many times do bess and samuel need to share a bed?’ the answer is yes. this is for the samuel and bess protection squad on twitter (join us!) for being the coolest group of people ever throughout this wild ride, and also for @missgoalie75 and her love of colton’s bedroom eyes. p.s: sometimes I ignore capitalization rules at will because of the vibe.

bess is tired.

saint c’s is quiet tonight; al shoos her away from the bar with a stern, surprisingly fatherly firmness and hands her a tray of shots. she blinks at him. there aren’t any parties of four left. he points at samuel, prisha, and benny loitering at the back of the club until she finishes. bess doesn’t follow. al sighs. “go have one with your friends on me, okay kid? i swear, watching you stress out sometimes is gonna give me an ulcer before my next birthday.” bess stammers a thank you and walks off with the alcohol before he can change his mind. she should apologize, she thinks. he’s been nothing but kind to her despite all the ways in which bess is hardly employee of the month right now. she should start an apology tour at the table, where prisha’s head is thrown back with laughter at something benny is saying, his hands outspread. these people are too good to her and she doesn’t deserve it, sometimes. samuel notices her first (like always it seems), tracking her progress across the room. he tilts his head, a silent okay? and she moves her mouth in an approximation of a smile. his own lips quirk, like he’s trying to smother a laugh. she should be annoyed; she’s just grateful they aren’t fighting anymore— or worse yet, that it’s weird. they still haven’t talked about that night. samuel seems perfectly content to pretend it never happened, except for the way he touches her with so much more ease than before— like he no longer has to hesitate before he’s pulling her in, taking her hand, squeezing her shoulder or the bend of her elbow in a way that’s more reassuring than bess can really describe. maybe there’s a song in there somewhere. “special delivery,” she announces at the approach. “drink fast, before al regrets giving us these.” “my man, my man,” benny croons. “we love you boss!” he calls, twisting to find al rolling his eyes from behind the register. the shots clink on the tabletop. bess hesitates, just a second, before leaning in to toast prisha. samuel’s eyes meet hers again over the rim of his glass. she tosses her head back before she can overthink any of it. “anyone want another?” benny and prisha grin; samuel shakes his head. bess does the mental math back to her last meal. one more certainly wouldn’t tip her over, but she’d be a fool not to recognize her own unsettledness. she springs for second shelf tequila; al smacks her hand away from the limes she’d cut herself not two hours ago. “no reaching over, you know that.” the closing porter pours and dishes lime and salt with disinterested, immaculate practice. bess presses an extra five into his hand and gets a silent tap on the inside of her wrist in thanks. she’s not normally into the whole process of tequila, but benny enjoys it. something silly in bess hopes that the bursting sting of lime will just wash all her chaos away. by the time she’s tilted her head back down a second time, samuel’s eyes are sliding away. her throat is curiously warmer than liquor normally manages. it feels like she’s caught him at something. “earth to bess!” “hmm?” prisha looks amused, damn her. “you up for it?” “up for what?” benny’s smile is equally conspiratory. “dancing?” her first instinct is god, no. she and prisha haven’t gone dancing in what feels like years— bess still has a fake ID from the one and only time they snuck into a club at 19 years old, skipping the bar entirely for the pulsing beat of the dance floor. but she deserves this, doesn’t she? after everything? everyone’s looking at her now, probably expecting her to say no (samuel’s definitely expecting her to say no), and maybe bess needs another shot after all because, “sure.” tumbles out of her mouth before she can stop it. prisha and benny high five. samuel’s muted surprise is oddly delightful; bess wants to keep pulling it out of him, suddenly. “you coming too?” she asks. it’s not supposed to be a challenge but he raises one eyebrow as though bess had just asked him to duel. “well i’d be lame if I said no now, wouldn’t i?” that settled, bess excuses herself to grab her things from the back room. when she returns, benny is chatting with their night porter as he divides tips. she has to swallow an anxious lump before she can walk over. “hey.” “hey.” he returns her tentative smile and she hates herself. “ready to go?” “i’m sorry,” bess blurts. “about the other night. i was so awful to you and you were just—” “bess, hey.” benny’s hands land on her shoulders. “don’t worry about it, okay? i know you have a lot going on right now.” “that’s not an excuse,” she insists. “you’re just being a good friend and a great manager and i shouldn’t have bit your head off for...” for not letting me give up. shame locks the words in her throat. how is it that she was the first person to let go of her own dream? bess has to take a deep breath. “i’m just really sorry.” he just looks at her for a long moment. “if i forgive you,” benny begins gently, “will you forgive yourself?” the question feels like a sucker punch. “cause i do, bess.” she can’t remember the last time one of her dearest friends was so serious. “i forgive you, and you gotta forgive yourself now cause we got work to do, yeah?” good god, do not cry. “okay.” “okay.” benny pulls her into a hug, squeezing tight. “we got you girl, alright? i told you, we’re in this together.” those are familiar words. bess lets them wash over her. how had she forgotten? where had she let herself fall that her friends couldn’t pull her back into the light? “c’mon.” bess accepts her saint c’s envelope with a grateful smile and benny steers her out of the club, his arm around her shoulders. “there’s fun to be had tonight.” “let’s go, bess!” she lets prisha drag her forward, laughing despite herself and looping her arm through her best friend’s as they head out into the warm night air. “where the heck are those boys?” prisha asks at the next corner. benny and samuel of course, are following at a more sedated pace to her one track mind. bess catches samuel’s eye and he smiles in that crooked, amused sort of way she hasn’t seen in ages— not since they shot more love, it feels like. relief is such a strange feeling for the moment, but there it is. * bess isn’t tired anymore. she has no idea when she became such a homebody (though louie’s social worker may thoughts) but her exhaustion from the day seems to disappear the moment the bass finds a home behind her ribs. prisha presses a tiny glass into her hand and bess doesn’t think. the vodka sears on the way down. it makes her gasp a little, like a livewire shock to the system. bess can only look up to see samuel wave from the bar before benny’s dragging her onto the floor; she loses sight of him in the crush of bodies and the pulse of the music carries her away. samuel’s still there, some two or three songs later. just before they lock eyes, bess notices something very serious in his expression, something she can’t put into words fast enough, that draws a strange shiver from the base of her spine. then he smiles, familiar laugh lines and narrowed eyes, and it’s gone. bess remembers the way he’d so easily coaxed her into a silly dance set to their own music. have things gotten so strange between them that they could never go back there? not if she has anything to say about it. “I’m not drunk enough yet,” he objects, but his fingers close around hers even as he says it and she knows she’s won. samuel follows her so easily back to benny and prisha– like he’d follow her anywhere maybe, if she asked, and then suddenly bess is the one not quite drunk enough— and then the beat pulls them in again. it’s silly at first, just like before. at one point samuel and benny do the chicken dance to a hip-hop song and bess thinks she might die with laughter. she presses against prisha, hips and shoulders. her best friend spins her out; bess nearly stumbles but samuel is there, catching her by the elbows, drawing her in with that same teasing smile that had eased her nerves on that warm summer afternoon. she can see the memory of it reflected in his eyes. bess wants to fall into it headfirst. she steps closer just as samuel pulls her in; her hand lands on the back of his neck; his fingertips slip under the hem of her top and brush the shy skin of her hip. samuel pauses, like a silent question, until bess coaxes his body back into the swaying rhythm with her own. her head feels heady, her body overwarm almost, but bess doesn’t want to stop because there it is again, that serious look— bess wants— “dance, dance, dance is my lung—” “fuck no!” the moment—or whatever that was—grinds to a halt. samuel laughs so hard that she can feel his shoulders shaking. for several seconds they just look at each other, then over at benny who’s having the time of his life, and then bess is doubling over too. samuel leans close to be heard over the din. “drink?” his breath brushes her ear and bess tries not to shiver, nodding enthusiastically in a vain attempt to cover for herself. they’ve lost prisha and benny to the worst song ever, so samuel keeps a firm grip on her hand as they snake their way back to the bar. there must be some kind of special on shots tonight. bess can only stare at a bartender pouring no less than twelve in a perfect row for a huge group of women. one is wearing a tiara and white sash. that trying not to laugh smile tilts samuel’s mouth while they wait their turn. the sardine pack of people presses them together from hip to shoulder but he doesn’t seem to mind. the bar curves around in a skinny oval, drinks being served on either side. as servers slide back and forth, bess notices a guy looking at her from across the way. staring, more like it. the glint in his eyes makes her stomach turn. before bess can glare, turn away, or even shudder, samuel’s arm slides around her. his fingertips trace the curves of her rings on the bartop— affectionate, possessive almost. bess turns her head and samuel winks before leaning forward to touch their foreheads together. “pretend i just told you something hilarious.�� his mouth hovering over hers is almost too distracting— his free hand pinches her side to help her along and giggles jump out. bess doesn’t resist when samuel tightens his grip and pulls her closer against him. he presses his mouth to her temple just above her ear. “he’s gone.” bess does shudder now, though for a different reason altogether. “thanks.” samuel just squeezes her once before releasing her. their shots arrive finally, amber liquid glowing strangely in the light. “still good?” he asks, and bess nods firmly. “still good.” she meets his eyes as she brings the shot to her mouth. samuel is still looking at her when she puts the glass back down. inside her, it seems. “c’mon.” he says. samuel looks almost fond now. bess blinks; a trick of the light? is she that tipsy already? “we’d better go find those two.” she just takes his hand and follows. * bess is... well. she’s not sober. benny had waved goodbye from an uber outside the club. they’d made it three quarters of the way to the subway station before ananya had called, quickly devolving into an impassioned conversation and prish too, vanished into a cab and promising to call when she got to her— girlfriend’s? house. “have fun you two!” and now: “i’m fine, sam.” his mouth twitches. “don’t think so, b.” yikes, she hates that. bess rolls her eyes, pointing at her station stairway. “you’re literally going in the opposite direction. it’s like...” she has to look at their cross streets and do the math. “eight stops. at the most.” samuel nods. “all about figure eights. love an even number. let’s go.” bess knows she should just let this go and stop being so stubborn. but something in her just can’t be stopped. samuel sighs, dragging her by the elbow across the sidewalk, out of the way of a clearly aggrieved businessman who disappears down the steps. “bess. just tell me something.” it’s hard to meet his eyes, intent as they are. “would you let prisha take the train home by herself tonight? if you were going... I dunno, home with me?” her stomach flips, surprising, terrifying, thrillingly pleasant. it’s all the shots. samuel’s ears go pink under the glow of the streetlight. “you know what i mean.” she’s stubbornly quiet; he ducks his head, refusing to be deterred. “bess.” “ugh, no. of course not!” “because you think she can’t take care of herself?” bess rolls her eyes. “she’s my best friend, you know that. it’s just what you do.” “right.” she hates the way samuel’s looking at her now, the way he had when he’d laid all her fears out bare in the close space of his apartment: so certain and so kind. “so why do you think i’d let you take the train home alone?” for a moment, she can only stare. maybe it’s the alcohol, but samuel has never quite looked so vulnerable. bess doesn’t have the right words (maybe there aren’t any) so she just drags him forward by the shoulders. samuel exhales sharply, a faint laugh in her ear, but he wraps both his arms tight around her— an embrace that somehow feels more intimate than their pretence from hours before. bess endeavours not to think about it too much. “c’mon bestie,” she says when she pulls back. samuel does laugh fully this time, wide enough to show his teeth. bess thinks back to the night of their first gig, the sound of his valerie chasing hers in echoes. it’s a wonder anyone’s more stubborn that she is. samuel ushers her down the stairs with a sweep of his arm and bess laughs too. * bess loves her dog. she’d convinced samuel he should probably come in for water, or tea, maybe an advil. ella had poked her head out from bess’ room and when she turns around from her perusal of the fridge, bess finds samuel fully sitting on the floor, ella laying between his legs, stroking her head. “who’s my sweetest girl?” he coos. her heart something funny inside her chest. samuel looks up, his obvious joy so bright in the dim light of the kitchen and bess is nearly choked with the possibility that she’d nearly pushed him too far away to ever see it again. “bess,” he says, his cheeks dimpling, “her ears are so soft. like, they’re the softest thing i’ve maybe ever felt in my life?” wonder of wonders. she can only nod in emphatic agreement. how many shots have they had? “you’re lucky,” samuel continues, still making ella’s night by never stopping in his affection. bess’ eyes get stuck on his hands, the motion of his fingertips and the turns of his wrists. “my parents never let us have pets and my building doesn’t allow them either.” “you know ella would love if you came over and pet her all the time.” she gets that muted surprise again, which melts into something bess isn’t sure how to name. “would you like that, el? hmm?” he leans down to kiss the top of the dog’s head. “wanna spend more time with uncle samuel?” how is it that her most loyal companion is somehow more intimate with samuel than bess is? and why on earth would she ever have a thought like that? “so,” she says, maybe a bit too high-pitched for her own liking (ella looks up at her and bess wants to glare), “we have water, tea, popsicles, half a bottle of jack.” samuel laughs and shakes his head. “i thought we were sobering up?” bess shrugs. “so, popsicle?” he laughs again and it warms her inexplicably all the way to her toes. they have water, following ella into bess’ room, toeing out of their shoes when she jumps onto the bed. the dog puts her head on samuel’s lap and stares balefully up at him until he resumes his gentle stroking. bess leans back against her wall. she’s looking at ella and pretending she can’t feel the heat of samuel’s gaze on her face. if she thinks too hard about it, bess remembers wishing she could share a moment like this with someone else. she doesn’t regret anything that lead her here, but something in her is too afraid to meet samuel’s eye, like he’d be able to read the truth of that in her face and that she’d have somehow ruined tonight, this quiet moment of warmth and contentment. she leans her head on his shoulder and he turns his cheek into her hair. when bess finally looks up, samuel’s face is vey close. is he looking at her mouth? is she leaning? “are you drunk, bess?” he asks softly. she stops. considers. “yes. you?” samuel’s smile is a little rueful. he nods. “i should go.” bess understands. it’s late. they’re tired and inebriated. he has to go all the way back to his. they almost... and yet she says, “stay.” he blinks. “what?” this might be a terrible idea. “stay.” “but—” she rolls her eyes. “what makes you think i’d let you go home alone either?” the surprise is plain now. he looks that almost-vulnerable again. bess is oddly satisfied. “are you sure?” it’s strangely hard to keep his eye even as she points out, “we’re fine, right?” he nods again, a little slower. “and it’s not like we’ve never shared a bed.” when bess finally manages it, samuel’s gaze is very soft. “true.” and just when she thinks he’s going to refuse her still, he says, “okay. thanks.” how do you tell someone out that you just don’t want to be alone out loud? thankfully samuel doesn’t make her voice it. he just smiles as bess gathers something approximating pyjamas and crosses the room. “sorry i don’t have anything that would fit you,” (he snorts and she’s warmed) “but you know, make yourself comfortable however. come get a toothbrush from under the sink.” and so that’s how they end up side-by-side in the cramped bathroom of her and prisha’s apartment, brushing their teeth. samuel makes faces at her in the mirror and it should be strange, to be t-shirt and shorts/boxers open with him. but he’s seen down into the root of who she is, so isn’t all this less? he’s humming something familiar as she washes her face, catching her surprised reflection. “it’s yours.” bess casts her mind back. “from–” “that first night, yeah.” she nearly drops her face towel. bess has never shown him that song. samuel shakes his head with a chuckle, a familiar you’re a weirdo. “it would be just like you to play something that gets eight bars stuck in my head for months and never sing it again.” “i...” bess can’t pinpoint a reason besides her own fear, like a karmic penance for one of the most humiliating nights of her life. “i can’t believe you remember.” there’s a truth in his eyes that neither of them are willing to admit they can see. “wanna work on it?” she asks impulsively, determined now to redraw a better memory, “maybe tomorrow?” samuel’s grin is so wide it’s almost hard to take in all at once. “this mean you’re gonna actually do that open mic?” bess shrugs. she needs to escape this tiny room all of a sudden. “maybe.” he doesn’t push her further and she’s grateful. samuel hesitates at the edge of her bed as bess pulls up the cover. “oh my god, just get in the bed samuel.” and he does. their knees touch. bess turns out the light but there’s still just enough to see him looking at her. drunkenness has made her warm and sleepy. “what?” “for the record,” he says, “i know what i think of you.” it feels like they’re teetering on an edge. “cool grandpa?” they laugh so hard that ella jumps from the foot of the bed. samuel looks so fond that bess doesn’t know what to do with herself. “yeah. that’s it.” “night samuel,” she whispers. “night bess.” * (she wakes up before the sun, tangled up in him. for once, rather than overthink it, bess just closes her eyes and goes back to sleep.) * bess can’t stop smiling. before she could even look at samuel after getting offstage, benny had lifted her off her feet and proceeded to all but bulldoze everyone in the club to get her in front of jeremy’s record label contact. could he tell that she’d just been kissed within an inch of her life? it feels like it’s written all over her face. bess can barely remember what she said, but his personal contact card is currently burning a whole though her purse. al buys them a round. (she finds ethan lingering in the back. what he says to her is somehow a surprise and not both at once. what she says to him, in the end, feels long overdue.) prisha insists everyone come back to their place to celebrate, and they pile into ubers. louie exalts her as a true artist the entire ride and even phil seems impressed. true to form though, he’s a roledex of weather facts as bess and prisha frantically pull out every candle or flashlight in the apartment; their lights flicker ominiously every so often as the storm beats down their windows. benny puts a playlist together and tries to order pizza. by some miracle, it actually arrives; everyone pools together for a 150% tip. so it feels like ages before bess looks up to find samuel leaning against the alcove of her living room, watching as louie begins a spirited debate on the best numbers in hamilton. bess nods her head toward the door of her bedroom. she’s expecting him to make a silly face with his eyebrows or hesitate, but samuel’s mouth just curves up on one side, like that’s all he’s allowing himself, and follows. “for the record,” he says as the sounds of the party fade a little behind them, “the answer will always be satisfied. no contest.” god, how had she never seen him before? her bedside lamp is still working. bess fishes out a pale white whale from childhood, one that changes colour as you tap. she grins at samuel, who’s leaning against her closed door and smiling like he’s not even sure what to make of her. “you’re incredible, you know that?” her face heats, pride and embarrassment both at once. “so are you. i can’t believe we got through that song.” “all you, bess.” she wants to roll her eyes, but refrains. “the electric was a great idea.” samuel’s eyes drop when he smiles; the familiar humility in it reminds bess of the reason she wanted to talk to him in the first place. “i know what you did tonight. before you showed up.” he looks up then, a little sharply. samuel’s always had a good poker face but bess can see it still, that guarded look. “what did i do, bess?” saying it out loud makes her feel like she’s in a movie. bess steps forward. “you told ethan to come. for me.” “are you upset?” “no. i just want to understand why.” samuel’s gaze is as steady as it’s ever been. “i just want you to be happy.” she feels unraveled, somehow. “then why did you...” even in the poor light, he flushes. “why did you kiss me?” samuel looks at the floor, then back at bess. her heart beats in double time. “he didn’t show, or so I thought. and I didn’t want to...” he laughs lightly, almost at himself. “throw away my shot. I guess I wasn’t really expecting you to—” try to press him into the wall? “to kiss me back, or even what that might mean, but I wanted to show you, or tell you that—” she’s close enough to touch him now. samuel’s hands cup her elbows, very gently, like he needs to ground himself. but he looks bess right in the eye. “even if you didn’t want me, i’d choose you first. every time.” her heart free-falls. “bess.” he squeezes a little, catching her eyes. how long have they been standing in this moment of after? “please say something.” “i told him we couldn’t work,” she says in a rush. “and i don’t even know if it was really because you and I—” bess stumbles but samuel hangs on, his grip on her unwavering, “but i think part of me always knew it was just...like, a fantasy? we barely even knew each other and i always hated myself a little for being that girl trying to steal someone else’s partner and i wasn’t dealing with any of my shit until—” samuel just waits. the realization feels too big, but there’s no going back now. “until i met you.” he looks almost stricken. bess lets out a strange, wondrous kind of laugh. she puts her hand on samuel’s chest. she’s the one who needs steadying, now. he draws her closer without looking away from her face, like he’s helpless to it. bess can’t remember the last time she felt so sure of anything. all those those expressions that always felt hidden in his eyes seem so plain, now: surprise, fear, hope. “i choose you, samuel. though i probably don’t even deserve to.” she can see his adam’s apple bob as he swallows. samuel’s hand brushes her hair back away from her face, tracking the curve of her ear. just before she’s about to freak out, he asks, “are you drunk, bess?” she nearly laughs. “no. are you drunk, samuel?” he shakes his head. she understands that serious look, now. it’s wanting. he wants her. samuel goes to pull her the rest of the way in— “bess!” louie’s voice and a loud knock on the door springs them apart. the lights go out. “bess, we’re going now. and the lights are out. do you have a source of light in there? are you coming to say goodbye?” samuel lets out a long, low “fuck.” she has to clap her hand over her mouth. his nearly silent laugh ghosts over her skin as he presses his face into the curve of her neck. (samuel kisses her there, just once, but it’s enough that her knees tremble a little and she can feel the shape of his smile too.) “i’ll be right out!” bess calls to her brother. his shadow moves away from the door. hysterical giggles shake her shoulders. samuel’s hands slide up to hold her face. “do you wanna—” “come home with me.” she can barely make out his features in the dark (except for the want) but bess’ stomach drops anyway. the irony of no electricity is funny when she feels like sparks might burst from beneath her skin. “okay.” * bess is deliriously happy. samuel puts down his guitar and barely lets the door close before he’s pressing bess against it with both hands. his palms are heavy and warm on her hipbones; bess wants to rock up against him but there’s a certain thrill in it, how strong he seems. she has no idea the last time she was kissed like this. despite how fierce it feels, samuel lets her lead. he doesn’t open his mouth until she does, touches his tongue tentatively against hers at first pass, tugs so gently on her lip with his teeth until she makes a noise like a whimper. she should tell him maybe, that samuel made her completely forget herself, back in the alcove at saint c’s. but then bess just lets her hands find their way back into his now slightly damp hair. she’ll just relive it instead. she scrapes her nails over his scalp and samuel’s breath comes up short; it returns in something that sounds like a groan, or a snarl, and oh. bess has to take deep breaths of her own when he pulls back, a wide-eyed glance to her face to make sure she’s alright. she can only nod. samuel’s fingertips squeeze her waist as some of that urgency seems to fade from his eyes. he trails his mouth slowly from her lips to her jaw; she tilts her head instinctively to give him room and samuel finds that same spot on her neck from her own bedroom. his teeth and tongue press a little harder than before; he gets a gasp for his efforts. her legs feel unsteady again. bess grabs at the open sides of his button-down until samuel shrugs out of it. it drops to their feet. he doesn’t protest when bess pushes him gently, walking backwards across the apartment with his arm tight around her. he doesn’t let go when his legs meet the edge of his bed. bess would fall into him if not for samuel keeping them upright. he drops to sit, pulling them apart, and finally bess has to take stock of herself. samuel’s face is so open, his smile so wide in a way she’s never seen before. “still good?” he asks. bess nods. “still good?” samuel laughs lightly. “i’m great, bess.” he reaches for her hand, his thumb brushing each of her rings in turn. “we can stop whenever you want.” she’s the one standing but bess feels smaller, strangely. instead of replying, bess steps out of her shoes. samuel’s eyes seem to darken as she slides her jacket from her shoulders and lets it pool on the floor. bess leans down and brings one knee to the bed, by his hip, balancing herself with one hand on his shoulder. samuel’s inhale is impossibly loud as he instinctively supports her with a sliding grip up the back of her thigh. bess’ skirt isn’t that short but she’s glad she didn’t trade it for jeans before she left. samuel’s face betrays how pleased he seems by her choice. once she’s finished effectively straddling him, bess looks down from her perch. “hi.” samuel’s knuckles stroke up and down her leg. goosebumps ripple and he smiles. “hi.” bess takes his face in both her hands and leans down as samuel tilts his chin up to meet her. she’ll never tire of kissing him. it feels like she can’t get close enough; he must have the same idea because his arms wrap around her back until bess is sitting firmly in his lap, their hips slotted together. “can i touch you?” samuel asks against her mouth. bess nods, maybe too quickly, but she can’t bring herself to be embarrassed. guitar callused fingers slide beneath her top. samuel reaches the slim band of her lacy bralette. he pauses, but bess leans into his hand and then he’s tracing the curve of her breast. his thumb brushes a little roughly over her nipple; bess feels an abrupt ache between her legs. “that seems pretty,” samuel murmurs in her ear, like a casual observation. “it’s a matching set,” she replies, trying not to sound too breathless. “for luck.” he pulls back with wide eyes. bess wants to laugh but she’s too busy dealing with this rush of blood to her face. she sits up carefully so they don’t knock heads and reaches for the edges of samuel’s t shirt first; he drags it over his head in one smooth, practiced motion. shit, he’s hot. he’s staring as bess unfolds herself to stand back on the floor (her legs are still unsteady but he doesn’t need to know that) and goes to pull off her own shirt. samuel’s eyes don’t leave her face until the fabric coming over her head pulls her from view. when bess blinks him back into focus, he’s gone a little slack-jawed. she nods at his jeans and the speed at which samuel divests himself of them has her biting back a giggle. bess’ face feels hot but there’s a frisson of pride that straightens her spine. she’s not even half an arm’s length away from him. samuel touches her stomach, just above the waistband of her skirt. “can I?” bess has to swallow before she can nod. just like before, samuel stares at her face until the last half of her outfit joins the rest of their clothes in a heap. samuel’s eyes trail from her eyes to her feet and back. it takes everything in bess not to fidget. she expects to see heat in his expression but there’s only wonderment and tenderness. “fuck, you’re so beautiful.” she has no idea what to do with that. samuel tugs her into his lap this time, intent. his kiss is searing. bess rocks into him, just once, just a little. that grip on her thighs returns, tighter. bess can only gasp a laugh into his mouth when samuel stands, holding her up against him, and turns to lower her with a kind of breathtakingly slow care onto his bed. bess lands on her back, samuel now the one leaning over her. desire coils low in her stomach. he gently shifts her hips so they’re both actually parallel with the long edges of the comforter. she feels inexplicably, unbearably, fond of him. then samuel looks away. he exhales, like he’s embarrassed. bess frowns in concern. “what is it?” samuel shakes his head. “when you look at me like that, I can’t catch my breath.” oh. it feels so strange to be the steadier one. bess reaches for his cheek, drawing samuel’s eyes back to her. “guess you’ll just have to distract me, then.” he laughs, but then as he leans down, samuel’s smile fades and bess remembers. he wants her. she can feel it. his hand slides, pleasantly rough, over her skin, sliding beneath the band of her bralette. bess seizes samuel’s lip in her teeth as he strokes back over her breast. he teases her nipple and the moment bess manages to wriggle out of the garment and tosses it away, samuel’s swapped his hand with his tongue, her other breast now teased by his clever fingers. she gasps again and she can feel him smirking. samuel diverts his mouth’s attention to her other side. bess focuses on her breathing. the storm still lashes against the windows but it feels like nothing compared to the roaring in her blood. bess slides her fingers up the nape of samuel’s neck and a few things happen at once: samuel’s free hand finds the damp junction between her legs; bess pulls his hair a tiny bit harder than intended; his teeth catch her nipple with just enough firmness that bess’ back nearly arches off the bed, along with a keening noise she didn’t even realize she could make. samuel freezes immediately. he looks up and bess has no idea what her face looks like, but all she can say is, “do that again.” he leans back down, his teeth scraping over her other breast; when he tugs, bess does too, so hard that samuel hisses. “sorry,” she pants, “sorry.” he shakes his head, a firm denial. it might be the dark, the lightning, or the fact that bess is so fucking turned on, but samuel’s expression has veered far past wanting— into hunger. he practically leaps back up to her mouth, a kiss so fierce that their teeth nearly clack together. “your hands,” he says, like it enrages him almost, “in my hair, holy fuck.” oh was right. “you’re one to talk about hands,” bess retorts. “can you please just–” samuel leans back. “can i please just what?” he looks smug the bastard. it would be like them to bicker in the middle of sex, wouldn’t it? but his tone is so serious when he says, “tell me what you want, bess.” that she has to squeeze her thighs together. “please touch me.” “where?” bess is going to kill him. samuel touches her cheek with surprising gentleness, and kisses her there. “here?” he does the same to her neck. “here?” her shoulder. he marks the valley of her breasts, the slope of her navel, the jut of her pelvic bone. “samuel,” bess says. it sounds like a plea but she doesn’t care. she can only reach his shoulder now, the back of his neck. he may have shivered but she can’t tell because she’s too busy trying to keep it together. he finally finds the elastic of her underwear. “okay, bess?” this question isn’t a joke. bess makes sure to meet samuel’s eye; the mixture of that desire and care makes her dizzy. “yes. please.” when his fingers have finally slid inside her, bess says “samuel,” at a level of breathlessness she only ever gets when she sings. he touches her with the same care and confidence as he does any of their instruments, until her legs tremble; samuel finds a beat with his tongue against her clit that’s so good bess has to cover her mouth when she comes. samuel crawls back up the bed towards her. he leaves a kiss on the inside of her knee, and her shoulder, just an inch or two from where he had the first night she’d stayed here. bess feels very safe, suddenly. “still good?” samuel asks again, a more raw edge to the question this time. bess can only affirm silently as she leans up a little to kiss him. she can taste herself in his mouth, can feel the weight of his arousal against her. bess presses up and samuel groans. heat pulses again between her legs. “do you want,” bess starts, putting her hands on him, straining against his boxers. samuel’s whole body seems to twitch. he pulls her wrists away though with a bruising kiss. “i’m just dying to be inside you, if that’s cool.” her stomach flips. “very cool.” samuel smiles and goes willingly when bess rolls them over. he reaches blindly into a bedside drawer. bess catches sight of a pair of glasses and makes a mental note to ask about them when her mind’s not currently so occupied. “shit, are these even in date?” samuel squints at the packet in his hand. “god, have i not had sex in this long?” bess can’t help but laugh. they giggle their way through confirming the expiry date, getting rid of samuel’s boxers, and rolling on the condom in the dark. for a moment they just look at each other. bess hasn’t ached like this for anyone in a long time. “tell me what you want, samuel.” his adam’s apple bobs as he sits up. “c’mere.” samuel pulls her forward and bess lifts her hips to line them up. he swallows her tiny gasp as she sinks down onto him; it’s been a while for her, too. samuel anchors her with one hand splayed across her back, waiting silently until bess has adjusted to the stretch. bess rocks down experimentally and he makes an almost strangled noise in the back of his throat. a soft kiss lands on her forehead, a starkly tender inverse to nearly everything that’s happened so far, and maybe even to what they’re about to do. it settles bess and breaks her open both at once. “okay?” he asks carefully. she nods, wrapping both her arms around his neck. “you’re amazing, you know that?” samuel murmurs over her lips. his own hips swing up towards hers and wow. “bess.” she was right, before. he’s strong. they get a rhythm going quickly enough, like another harmony that comes so easy. the angle has bess’ clit pressing with beautiful pressure against samuel’s pelvis; she clenches down just as he thrusts up. he curses and it just stokes that flame hotter inside of her. after a certain point bess can’t even speak anymore. she has both her hands in samuel’s hair and he’s latched back onto the curve between her neck and shoulder, teeth and tongue and words like, fuck and tight and good and bess— “samuel i—” he looks up at her face like he wants to commit it to memory. “bess.” and she’s gone again. * when they’ve caught their breath and tidied up, bess and samuel find themselves side by side in his bathroom, a sweet reflection of that night from weeks ago. she’s glad she thought to bring her toothbrush. samuel keeps staring at her in the mirror. “what?” does she have toothpaste on her face? he just shakes his head, the way he does when he laughs to himself. “nothing. you just look better in my t-shirts than i do.” bess rolls her eyes but her face feels hot anyway. “weirdo.” it feels good not to have to wonder as they head back to his bed. samuel drags her immediately towards him beneath the covers, his cool hands greedy beneath her borrowed sleepwear as her back curves against his chest. he plants a minty kiss above her shoulder-blade where his shirt’s slipped down. bess shivers and he leaves another on the back of her neck. “sorry,” he murmurs, and bess flips around to look at him. “for what?” the storm broke finally, and amber light of the street through his windows feels just as safe and warm as it had before. but samuel is the one who seems afraid, now. “i don’t want to freak you out.” “you’re not freaking me out,” bess insists. “tell me.” samuel hesitates. bess reaches out to touch his face. “hey. i don’t scare that easy either, you know.” he exhales a faint laugh. it’s so rare to see samuel seem unsure, or fragile. it makes bess feel thrillingly off-centre. “i don’t think i’ll ever be able to stop wanting you.” she’s falling. “and not just—” samuel nods vaguely at their general closeness. “this. i mean all of it. the music, your family, everything. i know it’s probably a bad idea to start things with bandmates or whatever but i just—” bess doesn’t let him finish. she can only pour all her affection for him into a kiss, taking samuel’s huff of surprise in her mouth even as he reaches for her waist to pull her closer, then on top of him. when she pulls away he seems a little dazed. “you make the bad days okay,” bess says firmly and samuel smiles with such near-adoration that she understands it now, that loss of air. “so we’ll figure it out, okay? one day at a time.” samuel nods. “okay.” and he pulls her back down. * bess wakes up with words in her mind. samuel’s grip is so tight that at first she doesn’t think he’ll let her go. but bess manages to slide away, picking up his hand gently and lifting his arm. she looks at his sleeping face and kisses his knuckles. samuel’s lips curve a little and if she looks too hard she could be in love with him already. she knows where he keeps blank sheet paper in his production area. bess finds a pen and a coffee table book about new york parks; she sits on the edge of the bed to scrawl, humming to herself. she doesn’t realize he’s up until a familiar press of lips lands on her neck. bess will never stop shivering and samuel will apparently never stop smiling about it. “hi,” he mumbles. his voice is low and gravely with sleep. bess files that away under the list of things that does something to her. samuel hooks his chin over her shoulder and bess lifts her work to accommodate his arms sliding around her waist. “new idea?” bess nods. “thinking about what you said to me.” she’s circled can’t catch my breath at the top of the page. samuel goes very still. it feels like it could crush them, the weight of this kind of intimacy. but at least bess doesn’t have to carry it alone. “wanna write with me?” she turns her head to look at him; samuel’s surprise will never not be thrilling. “will you let me add a back beat?” he’s already reaching for his guitar. bess laughs. “i could maybe be persuaded.” the way his eyebrow lifts makes her stomach jump. “duly noted.” (they do finish the song, eventually. the morning just gets away from them first.)

#little voice #littlevoiceedit #brittany o'grady #colton ryan #bess king #mine: fic #this really got away from me like woah #but i just them so fucking much

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inawickedlittletown · 4 years ago

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Alone Together - meta/review

This was such a good episode! I think while I thoroughly enjoyed 4x01 and the way that it got us back into the rhythm of things especially with, you know, a pandemic happening, 4x02 got us back into the usual balance of emergency and personal aspects.

Spoilers below:

The episode begins with news coverage and it’s a good way to jump right into what’s happening and give us a recap to last week. And then we meet the three roommates. I can’t be bothered with remembering their names, but they were fun. The dynamic there is interesting and of course, this leads into some really awesome shots of the Hollywood sign breaking and the mudslide. The whole sequence is such a good opening for the episode and it sets our scene well. While I don’t have any complaints, this emergency is smaller scale to the tsunami and the earthquake of the past two season openings, but that isn’t much of a problem when we consider that they shot this in the middle of a pandemic. So, it works.

What I found most interesting about this episode, and in a way how it continues the stories that were begun in 4x01, is that we delve further into the personal. Not every character is featured heavily, but we get small and big moments with all of them.

Athena:

The struggle that Athena has faced since the end of last season has been handled so well. Her trauma and how it lingers on her and yet doesn’t change how strong and fierce and amazing she is, is amazing to watch. It’s inspiring. Having Athena be right in the midst of everything especially when she wasn’t supposed to be just fits so perfectly. Having her contrast with Sylvia who is afraid of leaving her own house, and having Athena rescue Sylvia and herself and not give up, not even when the voice of dispatch was her daughter asking her to save herself. I just love Athena so damn much. She went through a journey in this episode and while I don’t think that her trauma is over, I think she will push herself to move forward and move past it. If not just for herself, then for May.

I also really appreciated that we got a moment where Athena gives her approval of David by telling Michael that David looks tired. It was such a nice touch. The Athena and Michael relationship has been developed so well from S1, to a place where they are both with other people but can still be family.

And finding out that May made the choice to be a dispatcher over going to school to be about her mom felt absolutely right and I feel so much for both of them and both sides, but I do have to say that May’s outlet for her lack of control in her life/the life of her loved ones is at least healthy and it’s making a difference.

Lastly, I will never not be fond of Bobby and Athena — the way that Bobby was allowed to go search for her personally and that moment when they saw each other. His promise to always search for her. After everything Bobby went through during Athena’s attack, it’s easy to think about how difficult this was for Bobby.

Chimney:

The other big focus of this episode was Chimney. 4x01 set up the living arrangements and it was immediately apparent that while Chimney had his reasons, that he didn’t need to be as set on that. After all we’re told that both Eddie and Hen went back home to their kids, so Chim should have gone home to Maddie and his unborn baby.

It’s nice that we begin this conversation with Buck and Chim, instead of directly involving Maddie. We already know how Maddie feels about this — she misses Chim and wants him around.

Chim’s joke about his “bad joke” being a “dad joke” was perfectly in line with his type of humor and it set us up for the conversation to come in which we learn that Chim’s whole problem is not just concern about the pandemic, but a deeper fear that he won’t be a good parent. His convo with Buck certainly offers some insight into his worry, but also the willingness that Chim has to do absolutely anything necessary for his baby, whose gender the characters and us, the viewers, don’t get to know yet.

The rescues that Chimney and Buck end up going on begin with Chimney — not Buck — hearing a baby crying. And just like with Athena, the emergency itself gives Chim more insight into himself and into his situation and into what he needs to do. He rescues the baby, finds a bunch of pregnant ladies, and then goes on to deliver a baby and while talking to the mother, I think Chim finally gets to understand what the importance that being present for Maddie means.

We get a very sweet moment where Maddie arrives home and finds Chimney already there and the whole thing is just emotional enough both from Chimney’s perspective of just how pregnant Maddie is and Maddie’s surprise and joy to have him there with her. They really are the sweetest together. And by the time that we’re in the closing parts of the episode and we see Maddie and Chimney on a video call with the new roommates — uncles to be Buck and Albelt, it’s clear that they’re settled together and happy and that Chimney knows better than to argue about coffee.

Hen:

Ms. Henrietta Wilson knows how to emote with her eyes. We first see her reactions to Chimney’s bad joke and just her general demeanour and it’s all perfect, and then gets better when she’s reacting to Bobby’s facts about the Hollywood sign. In a liveblog post I said this was very Buck and I stand by it. Not just the rattling of facts, but the need to research a new place in some way.

But where it gets good is when we see Hen in the middle of the drama among the roommates. Hen does so much with just a slight widening of her eyes, or a look in a certain direction. The timing is absolutely perfect and is practically alone in making that scene funny.

Other than these small moments we don’t get much of Hen in this episode, but we do get the sweetest moment towards the end where we get to see Hen and Karen’s daughter, Nia. Not only is this little girl adorable, but with just a couple of lines, I’m sure she’s stolen every viewer’s heart. And to add to this, the love and pride that Karen feels for Hen radiates. I cannot wait for the show to go further into Hen’s experiences on her road to becoming a doctor.

Bobby:

Bobby mostly plays the part of a secondary character to everyone else’s story. We see plenty of him and we learn that he’s the one with facts about the Hollywood sign. Mostly, I enjoyed that he played a part in finding Athena and I think it was an interesting choice to have him keep his composure and be professional. In some ways this relates to May and the conversation that May has with Maddie about the need to put feelings and personal stuff aside to do the job. And yet we know that after what Athena has recently gone through, that none of that could have been easy for Bobby.

Eddie:

Very little Eddie once more. I’m honestly not concerned about it to be honest. I’ve seen a lot of talk about how little he shows up in promo stuff and all that, but I just think it’s important to remember that this is an ensemble show with a rather large cast and that it’s entirely possible focus on his character will come in other episodes. And to consider that he’s one of the characters that was chosen for the cross-over.

But we did get to see minor Buck and Eddie interaction, and more importantly we got to see Eddie and Christopher.

And I think it was so important to bring Carla in, even over video, because she really is a huge part of Chris’ life. It does lead to the question of who is taking care of Christopher while Eddie is at work? How is school being handled for him? And it was just so lovely to see Eddie fall asleep at a bedtime story too.

Buck:

He is just so damn smart. Who would have thought to follow the feedback to find that baby? Buck is the kind of character that takes in the variables and finds a way to problem solve. He’s the kind of smart that you want and need in a crisis. And he’s also very cognizant of what’s going on with Chimney and his sister enough to be able to try and get through to Chimney about how he needs to move back home. I just love the consistency of having Buck be research crazy, quick to figure things out, and still at times a dumbass. It’s what makes him so perfect.

I also appreciate that he’s called out for having too many rules by Albert and I just want to know all about the rules that Buck would impose on those staying at his place other than the sharing of chores that is mentioned in the episode.

I’m also very curious about Buck and his therapist, the covid crush that literally everyone on the internet scoffed at and figured out even before last week’s episode aired. We were all right. It was fun to see all the crazy theories, though. But I do find it interesting that Buck feels he needs to hide the therapist from everyone because that isn’t really about what he and the therapist might be talking about, as much as it is about not wanting to be judged for needing a therapist.

And his feelings are absolutely valid. Not because I think anyone in the 118, or Maddie, will judge him for needing it, but that they do sometimes her pushy with things and wanting to know more — we see that already with the covid crush thing — but I think it’s also to do with not wanting to explain himself and all of this is even more valid with the knowledge that we have about Buck’s parents showing up.

But, the fandom at large has wanted Buck to talk to a professional for a long time, so I think we’re all very happy that he’s getting help. And I’m also very glad that we got the reveal in this episode and it wasn’t drawn out and made out to be something it isn’t for much longer.

Dr. Copeland. They really know how to pick names on 9-1-1, don’t they?

But of the small clip we get to see of her, it is clear that she is helping Buck and Buck begins the therapy session we get to see by admitting that Dr. Copeland might be right about him hiding his true feelings and Buck, holy hell, what does that mean?

Because, it could literally mean anything. It could be about his sexuality and discovery about his romantic feelings about a fellow firefighter. Or it could be that it’s about how much of himself he hides away or doesn’t present to the world in light of, you know, all the trauma that he’s faced and that we’ve all wanted addressed. This could also tie in some way to his past and that doesn’t have to take away from possible reveals about his sexuality. Mostly, it just makes me more and more excited for Buck Begins.

Overall, an excellent episode. I love the things it touches upon and how the show isn’t steering directly into a deep focus on covid and instead giving us these moments of things have changed and this is how it is now from seeing everyone in masks, to seeing Hen going to her class online, and even down to Buck’s therapy happening over a screen. It is excellently handled when it comes to David and Michael and not only in the confirmation that they are living together in spite of the possible contact with the virus, but in how we see them handle that. Michael taking care of his man. All of that was lovely.

The episode closed out on an amazing note, giving us these momentary glimpses into where everyone is and their familial spaces and the love and acceptance felt there and all the small tidbits and hints at what may be coming up.

#911 fox #911 meta #911 spoilers #911 on fox #spoilers

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scoundrels-in-love · 4 years ago

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5 and 13! x

@clockworkswans Super late, so a tag in case you miss the response! Thank you so much for asking!

5. : K-Drama OTP(s)?

This is kind of funny because if I think about it, I love kdramas, but I don’t think I am person who typically gets all crazy about couple themselves, isolated from the story, or just... IDK, it’s hard to explain. But that aside, I do have an OTP!

Gang Doo and Moon Soo from Just Between Lovers. Will never not love them. My sweet, sweet traumatized babies that grew so much, together and individually. They nailed that sweet, sweet spot of ‘sort of enemies to friends to lovers’, starting from the kind of wrong foot and then discovering each other - and themselves - layer by layer. Brb I am getting emotional and need to clutch my chest for 5 minutes.

Some other couples I enjoyed.

Both couples in Goblin. While my feelings about some aspects of it all have gotten a lot more ambivalent over the years, I do have to be honest to the part of myself that loves them still rather unconditionally. There was something tragic and beautiful and trying to do right by each other, in the end, that really stuck with me.

Both couples of Run On. Seun Gyeom and Mi Joo make me feel all warm and happy and honestly, I don’t know if I want to date either of them or be either of them, so that’s that.

Although I am prepared to be let down by resolution of Dan Ah’s sexuality storyline resolution, I am still absolutely invested in everything that she and Yeong Hwa got going on. The tension, the redefining of dynamics and power balance, the way he makes her smile and she sees to the heart of his paintings, the way he just wants to get pegged so bad but won’t let her walk all over him as a person and an artist... Sexy.

Dan Oh and Haru from Extraordinary You. It’s not any sort of life-consuming love for them as a romantic couple, but it’s hard to not to root for them as they face so much together and come through kinder, stronger and more in love. I only want what’s best for them and, really, who wouldn’t?

Bok Joo and Joon Hyung from Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok Joo. Although I don’t think Joon Hyung is precious bean that can’t do any wrong (there were moments he was kind of a dick, even if it worked in comedic way), their relationship overall developed sweetly and endearingly and I definitely genuinely rooted for them and found them adorable. Also, it was my first kdrama, so they get shoutout for that. If they didn’t sell me on kdramas and kdrama romance, I wouldn’t be here in the first place.

+ Bonus

Not a kdrama, but Kurodachi from Cherry Magic is definitely got me more emotionally invested than most kdrama couples than I’ve seen. They had their messups, but overall, they were earnest and sweet, and so absolutely adorable and there wasn’t one moment where I would feel like I couldn’t absolutely root for them as individuals and as a couple.

++ Bonus 2: electric boogaloo Se Ra and Gong Myung from Into the Ring could very well end up here when I have watched more than 3 eps and skipped ahead a bit, because one single post credit scene made me feel more mushy feelings about their budding romance than many epic couples or famous dramas. Also, I adore their ‘I hate your guts’ to ‘I can respect that’ to ‘I would literally do the impossible for you’ journey for I am a simple bitch.

13: Top five K-Dramas?

*groans* It’s such a hard question. I hate ranking things. So I will only rank my favorite and the rest will be a random ass mess and I don’t know if I will stop at 5. This is my blog, I alter the rules as I please. *distressed noises*

1. Just Between Lovers. I’ve not been shy about loving this drama. I could ramble and ramble about it, but to preserve everyone involved, I will just say it’s, to me, the perfect ensemble story of gradual healing and overcoming trauma as found family. It hits like a freight train, but somehow you are put back together better than before. It’s sweet, it’s tragic, it’s funny in places and it’s comforting in this one big package. It’s embedded itself in part of my heart, a promise and understanding all at once. ‘Maybe it’s not the time, yet, but you will heal. I believe in you.’ And it makes me want to believe it, too.

It’s Okay, That’s Love. I don’t know how this would hold up, if I watched it now, and I am not saying it was perfect every step along the way, but in the end, it made me cry and it made me hopeful all at once, it comforted me in times when I really needed those exact words spoken to me and there was something so lovely about this found family.

Run On is tentatively on the list, because they might still absolutely tank it in the last 6 episodes, but I really want to believe they won’t, despite my previously mentioned lack of faith in quality wrap-up of a storyline. But even so, what it has already given to me, won’t lose its meaning if that happens. (Hah, do you get that convoluted reference?) And what it has given me is comforting, soft, character-driven story with cast full with compelling characters, many different friendships and a world that feels alive with many tiny details, yet not bloated. It’s story of healing and communication, a glimpse into profession I used to dream about, it makes me want to think about who I want to be as a person and believe just a little I could become them.

Goblin. Again, more ambivalent about it these days, but I can’t deny the power it had on me back when I watched it, from cinematography to use of OSTs which still remain some of my all time favorites, to the relationships between the four leads and the found family of it all. (Are we sensing a pattern here?)

To. Jenny It revealed the meaning of comfort show to me. It’s short and sweet and, in some ways, absolute musical nonsense. It injects seratonin directly into my brain and I have rewatched it like 4 or 5 times which is genuinely a record for me.

+ Bonus Cherry Magic. Sort of same as with To. Jenny, this is probably be going to be my comfort show if I ever get over the cringe of my failed fanfic attempt that haunts me three weeks later like some kind of disfigured ghoul. The show itself just makes me feel things which isn’t that easy to do.

Send me a kdrama ask?<3

#this only took like an hour to write up...#ask games answered #lovely people #about me #rainy watches kdrama #clockworkswans #sent on a cloud

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overthinkingkdrama · 5 years ago

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Hi! So, I’ve just recently gotten into K-Dramas, and... I have a small issue, and that is though I LOVE them in the beginning, by the end they always disappoint me? Like, they start lighthearted and fun, and then by the end suddenly everyone’s in mortal peril, and I don’t care? Or they start all fantasy, and then it’s all about the romance in the end? So... Could you possibly recommend me ones that are good, or tone consistent, throughout? Please?

Hi! Thanks for dropping by for recs. These are some of my favorite asks. I just love going back through my watch list and finding dramas that fit a given criteria. It gets more fun the more dramas I've seen.

The thing about Kdramas that makes them a uniquely sticky beast is that many of them are live-shot week to week, at least for part of their run, and often the scripts are not fully written before filming begins. Popular Kdramas will also occasionally receive extensions which can cause further pacing and plot issues and (sometimes) cause a story to sputter out entirely. With the increasing prevalence of entirely preproduced dramas there's been an increase in overall drama quality and consistency in past years. That being said, Kdramas are still a decidedly mixed bag in terms of overall production quality. So it pays to either drop things with extreme prejudice if you stop enjoying them and watch widely, or to have a good drama filter friend (like me!) to give you vetted recs. As a genre a lot of the more "classic" feeling dramas have a tendency to start really light hearted and then swing super dramatic in the latter half. That's something I occasionally like, but lucky for you not all dramas are like that!

Your ask doesn't really tell me what genre of Kdrama most appeals to you, so I went through my list and tried to find you wide a variety of dramas that I think of as being well-paced and tonally consistent throughout. I've also tried to limit myself to dramas that I rated highly on MDL, although my primary criteria was "good and tonally consistent" so this list of dramas is kinda all over the map. But then, so are my tastes. Also, I kinda got the impression from your ask that you're not a fan of the uber-melodramatic side of kdramas and you want something a little more restrained and less soapy, so I tried to steer away from those more makjang dramas but did not entirely succeed, lol. I gave a couple sentences of description so you can more readily narrow down what you're interested in, and if you would like a more thorough review of the dramas some of these have full reviews on my blog which I went ahead linked where they exist.

Age of Youth: A well written slice-of-life ensemble drama about a group of 5 college age women who end up boarding together. There are a couple moments of high drama/trauma toward the end of the show that might be a turn off. But other than the finale the tone is consistent. 9/10

Arang and the Magistrate: A dark fantasy fusion sageuk with a romance. I included this drama because it does a good job of developing the creepy worldbuilding and fantasy throughout. Though at points it can be a bit slow and the special effects are hella cheesy. 8/10

Argon: A tight, journalism driven suspense drama. Not always my genre but I found it very engaging, and at eight episodes it does not overstay its welcome. 8/10

Be Melodramatic: Another female-centric slice-of-life ensemble drama, though with an emphasis on fourth wall breaking comedy and clever dialogue. Very funny and heartfelt. 8.5/10

Cheese in the Trap: Maybe a controversial inclusion, but I very much enjoyed this drama. A slice-of-life college romance with psychological thriller elements. Some critics felt that the drama focused too heavily on the second male lead in the later half of the story, but YMMV. 8.5/10

Coffee Prince: Classic cross-dressing romance and still probably the best of its kind. A wonderfully nuanced and progressive handling of the subject matter, even after 13 years. Deals with serious subjects but doesn't go too melo with it. 8.5/10

Children of Nobody: My best of 2019, a dark psychological thriller about a child psychiatrist and a police detective who have to confront gray morality while attempting to track down a serial killer who only targets unrepentant child abusers. 9.5/10

Ex-Girlfriend Club: On the lighter side, a friends-to-lovers type romantic comedy about the writer of an autobiographical webtoon who has to figure out a way to get along with a group of his ex-girlfriends to make a movie based on his work. Only 12 episodes. 8.5/10

Go Back Couple: Also only 12 episodes (these shorter dramas tend to be better paced I find) a time-slip drama about a divorced couple who get the chance to relive their twenties and end up realizing they still have feelings for each other. This drama is both very funny and it had me bawling on multiple occasions. 9.5/10

Healer: A favorite of a lot of drama fans, this is an action-focused romance about an awkward soft boy with a secret identity as a highly skilled errand boy to criminals and an intrepid tabloid reporter who is his biggest fan. This drama is pretty tropey, but it's fun and the romance is great. 8.5/10

Hello Monster (aka I Remember You): A police procedural with a background love line about a criminal profiler looking for his lost brother and a detective looking for her father's murderer. One of my personal favorites. 10/10

Hit the Top (aka The Best Hit): A time-slip fish-out-of-water comedy about a 90s pop star who winds up in modern day Seoul and ends up befriending his biological son and meets old friends who his disappearance left in the lurch. 9/10

Incomplete Life (aka Misaeng): A realistic office drama that gave me real world work anxiety, focusing on a failed Go player who winds up an intern at a highly competitive shipping company and has to find a way to earn his keep even without the background and college education of his coworkers. Unbelievably well done ensemble drama. 9/10

Just Between Lovers: A romantic melodrama about two people whose lives were irrevocably changed by a tragic mall collapse that nearly killed them as children, meeting again as adults and finding comfort and healing in each other. A rough sit at times, but a wonderful love story with incredible acting. 9/10

Just Dance: High school, slice-of-life, drama about a dance club in a technical high school and a group of working class kids who reluctantly become involved in this club and befriend each other. Only 8 episodes (or 16 thirty minute episodes, depending on how you recon it.) 8.5/10

Life on Mars: Remake of the British show of the same name, this is a surreal time-slip police drama, about a forensics expert who gets shot in the head and wakes up in 1988. Or does he? He could also be dying on an operating table. It's hard to tell. Dark, suspenseful and trippy. 9/10

Matrimonial Chaos: An off-beat comedy about two dysfunctional couples who become inescapably mixed up in each others lives. One that's having a hard time getting divorced and another that's having a hard time getting married, and all the messy weird emotions that go along with that. This is another one of those, makes you laugh/makes you cry throughout dramas I have an affinity for. 9/10

Moment of Eighteen: A heartfelt high school drama about a straightforward but awkward loner who is forced to transfer to a new school, immediately earns the ire of a powerful student and experiences first love. Not my usual thing, but very well written with complex and likeable characters. 8/10

Mother: A cold and socially isolated woman becomes a temporary teacher and upon discovering one of her students is being severely abused and neglected, decides to pose as the child's mother and go on the run with her. Like Children of Nobody, this can be a bit of a rough watch because of the subject matter but it is very well done. 9.5/10

My Mister: A healing, human drama about a structural engineer in his 40s and a debt-ridden young woman in her 20s who end up crossing paths and saving each other from a miserable existence. My current all time favorite drama. Cannot say enough good things about it. Practically perfect in every way. 10/10

One Spring Night: A very restrained and naturalistic slow-burn romance about a woman who is about to get married and suddenly begins to question her relationship and a single father who had given up on love who find themselves irresistibly drawn to one another. 9/10

Prison Playbook: An ensemble slice-of-life drama centered on prisoners and correctional officers in their day to day lives. I find the actual het romances in this drama totally useless, but it's a large and talented cast playing a variety of lovable characters. 8/10

Psychopath Diary: Recent fave. A screwball black comedy about a mild mannered pushover who loses his memory and finds a diary that convinces him he's a psychopathic murderer, which gives him a huge boost of confidence from his new found identity, much to the chagrin of those around him and the actual owner of the diary himself. 8.5/10

Queen In Hyun's Man: A drama about a Joseon scholar who time travels to modern day Seoul and meets an actress who just landed a part playing the queen he served in the past. This one might be on the border line of too dramatic or tonally inconsistent, but it's got one of the most pitch perfect finales in Kdramas and the 45 min episodes keep it a snappy watch that doesn't drag or meander too much. 8/10

Reply 1988: A late 80s nostalgia drama about a group of families who all live off the same alley. Lovely family drama, comedy with a variety of romances. Long ass episodes especially later in the run, but I have rewatched the whole thing and I loved every minute of this show. 9.5/10

Save Me: A dark drama about a young woman who finds herself forced into a dangerous cult by her family, and is desperate to escape, and a group of 4 local young men who try to help her. One of the more unique and well done OCN thrillers. 9/10

School 2013: High school ensemble drama that launched a whole bunch of careers. In general I avoid school dramas (I know there have been three on this list so far, but those are like the only three, lol) but this show got me so invested in all these students and teachers. Also the two male leads are so shippable. 9.5/10

Secret Love Affair: A romantic melodrama about a piano prodigy from an underprivileged background who catches the eye of a married older woman and the two fall into a passionate affair. This drama involves cheating (obviously) but it's beautifully filmed and written and the music is to die for. 9.5/10

Signal: This is a supernatural crime thriller and a perennial favorite in the Kdrama community. An imbittered criminal profiler finds an antique police radio which allows him to speak with a police detective 15 years in the past, and uses this to crack cold cases and try to prevent brutal crimes from ever happening. 9/10

Six Flying Dragons: This one is a bit different from the others on the list, first of all because it's a more traditional historical drama, and secondly because it 50 episodes long. But it is so, so very good. And if you're looking for overall consistency in terms of storytelling and tone this drama has it in spades. 9/10

SKY Castle: A unique melodrama about a group of affluent competitive mothers who will go to any lengths to get they're children into the best medical schools, and a mysterious school coordinator with shady motives who gets brought in as a ringer to give them an edge. This show is kind of hard to sell but very entertaining and watchable. 7.5/10

Stranger (aka Secret Forest): The story of a stalwart prosecutor who, due to a childhood trauma is unable to feel the full spectrum of emotions, works with a bighearted police detective to root out corruption around a series of murders. This one’s rather cerebral and requires your full attention but the leads are amazing and there's a second season coming out this year I'm very much looking forward to! 9/10

The Nokdu Flower: Another sageuk drama about the latter years of the Joseon Dynasty surrounding three people who fall on different sides during the Donghak Peasant rebellion. Incredibly well written and involving historical drama. If you're not sure you're ready to commit to something like Six Flying Dragons, I think this would be another good entry point into the genre. The acting is amazing. 9/10

The Smile Has Left Your Eyes: A romantic melodrama and psychological thriller about a dangerous enigmatic young man on the cusp of becoming either a human being or a monster. He becomes involved in a fraught relationship with the sister of a police detective at the same time her protective older brother begins to focus on him as the prime suspect for a murder. High key moody and tragic if you're into that kind of thing (I am). 9/10

Touch Your Heart: On the complete other end of the drama spectrum, this show is pure unadulterated fluff, which managed to keep me giggling and swooning throughout the run, even though it's typically not my thing. An actress joins a law office as research for a role and falls for the ace attorney she's assisting. 8.5/10

WATCHER: Another OCN thriller about three different people with shady motivations who are connected to the same murder case and become involve in a corruption task force looking into dirty cops. One of those "trust nobody, everyone's a suspect" dramas with lovely complex characters and a fully engaging plot. 8.5/10

Sorry that got so out of hand! This is what happens when you don't give me a little more direction I guess. These are all dramas I quite enjoyed and I believe you will find something in there that will suit your fancy. This is a pretty accurate cross section of my tastes.

Happy watching!

Jona

#asks #answered #kdrama recs #this got stupid long #i got half way through writing my two sentence plugs and was like #omg why did i put so many dramas on this list #lemme just casually throw together a list of 30+ titles that’s what you want right #like wtf #oh well #hope you find something you like anon #i have no idea why i’m this way either

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humboldtfog · 5 years ago

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Years of depression has prepared me very well for the current state of affairs which is weird but whatever here’s a list of my faves on netflix, if I’m missing something let me know cause now’s the time, right?

I'm kinda embarrassed by how long this list is but also kinda like fuck that, there have been very long periods of time where it was either sit and watch shows all day or lie down and stare at the wall in silence all day so I chose the former and it adds up and there's nothing wrong with that.

Glow (Badass ladies learn to wrestle, great 80s aesthetics and grrrrl power.)

Our Planet (Netflix version of Planet Earth, beautiful, cute, terrifying that we aren’t doing more to save us all.)

Bojack Horseman (Hilarious and “deep” critique of LA and celebrity culture for people who don’t care about LA or celebrity culture. Also very funny visual jokes about how if animals were also kinda humans, and lots of great jokes about cliches and tropes, puns, and weirdly rhyming and alliteration? I don’t know how to explain it just watch it.)

Father Brown (BBC, based on mystery novels about a priest who always meddles in police business and solves murders in his small English countryside town.)

Pose (The Ball scene in NY in the 80s, poc queer and trans writers and actors bringing their people’s stories to life. So much joy, so much beauty, but also NYC in the 80s so you will cry.)

Paris is Burning (Documentary made during the Ball scene Pose is based on.)

Sex Education (Such empowering representations of all walks of gender and sexuality, and actually very educational, like I would straight up show this in schools because everyone would be very entertained and would learn a lot more than they teach in a lot of schools.)

What Happened Miss Simone (Documentary about Nina Simone’s life, music and the activism the establishment/ government worked to suppress and used to blacklist her.)

Night on Earth (Low light camera technology has gotten hella good and they’re starting to learn stuff about animals’ behaviors at night that they’ve never been able to study before.)

Call the Midwife (Follows stories from the midwives that worked in the East End of London after the war, based on memoirs. Interesting look at the kind of life of poverty people led before there were many large hospitals or birth control, right as the British were implementing their universal healthcare program.)

The Great British Baking Show (Everyone’s so nice and everything looks so good!)

Atypical (Dramady about a high schooler with autism and his family, very funny and great representations of autism and how to be a good dude.)

Parks and Recreation (Just very funny and everyone knows it. Amazing ensemble cast, and they still keeps in touch through a group chat awww doesn’t that say something!)

Kim’s Convenience (Canadian comedy about family of first and second gen Korean immigrants that’s just a really solid funny modern day sitcom.)

Queer Eye (I feel like if everyone in this world could get a life makeover from these guys we just wouldn’t be here right now.)

Obvious Child (Jenny Slate accidentally gets pregnant and gets an abortion. It’s funny and it’s realistic, we’re not all Juno.)

Maria Bamford: the Special Special Special (Rad lady comedian not afraid to talk about her mental health and lack thereof and very vocal about the stigma surrounding mental health problems and I very much relate to. My favorite standup probably ever. I could make a list just for standup so message me if you’d like more suggestions.)

Monty Python (Flying Circus, movies, doc, ect. “The Beatles of comedy” is the cliche but it's true.)

Easy (Very unconventional non-narrative structure and editing, following random people in Chicago in a very real life feeling way. Different story each episode, but sometimes characters show up briefly in each other’s lives or return for a second episode.)

Everything Sucks! (High school nerds and lesbians and theater geeks in the 90s! I’m so sad this only got one season I rewatched it recently and it’s just so solid.)

She’s Gotta Have It (Revival of Spike Lee’s first movie, black girl magic, art world, gentrified New York, lots of sex.)

The Office (Classic, holds up very well, totally solid throughout, worth a rewatch. Also if you're a fan Jenna Ficher and Angela Davis are doing a rewatch podcast jsyk.)

Billy on the Street (Mindless game show for laughs, amazing gay comedian runs around New York yelling questions at them. I watch this with my dad and he can’t help but snort even when it’s “inappropriate” or “juvenile” so you know it’s good.)

Good Girls (Some lower middle class family ladies that are all about to be broke decide to rob the grocery store one of them works at, but they accidentally cross a gang that stored their cash there, so they gotta pay it back, and of course can’t help but get deeper and deeper into it. Very suspenseful like your heart rate will go up and stay up. )

Arrested Development (It’s just funny, as you've probably heard, but I'm telling you it just really is.)

The Laundromat (Tells the stories of a few of the people involved in the panama papers in different ways, explains in an entertaining way how money laundering works in a way that made it mostly make sense even to me. The rich get richer, and Meryl Streep is here to tell them to fuck off and pay their taxes.)

Russian Doll (She keeps dying and coming back to the same moment over and over and can’t figure out how to stop the cycle or why so kinda sci fi, very suspenseful, big cliff hanger ending, or rather no ending, and just found out season two filming is delayed because virus which is very annoying!!)

Dear White People (Show picking up where the movie left off, after a frat hosts a black face party and the ivy league college is forced to deal with racism.)

Dolly Parton’s Heartstrings (Stories based on Dolly songs. Very Hallmark channel, you will cry.)

Episodes (Show about two British writers making a version of their BBC show for American tv. Kind of meta, very funny, Matt LaBlanc plays himself and it's great.)

Dumplin’ (Fat girl grows up with a beauty pageant winning mom and enters one herself with the help of her late aunt’s Dolly Parton drag queen friends.)

Lunatics (Chris Lilley is the best character actor ever, all his shows are just him playing different parts and you seriously forget it’s all one actor, even when he’s playing teenage girls.)

Jane the Virgin (Prime time soap opera about a girl who is engaged and waiting until marrige and is accidentally inseminated with the only sperm sample of a man who’s had cancer so decides to keep the baby, very heavy on the soap opera cliches in a meta way but also that’s what it is. So good at first but after the first three or so seasons it gets too much tbh though.)

Zumbo’s Just Desserts (Australian Bake show but with just sweet stuff and pressure to be avant garde.)

Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee (Jerry Sienfeld goes out with funny people to coffee and lunch in fancy cars and they have funny conversations.)

One Day at a Time (Very very cheesy laugh track sitcom, like the kind of thing my grandma would watch, but it makes me so happy it’s doing a great job eplaining really woke concepts like queer pronouns and ptsd and addiction and white privilege to people like my grandma!)

Orange is the New Black (Good stories about very diverse characters, I’d say by starting it off about a upper middle class white girl it tricks privileged white people into watching and then encountering the more realistic stories of women who go to prison and how the system treats prisoners. Ending of season two is super solid and you can stop it there, season three is a really great critique of the privatization of prisons. I admit it goes on and on to the point that it’s stressful and after watching it spread out over years I can’t remember/ keep up with all the different story lines, though they’re all good stories to tell.)

Space Jam (Just saw while scrolling for more ideas this was added! One of the greatest sports movies of all time obviously.)

Bonus amazon prime shows, I try to avoid Amazon in general but these are just too good if you know a prime member who you can't convince not to give their money to amazon so they might as well give you their login (like yer dad).

The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (A 1950s New York upper class Jewish house wife gets dumped and starts doing stand up, so funny, great actors, and they seriously transform NY back into another era.)

Good Omens (Mini series based off Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman’s satirical novel about the biblical apocalypse, very funny, very smart, very British, does the book pretty solid justice.)

There are other decent things that aren’t included, I’d say these are solid recs for a general list of genres all over the map without letting it get to a ridiculously unhelpful length. I feel like I’d be good at the “if you like this then you’ll also like…” so let me know if some of these are your favorites too and want personal recs for what to watch next based on a brain instead of an algorithm.

If you want to have a remote date and watch things together on video chat or one of those watch party sites or just tell me what to watch next here’s some stuff on my list I’ve been curious about or not sure about or don’t want to watch alone or have been putting off, and now’s the time right?: Strangers Things, I Am Not Okay With This, Black Panther, The Betty White doc, John Mulaney Snack Lunch Bunch, Dead to Me, The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, A Wrinkle in Time, The Little Prince, Maniac, Wet Hot American Summer reboots, and a bunch of different standup specials from comedians I like.

#netflix #list #best #favorites #self #coronavirus #covid19 #2020

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ky-likes-sanders-sides · 5 years ago

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Sensitivity Training [1]

Summary: Thomas had a bad day, and got more upset at things that wouldn't usually bother him too much. He summons his sides, only to find them acting weird. He's told it's an internal issue, one issue they don't want Thomas to resolve himself, one that has to do with Sensitivity.

wc: 1,809

Thomas already had his equipment recording when he said, “Okay, guys, I already know I have a problem to deal with today because I’ve been extra sensitive and touchy so let’s just bring out the sides. Patton!”

He figured he would call Patton first because his emotions were having a roller coaster today and it might bring something to light to have a bit of introspection with his dad side.

Thomas waited for a moment, but no Patton arrived. “Guys? Can you come up here?”

He witnessed the floor open up where Patton would stand. Thomas was looking down at Logan standing casually and Patton hunched over another figure he couldn’t quite see. “Guys, what’s going on?”

Logan looked up, a little startled but easily composed himself, “Ah, Thomas, we are in the middle of a situation. I would recommend that you relax and-”

A loud wailing started up near Patton, making him jump a bit. He can’t make out who it sounds like, but then again, he hasn’t exactly heard the sides weep openly to or in front of him.

“-and try to relax, treat yourself as well as you have to. You deserve it.” Logan finished, unnaturally soft with how he presented the statement. Not to mention out of character.

“Um. Okay, maybe, but who’s crying?” Thomas asked, wary of letting the sides deal with a situation when it could potentially be solved better with all of them.

Patton looked up through the hole to wave to Thomas while patting the back of whoever was crying, he assumed. “Hey Thomas! Everything’s alright, kiddo! You’re gonna be okay!” he said with extra sympathy in his heart.

Ignoring the fact that his question wasn’t answered, he turned to see that Roman and Virgil had popped up in their respectful locations.

“Hello, my dearest Prince Thomas! You look especially handsome today, don’t you agree, Virgil?” Roman said, as if he were talking to a child. It’s not like Thomas minded, he just thought it was suspicious.

“Yeah, he sure is.” Virgil said with as much enthusiasm he could muster, which wasn’t a lot to begin with.

“Roman, Virgil, why is everyone being so nice to me?” Thomas questioned, staring back and forth at the both of them as the two also looked at each other.

“Well...” Roman started, “We know you’ve had a rough day and wanted to be gentle with you, like all princes should be handled.”

Thomas half-laughed, “I know something is happening. I’m ready to deal with it.”

Virgil and Roman frowned at each other, Logan and Patton were talking quietly under the drowning sound of the loud sobs coming from the portal on the floor to the mindscape.

“We don’t think you’re ready for this, Thomas.” Virgil spoke. “You’ve had a rough day, there will be another rough day to deal with this, hopefully that one will be a lot less horrible than today.” He was the first side to be honest with him today, looking and sounding worn out.

Humming, Thomas said, “It almost sounds like ‘this’ is another side. Why would I have to ‘deal’ with another side? That sounds... dismissive.” Concern rose in his voice.

“This is a deal, a situation, like Logan said,” Virgil stated, “We like to figure out how to solve problems ourselves before giving you the opportunity to because Patton says it expands on our ‘teamwork skills’.”

Thomas only replied with an "Um." before Logan rose in his proper spot.

"Oh, our charming and intelligent knight has arrived!" Roman gallantly noted, and Logan gave him a weird half-look before focusing on Thomas.

"Hello, Thomas. We should talk before bringing this to our full attention."

With a slap of his hands against his thighs, Thomas responded with, "Sure." The crying was starting to get to him.

Logan nodded, and looked at the portal. He stretched out an arm and then closed his hand into a fist, and with that gesture the portal closed and the silence was blissful to the four of them.

"We have interacted and helped you down from sensitive episodes before, unbeknownst to you, but it only works 72.1% of the time. The other 27.9% you fix yourself, when you're feeling this way." Logan knew they needed Patton to come up and talk soon, he couldn't do it all by himself lest he end up offending someone.

"Oh. How do I fix it? I didn't even realize." Thomas was surprised that he fixed his own 'problems' without knowing he had them.

"By um..." Logan paused, Roman looked a little uncomfortable, and Virgil looked a lot uncomfortable. He didn't know why, but Logan felt a tinge of embarrassment. "By relieving stress. Through physical means."

Chuckling, Thomas gave a simple, "Oh." He knows that's a true statement.

"Patton, we need you here." Logan called, willing the conversation to move on from the topic as quickly as possible. He didn't like when one emotion center was skewed because it messed with all of them.

Patton rose as quickly as possible, exclaiming, "Your favorite dad is here! Now who wants a hug?"

"Our beautiful, cheerful, and positive Patton has arrive!" Roman said, Thomas could tell he was trying to bring up everyone's moods, which he appreciates.

"Patton," Logan announced, "Can you tell us the difference between Morality's Feelings and Sensitivity's Feelings?"

"Well, sure! Thomas, when you get emotional it can come in two ways: inside adaptive feeling, and outside reactive feeling.

Inside adaptive feeling is when you are changing your feelings with situations that are within you. This includes feeling happy when you wake up, and retaining the positive mindset that keeps you going! You have a good control of your feelings in this way of feeling.

"Outside reactive feeling is when you have a reaction to an outside feeling that you didn't anticipate. For example, when you empathize or sympathize with someone when you didn't expect it. Or when you have a bad day and the terrible feeling lingers."

"Just so you know," Logan interjected, "Patton came up with all of that himself."

“Aw, thanks for giving me credit, Lo-buddy!”

“Don’t call me that.”

Thomas pauses for a moment to go over the definitions. They were a bit abstract, but Thomas replies with, "That's interesting, Pat. You're the half with inside adaptive feeling. Am I right?"

"Exactly, Thomas!"

"Sensitivity and sensuality work in conjunction both physically and mentally." Logan stated. “The important thing to remember is that you can become sensitive from internal stimuli, for example, thinking of your own demise or another emotionally charged subject.

Before letting Thomas think on that too much, he continued, “Now that you have an understanding of what sensitivity works with, we can proceed.”

“Proceed with what, exactly? Am I meeting a new side?” Thomas questions. Usually they appear on their own volition, but then again, the two newest sides have not been... as friendly as he would have imagined.

“Only if you want to, Thomas! You could put this off for another day, but you have the opportunity to meet another in our crazy ensemble!” Roman declared, and it’s not like Thomas would have refused, he could see how stressed they were and with what they were going through.

A moment passed in contemplation, more so anticipation for Thomas as he thought about what the side would look like. Would they have a pair of glasses like Logan and Patton do? Would they have a deep intense voice or a flighty or casual tone? What is their color?

“Alright, I’m ready.” Thomas finally said. Everyone stood looking at him for a moment before Virgil slapped his own forehead.

“Oh, duh, you have to summon them.” With a confused look on Thomas’ face, Virgil continued, “You need to summon the feeling of being sensitive.”

“What, so like, making myself think of sensitive things? Make myself vulnerable?” He warily asked, hoping it wasn't that difficult.

"Yep, pretty much." Virgil responds, and Thomas is already thinking about the things he's sensitive about. His family, religion, content, homophobia, and he could name more.

Instead, he focused in on what bothered him; how reactive he was when he was in town today. Thomas got upset a lot, so he just thought these moments over. He was pushed in the grocery store, there were anti-gay posters on the side of a building, when he and Joan were ripping them down they got called names, he stepped in a puddle of water and got his sock wet, and he dropped a slice of bread with jelly (Crofters) on the floor.

Opening his eyes, he saw a pink figure sitting on the stairs behind Virgil, who had moved off to the side to let Thomas see.

The side was wearing a plain, pink sweater and white jean pants, face pouting as they looked away from Virgil and especially Thomas. Thomas noticed that they were wearing a gentle rosy-peachy-pink lipstick, non-matte, and mascara because there was no way his eyelashes were that prominent normally.

Logan had a question (Can you dye your eyelashes?) but he didn't want to interrupt Thomas meeting the new side, so he held his tongue and glared at Roman so he'd remember. Roman gave him a look before looking back to Thomas to see his reaction.

"Um, h-" Tbomas started, but immediately got cut off.

"Today was horrible!" The side pouted, half yelling.

Ah. Legendary first words. Their voice was a little bit more high pitched, almost sounding like a teenager. "Yeah, I know it was, but now-"

"Now it's still a mess, I'm still upset! I wanted to tell you about it myself but PATTON and LOGAN WOULDN'T LET ME!" They yelled, glaring at the two sides viciously.

"We were not stopping you in any way, we just recommended that he summon you before you showed up unexpectedly." Logan stated, unphased by the emotion.

"At least we laid the news on gently." Roman muttered.

"I... I want to talk about what I'm going through, then all of the other sides, because they're hurting too in different ways and you don't even see it!" They looked into Thomas' eyes for the first time. Patton rubbed his temples subconsciously.

Through gritted teeth, Virgil said, "I thought we agreed not to talk about that."

"Hurting?" Thomas felt an iron weight in his chest. "M-My sides... are hurting?"

"Yeah," They started somberly, "But you don't get to hear that drama until you deal with this hot lava coming your way! You need me now more than ever to help mend the sides back together."

"Okay, um, I wouldn't be opposed to hearing your perspective on things. But what do I call you?"

"Oh," They looked away to the carpet, flushing as they realized that they didn't introduce themselves. "Sensitivity. Five syllables."

"It's nice to meet you, Sensitivity." Thomas gently replies, smiling.

#ts pink #theory #ky writes #sanders sides #ts magenta #ts virgil #ts patton #ts roman #ts logan #ts thomas #sanders sides theory #i really think i nailed these characterizations #sensitivity training #this is defninitely too long to be in one post

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bombshellsandbluebells · 6 years ago

Note

clarke and blarke ☕️☕️☕️

Hooooooo boy get ready for me to be the saltiest I’ve ever been on this blog about Clarke/Blarke. I mostly try to keep it to a minimum, both because I know I have followers who like Clarke and Bellarke and because I try overall not to be TOO salty (though this season is trying my patience.)

I always say this, but I did used to really love Clarke in s2. Like REALLY loved her. She was one of my favorites. And I kind of lowkey shipped Bellarke - I was never really that invested and I never really read fic for them at all, but I was generally a fan of the idea of the ship, I guess, and I sort of assumed that’s the direction the show was going in.

At this point I can’t stand either.

Clarke used to be an interesting character. The show still always worked best as an ensemble show focusing on many different characters and how they react to the choices they have to make, but she was an interesting character in her own right in earlier seasons. But the writing has consistently trapped her in the same cycle of making mistakes that make people mad, giving a weak meaningless apology, crying a bit about it being her only choice, and NEVER LEARNING OR CHANGING. They want to keep her stuck between being a terrible person who makes bad choices AND being The Hero who always saves the day and not only does that make her a terribly uninteresting and flat character to me, but it’s also ruined any potential her character once had.

I think the writing has just completely destroyed Clarke as a character. I had hoped maybe last season they were at least COMMITTING with an arc that made her more of a bad guy than a hero and for a while, that was actually pretty interesting, but they ONCE AGAIN solved it by letting Clarke be the Hero and save the day in the end again, despite not fully having earned that. AND THIS SEASON they had the opportunity to actually force Clarke to grow and change and learn AND THEY WASTED IT.

I’m so completely frustrated with the fact that we are going through the exact same cycle with her. Once again she has made choices that hurt other people and made them angry with her and she is giving her weak apologies in response. A bit of crying, the words “i’m sorry” and a justification for your actions is not a real apology - and I wish Clarke had listened to Raven when she told her that.

I don’t want to hate Clarke, frankly. I want the show to make me care about her - she’s the main character. But it’s moved beyond the point of just finding her bland and uninteresting and moved into me actively disliking her character.

I know the writers aren’t intentionally trying to write Clarke as a selfish, arrogant person, but they are. She makes choices for others because she believes that she is the only one capable of making the Right Choice - despite it being made clear by this point that the other characters would rather she not make choices with their lives. She doesn’t actually regret when those choices hurt or anger people either. Don’t get me wrong, I think she feels BAD about it, but not enough to regret her choice, which she makes clear when she gives reasons and justifications and claims “it was her only choice.” There is a REASON that other characters are constantly angry with Clarke - and it’s because Clarke doesn’t change her actions. She saves the day at the end and then turns around and makes new choices that bother people.

Season 4 said it best - Clarke has a God Complex and unfortunately even in an episode ENTIRELY ABOUT CLARKE HAVING A GOD COMPLEX AND NEEDING TO CHANGE Clarke ultimately didn’t learn her lesson or change. The next episode took her right back to the same place.

Obviously Clarke is a fictional character and she is created by the writing. And I don’t think the way I read her is what the writers intend. I think she is meant to ultimately be a good person who looks out for others and makes the hero sacrifice. But I think the writers keep telling me that without showing me, because what they keep writing for her makes her selfish and arrogant enough that she only believes she can make the right choice and only her choices are right.

And the thing that’s pissing me off so much this season is that Clarke hasn’t actually been forced to make up for anything she did to the others. And I absolutely do think the others have a right to distrust her and be angry with her, even if I also understand that Clarke was acting out of a desire to save Madi (though it worries me that we’ve never touched again on Clarke literally electrocuting her daughter in order to control her. There wasn’t nearly as much consequence for that as there should have been.)

Clarke has to earn her way onto that family - not just because her actions hurt Spacekru last season, but because frankly I need to see development in order to buy that Spacekru cares dearly about her. I bought last season easily that over the six years Spacekru came to care about each other like a family. I can’t buy that 3 days after Clarke was practically their enemy - and someone they didn’t really KNOW anymore - she’s suddenly so important to them they’re distraught about her life.

AND I’m really frustrated by the fact that everyone’s storyline seems to revolve around Clarke this season, as if they aren’t interesting characters in their own right with more interesting stories we could tell instead of repeating the same old tired cycle with Clarke. (This tea is all over the place. I’m just ranting.)

So yeah. In my opinion, the writers have ruined Clarke. If you look at it from a writing point of view, by refusing to commit to her flaws and by trying to both sell that there are no good guys AND Clarke is The Hero, they’ve created a flat, boring character who doesn’t grow or change, hasn’t really developed much since s2/3, and is inherently contradictory. If you look at it from a character, in-world point of view, Clarke always believes that Clarke is right, and what she thinks is right is more important than how anyone else feels or what they think, and she is controlling and selfish.

And I hate Bellarke. I actively hate it now. Like I said, I didn’t used to mind it, and I still understand if people want to keep shipping them and writing fanfiction based on their earlier dynamic - but frankly, I despise the idea of a relationship between them now. Last season I would have argued that I actually didn’t think the writers were planning to ever make them canon, and now this season they seem to be pushing their relationship without any development towards it.

Bellarke isn’t healthy anymore. They mistreat each other and argue with each other more than they side with each other and the show won’t take the time to actually rebuild their friendship. Instead they just give us moments that are meant to convince us they’re both still really important to each other, even if it makes no sense and isn’t supported by what we actually see on screen. They AREN’T that important to each other anymore. As of like a week ago they hadn’t seen each other in SIX YEARS. Even if they been best friends before that - debatable, honestly, since the show hasn’t let them spend much time together since s2 - IT WOULD STILL TAKE TIME TO REBUILD THAT RELATIONSHIP. I’m not saying it COULDN’T happen, but it DIDN’T. And the little moments they get here and there - Bellamy crying and mourning over her, etc. - tries to loudly tell me that they have rebuilt that relationship despite the fact that it didn’t actually happen.

Their relationship is all Telling right now, not Showing. It’s all about throwing a few tidbits here are there to convince me they care rather than consistently showing me a close friendship.

And I think it’s ruining Bellamy’s character. Because his entire story now revolves around Clarke - a woman who hasn’t really proved that she is willing to protect him or his family if it puts her and Madi in danger - and it’s weakening him as a character. To try and push Bellarke back to where they were in s2 despite seasons of development pushing them away from that dynamic, they’ve had to undo SO MUCH of Bellamy’s growth and development.

I get that people got attached to the ship and still think of it in terms of what it once was - and I think the dynamic in the first few seasons makes sense - but if the show actually plans to make them a canon couple, they have massively messed up how they wrote their relationship. It doesn’t work anymore and they haven’t put in any of the work to MAKE IT WORK - they’re just coasting on development from 4 seasons ago. It’s lazy. And it’s out of character. And it massively contradicts everything we saw last season.

Anyways. Yeah. I can’t stand Clarke this season, which is a shame because she used to be far better character and they COULD have still done some interesting things with her if they were willing to actually let her recognize her flaws and grow and change. And I absolutely can’t stand Bellarke and I’m not kidding when I say if it goes canon, I’ll probably be done with the show.

That was a whole disorganized mess of thoughts.

#anticlarkegriffin #anti clarke griffin #antibellarke #anti bellarke #ask #saltblogging

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chalantness · 6 years ago

Text

fic: Meet Me Under the Spotlight - part iv

Rating: PG-13 Word Count: ~4800 Characters: Steve/Natasha and the ensemble Summary: A continuation of that celebrity social media au no one asked for.

A/N: During my little "writing hiatus" in December, when I thought about which stories I really wanted to revisit, this was definitely at the top of my list. I had a lot of the "plot" for the 'Marvelous' show in this 'verse planned in my head while writing the previous installment, and I had a lot of fun finally sharing it with everyone in this piece! There's less cast interaction because I have such a focus on the plot of the show itself, but I still enjoyed the change of angle for this chapter.

Read On: [ ao3 ]

The Cast and Crew of ‘Marvelous’ Take to Instagram to Give Fans a First Look at Mid-Season Finale

January 1, 2018. 2:09 AM PST.

We’re all still a little bummed that we won’t be ringing in the New Year with the fourth episode of Marvelous Season 4 tonight like we were supposed. (Thanks, CW, for pushing back the schedule because you thought we would need a week to recover from our New Year’s shenanigans, but trust us: we Marvels would’ve happily been on our couches to watch that new episode, hungover or not.)

But at this point we should’ve known that something was up. Because in true Marvelous fashion, at the stroke of midnight, the official Marvelous Instagram gave us our first looks at the mid-season finale, which is scheduled to air two days before Valentine’s Day. And if that wasn’t reason enough to expect the mid-season finale to be one of the most romantic episodes yet, these surprise Instagram posts are all the proof we need!

SPOILER ALERT! The rest of this article contains screenshots of episode stills from the Marvelous mid-season finale, Episode 9, “Shot Through the Heart” taken from the official Marvelous Instagram profile.

[Image Caption: Steve Rogers and Natasha Romanoff sitting on the bed of a plain room in an unknown setting. Steve is braiding Natasha’s hair, now dyed blonde, the two of them smiling and talking close together as Natasha plays with the diamond ring on her finger.]

913,253 likes

MarvelousOfficial Redhead or blonde, Cap will always be smitten with Widow’s hair. Now that’s what we call love! #MarvelousSneakPeeks

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JANUARY 1, 2018

[Image Caption: Wanda Maximoff in a grocery store setting, disguising herself in a beanie and sunglasses as she stands in between aisles. She’s looking off to the side, wary, with one hand over her stomach.]

841,451 likes

MarvelousOfficial Scarlet Witch just can’t catch a break, can she? #MarvelousSneakPeeks

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JANUARY 1, 2018

[Image Caption: Thor Odinson sitting shirtless on a stool while Maria Hill stands behind him, cutting his hair, the two of them laughing over something.]

835,318 likes

MarvelousOfficial If you heard a sniffle, that’s us crying over the loss of those glorious blonde locks. #MarvelousSneakPeeks

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JANUARY 1, 2018

[Image Caption: Sharon Carter, Pepper Potts, Tony Stark, and Sam Wilson in an unknown laboratory setting. Sam and Tony are standing at a table of equipment parts, watching as Sharon speaks to Pepper in front of a holographic monitor displaying schematics for the new Iron Man suit model Pepper is wearing.]

1,464,908 likes

MarvelousOfficial Looking good, Pepper ;) #MarvelousSneakPeeks

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JANUARY 1, 2018

[Image Caption: Clint Barton in a café setting, wearing a disguise of a hoodie and sunglasses as he sits with the Mystery Agent, guest star Laura Barton. On the table between them is a photo which looks eerily similar to the farm setting from Hawkeye’s dream sequence in the Season 4 Premiere.]

804,189 likes

MarvelousOfficial Friend or foe? We’re not even sure if Hawkeye knows... #MarvelousSneakPeeks

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JANUARY 1, 2018

[Image Caption: Pietro Maximoff and Bucky Barnes outside at night, huddled together and talking seriously on the porch of a cabin in an unknown mountain location. In Bucky’s hand is the ring Quicksilver had given to Scarlet Witch during Season 2 to help focus her control over her powers, which is shown with the gem broken in pieces.]

797,329 likes

MarvelousOfficial We sure hope that Scarlet Witch won’t be needing that anymore. #MarvelousSneakPeeks

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JANUARY 1, 2018

[Image Caption: Peter Parker, T’challa T’chaka, and guest star Shuri T’chaka shooting on location, Peter and Shuri talking animatedly while gesturing to a device secured to Shuri’s wrist while T’challa watches with an amused smile.]

1,459,469 likes

MarvelousOfficial If you thought Wanda and Pietro Maximoff were the only real life siblings that get to play siblings on screen too, then think again! #MarvelousSneakPeeks

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JANUARY 1, 2018

Just like every other seasoned Marvel, we were ready to theorize the hell out of these episode stills! And we still will. But don’t forget, we’ve got five whole episodes between now and the mid-season finale to account for.

Which episode still was most surprising for you? Let us know in the comments below!

Newest ‘Marvelous’ Star Daisy Johnson Gives Us the Scoop on Her Character’s Relationship with The Director

Wanda Maximoff and Newest ‘Marvelous’ Guest Star Shuri T’chaka Dish on Working with Siblings

WATCH: ‘Marvelous’ Behind-the-Scenes - Choreographing Black Widow and Spider-Man’s Training Room Spar Sequence

Marvelous @MarvelousCW - December 25 It’s the most #Marvelous time of the year, so we’re bringing back #MarvelousLiveTweets with the cast for tonight’s episode, 4x03 “Before Dawn”!

T’challa T’chaka @ttchalla - December 25 Next time, let’s not put the cat in a tree. I still have scars from those branches... #MarvelousLiveTweets [Video Attachment: 0:55 clip of Black Panther perched in a tree at night between the branches as an armored truck drives underneath, which Black Panther jumps onto, alerting the driver and passenger of his presence. The passenger hurries to shoot at him out of his window, but Black Panther’s suit ripples in purple light as the bullet bounces off, and he stalks up the truck.]

Pietro Maximoff @theothermaximoff - December 25 I’m not crying, you are #MarvelousLiveTweets [Video Attachment: 0:45 clip of Falcon driving the jeep into the Facility hanger with the rest of the Team waiting. Winter Soldier helps a battered Scarlet Witch out of the back seat, and Quicksilver speeds to their side, enveloping his sister in a hug that she instantly melts into, her body beginning to shake as she starts to cry. Winter Soldier swallows as he watches, feeling helpless.]

Natasha A. Romanoff @therussianprincessnat - December 25 Just tell him already!! #MarvelousLiveTweets [Video Attachment: 1:25 clip starting with a flashback from Season 2, with Captain and Black Widow driving through the country in a pick-up truck. Captain tells her to take her feet off of the dash, to which Widow teasingly replies that she didn’t realize manners applied to stolen cars, earning a laugh from the Captain. Widow continues to watch him as he keeps his eyes on the road, but then his smile grows soft as he glances at her, knowing she’s watching. She pulls her feet off of the dashboard and hugs her knees to her chest, smile widening as she looks out her own window. Then the flashback is cut off as, in present time, Captain calls Widow’s name in the kitchen and snaps her from her memory. He asks what she was thinking about, and she hesitates before saying she was wondering what she has to say to get him to make her dessert. It’s obvious he knows this isn’t entirely true, but he smiles and lets it slide.]

Thor Odinson @corethor - December 25 Sorry finding my powers almost killed you, but if it’s any consolation, losing them almost killed me too @littlewandamaximoff #MarvelousLiveTweets [Video Attachment: 1:05 clip of Agent Hill sitting at Scarlet Witch’s bedside with Thor standing beside them. Scarlet Witch tries to recount in as much detail as she can remember about her captor and what she saw in his laboratory, then looks at Thor, her eyes watering as she admits that she saw the device that stripped him of his powers. Thor and Agent Hill look at each other, recalling the incident where Agent Hill found him doubling over in pain in the training room, and neither look surprised when Scarlet Witch goes on to tell them about the device exploding in reaction to her powers and collapsing the entire structure. Guilty, she tells them that she hadn’t sensed its energy anywhere in the wreckage afterward, but Thor reassures Scarlet Witch that it’s not her fault, taking her hand and squeezing it gently.]

Clint Barton @cbarton - December 25 If you think my wife trying to kill me on screen is indicative of our off screen marriage.. you might be onto something #MarvelousLiveTweets [Video Attachment: 0:55 clip of a ballet studio with girls dancing to a routine of classical music. The Mystery Agent (guest star Laura Barton) from Hawkeye’s dream sequence stands in the corner watching them as a woman’s voice off-screen comments how beautiful their potential is, how each of them is a clean slate. But no one’s mind has been quite as malleable as hers, to which the Mystery Agent turns to face the speaker, revealing her as an unknown blonde woman in a black catsuit similar to the one the Mystery Agent wears. She then announces that “they’re ready for us”, and the Mystery Agent takes one last moment to watch the girls before following the blonde woman out of the room.]

Steve Rogers @stevefrombrooklyn - December 25 If this was an obligatory holiday episode, I would’ve fought for a mistletoe kiss right here #MarvelousLiveTweets [Video Attachment: 1:45 clip of Captain in the training room, rapidly beating into a punching bag, unaware of Black Widow walking over to him with a wary expression. His hits quickly grow harder and more violent, until Widow braces her hands against the bag, giving him resistance that snaps him from his trance. His fist slackens, lingering on the bag as the beginnings of a smile form on his lips, before he blinks and glances away. When she asks him what he’s thinking about, he hesitates, then admits that she always had a knack for sneaking up on him, referring to her habit of doing so before she lost her memories. Then he meets her gaze with a real smile this time, small but still there, and says that he’s glad that at least some things haven’t changed. Widow holds his gaze for a moment, then Captain gently turns her by her shoulders so that she’s standing in front of him, facing the punching bag, and tells her to show him what else she might remember, and she smiles widely as she starts punching the bag with swift hits.]

WATCH: ‘Marvelous’ Sneak Peek #1 - 4x04 “Simple Lives” - Scene: Captain and Iron Man in the training room

Marvelous CW - Published on December 25, 2017 - 984,203 views

Access Entertainment! Exclusive: Newlyweds Steve Rogers and Natasha Romanoff Dish on Surprise Wedding

December 30, 2017. 9:58 AM PST.

The confetti and champagne had only just started to settle from our celebration over their engagement, but it seemed like Marvelous co-stars Steve Rogers and Natasha Romanoff weren’t done making us swoon! As everyone was busy tearing into festive wrapping paper and jolly stacks of pancakes on Christmas morning, the cast and crew of Marvelous were online, posting picture after picture of Rogers and Romanoff’s surprise wedding ceremony on the Santorini Coast - taking place only a month after Rogers proposed!

“It’s been three years in the making, so why wait?” Rogers had joked when he and Romanoff called into the Access Entertainment! studio for an exclusive phone interview this morning to serve us all the juicy details. “It’s no secret that I’m impulsive, I know what I want and I go for it, you know? But even before she said yes, even before I bought the ring, we knew there was no waiting for either of us. When it’s right, it’s right.”

Did they know they were getting married when they hopped on that plane at the start of the mid-season filming hiatus? “More or less,” Romanoff laughed. “There wasn’t any announcement or anything, but I went to Jane [Foster, head of costume design for Marvelous] and asked her how realistic was it for her to pull dresses for me without this public mayhem coming about, and then by lunch everyone knew. They were the ones to choose Greece, actually.”

We’re guessing everyone was more than happy to follow? “Of course,” Rogers shared. “If we even attempted to elope, they would’ve ambushed us. But that was always the plan. We talked about it for filming, actually, when Nick [Fury, writer/producer of Marvelous] for Cap and Widow’s wedding in the show - we based it off of them but also a little what we wanted for me and Nat in terms of intimacy and having it outside in some destination place. So having everyone with us like that was always going to be the plan.”

So where are the lovebirds now? “Not in Greece anymore, so sorry if you were already on your way,” Romanoff teases. “We flew in, spent a few days with everyone sight-seeing and eating everything after the wedding, and now we’re somewhere quiet and cozy. We’re soaking up the sun now before we come back and hit the ground running to finish up [filming Marvelous] Season 4.”

Now if only Captain and Widow can turn their “dream” wedding into a real one this season, then our lives would be complete!

“Well, we know he [Captain] gets a ring on her finger, so who knows,” Rogers laughed, referencing the stir caused when Rogers and Romanoff were spotted filming on location at a Toronto shopping mall back in October. Romanoff was spotted wearing an impressive diamond ring on her left hand, and when asked by fans if the ring had to do with the show, Romanoff responded with a coy and cryptic “What do you think?” that we Marvels have spent far too much time wondering about.

Well, until we get a real Captain and Widow wedding, we have plenty to swoon over for Rogers and Romanoff’s ceremony!

What did you think of their beautiful Santorini wedding? Let us know in the comments below!

Here’s Every Photo from the Cast and Crew of ‘Marvelous’ at the Rogers-Romanoff Wedding

‘Marvelous’ Then vs. Now: From First Appearances to Mid-Season Finale Transformations

Most Anticipated ‘Marvelous’ Guest Stars Returning to Season 4

Marvelous @MarvelousCW - January 5 Only 3 days away! #MarvelousSneakPeeks #MarvelousScripttoScreen 404 “Simple Lives” written by @nickfurry ft. @iambuckybarnes @littlewandamaximoff [Image Caption: Screenshot of a script that reads:

INT. FACILITY - SCARLET WITCH ROOM - CONTINUOUS

Scarlet Witch turns her palms upward, watching the red wisps spiral out from her fingertips as the overlapping whispers in her head grow louder. Her mind is bombarded by flashes, nonsensical and overwhelming, and she slowly starts to spiral, the walls closing in on her, her powers humming louder as if about to explode out from inside of her...

WINTER SOLDIER (O.S.) Scarlet?

Scarlet Witch startles when she feels someone touch her, gasping as another memory slams into her - clear and crisp this time, she watches through Winter Soldier’s eyes as his hand just barely misses the Captain’s and he begins to fall, as if being sucked into the snowy blizzard swirling around him. Scarlet Witch is engulfed in his fear, nearly drowning in it - but a rough shake of her shoulders snaps her from the empathetic link, and she realizes she’s on her knees and so is Winter Soldier, his grip on her arms the only thing keeping her upright. He looks visibly shaken, but still in a better state than she is.

WINTER SOLDIER How long?

Scarlet Witch begins to deny, but Winter Soldier doesn’t give her a chance.

WINTER SOLDIER (worried for the answer, but insistent on hearing it) How long has it been this bad?

SCARLET WITCH I’m fine.

WINTER SOLDIER I felt what you felt, and that wasn’t fine. (softer this time, pleading) How long?

Scarlet Witch melts into his embrace, exhausted and entirely defeated, and Winter Soldier holds her like he’s terrified she’s about to break.

SCARLET WITCH Since the lab... They did something to me. They broke something in me and I’m... I’m terrified.

Marvelous @MarvelousCW - January 5 Okay, just ONE more... #MarvelousSneakPeeks #MarvelousScripttoScreen 404 “Simple Lives” written by @nickfurry ft. @stevefrombrooklyn @iambuckybarnes [Image Caption: Screenshot of a script that reads:

INT. FACILITY

Cut to Winter Soldier and Captain in the kitchen, sitting at the island with two cold mugs of tea in front of them, untouched. Both are hunched over in their chairs across from each other, pensive and feeling out of their depths.

WINTER SOLDIER All I can do is just watch her suffer. I couldn’t save her from becoming a science experiment in that lab, can’t save her from her own head...

CAPTAIN That makes two of us.

WINTER SOLDIER What a couple of sad sacks we are. At least Widow seems to be coming around. (back-pedaling, realizing what he’s said) Not that that’s better than losing her memories to begin with...

CAPTAIN No, you’re right. It’s still an improvement. I’m getting parts of her back.

Despite the somber conversation, Winter Soldier gives the Captain a knowing look.

WINTER SOLDIER ‘You’ are? It’s like that now?

CAPTAIN It’s always been. Just took a while to realize it.

Winter Soldier nods, his amusement softening into genuine happiness that Captain has finally caught onto the big picture.

WINTER SOLDIER About damn time.

[Image Caption: Wanda Maximoff, Natasha Romanoff, and Sharon Carter photographed sitting together in their set chairs in full costume. Wanda’s brunette hair is now dyed a fiery light red, Natasha’s red hair is still dyed blonde - as was previously revealed on her guest appearance on The Late Night Show in early December - and Sharon’s blonde hair has been darkened to golden brown.]

967,200 likes

littlewandamaximoff A brunette becomes a redhead, a redhead becomes a blonde, and a blonde becomes a brunette... We’re a little mixed up, but still oh so glad to be back on set for #Marvelous Season 4B! @nataliaromanov @carters13

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JANUARY 7, 2018

[Image Caption: Steve Rogers and Thor Odinson posing together with their arms crossed as they stare each other down. Steve’s once clean-shaven face now has the beginnings of a beard, and his hair has grown out a little more. Thor’s long hair has been cut short - as was previously speculated in glimpses of photos from Rogers and Romanoff’s wedding posted to Instagram in late December, then confirmed when episode stills from the mid-season finale were released to reveal a scene of Maria Hill cutting Thor’s hair.]

900,349 likes

thorodinson Spoiler alert: the season finale will be a battle of our beards. (Another spoiler alert: I crush @stevenrogers into the ground.)

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JANUARY 7, 2018

[Image Caption: Clint Barton, Tony Stark, and Pepper Potts on the Facility control room set. Clint is decked in a new version on his stealth suit, his hair now shaved on the sides and cropped short on top; Pepper wears a new Iron Man suit model, holding the helmet in her hands; and Tony stands in between them, posing with an exaggerated frown on his face.]

931,680 likes

thetonystark Am I the only one that doesn’t get a dramatic transformation this season?? @cbarton @pepperpotts

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JANUARY 7, 2018

[Image Caption: Steve Rogers and Natasha Romanoff sitting at a table at craft services, with Natasha laughing as she sits in Steve’s lap and Steve smiling up at her as he plays with a chunk of her blonde hair.]

MarvelousOfficial Don’t worry Steve, we miss the red, too! @stevenrogers @nataliaromanov #Marvelous #MarvelousSneakPeeks

WATCH: Newlywed ‘Marvelous’ Co-Stars Steve Rogers and Natasha Romanoff are Cozier Than Ever as Season 4 Resumes Filming

AE! News - Published on January 8, 2018 - 905,258 views

A ‘Marvelous’ Way to Get Psyched for the New Year!

December 28, 2017. 10:14 AM PST.

Marvels everywhere were a little (okay, a lot) disappointed when the CW announced they would be pushing back their airing schedule to skip over New Year’s week, meaning that we would wait an extra week between Marvelous Season 4, Episode 3 “Before Dawn” and Episode 4 “Simple Lives”, which would have premiered on New Year’s Day if the network followed its regular airing schedule.

But of course the team at Marvelous knew the perfect way to make it up to us. Not only did they release the official episode synopses for the remaining lineup of Season 4A this morning, but they also announced that the network would be officially renewing Marvelous for a fifth season!

We never doubted it for a second, but there’s nothing quite like the sweet sigh of relief when you hear the word “renewed”!

(Screenshots taken from the official Marvelous Twitter account.)

Marvelous @MarvelousCW - December 28 It’s official, Marvels! Our favorite heroes will be BACK for Season 5!!! #Marvelous

Marvelous @MarvelousCW - December 28 Marvelous Retweeted: Margaret E. Carter @mspeggycarter Yes, you heard right: #Marvelous is officially renewed, and my director’s chair will be right next to @nickfurry all season long!

Marvelous @MarvelousCW - December 28 Marvelous Retweeted: Tony Stark @thetonystark What’s better than Season 5? Season 5 with @twopeasinpott and @jamesrhodesisland as SERIES REGULARS. Finally! #Marvelous

Marvelous @MarvelousCW - December 28 Marvelous Retweeted: Wanda Maximoff @littlewandamaximoff Season 5, here we come!!! So blessed and psyched to have another year working with my favorite people on the planet!! #Marvelous

Marvelous @MarvelousCW - December 28 Marvelous Retweeted: Steve Rogers @stevefrombrooklyn This show has brought me some of the best moments of my life, and also brought me the love of my life @therussianprincessnat - can’t wait to see what this next chapter brings us! #Marvelous

Now that you’re all properly hyped, here’s our official episode guide for the remaining lineup of Marvelous Season 4A:

SIMPLE LIVES - Season 4, Episode 4

Captain (Steve Rogers) and Iron Man (Tony Stark) struggle to reach an agreement when Iron Man suggests that they use Hawkeye’s (Clint Barton) stolen designs to engineer more weapons, which leads to Black Panther (T’challa T’chaka) and Spider-Man (Peter Parker) intervening. Meanwhile, Scarlet Witch (Wanda Maximoff) turns to the Winter Soldier (Bucky Barnes) as her grip on her powers grows more unstable, and Black Widow (Natasha Romanoff) tries to test her skills by undergoing training with Agent Hill (Maria Hill), Agent 13 (Sharon Carter), and the Director (writer/producer, guest star Nick Fury).

Air Date: January 8, 2018

MIND GAMES - Season 4, Episode 5

While Quicksilver (Pietro Maximoff) and Iron Man (Tony Stark) are performing tests on Scarlet Witch (Wanda Maximoff) in an attempt to cure her of the effects suffered from experimentation, a fluctuation of her powers affects several members of the Team caught in its current. Trapped within alternate realities inside their own heads, Thor (Thor Odinson) rejoices having his powers back as a mythological king with his brother Loki (guest star Loki Laufeyson), father Odin (guest star Odin Borson), and mother Frigga (guest star Frigga Asgard) still alive and by his side, though at a grave cost; Captain (Steve Rogers) is thrown back in time to a quiet civilian life where he and Black Widow (Natasha Romanoff) share a son, though the appearance Crossbones (guest star Brock Rumlow) takes a turn for the worst; Black Panther (T’challa T’chaka) governs a peaceful utopian city, until a ghost from his past (guest star Erik Killmonger) threatens to destroy it; and Iron Man enjoys an extravagant lifestyle with Rescue (guest star Pepper Potts) at his side, but he quickly discovers that the absence of War Machine (guest star James Rhodes) has terrifying implications.

Air Date: January 15, 2018

WIDOW’S BITE - Season 4, Episode 6

After discovering a possible way to lure out the Mystery Agent (guest star Laura Barton) that left Iron Man (Tony Stark) for dead and appeared to Hawkeye (Clint Barton) in his dreams, Hawkeye recruits Agent 13 (Sharon Carter) and Falcon (Sam Wilson) to track her down, though the reappearance of an unexpected threat (guest star Yelena Belova) gets in their way. Meanwhile, the Captain (Steve Rogers) and Black Widow (Natasha Romanoff) grow closer as they aid Spider-Man (Peter Parker) in upgrading the Team’s stealth suits. Elsewhere, Agent Hill (Maria Hill) is joined by Thor (Thor Odinson), Quicksilver (Pietro Maximoff), and Iron Man to pursue a lead on the organization that had abducted Scarlet Witch (Wanda Maximoff).

Air Date: January 22, 2018

COUP DE FOUDRE - Season 4, Episode 7

With the Team away, Captain (Steve Rogers), Black Widow (Natasha Romanoff), Winter Soldier (Bucky Barnes), Scarlet Witch (Wanda Maximoff), and Spider-Man (Peter Parker) are left to defend themselves when the Facility comes under attack. Meanwhile, when Agent Hill (Maria Hill) fails to return to their rendezvous point on time, Thor (Thor Odinson) grows restless to find her, and Quicksilver (Pietro Maximoff) and Iron Man (Tony Stark) call Agent 13 (Sharon Carter), Falcon (Sam Wilson), and Hawkeye (Clint Barton) for reinforcements. Elsewhere, Black Panther (T’challa T’chaka) runs into a familiar face (guest star Nakia Shauku) as he carries out a special mission from the Director (writer/producer, guest star Nick Fury).

Air Date: January 29, 2018

GOD’S RIGHTEOUS MAN - Season 4, Episode 8

After fleeing the wreckage from the attack on the Facility, the Captain (Steve Rogers), Black Widow (Natasha Romanoff), Spider-Man (Peter Parker) Winter Soldier (Bucky Barnes), and Scarlet Witch (Wanda Maximoff) seek refuge in a place that brings back ghosts from the Captain and Winter Soldier’s pasts. Elsewhere, Agent Hill (Maria Hill) continues to nurse her wounds with Thor’s (Thor Odinson) care as Iron Man (Tony Stark) reunites with Rescue (guest star Pepper Potts) and War Machine (guest star James Rhodes), who finally gives the Team some good news. Meanwhile, Black Panther (T’challa T’chaka) and Malice (guest star Nakia Shauku) reunite with Man-Ape (guest star M’Baku Jabari), who reveals that Golden Jaguar (guest star Erik Killmonger) has resurfaced.

Air Date: February 5, 2018

SHOT THROUGH THE HEART - Season 4, Episode 9

When Black Panther (T’challa T’chaka) reunites with the Team with his sister (guest star Shuri T’chaka) at his side, she proves to be the missing piece that Spider-Man (Peter Parker) and Iron Man (Tony Stark) need to complete their blueprints, while Agent Hill (Maria Hill) and Thor (Thor Odinson) come to a realization that could change the Team’s next course of action, and the Captain (Steve Rogers) and Black Widow (Natasha Romanoff) unearth vital secrets within the Team’s past that could give them an advantage. Meanwhile, Quicksilver (Pietro Maximoff) confides in the Winter Soldier (Bucky Barnes) about a secret that they fear may threaten Scarlet Witch’s (Wanda Maximoff) newfound control over her enhanced powers, though unknown to them, she is unnerved by a secret of her own. Elsewhere, a risky meeting between Hawkeye (Clint Barton) and the Mystery Agent (guest star Laura Barton) brings out a shocking revelation.

Air Date: February 12, 2018

Is your head spinning? Because ours certainly are!

Which episode are you most excited to see? Let us know in the comments below!

‘Marvelous’ Adds Former ‘Pym Technologies’ Co-Stars Scott Lang and Hope van Dyne to Stellar Guest Star Lineup

‘Marvelous’ Star Bruce Banner to Return as Series Regular in Season 5

Access Entertainment! Exclusive: First Look at Daisy Johnson, Stephen Strange, and Carol Danvers in ‘Marvelous’ Season 4B

[Image Caption: Steve Rogers and Natasha Romanoff standing on the beach in front of a gorgeous sunset. Steve is in a black tuxedo and Natasha is in a flowing white dress, one of her arms draped around Steve’s neck as she holds her bouquet between them. Steve holds Natasha in his arms, their heads are angled together as the camera catches them mid-laugh.]

1,323,019 likes

littlewandamaximoff A perfect picture to capture a perfect day :’) @stevenrogers @nataliaromanov

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DECEMBER 25, 2017

[Image Caption: Steve Rogers in a tuxedo, sitting in a chair in the bridal suite as Natasha Romanoff stands behind him in her wedding dress, her hands covering his eyes as she leans in to speak into his ear, both of them smiling widely.]

1,804,310 likes

ohsnapwilson He wanted to be traditional, but also missed the sound of her voice after 3 hours apart. If that’s not straight out of an epic date night movie, I don’t know what is.

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DECEMBER 25, 2017

[Image Caption: Steve Rogers in a tuxedo and Natasha Romanoff in her wedding dress as the couple dances under a canopy of flowers and twinkling lights against an evening backdrop by the beach. Steve’s head is bent with his face pressed into her hair, one of his hands holding onto one of hers as the other rests at her hip, holding her close as she laughs against his shoulder.]

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nataliaromanov You are the best surprise of my life.

DECEMBER 25, 2017

Steve Rogers @stevefrombrooklyn - January 10 @therussianprincessnat hey.. i love you :)

Natasha A. Romanoff @therussianprincessnat - January 10 Replying to Steve Rogers: i’m sitting right next to you, you dork

Natasha A. Romanoff @therussianprincessnat - January 10 Replying to Steve Rogers: ps. i love you too :)

#romanogers #steve rogers #natasha romanoff #chanty writes #marvelous 'verse

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imaginedmelody · 6 years ago

Text

I think I’m finally ready to try and write my “The Magicians” season finale reaction post.

I’ve been collecting my thoughts on this for the last almost-week, because I knew that this post would be a difficult one; it’s hard to sort through all the opinions and feelings and put them down in a way that makes sense. I’ll try to hit on my major takeaways under the readmore. Bear in mind that my reaction is mixed. Conflicted is the word I’ve been using. I really sympathize with the pain that much of the fandom is feeling, even if I don’t feel it on a level that’s the same (or perhaps comparable) to theirs. I’ll try to dig into that in this post a bit.

I’m a new viewer to this show, as I’ve said many times before. I tried to watch it two years ago, and found it confusing in that I felt like it failed to resonate with me even though I still felt strangely drawn to it. I would watch an episode, feel unsatisfied and only barely interested, but then the next day I would feel oddly compelled to watch the next one. After about 5 episodes of season 1, I gave up. I picked it back up again about 9 weeks ago; I guess I was one of the many viewers who came along because of 4x05, although I didn’t realize that was why I was pulled back in- I just started seeing more and more about the show on my social media again, and it was enough to make me want to give it another try.

This time, I was hooked. I marathon-watched the whole show in probably 4-5 weeks and loved almost every moment (except for a couple of the really distressingly disturbing ones). I was so moved by 3x05, “A Life in the Day,” that I wrote this post about how the show felt like a missing piece had slotted into place at the end of that episode; like a photo that you don’t realize is slightly out of focus until someone adjusts the resolution and it just resolves. I got caught up enough to livetweet somewhere around episode 7 or 8 of season 4, and have been enjoying my integration into the fandom, although I’m still very peripherally a part of it.

I say all this because, as a new viewer, the fallout of 4x13 has been...confusing. Not confusing as in “I don’t understand why this is happening,” but in the sense that the fandom’s collective grief can feel kind of alienating to new viewers. That’s not intentional on the part of seasoned fans, and it’s not something that anyone should feel responsible for or obligated to change. It’s just difficult because we have only just invested in the show. We may be devastated at the loss of Quentin, many of us for the same reasons longtime viewers are (the loss of queer representation, for instance, or the way it seemed to counteract the positive development of a mentally ill character). But at the same time, a lot of us are more positive overall, even if we think killing off that character was a bad choice. We’re still kind of wrapped up in our enthusiasm, so that our grief just feels like another strong emotion we’re feeling, rather than a betrayal. And it can be awkward because we don’t want to express that too boldly or strongly, because we don’t want to appear to be trivializing the grief of other fans. I think that’s an unfair position that the show, not the fans, puts us in. We’re already new to the community, and now we feel less engaged in what is very much a communal emotional response. Positivity feels like rubbing salt in other fans’ wounds. So we’re not sure where we stand.

I was in shock when the show killed off Quentin. Like most viewers, I couldn’t believe it. I waited for them to find a way to reverse it. It was like a hole forming in my heart when they didn’t. I mentioned on twitter later that night that I cry all the time when I watch TV and movies- literally, if something is in any way beautiful, or sad, or exciting, or happy, I’m getting teary-eyed. But once the credits roll and the story is done, my emotional response is usually finished too. If I’m gonna react to it in any other way, it’ll be intellectual (through meta or fanfic) rather than emotional.

But when this episode ended, I finished my cup of tea, went upstairs, and got in the shower. And all of a sudden, before I even knew it, I was crying. It had been 15 minutes since the episode ended and I was still emotional enough to cry. Since then, because I’m a glutton for emotion who likes to lean into anything that makes me feel strongly, I’ve rewatched the episode once and the “Take On Me” scene like eight times- and every single time I’ve cried, even if it’s just a little. It touches some raw emotional place in me that very few shows get to. And I think I’m in awe of that as much as I’m in pain because of it.

I never quite got to the outrage that other fans did, though. That could be for a number of reasons- less prolonged attachment as a new viewer (although I feel very attached to the show and characters); greater privilege to not feel personally attacked by the loss; just having more emotional energy to engage with the scene. But I felt simultaneously anguished and energized by the episode, including the death. It broke my heart, but it also pulled me in. It’s very confusing. I’m angry at how things increasingly seem to have been mishandled, and I’m disappointed at the fallout this has for the show and the fans, and I’m in disagreement with the validity of the choice. But I still feel engaged and almost excited by it. That’s a hard balance to reconcile.

It really does seem to me like the writers dropped the ball. The fact that they knew they were killing Quentin off bothers me, but actually, the thing that I find most galling is that the other actors weren’t in on the plan. We have it on good authority that they filmed a fake scene, where presumably Q comes back somehow, and all the actors were led to believe that was what was in the episode until two days before the finale, when they were told the truth for the first time. My question is: why? Did they not trust the actors to keep the secret? I can kind of understand faking out the audience, but why play that mind game with your actors, who are part of the creative team and should know what’s going on? Why deprive them of the chance to say goodbye to Jason Ralph as a fellow cast member? So far, in every interview, no one has really explained what the point of that fakeout was. If I was an actor on the show, I’d feel really upset about that.

The other thing that’s really been grinding my gears is something that I saw mentioned in comments before I ever saw it in context in the article (and thank you to everyone who helped me find the source). It’s a quote from John McNamara, one of the showrunners, from an article in the Hollywood Reporter, in which he says this about the decision to kill off Q:

“... in a way, I'm not sure what we would have done with the character had he lived.”

I took issue with that statement for two reasons. The first is from a writing craft perspective. I understand wanting to take risks and shake up expectations, and I understand that “kill someone off” is common writing advice when you get stuck in a project. But it’s my firm belief that the main character (and even on an ensemble show like this, yes, there is a clear lead character) should pretty much always be safe. Because the premise of the show is structured in some essential way around him; that’s why he’s the lead. And that’s why almost every show that gets rid of its main character, either by recasting or just removing and replacing with other characters, goes downhill in quality- because that original character was integral to the story.

I’ve said before that literally the only story I can think of that is better for having killed off its protagonist is friggin’ Julius Caesar. When I teach that play, we discuss at that moment in Act 3- and then again at the end of the play- what it means for the narrative if your title character dies halfway through his story. What it means that Marc Antony is the lead for the rest of the play. How Caesar is still so central to the plot even though he’s dead. Part of the reason this doesn’t work on TV- the reason the plot can’t still centralize the character they killed in the narrative- is because a play is a single self-contained entity that you consume all at once, and a TV series is, well, serialized. The show can’t keep centering a character who’s no longer present, because it wouldn’t resonate in a long-form narrative that you consume in small installments. That’s why shows that kill off characters don’t keep bringing them up. They throw in a couple of heartfelt moments that directly or indirectly reference the character, and then they move on and you’re supposed to let them go. A protagonist has to live to keep being important to the story.

So I am of the firm belief that if your main character has outlived his usefulness, the problem is with your narrative as a whole, not with that particular character. If you can’t think of anywhere meaningful for that character to go, you don’t need to kill him off- you need to restructure your whole story so that it’s responsive to him again. It doesn’t have to revolve around him all the time- the show has frequently centered around other characters prominently and effectively, and Q doesn’t have to be in the spotlight all the time- but if he’s no longer relevant? Your whole story has a problem.

But the second thing that aggravates me about that comment is this: not only do I think Q should not ever become decentralized and disconnected from his show’s narrative, I don’t think he has. The events of this season provided so much room to develop that character. He learned his discipline (minor mendings), which has tremendous practical usefulness as well as symbolic significance. “Escape From the Happy Place” reopened a potential relationship that contains a whole wellspring of emotional resonance as well as complication. His father died- you can do a lot with the grief related to that. His reconnection with Alice felt hollow to me, but even that could be useful narratively (especially if she goes on to lead the Library, which could create a layer of separation and potential for either teamwork or conflict of interest that could sustain several intriguing narratives). Even his tendency toward suicidal self-sacrifice could have been brought up; the conversation he had with Penny about whether he was trying to be a hero or just finally finding a way to kill himself could be had after a failed self-sacrifice attempt just as meaningfully as a successful one.

Quentin has been filled with potential this entire season in the storyline. All of this plus his emotional reckoning with Fillory in the scene where he brings the garden back to life... it seemed like the writers spent the whole season re-establishing all the potential Q had. It didn’t read like a season in which the writers didn’t know what to do with him any more. So the decision to kill him off does seem purely like an effort to challenge themselves as writers and wrong-foot the fans. Which I don’t think is enough of a reason to do it.

Because here’s the thing: I’m a writer too, and I understand that the dichotomy of pursuing your own writing vision and capitulating to the fans’ wants and needs is a delicate one. Writers hate being told what to write, and with social media and fan conventions and other very close forms of engagement, fans have more ways to make their desires known than perhaps ever before. They have every right to make the choice that supports their creative vision, and to do things that force them to stretch their limits as creators. But this feels like it went wildly off its mark. It feels less like an experiment and more like a careless move, and I think they could have approached it a lot better.

I wouldn’t rule out seeing Q again on the show one day. I think if they’re willing to fake us all out once, they’d do it again. I’m comforted by the fact that they appear to have consulted the author early in the process and gotten his blessing, although his comments since then seem to walk back his involvement or contradict what the showrunners have said. (Whether that’s because they’ve overstated his involvement or enthusiasm, or whether he was involved in the decision and is now trying to distance himself from the fallout, it’s impossible to say.)

What is less heartening for me is that some of these writers/creators come from Supernatural, a show that has gone on for far too long and has been retreading tired old ground for years. I only watched to about season 8, but it just feels like an endless cycle of similar plot arcs and killing off and resurrecting the same characters over and over again. The Magicians, admittedly, feels a lot more well-crafted, so I don’t think they’d get as lazy as SPN seems to be- but it’s still a worry, all the same.

(Side note: I am often adamant that unless it’s a legacy franchise like Doctor Who, most shows should intentionally be constructed to be a maximum of 5-7 seasons. I think a lot of broadcast shows are less high-quality because they are just vague pitches that get riffed into a show; the writers and creators don’t come into it with an endpoint in mind, so the show goes on as long as they can add any material at all to it or until they get cancelled, whichever comes first. That means that the plot feels aimless and unstructured. The difference between “prestige TV” and “regular TV” is not just better writing and acting overall- it’s that those shows tend to have a very defined arc, and they know where they’re going, so everything is in service of a common idea. Not just a vague and easily sellable premise that can have a ton of stuff derived from it with little effort. I think The Magicians sits above most broadcast shows in quality, but this is where it is starting to show its weak points. And that’s why I think the creators need to be very deliberate about making sure everything going forward contributes to a very defined arc.)

So that’s where I am right now. Emotionally a wreck; disappointed in the process of this choice and feeling the grief other fans feel; strangely invigorated at the same time? Unsure where to go from here, really. Still committed to watching the show as much as I ever have been, but wary at the same time. It’s complicated. But I’m ready to embrace the complexity of it.

#the magicians #the magicians spoilers #imaginedmelody writes meta #(although i don't know if this is really meta?)

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miasswier · 6 years ago

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miasswier’s ultimate glee ranking: 44

44: Special Education

Written by: Brad Falchuk Directed by: Paris Barclay

Overall Thoughts: I actually really enjoy this episode! It doesn’t quite measure up to Furt, but as far as competition episodes go I think it’s pretty strong. Will is actually a decent teacher for once (even though Emma has to push him to be so), and basically everybody gets their moment in the limelight, even if it’s for just a brief period of time. I love episodes like this that really remind you that Glee is an ensemble show.

What I Like:

Everybody has a little role to play in this episode, and the ones who don’t really get storylines (Quinn, Sam, Mercedes) still get to sing and be the center of attention for a little bit. Give me all that ensemble shit.

Kurt looks so goddamn cute in his Warbler outfit.

They actually manage to balance McKinley and Dalton fairly well. It doesn’t feel like McKinley is being left in the dust, but neither does it feel like Kurt is completely forgotten. Plus, it’s kind of nice to see Kurt in a scenario where the only person he’s being overshadowed by is his best friend, whom he interacts with regularly. I know some people were frustrated that they sent him to Dalton, but I really loved it. It really gave him the opportunity to shine.

Blaine laughing to himself when Kurt’s joke about working at a cat rescue at the bottom of a coal mine totally flops.

Will calling Rachel out for her bad attitude and bad sportsmanship. It’s funny how she was so intent on getting Sam to stay in ND because “we need him if we want to win Nationals!” but as soon as he compromises her star power he’s on her shit list. Oh, Rachel.

Although I wish this hadn’t happened in front of the whole goddamn choir room, and I wish the context had been different, I do still think Santana was in the right by telling Rachel about her and Finn. Finn shouldn’t have lied about that (telling someone you’re a virgin when you’re not is shitty as fuck), and honestly, if Santana hadn’t spilled the beans I feel like Finn never would have.

Carl and Emma getting married. Even if it only last six episodes, I still think they were cute and good together.

“Wait, you didn’t know about that?” OH KURT

That whole scene in the green room is just absolutely amazing. I agree with Lauren – best greenroom ever.

“And you let me comb my hair with it?”

“I’m not nervous. And you know why? Because show choir is stupid.”

BASICALLY EVERYTHING ABOUT LAUREN ZIZES I LITERALLY ADORE HER.

Puck crying during the hipster’s performance.

Puck standing up for Kurt to Karofsky.

“Where’s Puck? I haven’t seen him since yesterday and I need him to get me a churro.”

What I Don’t Like:

I wish Rachel had broken up with Finn for lying to her about Santana. I don’t like that they took the “I’m not mad you had sex, I’m mad you had sex with her” approach, because it makes it look like Santana is this demon sex lady who spoiled Finn for Rachel with her magical vagina which is all kinds of racist. I’m sorry, but if my SO told me they were a virgin and then it turned out they’d lied, I would be super pissed, and honestly wouldn’t even care about who they had sex with. I just don’t like how this whole thing played out.

Rachel cheating on Finn with Puck. It was vindictive and awful, but also it just goes to show yet again that Glee doesn’t fucking know how to break their couples up without having somebody cheat. Also, it felt like a really cheap way of making Finn the victim so that the rest of the season could focus on Rachel pining after him and trying to get with him yet again, and so that he wouldn’t look like as much of a douche when he got back with Quinn. Also, it was SUPER out of character.

The whole magic comb storyline. One of my issues with the way that Brittany is portrayed by fandom (and why I have such a hard time reading fics where she’s involved as a major character) is how she’s always infantilized because, for a lot of the show, she wasn’t. But here, she is. Actually, for most of her relationship with Artie she is. I don’t know if it was some kind of way to flip the power dynamic (Brittany is popular and a cheerleader, but she’s the one who needs Artie because she’s like a five-year-old) or what, but I really don’t like it. She’s not very smart, but she isn’t a child, and I hate when they portray her like she is (especially since she’s meant to be such a sexually empowered character).

As I mentioned before, I don’t like the context of Santana telling Rachel about her and Finn. I do think she was in the right, but I really wish it had been in the context of “yo, your boyfriend is lying to you, you deserve better” and not “I’m a bitch and hate you for no reason and want to cause drama”. Hashtag Glee Hates Girls.

Blaine is a real dink to Kurt after he auditions for his solo. Go away Blaine, those are not encouraging words.

Kurt going to Rachel instead of Mercedes for song advice. It felt so contrived, and honestly, I wish that their friendship had continued from Duets and not from this, because in Duets it felt natural, but here it’s just like “oh, this is just an excuse for Rachel to sing a song.”

Rachel telling Kurt “this has to be personal, this is about you” and then instantly making it all about her. Shut the fuck up, Rachel, go throw your pity party somewhere else.

Songs:

Don’t Cry for Me Argentina: I like this song, but as I literally just said, I don’t like that Rachel was like “this is about you” and then made it all about herself and the pain she was feeling. That being said, the moment when Kurt raises his hands and Blaine gestures that he shouldn’t is one of my favourite Klaine moments of all time.

The Living Years: I think this performance is kinda funny, and Puck crying is hilarious.

Hey, Soul Sister: Blaine may be a dink in this episode, but boy can sing. This is one of my fave Blaine solos, actually. I love this song as is, and he sounds amazing on it. I’m literally weak for Darren Criss’s voice.

(I’ve Had) The Time of My Life: A really fun, energetic number. Quinn and Sam sound better on this one than they do on “Lucky”. Plus, it’s nice seeing someone other than Finn and Rachel leading the charge.

Valerie: This song is GAY. Mainly because it makes me feel gay things. The dance is awesome, too. I have no idea how Brittany managed some of those flips in heels. Amazing.

Dog Days Are Over: I love this song, and I’m so happy they gave it to Mercedes and Tina instead of Rachel because Rachel would not have sounded good here, and Mercedes and Tina kill it. I love this performance. The end, when they’re all hugging, brings tears to my eyes. Ah, the nostalgia. Good ol’ Glee.

Final Thoughts: While there are definitely things that frustrate me about this episode, I still think it’s really strong. The music is good, the plots flow, and everyone gets a chance to shine. To top it all off, it has some pretty funny moments. Considering how weak the rest of season two has been thus far, I think it definitely stands out. There’s also a nostalgia element for me. I still remember watching this for the first time and geeking the fuck out at Blaine patting Kurt on the knee. Ah, young love.

#ultimate glee ranking

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shoushatohaisha · 7 years ago

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review: hajimari no kyojin (osaka 6/1)

so. hello. i usually write up my butai thoughts as, um, 100+ tweet threads in the immediate wake of whatever i just saw, but this time around i thought i'd work them out into a proper report, of a sort. if you, too, have seen this show already and want to talk about it... please. any time. always.

about reviewing: this is my very favorite 2.5D franchise, ever. but this is also a review, not a cheerleading exercise, so not every single thing i have to say is unrelentingly positive. having said that, i respect kinoshita, wada, suga-zachou, and the staff at large more than just about any creative team in this corner of japanese theater fandom so like. i'm not here to drag, lol.

about spoilers: i talk about the plot elements covered but try to avoid spoiling any of the fun production surprises. :) happy to do a more spoilery play-by-play later if folks are curious.

about length: i just checked and it's 2400 words im so sorry.

without further ado...

first of all, i admit that based on the preview clips i doubted, and i was swiftly taken to task for doubting. IM SORRY WORRY-SAN i trust u implicitly and i should have known better. after the major changes in shinka no natsu, i was concerned that bringing back the revolving stage and the original opening theme would feel stale/regressive. it did not. while they did bring back the revolving element they also extended the stage backward and added a second level behind a full stage height projection screen – the second level was used to do some neat staging for flashbacks/parallels and the screen was used to, how shall we say this, up their projection game in a major way, which i frankly did not think was possible. i will not spoil the details but it was pretty great, on a purely technical level.

i also realized that a lot of the repetition – opening with the bike scene, bringing back the original opening credits music, the staging, etc – is the "look back" over the last couple years that i'd expected to come this fall. they are very obviously already preparing for the end – you could think of this as part one of their last show, with the fall as part two. the show opens with a restaging of sixth grader hinata seeing the little giant on tv for the first time – then the current karasuno team take the place of the tv and hinata joins them for a team jog. "karasuno, fight!" "oh!" "fight!" "oh!" only then each character calls out their signature line from the show so far. "uchi no renchuu wa chanto tsuyoi" / "mou tobenai karasu nante yobasenai" / "murabito b mo tatakaemasu!"

and haha. let me tell you. BOY, DID I FEEL THINGS. a lot of things. i think yachi got me the worst but they were all real bad. (i have so many feelings about yachi's story and what a beautiful job saitou ami did with her character on stage. god. ;_;)

the theme of this play was the role of captain – what makes a good captain, what a captain does for the team, and how to step into those shoes when the captain is gone. the johzenji match is fun, but here, in a sense, it exists more or less to set up the wakutani match – (re)establishing daichi's importance so that his absence feels like the gut punch it is. and fully settling the weight of that responsibility on ennoshita's shoulders, as both daichi's substitute on the court and the captain-in-waiting.

with that in mind, the rival schools: imo it wasn't strictly necessary to cast full teams for each school – each match got its own dedicated act, and unlike, for example, nekoma/datekou in karasuno fukkatsu (which had a similar story structure), there aren't really any individual characters on these rival schools who have a role as such other than terushima and takeru. (you know, the captains. see above. XD) so in theory one could get this done with, like, one actor for each captain and then an ensemble cast playing the rest of the team across both matches. HOWEVER, having all those bodies allows them to do super cool stuff visually, and why force yourself to create the illusion of a full team if you don't have to? i.e., /i/ sure am not complaining, isn't it nice to have $$$ to achieve the max vision of your choreographer. XD

i also have no doubt that the kids playing these other characters are doing whatever they can to create a character within the ensemble, and i suspect there's plenty for repeat viewers to pick up on, esp during say the johzenji match (see below). however for the first time viewer following the main flow of the story it's more or less a very large ensemble cast.

the johzenji chaos was well expressed, haha, there was so damn much going on all the time that i hardly knew where to look. (i've also seen opinions on j-twitter that that diluted the impact and i can see that too – it worked for me as a "funny" match that didn't cross the line into comic relief, but ymmv.) i thought the final scene with misaki would pack more of a punch, but i fully expect them to cry at daisenshuuraku so that might fill in the last 10% that's missing rn.

wakutani are another Good Dance Team. one did get a sense, stylistically, of fukurodani- and nekoma-lite with johzenji and wakunan, respectively – i assume that was intentional. mirroring the cats vs owls match, as it were. yanagihara rin's takeru was like… scary?? i had to rewatch those episodes this weekend to see if i'd just forgotten something, but no, stage takeru is not so much reliable middle brother as scowly quiet tough guy. he looked like a kyoutani tbh, and looking at the kid actually cast for kyoutani, one wonders if someone in casting mixed up some paperwork or something. having said that, yanagihara was great at being the character he was, i enjoyed what he did on stage. i'm just not sure that character was takeru. XD (edit: ok having just rewatched, i have to revise this somewhat, i think a big part of my impression was due to being too far back to properly see his expressions the first time around -- up close he was much smilier, and bc i was thinking about it i noticed some nice details like him going over for a family hug afterward.) otoh big post-match scene – all of wakutani, actually – was really good. v effective, i heard sniffles around me.

during this match, johzenji reappeared dressed as takeru's family: FUCKING HILARIOUS omg, everyone involved has clearly learned how to do this right wrt blocking, the very fine line between comic relief and intrusion, etc, after the, er, shaky shousha to haisha experiment of kuroken doubling as oikawa's fangirls. seichou shita na, errone.

also, some great wire work for hinata and takeru – you could tell kenta is really comfortable up there these days. the first time the wires came into play one of the women behind me went "UWO!" which, when a japanese theatergoer makes a noise out loud, that's a true sign something's impressive. XD

nekoma vs fukurodani: Yeah, That Happened. it is a testament to how well done karasuno vs wakunan was that i didn't just spend the entire time screeching BRING BACK CATS VS OWLS because fjkdajfkdlsfjd KYAA. another good staging moment – they used mirrors to create the effect of two full teams playing at a crowded gymnasium, it was brill. i won't spoil some of the fun details but vvjakdlfjdf. and tbh i think the best performance of the four was probably shouri's?? not that this is news but istg idk how someone so soft offstage does THAT on stage. is it this "acting" thing you speak of.

new bokuaka: i mean it was clear some of this material was meant for yoshimoto kouki and i did kinda miss him – i appreciate higashi-san's pinch hitting and he did a solid job. but. ah well. HAVING SAID THAT. fucking "michi wo tsukurimasu yo" i mean we should all be grateful it wasn't kouki and yuuki or it would have just been a fucking fanfic on stage. it was still bad and i don't even go here. XD

and last but not least, arita ushiwaka kenji: not exactly the world's most natural line delivery but that's fine because, i mean, he's ushiwaka. and his physical presence was perfect. which was about all he was called on to do in this particular show, ahaha.

now, for karasuno. and specifically, for my son, kawahara kazuma. remember what i said approximately a thousand words ago, about captains and captains in waiting and stepping up to the plate? (or onto the court, as it were.) ennoshita's story was the heart of the wakutani match and kazuma carried the second act. he was. so. good. he had good material to work with, of course, but he made it even better. i was saying to a friend that in retrospect i think this is one of the very very few parts of the series that actually played better and more emotionally affecting on stage than in the source material (as opposed to differently good/differently affecting). in the manga/anime, you can only see what the paneling or the frame shows you, and those initial paneling/framing choices are focused on the drama of CAPTAIN DOWN. but on the stage, daichi goes down… and off to the side you see ennoshita freeze. and from that moment on, for kazuma, it's go time. he doesn't let up until the end of post-match scene in (here) the locker room – which, jesus, that scene. it packs ten times the punch it does in the anime. because of kazuma.

sorry if i sound like a crazy person here ahaha. but like. like, imagine you have been acting since childhood, you've studied dance with famous choreographers and innovators, you had a main role in The Franchise That Changed 2.5D as a teenager, you've done a solo album, you have a serious history in performing arts... and you get cast in what was initially the smallest role of the entire karasuno team. and you take it! and pull your weight! kazuma was a team player for three years and he deserved this chance to let his actual skills shine so much. ;_; because i don't necessarily think he would have been better in any of the other roles than his actual teammates – but i do think he is a much better actor than several of his actual teammates. and he finally got the opportunity to show that.

anyway, when it came time for curtain calls, the applause swelled noticeably for kazuma – a louder ovation than anyone except kagechan and kenta. and one of those people clapping her hands off, say in row 20, just a random row choice, was definitely tearing up at the same time.

IN OTHER KARASANEWS. kt-san. LIVE IN PERSON KT-SAN BACK IN THE ROLE HE WAS MEANT FOR cries into my hands i love him daichi-saaaaaaaaaan. very occasionally his delivery reminded me he's a model not an actor, if you know what i mean, but like, for the vast part it didn't matter because he is naturally such a perfect fit. have i mentioned i love him.

new suga: mmmmm. he looked and moved fine but his line delivery did not convince me. tbf it's not like suga has a huge role to play in these matches so 1) it's not a huge deal 2) he didn't get much chance to get into the character. either he'll get better or he won't, and if he doesn't it's not going to sink the next play or anything. he seems like a nice enough kid, i wish him well!

kageyama tatsuya: still can't yell and enunciate at the same time. loved that they brought back the archer analogy from shinka no natsu though!! it was one of my favorite things about his kageyama, and it's nice that it's something he "owns" instead of imitating/inheriting from tatsunari.

tsukishima & yamaguchi: miura kairi continues to get even better, i'm so pleased. <3 also, i love love love that they still use the musical motif from shousha to haisha for yamaguchi's jump float serve. it was the same in shinka no natsu, it's the same here. THE TSUKKIYAMA WAS REAL CUTE, great detail work before and after the serve as well as after tsukki's block(s). as for tsukishima, much as they brought back kageyama's archer imagery, they brought back tsukki's fancy katana kill block. (they didn't waste kondou shouri, either, i'll leave it at that.)

last but not least, MY ACTUAL SON AND FEELINGS TWIN, SUGA KENTA: ok like. to set the scene here. i have mad respect for this kid and also love him to death as a human. i think he puts more thought into this production than anyone else in the cast – he is practically worry-san's AD. and he clearly has a lot of real deep thoughts and feelings about the source material. so deep in fact that it took a while for me to come around to his hinata because while, for example, tatsunari's kageyama could have walked straight off my television screen, kenta went down to the manga and built hinata up from there. he didn't have a choice – he's nothing like murase ayumu's voice. all too often we, and i include myself here, think of the two dimensions in 2.5D as anime, rather than manga... but just as there's a big gap between the two dimensions of animation and the three dimensions of live theater, there's as big a gap again between static black-and-white drawing, and movement and color and sound. and when i looked at kenta's hinata as something created solely from furudate's art style, it all slotted into place for me. (naturally, ymmv.)

it also took kenta longer than some of the others, i think, to portray all of what he wanted to. shoen hinata was pretty yelly, and pretty single-register yelly. hinata is a yelly character, of course, but the balance between that hinata and Serious Match Hinata was out of whack at first. this got better and better with every show. and then—

his encounter with ushiwaka here. was IT. it was what i was looking for all this time. his delivery of hinata's big line there was like – i think maybe i clapped my hands over my mouth, unclear, bc it was like the final missing piece and i was so happy. kentaaaaa. ;____;

part of me wonders if this is what kenta's always had in his head but maybe couldn't get his face/voice to express the way he wanted it? OR, IT'S KENTA, SO MAYBE IT WAS ON PURPOSE and his previous Serious Hinata was meant to be like, just a feral hunger child whereas this is the kid who experienced the heartbreak of losing to seijou. i would love to ask him tbh. XD

anyway, my son, after five plays continues to grow in his portrayal of this character. kenta is the heart of gekidan haikyuu in so many ways, and i will be at their graduation show if it kills me.

(breathes out) i think that's. everything. a best setter award to anyone who read this far, and feel free to ask if there's anything specific you want to know about? i will be seeing it again this weekend for daisenshuuraku and will be sure to report back on who cried, etc. all hail volleyball stage the end. 🏐

#review #engeki haikyuu #hajimari no kyojin #im sorry i have so many feelings #AND THIS IS THE EDITED VERSION #i spared you my intensive theories on how kazuma ended up in this role in the first place #i just #look #i love this production so much

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