#we need more creepy powerful undoubtedly good guys

[kacievvbbbb]

I love that everytime this dude gets serious, when he really pops off. He possesses all the chill of a horror movie villain.

Dude looking like he came straight from the grudge stalking toward Jogo like that 😭

[dontbipanicjonsa]

Dutiful Sansa Stark

Plus some extra stuff about perceptions and POV traps

Read under the cut-

Tyrion 

"No," Sansa said at once. "You . . . you are kind to offer, but . . . there are no devotions, my lord. No priests or songs or candles. Only trees, and silent prayer. You would be bored."

"No doubt you're right." She knows me better than I thought. "Though the sound of rustling leaves might be a pleasant change from some septon droning on about the seven aspects of grace." Tyrion waved her off. "I won't intrude. Dress warmly, my lady, the wind is brisk out there."

He was tempted to ask what she prayed for, but Sansa was so dutiful she might actually tell him, and he didn't think he wanted to know.

xxx

He wondered what Sansa would do if he leaned over and kissed her right now. Flinch away, most likely. Or be brave and suffer through it, as was her duty. She is nothing if not dutiful, this wife of mine. If he told her that he wished to have her maidenhead tonight, she would suffer that dutifully as well, and weep no more than she had to.

Littlefinger

A true daughter would not refuse her sire a kiss, so Alayne went to him and kissed him, a quick dry peck upon the cheek, and just as quickly stepped away.

"How . . . dutiful." Littlefinger smiled with his mouth, but not his eyes.

xxx

She hugged him dutifully and kissed him on the cheek. "I am sorry to intrude, Father. No one told me you had company."

"You are never an intrusion, sweetling. I was just now telling these good knights what a dutiful daughter I had."

"Dutiful and beautiful," said an elegant young knight whose thick blond mane cascaded down well past his shoulders.

That's a lot of dutiful.

On the surface it seems like these two situations- one with Tyrion and one with LF- parallel each other; creepy, older men interested in Sansa think she's too 'dutiful' because she suffers through their attentions. However, when we dig deeper it becomes clear that the two situations actually contrast in subtle ways.

Tyrion

Tyrion calls her dutiful, but what duty is she fulfilling? She actually fails to fulfil her biggest duty to him i.e. having his babies (ew).

Or rather, she refuses to do her duty to him.

"On my honor as a Lannister," the Imp said, "I will not touch you until you want me to."

It took all the courage that was in her to look in those mismatched eyes and say, "And if I never want you to, my lord?"

His mouth jerked as if she had slapped him. "Never?"

Cue me falling ever deeper in love

This is a powerful scene. Tyrion is willing to give her an inch, but she goes and takes a mile. She could have just said "yes, I'll let you know when I want you" and then never let him know, but instead she said that. His plan was to postpone the consummation, but now she’s taken the opportunity to tell him that if she had her way, they would never consummate their marriage. He can still go through with it, but with this one statement (knowingly or unknowingly) she's put the onus of choice on him. He can still touch her, he can still consummate the marriage- but Sansa will never want him to. It’s still her ‘duty’ to suffer through it, but now any future sexual contact between them is undoubtedly in the non-con category.

That doesn't sound like Sansa is just reluctant to do her duty, it sounds like she's rejecting it.

In fact, Sansa is basically never shown to think about her 'duties' as his wife. Eating lunch with him may be her 'duty', but she isn't doing it for that reason. She's doing it because what other choice does she have?

Honestly I'm not sure where he even gets the idea that she's oh-so-dutiful, because as far as I can tell, she's really just doing the bare minimum she can get away with doing as his political-prisoner-child-bride.

Sansa does not, for a single second, give a flying fuck about her duty to Tyrion and I love her for it.

And yet, Tyrion's my-dutiful-wife false belief is what allows her to get away with planning her escape. Tyrion fails to be suspicious of her even when he absolutely should be re: that first quote.

So-

Tyrion likes to think Sansa is dutiful (for some reason).

Sansa is not dutiful.

Sansa doesn't seem to be aware that Tyrion thinks she is, but it works to her advantage nevertheless.

Littlefinger

Now in Littlefinger's case she really is playing the dutiful daughter.

This time, fulfilling her 'duty' as his daughter is in her best interest, because it acts as an excuse to avoid what he really wants from her. It's basically the reverse of the Tyrion Situation.

So-

Littlefinger thinks Sansa is dutiful because she is.

She's acting dutiful on purpose (to diffuse his sexual attraction (ew) towards her).

Clearly, it's working to her advantage.

Now, onto the extra stuff-

We have this-

Dontos chuckled. "My Jonquil's a clever girl, isn't she?"

"Joffrey and his mother say I'm stupid."

"Let them. You're safer that way, sweetling.

xxx

"The g-g-godswood, my lord," she said, not daring to lie. "Praying . . . praying for my father, and . . . for the king, praying that he'd not be hurt."

"Think I'm so drunk that I'd believe that?" He let go his grip on her arm, swaying slightly as he stood, stripes of light and darkness falling across his terrible burnt face. "You look almost a woman . . . face, teats, and you're taller too, almost . . . ah, you're still a stupid little bird, aren't you?

xxx

"There's to be so much, my lord. I have a little tummy." She fiddled nervously with her hair and looked down the table to where Joffrey sat with his Tyrell queen.

Does she wish it were her in Margaery's place? Tyrion frowned. Even a child should have better sense.

Sansa goes under the radar so well in KL because people think she's too stupid to do anything. Again, we see Tyrion, an overall smart guy, fail to be suspicious of Sansa's very suspicious behavior nevermind that she IS a child you asshole because he thinks she's stupid.

So-

People think Sansa is stupid

She's not stupid. We also don't see Sansa actively encouraging that perception, which makes sense because-

she doesn't need to. They do that all by themselves and

she's too busy believing she really is stupid, poor kid

3. It works to her advantage anyway.

Which leads me to-

"I forgot, you've been hiding under a rock. The northern girl. Winterfell's daughter. We heard she killed the king with a spell, and afterward changed into a wolf with big leather wings like a bat, and flew out a tower window. But she left the dwarf behind and Cersei means to have his head."

xxx

"Your Grace has forgotten the Lady Sansa," said Pycelle.

The queen bristled. "I most certainly have not forgotten that little she-wolf."

xxx

"The dwarf's wife did the murder with him," swore an archer in Lord Rowan's livery. "Afterward, she vanished from the hall in a puff of brimstone, and a ghostly direwolf was seen prowling the Red Keep, blood dripping from his jaws."

So-

People thinking Sansa murdered Joffrey with her witchy wolf ways.

She didn't.

???

I am SO looking forward to see where this goes.

More extra stuff-

This entire post grew out of me obsessing over this post.

It got me thinking that out of the six core characters, Sansa is the most observed one. We see her in real time through the chapters of other POV characters the most. I counted. My count can be up or down by about one or two chapters, but I have Sansa pegged at around 15 chapters, followed by Tyrion at 11, then A*ya (around 9), then Jon (around 8), then Bran (4), and then D*ny (0). This is exacerbated by the fact that Sansa has some of the least number of POV chapters of the 'core six'. This means that-

We see Sansa more (or at more than others) from other POVs than her own. In other words, we get to be in Sansa's head less and in other characters' head thinking about her more (unlike most other main characters).

This plays a BIG ROLE in her POV trap, which is pretty much the opposite of D*ny's POV trap in terms of both what it is hiding and how

Perception and reality play a very obvious and direct part in Sansa's story, both her own perceptions and others' perceptions of her.

The Vale arc changes everything though. Now suddenly-

She's surrounded by an entirely new cast of people

She's the only POV character in the location

She has an entirely new identity with none of the same pre-conceived biases attached (though there sure are other pre-conceived biases that go with her identity)

This has happened with other characters as well (Tyrion in ADWD, Arya in every other book), but the impact it has on our perception of her is unique. It's basically reversing everything her POV trap was previously built on.

Now, she is her own worst critic. Now, the thoughts that other POV characters have of her (Tyrion, Cersei) are increasingly muddled. Is she a murderous sorcerer, or a stupid little girl? Was she dutiful, or a scheming traitor? The correct answer is-

she was none of those things. Everyone is just....trapped by their own PoV?

[the-lady-writes-what]

23. Hitoshi Shinsou

          Theme: Haunted mirror, dark spirit

          Kinks: Mind control, fear play, bondage, non-con, cum play, fingering, possession 

All underaged characters are aged up. Hitoshi Shinsou is 18+, plus this is a demon AU so he's technically way older than that. Don’t come for me unless I send for you.

Warning: This contains very graphic and dark material including but not limited to non-con, unwilling bondage, and forced orgasms. Reader discretion is advised. Scary ending. 

Masterlist

Your friends noticed it first. The way your new mirror behaved strangely. Mirrors don’t misbehave; they’re mirrors. That didn’t stop your friends from talking about the weird vibes your mirror gave them. Images shifted or wavered in its reflection. Fog appeared out of nowhere. Handprints appeared when no one touched it; puffs of air clouded the surface. It was as if someone invisible lived on the other side of the mirror. Despite all their warnings and misgivings, the mirror stayed in your hallway.

“Okay, Y/N, that mirror has to go,” said Jiro.

You furrowed your brows. This wasn’t the first time Jiro, and others, suggested it. The massive antique mirror with its ornate frame continued to hang in your hall. You rolled your eyes a second later. 

“What did you see more handprints, or was it a ghost this time?” You asked half-joking.

“It was a whole-ass face is what I was looking at!” Said Jiro.

“A face, really?” Your brow shot upwards. “The next thing you’re going to tell me is that you saw a deadman in my rearview mirror.”

“Jiro’s right, Y/N. I saw it too,” said Momo.

Ochaco shuddered. “It was so creepy. Its eyes were staring into my soul.” 

“Not you too.” You sighed.  

“Get rid of that mirror!” All at once, your three friends shouted.  

“There’s nothing wrong with it. It’s just a mirror, you guys. I’ve never seen anything weird. It’s just your imagination.”

Your friends didn’t appreciate you discounting their concerns. In truth, you didn’t see even half of what they claimed. The mirror was old, gathered a lot of dust, and was slightly warped. It was a unique piece that you got for a steal.

A steal alright. That should have been your first red flag, you remember Jiro a week after you purchased it. Why would anyone sell an antique mirror for so cheap?

You ignored her jab and polished it up. You ignored Jiro’s warnings now too. Your patience was growing thin with your friends because of their ghost stories and things appearing in the mirror. It was borderline ridiculous. The joke had lost its punchline a long time ago. 

“There’s somebody I know who can tell you we’re not crazy. If you don’t believe her, fine. Suit yourself. But if you’re wrong, you have to pitch it.”

You shrug your shoulders. While everybody else snuck past the mirror, you were the only one to stop and look at your reflection. Just out of curiosity, you stared at it and hoped to see an apparition like your friends said you would. There was only you in the mirror. No spooky handprints, no breath fogging up the other side of the mirror, no eyeballs piercing through your soul. It was just an old mirror. You rode in the car with your friends to a metaphysical shop on the other side of town.  

“Baba Yaga, this is the girl I was telling you about,” said Jiro as she gestured towards you. She was speaking with an elderly lady who wore a dark blue velvet dress and a floral shawl. “Tell her that she needs to get rid of her cursed mirror.”

She padded over to you, strolling with her knotted cane. The woman adjusted her glasses and squinted up at your face. Her eyes narrowed into sharp slits as she examined your pores. Suddenly, the woman grabbed your wrist and splayed your fingers outward. Wrinkled fingers caressed the palm of your hand, bent and examined your fingers. She shook her head from time to time and hummed to herself. 

Your fingers were curled back towards your palm. The older woman pressed both of her hands around you and held on. 

“You have a dark presence hovering over you, that’s for sure. It’s subtle, which makes it that much more evil. You can’t see the spirit in the mirror because it doesn’t want you to. You are in grave danger, young lady. Its power washes over you. The longer you keep that mirror, the more powerful it becomes.” You smiled politely. “I think I’ll be just fine, ma’am.”

“No, you won’t,” the old woman snapped. “You are in danger.” She repeated.

“You harbor a wicked spirit in your house. It will come to you on the night when Selene is covered by Zeus’ dark and stormy shroud. You must get rid of the mirror!” 

You snatched your hand away and spun on your heels. You didn’t wait for your friends. Instead of going to the car, you called for a cab. Your phone vibrated with the text messages they sent you, but you turned your phone on silent. You arrived home just as gray clouds settled across the sky. You didn’t think much of it until you heard rain on your windows and on your roof. You barely made it inside when the storm hit. 

It’s just a stupid coincidence, you told yourself. 

You walked into the hall to set your jacket and purse on the hanger placed in there. You couldn’t resist stopping by the mirror. You looked into it again. You stared into its depths until your eyes began to water. There was still no sign of the ghost your friends warned you about. 

You climbed up the stairs, took a bubble bath, and spent the rest of the night curled up in bed. You turned off the lights before slipping under the covers. Lighting peeled across the sky while thunder rolled. The rain helped you fall asleep, and you were warm underneath your blankets, safe and secure in the knowledge that nothing about the mirror could hurt you.

The sound of shattering glass woke you. You sat up in bed. Your hand instinctively reached for the lamp on your bedside table and tugged on the cord. Nothing. You pulled again, and your light refused to turn on. You checked your phone only to realize that your battery died despite still being plugged into a charger. You swore as you bolted out of bed. Testing the overhead light, you were again disappointed. 

You pulled your door open as quietly as possible and hoped your footsteps were light enough to avoid alarming the burglars. You grabbed an umbrella by your front door. It isn’t much, but the umbrella did have a pointy end. You crept softly, pushed forward by fear to know who was in your house. But as you tip-toed, something in the hallway sparkled and grabbed your attention by the throat. You stepped closer only to realize that they were mirror shards. Pieces of glass were shattered over your floor. The mirror’s frame was bent and split apart. It held together with only a couple bits of wire. 

Bile rose in your throat. You didn’t hear any footsteps or voices. You growled under your breath and glared at the mirror shards lying at your feet. No longer was it burglars you had to fear.

“That wasn’t funny, you guys!” You called out.

No one answered. You rushed back to the front door and reached for the lock, only to find that the lock was still set. Then you realized that nobody had a key to your house. Undoubtedly, your friends wouldn’t stoop so low as to break in just to smash your antique mirror. 

Floorboards creaked. It was in the living room. All your bravery sank like a stone. You dropped your makeshift weapon and scrambled for the stairs. All was cloying darkness. Your hands wrapped tight around the banister as you raced up the stairs. Once you were safe on the second floor, you ran to your room and slammed shut the door. Your fingers groped in the dark for the lock and twisted it. You pushed your desk in front of your door and slowly backed away. 

You walked backward to your bed then stopped dead in your tracks. You quit because you felt something tangible collide with your back. An arm like a redwood trunk snaked around your waist as a hand clapped across your mouth.

“Don’t scream just yet, little thing. Let me enjoy the smell of your fear first.” A voice husked against your ear. 

A tongue dragged along your earlobe. The deep chuckle following after laughed at your shudders as they ripped through your body. You clawed at hand on your mouth, but no amount of scratching could deter him. Whoever he was, he bent his head and pressed his nose where your shoulder and neck met. A hoarse grumble vibrated in his chest, which was bare. You felt his cold, clammy skin press against your back, solid as stone. You felt him through your nightshirt in all his muscled glory. Cold beads of sweat ran down the side of your face as you realized that there was no way you could fight him. 

“That’s a good girl. You know I’ve been watching you. All this time, I’ve been watching you. You must have really liked my mirror,” said he. 

Your brows furrowed into a deep V-shape. Thunder clapped overhead. The old woman’s words rang in your head like funeral bells. It will come to you on the night when Selene is covered by Zeus’ dark and stormy shroud. You felt your blood throb in every vein in your body. Your heart palpitated inside your chest.

“Ah, yes. There we go. I love more than just a little bit of fear. I want you to live in terror of me. You’ll taste that much better for me.”

An orange tongue of flame appeared out of nowhere. It hovered over your desk. Your eyes took a moment to get used to the sudden light. The arm at your waist loosened only for a pair of hands to grab your biceps and squeeze. You hissed as you felt bruises form on your skin.

The man spoke in your ear again.

“Go over there and fetch the light, but do not look back at me. You may only look at me by the light of that candle, do you understand?”

You didn’t. You only saw a tongue of flame flickering while it hovered over your desk. He released you. You padded over to the desk, which blocked your only exit. You reached out just below the tiny flame. In the blackness, your fingers grazed on some warm wax. Your fingers ran up and down along a long slender black candle that appeared in your hand. Your hand trembled as you took it up. 

“Good, good, you’re so wonderfully obedient. Now, slowly turn towards me and look upon the face of your new master.”

You didn’t want to, but your legs move of their own accord. You strained against the intangible threads pulling at your muscles and tendons. You felt the lower half of your body move separately from you, and you watched in horror as your feet turned to face him. You shut your eyes tight. 

“I said ‘look at me.” The man’s—no. The creature’s voice dropped several octaves, and it sounded as if multiple voices erupted from his throat. Your eyes snapped open against your will. Tears made their way down your face as your eyelids were peeled open so wide. Your pupils strained in the darkness briefly. By the lighten of the orange flame, you saw him. 

He was tall, muscled, and inhumanly pale. His skin was the color of moonlight on a grave. And his face gods his face. Belying his otherworldly, unearthly beauty lay the heart of a beast. Gray-purple crescents like grotesque dark circles hung under his eyes. Indigo eyes matched his hair, which he left in a mess. Like he just woke up from whatever hellscape he crawled out of. All of his muscles were taut and lean, further proving that you had no chance of fighting him off. Your feet padded across your bedroom floor towards him. An invisible hand held your chin high so that you met his gaze more clearly.

“My name is Hitoshi, and I was trapped in that mirror for four hundred years. I’ve been waiting for you. The incarnation of the witch who banished me there in the first place!” The creature spat. 

Your blood turned icy cold. 

“Please, please don’t kill me. I’m sorry. Let me, l-let me make it up to you. I promise I won’t hurt you ever again!” 

“My plan was never to kill you.” Hitoshi reached out with his stony hand, grabbed your waist, and pulled you flush against his body. “I plan to make you mine. Forever. Then you will know the horror of being trapped against your will.”

“What? NO!” 

The candle was snatched from your hand. Hitoshi turned and threw you unto the bed. The candle reappeared above your head and several other candles that melted into the bedroom’s shadows, cleaved through the air. Blidnign tongues of fire flickered above your bed. 

Your clothes were ripped off you, and the torn remains bound your hands together to the bedpost above your head. The same was done to your ankles. Hitoshi stood from the bed to admire his work. The black silken pants he wore slithered off his body, revealing his proud, jutting member and the bead of pre-cum on the blunt head. Hitoshi climbed on top of the bed. The bed dipped under his weight. You thrashed about in the vain hope to yank the knots undone. Hitoshi merely laughed at your efforts. 

“I suppose I’ll let you resist the first time. It’ll be more fun getting you to moan while I corrupt you.” His hands dragged upwards along your thigh. “From the inside out.”

You shook your head and cried aloud. No amount of protesting was getting you out of this. Hitoshi licked his lips and stroked his cock as he sat on his knees. He straddled your waist. He was fucking his hand right in front of you. You tried to look away, but a force held your head still, and your eyes peeled open. Hitoshi stroked long, fast, and hard. 

“I-I need…to get my scent all over you. To make sure anyone else who might cause me trouble…FUCK! Tries coming around. You smell…so good!” 

Hitoshi came and sprayed your face, chest, and neck with his cum. The substance was sticky and hot on your skin. He didn’t waste time smearing it all over your breasts, palming your chest, and teasing your nipples. Your body acted on instinct, not out of your desire, and bucked against him. 

“It’s working, isn’t it? Just having my cum on your flesh…makes you fucking wet for me!” He wore the triumphant grin of an incubus who just seduced the most stubborn prude in the land. 

“No, I’m not!” 

“Oh?” 

Hitoshi reached behind him and drove two fingers inside your pussy without warning. He stroked your clit before sliding between your folds and plunged as deep as his fingers could go. Your inner walls spasmed briefly against him.

“What’s this, then?” Hitoshi chuckled. 

“Stop!” 

Far from it, your command made him want to do it more. Hitoshi pushed a third finger inside of you and pumped faster. With his free hand, Hitoshi stroked his cock. Your eyes widened with horror at how quickly he could get it up again.

“Don’t be surprised, little thing. You can’t comprehend what I am and what I can do. Or more importantly, what I’m going to do to you.”

Hitoshi jerked off while sitting on top of you, his balls against your breasts. His fingers filled your cunt and stretched you open. 

“I’m putting in another. Then after you come on four of my fingers, you get the honor of taking this cock.” 

You tried shaking your head, but invisible hands grabbed your hair and pulled. They kept your head still and forced you to watch Hitoshi stroke his own cock and come all over your chest. Again. 

He gave you no warning and very little prep. Hitoshi added that fourth finger. One or two satisfied you, but your pleasure wasn’t on Hitoshi’s mind. He wanted you to come while he stretched you painfully wide. He thrust in deep, almost hitting your cervix. Your cheeks burned a dark bloom at the sound of the wet squelches that your pussy made. Hitoshi pumped faster inside you just while he used his cock as a brush to smear more come on your chest. 

Your hips bucked against him; your knees locked in pain. Hitoshi tied your legs so far apart that they burned, but that didn’t stop him from shoving his fingers all the way in. Your head crashed against the pillow while everything below your neck writhed and shuddered. Hitoshi watched your eyes roll into your skull as you gushed around his fingers.  He waited until your body stopped humping him before pulling his fingers out. Fluid leaked out of your cunt where his fingers had prevented it from staining your bedsheets. 

You whimpered and begged as Hitoshi shifted down your body. He nestled himself between your spread legs. He swiped his fingers across his tongue, put them into his mouth, and sucked them clean. His head rolled back. He groaned from deep in his throat. 

“You taste like ambrosia. I’m going to enjoy fucking sense and humanity out of you.” 

There was no warning. No pleasantries. Hitoshi did what he wanted. He stroked the head of his cock against your clit then aligned himself with your slit. It took one thrust to be buried deep inside of you. His hands grabbed your hips and pulled your lower body close to him. He sank on his knees and pulled his cock out, then plunged it back in. Your legs were stretched to the point of pain, muscles screaming. Hitoshi ignored your pleas.

You screamed and moaned as his cock pounded you. Your insides were being battered by some unearthly creature that escaped a cursed mirror. There was nothing you could do to stop this. His cock was long and hard and reached deep to kiss your cervix over and over. Your walls clenched around him. Hitoshi poured unwanted pleasure into your body and made it sink into your bones. Your hips thrust in time with his; your body writhed like a snake beneath him.

“Tell me you’re mine. Tell me who you belong to. Say it!” Hitoshi drove himself harder into your quivering body.

Your toes curled until they ached. Every limb of your body was shaking with effort. 

“Y-you,” you cried aloud. 

“What’s my name?” Hitoshi slammed his hips down, and your body violently shuddered with each of these movements. 

“H-H-Hitoshi!” 

“Who is your master?”

“You are. You’re my master. P-Please fuck me, sir!”

“Good girl. You’ll be my new favorite pet in no time.”

The room sweltered. How could someone whose body felt so cold make you pant and sweat? Your body writhed against him. You wanted to touch him, feel him, be able to look at his cock plunging inside your cunt. With his supernatural powers, Hitoshi kept your head forward and your eyes glued on him. You couldn’t watch his cock enter, retreat, and return deep inside your walls again. Your thighs were slick with sweat and cum. 

More, more, more.

You needed more. Hitoshi smirked down at you while you slowly lost your mind. Your eyes became blank spaces as his control over you seeped deep into your mind. His essence filled you, just like he was going to do with his cum in just a second. Your walls fluttered and spasmed at his provocation. A light flickered in your eyes. Somewhere in your subconsciousness, you must be screaming with rage. Your body no longer belonged to you and at this moment, neither did your mind. It was mere child’s play for Hitoshi to reach inside and flip the switch. Your dulled eyes rolled into your skull again while your mouth opened wide, and your tongue lulled out. Drool dribbled down the sides of your mouth. He commanded your body to climax around his hard length. You obeyed. 

You gushed, spilling everything you had. There was so much of it that it dripped to your bedsheets and on Hitoshi’s thighs. The tight clenching of your walls was enough to push him towards his own climax. Hitoshi groaned like an animal as he spilled his cum into your womb. Rope after rope warmed your lower belly until it was seeping out of your body. Hitoshi pulled out with little regard for how much it hurt. He remained on his knees to marvel at his handiwork. 

You were covered in him. His white semen staining your skin and made it glisten. The light slowly returned to your eyes. He watched madness creep in as you realized just what happened to you.

Jiro knocked on your door three days later. She stood shocked at the sight of you in the doorway, appearing as you were. You’d grown a bit pale since the last time she saw you. Your neck and shoulders were covered in purple kiss marks. Bruises formed at your wrist that looked suspiciously like handprints. Dark circles hung under your eyes. 

“Y/N, what happened to you?”

“Oh, I met someone recently. Let’s just say he’s really ‘fun.’” The words felt so unnatural coming out of your mouth—both to Jiro and yourself.

“Fun, you say?” Jiro looked at you up and down, unconvinced. 

Hitoshi appeared behind you. He wrapped his arm around your waist and kissed the side of your neck. 

“I’m sorry, but we’re awfully busy right now,” he said. Hitoshi began to close the door on your friend. “Call back some other time.”

Jiro stood on your porch, dumbfounded. 

It couldn’t be, could it? She thought.

She saw it with her own two eyes but didn’t want to believe it to be true. Those eyes which stared through the mirror were the same ones that looked at her with disdain just now. The thing in the mirror was loose.

[thejustmaiden]

Heyo, fellow Inuyasha fans! Happy Friday! This particular blog will serve as a collection of random thoughts I’ve been mulling over lately. Hope you’ll consider giving it a read. By the way, it’ll specifically pertain to the Sessrin ship. If that’s not something that is of interest to you, then no need to read any further. Whatever happens, I wanted to get this out before the sequel. Alrighty, let’s go! 

I’m not sure many of us realize just how much fiction sparks public dialogue and shapes culture. There have been countless studies and research done to prove it, therefore this really isn’t up for debate. What the real question here should be is have we taken the time to fully contemplate and assess just how much fictional experiences are able to change or influence our perspective on real, everyday life? The visual arts are just one of many evolutionary adaptations that serve to give us more insight into one another’s mind. If our outlook on fiction contrasts with said insight, then perhaps some re-evaluating is in order.  

Powerful works of literature such as 1984 and the beloved Harry Potter series are just two examples. George Orwell’s book contributed strongly to how readers viewed government and politics during that time, and to this day it’s a book that resonates with many. As much as Harry Potter is cherished all across the world, there are religious and academic institutions that condemn it or have even gone so far as to ban it. I may not agree with the extreme measures taken, but it’s fascinating nonetheless to witness the extent to which fiction can move and mobilize people for a cause.

The takeaway is that indicating fiction doesn’t have the power to create change in our everyday lives is misleading to say the least. So how exactly then can fictional stories that are, after all, completely made up affect society in such profound ways? It all lies in the power of the psychology of fiction. According to cognitive psychologist and novelist, Keith Oatley, who’s been researching the psychological effects of fiction for over a decade, he states that engaging with stories about other people can improve empathy and theory of mind. When we identify with these characters’ struggles, we begin to share their frustration for societal problems that plague them. These types of stories tap into our emotions more so than- believe it or not- nonfiction, and thus their effects inspire us and even have the ability to alter our worldviews. 

I’ll be returning to that specific topic a bit later, but moving on for now!

It’s safe to say that I speak on behalf of the majority of antis. That being said, I first want to add that we are aware that sessrin shippers claim to agree that there was nothing inherently romantic that took place between Rin and Sesshomaru during their travels together. The thing is we have trouble believing you guys when you time and time again provide contradictory statements to defend your stance.

Voicing things like, “all signs point to Rin” and “it’s been foreshadowed” sends the exact opposite message of what you supposedly stand for and, if anything, confirms that you’ve had romance on your mind long before it would’ve been acceptable to come out with openly. You can’t just go along with what we say when it’s convenient to your argument and then back it up later with “who else but Rin.” How can the relationship you’re imagining be so obvious if they didn’t hint at it for the whole duration of the original series like we agreed upon? Elaborate on how we could’ve possibly come to such wildly different conclusions when we started AND left off with the same views for and throughout the series. 

On top of that, making the excuse that we don’t speak for adult!Rin and that she has the right to make her own decisions once she’s old enough is a weak defense. Firstly, because we haven’t even met her. Secondly, because it’s unfair of you to assert that you know what’s best for Rin and then say we’re not allowed to just because it doesn’t align with your beliefs. I get that you feel protective over her character, but do recall that this adult version of her none of us have actually met yet. We have no idea what kind of woman she’s become, what her dreams or aspirations may be, and whether she’s married or even wants to be. I’m not against the idea of her falling in love, I just don’t think it’ll be with Sesshomaru. I guess I’m also a fan of the idea of her following in Kaede’s footsteps, because if anyone can grow up to be an independent, trusted, and wise leader of the community like her it’s Rin.

To make matters worse, way too many of you continue to celebrate the drama cd and profess that it was sweet that Sesshomaru basically promised he’d wait for Rin all while somehow ignoring the glaring grooming implications. Why do you only see what you want to see and fail to acknowledge that actual child grooming scenarios do in fact play out like this in real life? A high percentage of people who have been victims of grooming can attest to this. If Sessrin does go canon, all the sequel succeeded in doing to avoid the direct correlation with grooming was skip over the more questionable and dodgy portions of it. Take out the time jump, however, and you no longer have a loophole to cover up the scary unmistakable truth, which is that Sessrin and grooming are essentially one in the same.

No one case is identical to another so please don’t come to me with your “but how is it grooming if Sesshomaru didn’t manipulate Rin” refutes. Nobody knows what the hell went on during those years between The Final Act and this upcoming sequel. Based on everything exhibited so far- that is if we decide to recognize the drama cd like so many of you choose to do- Sessrin’s dynamic is eerily reminiscent of real life child grooming. Why else do you think a lot of us fans have a huge problem with it? It’s triggering for a reason. 

Let’s be honest, Sesshomaru’s supposed love confession could’ve just been the first of many gestures like it. Who really knows, right? According to you shippers, a major shift in their relationship took place sometime during this critical period none of us got to watch unfold. I’m sure you all have explored the various ways this would’ve gone down in fan fiction and through other creative means of expression. Not to spoil the fun, but all I can’t help but wonder about is just how many of those supposed “cute moments” would’ve been as creepy and cringey as that proposal. Hundreds of thousands (possibly millions?!) of fans would undoubtedly agree with me, too. It seems to me this ain’t due to a mere difference of opinion. Taste is one thing, ethics a whole other. 

By the way, in case you didn’t know, groomers don’t necessarily need to plan out every single move in order for their behavior to constitute as grooming. What we should be paying attention to instead is the fact that Sesshomaru made a conscious decision to act on his own selfish desire for a young girl who couldn’t have possibly known in that moment the magnitude of what he was asking of her. Why is it that a vulnerable Rin is put in a position that forces her to be the one responsible for making such a big, life-changing decision for the both of them? Yes, Sesshomaru gave her the choice and, yes, she doesn’t have to make it till later, but why on Earth is he coming to her with this well before a child her age is ready and mature enough to handle it? Even if his intentions are good (broadly speaking of course), his what you shippers probably call “innocent acts” are incidentally coercing Rin into reciprocating his feelings. Whether he planned for that or not, he’s at fault. Period. 

That’s one way the power imbalance works. A child wants nothing more than to please the adult they look up to and adore, because they’re impressionable like that. Maybe Rin processes this like she’ll want whatever he wants, so that’s what she trains herself to believe- either right then and there or over time. Plus, if you really think about it, why wouldn’t she trust him if in her eyes he’s been nothing but good to her and that’s all she’s ever really known? (Psst! Charm is integral to the manipulative nature of grooming so it’s deceiving AKA manipulation can come off as praise or flattery.) Bottom line is that Rin is too young to have to think about this kind of deep stuff at all, and Sesshomaru shouldn’t have taken advantage of the power he had/has over her to influence a decision she was by no means prepared to hear about much less decide on. Your headcanons seem to imply that she’ll eventually have to choose though, and Idk about you but I rather not push my own fantasy agenda onto a underage girl regardless of how much I want it. Idc if she’s fictional, it wouldn’t feel right so why would I want to see that? My principals couldn’t ever allow for it.   

Even if it wasn’t an official proposal, per se, it’s still disturbing to me that so many of you find joy in the thought of a grown adult male essentially waiting for a young girl HE KNEW to become old enough before pursuing her. I know this drama cd ain’t technically canon, y'all, but since this is literally the only source we have that may foreshadow a potential Sessrin to come, and it’s referenced a lot, I figured it still should be called out for exactly what it is- Grooming: 101!!!!

Just as I demonstrated above, fiction has the ability to make even the most inappropriate and uncomfortable situations be viewed in a favorable light when you put the right spin on it. *cough* Lolicon culture, need I say more? *cough* Despite what you may believe, the strategies fiction utilizes to explain themes/concepts can genuinely lead to how we perceive them, and ultimately to how we come to make sense of a similar event presented to us in real life. Especially if we have no prior experience with any of it and have nothing to compare something to, these perceptions can be dangerous yet still persuasive to certain fans- young ones in particular. The more narrative consistency across stories and different mediums, the more likely they’ll influence social beliefs. Minors don’t possess the same capacity as adults to think critically about the content they consume, and if we aren’t more careful about what we put out there then all of us will continue to face serious repercussions.

This is precisely why it’s crucial we persist in our fight against the rabid phenomenon of glorifying young girls in every sexual context imaginable. Just look at what something as seemingly harmless as fiction has the power to do. The scope of fiction is broad and far-reaching, and it’s about time we stop denying that fact and actually do something about it if we have the means to.

The truth of the matter is that we’re in desperate need of proper education and training programs on this issue in our communities. Families need to ensure their children have access to the necessary resources, but it isn’t just on them. ALL of us gotta do our part and ALL of us should be up for the task. It takes a village, right? If we do not properly discuss and address child sexual abuse (CSA) with our children and in public forums, including the internet, then we’re ultimately accepting incidents of CSA should they arise. Consequently, that also translates to indirectly accepting that the predators among us stay untreated and/or unpunished. That’s how the generational and societal aspect of the abuse can continue, and we must do everything in our power to secure our children’s future. Yes, even when it comes to fiction.

If you still somehow don’t think the Sessrin pairing has anything to do with grooming, allow me to break this down for you one more time:

1. If some of your fellow sessrin shippers say that a relationship like this in real life is harmful, then that should be pretty telling in and of itself.

2. Piggybacking off #1: if your only defense to that is “well it’s just fiction,” then you should ask yourself why you can’t ever come up with better reasons. Same goes for history and culture, so please stop using those to justify this relationship. None of the above can or should be applied since it’s already been established that fiction pervades our lives and vice versa.

3. If fellow shippers who are victims of grooming say they are drawn to Sessrin because it allows them in a way to “take back control” from their abuser so that they can better cope with past traumas, then they’re inadvertently admitting that Sessrin does possess qualities associated with the past child sexual abuse they underwent. AKA Sessrin is relatable for its abusive dynamic.

I have to ask by the way, but why do you get so offended when we don’t support your ship anyway? Is it because we interpret it to be controversial and you don’t like your ship getting a bad rap? Is it because it would be insulting to admit that antis actually have a point in it being problematic and you rather double down instead? Or is it because you’re projecting yourself onto Rin and prefer to not go into detail about why that is? Maybe it’s too personal, or maybe it’s because deep down you’re ashamed. Of course that doesn’t mean you’re bad people, but suppressing these kind of negative emotions can’t be healthy for anyone. A little awareness and self-reflection on your part can benefit not just you but all of us in the long run. Cognitive dissonance can suck, but it’s also part of being human. 

I recently came across a comment I’d like to share with you. Unfortunately, this is not the first time nor will it be the last I see the likes of it. Anyway, in it a fan stated how embarrassing it must be being an Anti in this fandom when an episode like “Forever with Lord Sesshomaru” exists. Guys, this shipper and all those who liked their post are showing their true colors. Perpetuating and/or anticipating these sexualized images of young girls is a grave issue in both our society and media alike. I think we can all agree on that, or at least I hope so. It’s remarks like these that prove we still got a long way to go in terms of progress, and if we ever hope to effectively reverse some of our backwards way of thinking. So serious question for ya in regard to this: Why is it too much to ask that grooming be portrayed for what it is? Grooming. To clarify, grooming is bad and needs to be painted in a bad light. It’s as simple as that. If only we could all acknowledge it for what it is, we wouldn’t be in this predicament. 

Historical accuracy and cultural differences aside, it appears the crux of the matter between Sessrin shippers and Antis is our acceptance and/or denial of fiction’s influence on real life. If we can’t agree on this, then we’ll never agree on anything else. As mentioned earlier, there is more than enough evidence to support the idea that fiction impacts our lives in extraordinary ways. I, for one, believe in the transformative power of stories. I think they do more for us than many of us give them credit for and/or are inclined to admit. 

This is partially why I believe that the majority of sessrin folk are missing the point most of the time. All they do is focus on insignificant and irrelevant information that accomplishes nothing but more gaslighting and strawmanning. Whether it be an intentional or unconscious decision, whatever we argue goes right over their head. All they do is throw around deflections and antagonizing remarks that serve no real purpose other than to make Antis out to be the unreasonable and irrational ones. Making connections between our own lives and our stories is a completely natural and normal occurrence. If those particular shippers insist on denying just how interconnected real life and fiction both are, what that tells me is they’re either out of touch with reality or deliberately choose to be.

Just to be clear, I am of the opinion that most if not all antis aren’t real life predators. If they say they aren’t, I honestly take their word for it. Speaking to Sessrin shipper directly: We know it’s not Sesshomaru you want to be but Rin. No, we’re not calling you pedophiles or groomers. None of us think you are using a fictional ship to attract underage fans to be the Rin in your life or anything of the sort. We are well aware that many of you are self-inserting yourself as Rin, so please don’t feel the need to tell us yourself because that would be stating the obvious.

I learned from a few of you since this sequel was announced that the Sessrin relationship isn’t just a ship but an opportunity for you to confront the person who used and abused you. So there’s two issues with this I’d like to raise. (Sorry if I’m repeating myself, but it’s urgent I stress this again!) This is what I have to say:

If fiction does not affect real life or have the ability to normalize anything as you claim to believe, then why does “fixing” what happened to you via your preferred choice of coping associated with these two characters in the first place? Why bring your past abuse into this at all if at the end of the day it’s “just fiction” and nothing more to you but a source of entertainment?

By confessing that you use Sessrin to cope with your past trauma, you therein reveal that Sessrin does in fact resemble an adult-child relationship with a grooming dynamic. So why then would you want other fans to be exposed to a pairing that brings to mind the very abuse you endured? We’re supposed to stop this toxic cycle- NOT find more ways to manifest and relive it, much less subject other fans to it. 

You may think that Sessrin doesn’t fit the textbook definition of what child grooming is, but that’s not to say it doesn’t embody it or that it doesn’t at the very least have traces of it that stand out. 

“Antis are miserable people who don’t know how to enjoy a good story. It’s just fiction, stop ruining it for other fans!”

Well, no, it’s not just fiction or just a story. Some of you evidently went and proved that yourself, and without my help, by revealing how you relate Sessrin to your own life and apply it to cope with past abuse. Past abuse or not, as far as I can tell we’re all equally invested in these characters. That speaks volumes and just goes to show that fiction touches our lives in long-lasting ways.

I have something I want to say concerning some of who believe that it’s inconsiderate of antis who have been victims of grooming or another form of child abuse to tell other victims who ship Sessrin how they should cope with their trauma. Now as much as I respect the various means victims discover to deal with their painful pasts, there’s always an appropriate time and a place for these things to occur. We must seek out better ways to safely cope with the abuse we lived through (if any) without running the risk of hurting and endangering others. 

There are plenty of fans in other fandoms who don’t try to defend their ships going canon, because they’re able to recognize an unhealthy or toxic pairing when they see one and won’t try to justify it. A Sessrin romance simply does not belong on a show geared towards teens, and I really don’t need to go into detail about why we shouldn’t support it, at least canon-wise. Shipping Sessrin is your right, but if you don’t keep it to yourself and your corner of the fandom then you really shouldn’t be surprised by the opposition. All we ask is you respect that their specific dynamic falls under the category of child grooming (or very close) and should be treated as such in public. The world of fiction may be wider than the world we live in, but that doesn’t always mean “anything goes.” In the creative spaces our minds occupy we must still adhere to the same fundamental and moral guidelines we live by in life. There’s nothing wrong with exploring new terrains and experimenting with ideas, but we must also remember that our stories are all about communicating and connecting with people. So let’s please be more mindful of the sort of messages they’re sending. 

Besides, this isn’t only about you and what makes you feel safe, it’s about all of us. I don’t know how much more I can stress that really. How can thoughts endanger our children, you ask? Well, it’s not like we’re suggesting that our thoughts can jump out of our tvs, materialize themselves, and place kids under mind control. The forces behind fiction are a lot more complex and nuanced than a “monkey see, monkey do” approach, so don’t waste any more time trying to  describe that to us. You’re taking this argument in the wrong direction. 

Take the “violent video games breed killers” theory. I’m afraid you’re misconstruing what we’re saying and then taking it quite too literally. Please stop twisting our words, because nobody on our side is saying that just because you play violent video games that you’ll become a violent person. The Sessrin equivalent of that would be if you ship them then you must be a pedophile or turning into one. *sigh* I know you guys are feeling attacked, but I’m afraid your defensive nature is keeping you from thinking straight. Clearly, there are always exceptions (I’d recommend reading up on the Slender Man case), but Antis aren’t saying you’re one of them.

You see, it’s not so much about the content as it is the notion of the content. Kids and teens who are playing these video games have been informed that killing is wrong, because they grew up learning that early on like the rest of us. No sane person would advocate for violence and nonsensical killing in real life. Since they fully understand the severity of the consequences of killing a person in real life, they are able make a clear distinction between the two. When it comes to killing there is hardly any ambiguity. Sadly, that is far from the truth when it comes to sexualizing girls. It should immediately be perceived as wrong leaving no room for interpretation, and yet here we are still putting up with these inaccurate and demeaning female representations.

Most children who have been groomed don’t realize it till years down the road. If they aren’t ever taught the telltale signs to properly labeling grooming situations, how do you expect them to make sense of and relate to a fictional version? Let’s think of about it from a child’s perspective. Yes, this includes teens who rely pretty heavily on adult guidance and the content we put out there for them. Put yourself in their shoes for a moment and picture that you’ve never had child grooming explained to you (because that’s just the reality for so many unfortunately). Wouldn’t you say it’s possible for them to deduce that what they see on their screens is how they come to discern something in real life, especially if they have little to no experience with it? Perceived realism is plausible, y'all.

What it comes down to in the end is that the ideas and emotions we cultivate behind these stories leave an impression on others. Impressions are capable of influencing the way we see the world, which in turn affects us and beyond just our imagination. The way I look at it, stories contribute to how and why we normalize certain beliefs and trends. If fiction reflects real life like most of us tend to agree, then wouldn’t you say Sessrin is a (in)direct result of this world’s tendency to place young girls in overly sexual or romantic environments? Where do you think fiction draws its inspiration from? Sure, some of it originates from our imagination, but most of what drives us to create these stories is the real world and the people who live in it.

Fiction is meant to mirror reality, but it’s ridiculous to suggest that it’s only a one-way street. That fiction in no way, shape, or form influences our reality? Or that it only works the other way around? With all due respect, that’s simply not true. No productive discourse can be had if we choose to ignore the truth and don’t come together (at least halfway) to tackle the real issues at hand. 

Okay, I think I’ll leave it off there! Thanks so much for reading. I expect this to be my last blog on any topic regarding Inuyasha in the near future. As much as I’ve looked forward to answering all of your asks and writing all the blogs I have over these past almost 5 months, I think it’s best if I spend some time away for now. With the sequel fast approaching, I’m doing what I always do: hoping for the best and preparing for the worst. I’ve met some amazing people along the way, that’s for sure. And who knows, maybe you’ll see me active in the tags sooner than we think. Until then, it’s been an absolute pleasure! Enjoy the sequel, all of you. 💜

[jyndor]

(Imperialism etc anon) Ok I get where you're coming from! Thank you for being understanding. While Zutara is obviously not inherently racist or anything there are zutara interpretations that *are* racist (example: fire lady katara which I can get into) and it does need to be acknowledged that Zuko's status as fire nation royalty does create a power imbalance between him and Katara. Now, this is a conversation that has a lot of nuance to it but it seems like the people harassing you are (1/2)

(2/2) just repeating some genuine critique they saw without understanding what it means just to say that they're right, harassing people in the process. I did not have that context when sending that first ask and I apologize, since anons harassing you and others are clearly doing it out of bad faith. I just didn't like the leveraging of concepts that really matter in real life (colonialism, etc), ykwim? But I get what you were trying to do.

hey anon I’m finally getting to you after 84 years XD

so first off, I want to be careful about how I approach this because I understand that as a white person (even if my ancestors experienced imperialism) in the US I absolutely benefit from imperialism and don’t want to like, idk, whitesplain XD so if anyone gets annoyed with any way I say anything, just lmk and I’ll rework it. and I also do understand that these are real world issues that are far more consequential than messaging in media (although I do think it’s very important that we challenge messages in media because of media’s influence on our thinking and politics).

but before I talk about zuko and his relationship to fire nation imperialism, and then later fire lady katara and why it isn’t INHERENTLY racist but definitely can be, I want to talk about the atla fandom and how we got here. like, why I assume that most anons who come at zutara shippers are asshats acting in bad faith. if you already know fandom history, skip this section.

1. atla and the fandom has always been kind of shitty and racist

so IDK if everyone is familiar with the history of the ship war in atla fandom, but it’s regarded as one of the nastiest ship wars in fandom history which I agree lol. atla’s creators were some of the first to interact with the fandom the way they did - back then it wasn’t all that common for creators to get into twitter feuds with fans and boundaries were respected more than they are now imo. but for better or worse, and it is a mixed bag, bryke interacted with fandom a lot. certainly at cons but also on social media.

but honestly things really got extra mean in fan spaces when bryke made a “joke” atla season 4 slideshow out of fan art (some of which was really sexual in nature and totally inappropriate) that mocked fans’ creations, but especially zutara fanart and zutara itself. it was pretty tasteless especially considering how most zutara fans were teen girls, and featured some art of sokka saying that if you think zuko and katara would be good together, you’re doomed to have failed relationships. that’s where the whole “dark and mysterious” bs came from, which does describe some zutara fic but not even most of it lol. I actually do respect bryke a lot despite my criticism of them, but I don’t think I’ll ever get over that shit. like even if you hate zutara, even if it’s a joke, we were kids. and they were adults, and the whole thing was nasty.

however, the ship war was chaotic and messy, but it does feel worse now. maybe it’s because back then the fandom was MOSTLY teens and kids, and I don’t think that’s true now. we were all trying to prove our ship was best with like, content from the show and theories and all that, and now it’s like... whose ship is ~problematic lol it’s a show by white us americans appropriating from various cultures impacted negatively by us/british imperialism that they then profited off of, of course it’s racist. that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t talk about that, and in fact many poc have been saying this shit for years - that atla is racist and colorist at many times (guru pathik anyone?) and no one really listened.

if fans are complaining only about zutara, then I’m automatically writing them off as being insincere or ignorant. and since most of these people are anonymous, I have no idea if they are having substantive discourse about colorism in avatar or cultural appropriation (even if it is mostly appreciative). if you are on anon, I have no context about what you actually think except for what you give me. and that definitely is how I view anons in general but especially within the atla fandom because for all 13-ish years I’ve been in it, it’s been messy. that’s why zutara fans have isolated ourselves from the rest of fandom, because the rest of fandom has been really nasty to us. like did we give back some nastiness? absolutely.

but I would hazard a guess that most anti-zutara shippers don’t know about the conversations we have had in this community to make it safer for people of color, conversations that centered poc and woc especially. hey, that’s okay - not to compare zutara to r*ylo because eurgh but like, idk what discourse the r*ylos have about their community. no idea, I don’t go looking for it. and I don’t go to the tags and harass r*ylos - even though they harass the fuck out of everyone else.

2. so zuko and his privilege

undoubtedly zuko as fire lord is in a fairly privileged position LMFAO. but during the show zuko is very clearly exiled - he holds very little political power in the fire nation EXCEPT for during the first season when he is in command of a ship that ozai gave him on a punishment quest lol like yeah he does terrible things and he of all people would not excuse his actions even if he was a traumatized kid, that’s the point of his arc - that he got some exposure to the rest of the world and worked to be better. and the only reason he was exiled at all was because he cares about people - he didn’t question fire nation supremacy at 13, but he sure did question the morality of his people being lead to slaughter.

but after zuko and iroh defect from the fire nation and stop hunting aang, he has next to no power, in any kind of way. like the guy is a political refugee. and yes, he goes back to the fire nation for like five minutes before realizing that he hates everything about fire nation hegemony and that he wants to end his father’s reign of terror, like that isn’t exactly someone who is going to be well esteemed by the powerful elites when he returns and takes the throne.

and I disregard the comics because they suck lol but zuko does have power as the fire lord, but he limits his power. like compared to ozai, phoenix asshole? azula? for the rest of the world, zuko is kind of an ideal leader for a former colonizing/imperialistic nation to have - someone who worked to end that tyranny, who is anti-imperialist, who believes in justice and equality, who wants to make things right for the peoples who his family oppressed.

I do think it is important to talk about power dynamics and imbalances in relationships - for instance, one could argue that mai is at a significant disadvantage in her relationship with zuko. sure she is from a powerful family but not as powerful as zuko’s. sokka? hah forget it. he’s just as disadvantaged as katara is politically speaking. toph? well, she’s definitely not as powerful politically as zuko - her family tried to silence her for years because of her disability. and oh, she’s disabled so it might be ableist for zuko to strike up a relationship with her when they’re both adults. forgetting of course that toph and sokka and katara and suki and mai are not going to be shy about their wants and needs, that these relationships are not likely to be coercive by nature of the show they’re in and the characters they involve. this is not bill clinton with monica creepiness. like, you’d have to write the relationship that way.

the only person who arguably has more political power than zuko is aang. I guess zuko can’t ever be in a relationship with anyone other than aang. and zuko’s family massacred aang’s people so I guess we can’t ship zukaang. now I know you’re not saying that, context matters. power dynamics are important. but you can’t take away the agency of characters - katara, who is essentially a princess, has agency and can choose who she wants to be with. strictly speaking, aang is more powerful than anyone in terms of political power - he’s the avatar - and of course the dynamic is different by nature of aang not being from a line of oppressors, but there still is a power imbalance in their relationship. and I don’t know how many k/ataang shippers have discourse~ on that. not that I really feel like they NEED to, um idk what they talk about lol I’m not in those circles.

3. fire lady katara is in the eye of the beholder

so fire lady katara is not inherently bad or racist, it’s essentially like saying michelle obama shouldn’t have been first lady of the us (now I get that like the obamas being in power didn’t mean black people are not marginalized lol). you can have conversations about whether or not individual versions of fire lady katara are fucked up, and I’m superrrr open to that because I’ve seen it be kinda shitty before. i’m just gonna leave this link to @shewhotellsstories and her post on this.

but often times katara as fire lady is very dominant in global/fire nation/water tribe politics, she’s a game changer ambassador (that is probably the most popular headcanon I see), she holds on to her culture (and many fans have designed her being in her wt colors, zuko is respectful af to her, she and zuko spend extended periods in the swt, etc. like... it just depends on the way it’s written.

also leaving this response by @avatarnerdkiller to the idea of katara being a prize figurehead.

anyway, thanks for your patience anon and I am curious to see if you see this or even feel like responding after all this time XD

[ghostiewriter]

chapter one | tale of a slightly unstable teen hero

Summary: JJ is starting to gain recognition around New York as the new hero in town. However, some complications arise with his new chemistry partner. Oh, and turns out he isn’t the only bloke around here with powers.

Warnings: John B is a simp, I feel like that needs a warning tbh. Umm there’s a lot of swearing (I’m Scottish, don’t judge), again some violence and fighting, also some cute ass moments between JJ and his mum so enjoy that

Word Count: 8.1K

A/N: Sooo there’s finally some Jiara in this chapter!! Hope you enjoy👀and I’m not responsible for any feels caused by JJ and Georgia Maybank!!

masterlist // taglist // ao3

“Spider-Man does it again! Report of our favourite web-slinging hero saving the day once again after a fatal accident left an apartment complex on the corner of 5th and 36th street in flames. The teen hero arrived at the scene not long after the distress call was made to the local fire department and managed to rescue over twelve people that were trapped on the top floor. New York thanks Spider-Man once again.”

JJ grinned as he leaned back in his seat, sparing a smug look towards John B in the driver’s seat. JJ didn’t usually carpool with John B but it was getting colder and his extra-curricular activities were wearing him exhausted by morning. Plus, the last time JJ skated to school when he was half asleep, Pope had to pull him out of a trash can. Turns out raccoons can be very territorial and did not appreciate the blond taking a small visit into their home. He was pretty sure he still had scars on his back from some of those little bastards.

“Three weeks on the job and you already have a little fanbase,” John B commented, reaching over to turn the radio down a little since the reporter moved onto some irrelevant news neither of the boys cared about. “Soon you’ll have a swarm of fangirls chasing after you while you fight crime.”

“Don’t be jealous, JB,” JJ grinned, both arms behind his head as he looked at the passing view. “I’m sure one of my groupies will slum it down for you.” He teased, only laughing when he felt the flick on his forehead.

As much as he hated to admit it, JJ had seriously enjoyed the past three weeks. They were intense, impulsive and unpredictable. Just how JJ liked his life to be. It wasn’t easy at first though, it took a good few attempts before the people of New York actually labelled him as a hero. Maybe it was because he was some young bloke who popped out of nowhere with abilities that no could really understand. Or maybe it was because he was going around in a red ski mask, blue shirt, a red vest with an awfully drawn spider on it and some blue joggers. He looked like a right on idiot, especially with the chunky goggles Pope added to his costume. But if it kept his identity secret, then so be it. The last thing JJ wanted was a bunch of journalists swarming his apartment, especially since he wanted to keep this whole alter ego away from his parents. In fact, he wanted to keep it away from anyone who wasn’t John B or Pope.

It was safer that way.

“At least that’s one more that Pope.” John B said nonchalantly.

“As if, dude!” JJ scoffed, grinning at the distressed—and fairly high pitched—‘WHAT’ that came from the brunette. “Oh, c’mon, Pope created a whole ass bat signal for me! You just sit there and look pretty! Pope gets at least two groupies.” He said with a shrug.

It was true. JJ knew Pope was smart, but this was next level. After realising that JJ wasn’t getting the recognition he needed to be labelled a ‘superhero’, Pope had come up with the ingenuous idea to infiltrate the police radio stations. Not only did they have full access to updates on crimes around the city, but Pope even felt a little fancy and made it so JJ would get a notification sent to his phone the second there was a job for Spider-Man. That boy was way too smart for his own good, but JJ was grateful for it.

“Aw, you think I’m pretty?” John B asked with a teasing grin.

“Yeah,” JJ smiled, reaching to place his hand on John B’s shoulder with a squeeze. “Pretty fucking ugly.”

John B’s smile instantly dropped as he scowled at JJ, who was happily snickering at the sudden change in mood. “Whatever, Spider-boy.”

“Yikes, low blow.”

The rest of the journey was spent in a similar vibe, except with JJ checking his phone every five minutes. He couldn’t help it, but the past three weeks had been some of the most exciting in his life. JJ had been labelled the troublemaker his whole life, the one that was throwing pencils into Mrs Ramirez’s curls because they looked like little hoops. Or even just doing his damn best to avoid the work he was given. It was a force of habit. JJ’s brain was running at a million miles a second. Nothing could hold him down, keep him entertained for longer than thirty minutes at most. And his teachers had constantly reminded him that his impulsive nature and high energy would lead him nowhere good in life.

All JJ had to say to them now was a massive ‘FUCK YOU!’ because how wrong they were. It was those qualities that made JJ the perfect hero. He could react quick to a sudden change, he was always on his feet, he had found something that not only could he channel all his energy into—but he was damn good at it as well. John B and Pope had warned him that it was best to keep himself humble, to not get too arrogant. But who was he kidding? JJ made a pretty fucking bomb superhero and everyone loved him. It seemed like he deserved to feel arrogant, to soak in his time in the spotlight. He enjoyed every single second.

So, can you really blame JJ for checking his phone, wanting an excuse to put that mask on and do the one thing he is good at? Except for skateboarding. Everyone knew JJ was the best skater in Queens.

Unfortunately, there was no sudden crimes that JJ could use as excuse to ditch school. A true tragedy, if you asked him. It seems like he will just have to suffer through another day of learning things that either happened way too long ago, didn’t make sense to him or he just truly didn’t care about. Which just happened to be basically every subject—excluding wood-shop. Except he was taken out of the class because apparently making mini bongs for birds is not okay. Who would’ve thought.

“I don’t see what the issue is—it’s a fool-proof plan!” John B argued as the two boys made their way through the corridors of Midtown High. Only stopping once they reached John B’s locker where he exchanged his books and JJ checked out the hallway for anything that caught his eye.

“Bro, you have a ten-year plan to end up with Sarah Cameron,” JJ stated bluntly. “And even then, you end up as her second husband—“

“No one can prove what happened to the first.”

“It’s fucking sad, JB.”

“It’s a solid plan.” John B stated simply and shrugged his shoulders, deciding to ignore JJ as he rolled his eyes, muttering something about John B being a ‘hopeless fool’. John B only grinned wider and glanced at his watch before whispering a small ‘shit’ to himself. “I gotta go, see you at lunch.” And with that, John B was zooming his way down the corridor.

“You know it’s really creepy that you plan when you bump into her!” JJ called down the corridor, but he doubted John B heard him. “Like really fucking creepy…like restraining order level creepy!

Once he noticed John B’s head turn the corner, undoubtedly on his way to ‘coincidentally’ bump into Sarah Cameron, JJ calmly made his way to his first period class, not in a big rush to get there.

**********

You see, after the incident in wood shop and many others after that, the school had taken the decision to move JJ into a class they deemed more valuable of his time. Chemistry. Stick the ADHD kid in a room full of chemicals…seemed about right. However, JJ was being transferred half way through the term with absolutely no knowledge in chemistry other than how to make a Molotov cocktail. Therefore, he didn’t really see an issue in showing up to a class he was already hopeless in. His teacher disagreed.

“Mr Maybank, it’s nice of you to finally join us.” Mr Marino—a middle-aged bald man who had looked as though he had been through one too many divorces and contained most of his knowledge in the form of his beer belly—commented as JJ entered the class.

“Oh, you wouldn’t believe what happened to me!” JJ sighed dramatically.

“Let me guess: your alarm didn’t go off.”

“It was my pet monkey, sir. Has a mind of its own.”

“Your pet monkey?”

“Yup, his name is JB. Nasty wee guy but I keep him around, he’s a good laugh. Could do with a shower though.”

“Take a seat, Maybank.”

“I can feel the love.” JJ grinned before he turned to look at the class. It was set up with eight workbenches, two seats at each. His eyes scanned over each one before he caught an empty seat at the back-left workbench, the only empty seat—and just his luck it was next to the curly haired beauty for the trip.

JJ was starting to think he might actually enjoy this class.

“We just keep meeting, sweetheart. I think it’s a sign.” JJ whispered to her as he took his seat next to her, definitely sitting a little closer than he had to. He tried not to smirk when he noticed her subtly moving away from him. JJ always loved a challenge.

“Or a punishment.” She replied bluntly, not even sparing JJ a glance.

“Aw, is this how it’s going to be for the rest of the year, princess?” JJ muttered with a pout. He tried not to smile when she finally turned to look at him.

“Rafe got a concussion.” She hissed.

“So?” JJ frowned.

“So? You caused it!”

“And I should care because?”

“He is banned from the football team for six weeks!”

JJ stared at her blankly. “And…?”

“He is the captain!”

“Boohoo, they’ll survive without him.” JJ shrugged, leaning back in his stool as he flashed her one of his usual girl-charming smiles. “But hey, if you’re really stressed out about it, I’m sure I can help you find a way to relax.”

“You’re a pig.” She stated with a small huff, stubbornly turning to face the front, planning to not even give him the chance to redeem himself. Trust me when I say Kiara is an open person, always there to give people a second chance. But JJ Maybank was not one of those people. In the three times she had met him, he had been nothing but a shameless flirt who had no care for the world beyond his sex life. She could be judging him too quickly, but in her defence, he hadn’t given her anything else to work with.

However, Kiara assumed her behaviour was clear enough that she didn’t want to talk to him, that she could gladly go the rest of the year without willingly speaking to him. But this is JJ. Hyperactive, unable to sit still JJ. He didn’t get the hint.

“So, do anything interesting this weekend?” JJ asked her, that classic smirk of his on his lips. But she didn’t answer him. Instead, she kept her gaze on Mr Marino and his oh-so interesting talk on bond orbitals within an atom.

JJ raised his eyebrows when he received no reply from her. “Giving me the silent treatment now? That’s a bit rude.” He commented.

“So is giving someone a concussion.” She stated.

“Do you want to know what I did?” JJ asked.

“No.”

“Geez, princess, no one ever taught you manners?” He teased, taking the pen he was spinning between his fingers to gently poke her arm. She only huffed and moved her seat further away.

“Okay, alright, fine! I get it…” JJ trailed off, and Kiara couldn’t help but let out a sigh of relief. But she spoke to soon. She heard the scrape of a chair and suddenly she could feel the warmth of JJ right beside her, their elbows just touching.

“Is there an issue, Mr Maybank?” She heard Mr Marino call out but the boy next to her just shook his head, that mischievous glint shining in his eyes.

“No, please carry on, Alan.” The blond replied, his fingers tapping against the worktop counter.

Kiara sighed. She knew very well that she could put her hand up and complain, or even ask Mr Marino to change seats after class ended. But she was stubborn, and she would be damned if she gave JJ that satisfaction of knowing that he got under her skin.

This was going to be a long year.

**********

“She called me JB! That basically takes three years off my plan!”

“Dude, I don’t know if this is really sad or creepy now…” JJ grimaced. He had spent the last fifteen minutes listening to John B and his ‘coincidental’ encounter with Sarah Cameron. And if he was being honest, he was concerned for his friend. And his stomach…this boy needed to let JJ eat his lunch before he had to hear one more comment about how ‘yellow is totally her colour’.

“I mean, it just compliments her complexion so well! C’mon, how many people do you know that can pull of yellow and not looked totally washed out!” John B argued. But JJ just met him with a blank stare.

“When the fuck did you become a fashion expert?” JJ spoke up, his nose scrunched in confusion.

“I took a class once.”

JJ looked at him with his mouth agape. “Who the fuck are you?”

“Piss off, I wanted to learn how to dress better.”

“Says the guy that wears horrible thrifted Hawaiian shirts.” JJ deadpanned. John B only rolled his eyes and turned his attention back onto Sarah.

JJ followed his line of sight towards Sarah Cameron and her group, and he was shocked at the sight. He noticed the usual people in their uptown outfits and obnoxious laughs he could unfortunately hear from his seat. But it was the sight of his chemistry partner looking quite cosy under Rafe’s arm that caught him off-guard. His eyebrows furrowed a little, but hey, JJ should have seen this coming. The uptown kids like to stick with each other. Yet, JJ couldn’t help but find the sight quite uncomfortable to look at—Rafe had that effect on people. It was a surprise he managed to score…JJ paused. He had spent a whole hour with her and yet, he didn’t even know her name.

He nudged John B, yet neither one of them looked away from the group. “Hey JB, who’s Sarah’s new chick?”

“Who?”

“The pretty curly haired one standing next to her, dumbass.”

“Oh…I don’t actually know—“

“—Kiara Carrera. Relocated here from Kernersville, North Carolina. Her father owns a large chain of restaurants around the country. She is also the only junior other than yours truly doing three AP classes, including environmental science, biology and English.” Pope finished, panting a little considering he had literally just ran into the cafeteria and heard the last few words of their conversation.

JJ looked up at Pope with a mix of awe and fear. “What, you forgot her national insurance number as well? How the fuck do you know all that?”

“The school files.” Pope answered easily as he turned his laptop around and with the screen facing them, JJ decided he was definitely a little scared of Pope.

“Those are meant to be locked away in some super, secret network thing!” JJ hissed, only to be met with a smirking Pope.

“As if, it’s easy as fuck to hack something as amateur as the school’s firewall. Could do it with my eyes closed.” He grinned at the two of them. “Why, JJ? Hiding something from us like…I don’t know…your middle name being Belinda.” He snickered.

“YOUR NAME IS BELINDA?!” John B gasped, looking at JJ with wide eyes.

“Shut up, would you!” JJ hissed at the both of them, leaning over the table to flick John B on the forehead. “I was named after my grandmother.”

“Aww, Grammie Belinda.” John B cooed. JJ only glared at him.

“Hey, Grammie Belinda was a saint, don’t disrespect her like that.” JJ huffed, pointing a finger towards John B. He then turned to Pope who had made himself comfortable in the seat next to him.

“Why were you asking about Kiara?” Pope asked JJ, snatching a few chips from his plate. JJ swatted his hand away but didn’t stop Pope from doing it again. “Does JJ have a little crush?” He teased, pouting a little.

“Piss off,” JJ laughed as he nudged Pope with his shoulder. “She’s just my chemistry partner.”

“Ooh, so you guys have chemistry together?” John B grinned, wiggling his eyebrows.

“Fuck off, JB. Go back to stalking your little uptown princess.” JJ commented, returning the grin as both friends shook their head. They both knew the other meant no harm.

“Well, if you two little lovebirds are done having your moment,” Pope piped up, both boys looking over at him. “I need you to meet me on your rooftop at nine sharp tonight.”

“Damn, Pope, finally taking me out?”

“You wish, Spider-Boy,” He grinned, but the look he was giving made JJ a little nervous for what Pope had hidden up his sleeve. It could honestly range from a pet raccoon he befriended to creating some weird Frankenstein bug. “Just be there.”

John B pouted. “What about me?! Is this where I become the third-wheel?”

**********

“Mama?”

“In here!”

JJ dropped his bag by the couch as he made his way to the kitchen, the soft sound of the click telling him the door shut behind him. He sniffed the air as he walked in, seeing his mum at the stove and grinned a little, pressing a kiss to her cheek.

“What’s for dinner?” He asked, peeking over her shoulder.

“Spaghetti,” She hummed, a soft smile on her lips as she peeked a glance at her son. “How was school?”

“The usual,” He answered with a shrug as he made his way to the fridge, grabbing a bottle of water before heading towards his usual spot on the counter. “Teachers still don’t appreciate my comments, Pope said smart things I didn’t understand and JB was a love-sick puppy.”

She grinned, shaking her head a little. “I find John B’s attempts to woo that girl quite admirable actually,” She commented. “It wouldn’t kill you to be a hopeless romantic every once in a while.” Yet, she only laughed when she saw JJ’s face scrunch up in disgust.

Despite JJ’s reputation for being an adrenaline junkie who loves to live life on the edge, these were actually his favourite moments. The little moments he shared with his mum, just the two of them. It is one of the few moments in his life where he feels relaxed, no expectations or pressures. And as sappy as it sounded—and no offence to John B and Pope—but JJ wasn’t ashamed to admit that she was one of his best friends, one of the few people in his life he truly cared about. People like her are the reason he enjoys being Spider-Man, because despite the shit people in the world, there were some genuinely good people out there, like Georgia Maybank.

It was hard to believe JJ and Georgia Maybank were related. She was a sweetheart, the type of woman who would take time out of her own life to volunteer at local food shelters despite having just done a twelve-hour shift at the hospital. She is the type of woman to buy flowers and hand them to strangers on the street just to brighten someone’s day. She is the type of woman who would work her ass off to give her son all that she could, despite the struggles she faced with the bills and rent because her son was her life. She was the opposite of JJ’s hyperactive self.

But boy, did they look very similar. From the sandy blonde hair the two of them shared, to the bright blue eyes, to even the exact same smile. JJ really was a carbon copy of his mother. And there was a small part of her, one she would never outwardly admit, that adored the fact JJ looked so much like her. Like a primal mother instinct, she loved her son and she loved that everyone knew he was her son. She would be damned if someone ever asked her to hide that.

Georgia was the type of mother that had that warm aura around her, the one that made you just trust her with your life. The hugs she gives just makes you want to stay in her arms forever, because everything is just better with Georgia Maybank. JJ knew that and he always reminded himself of that. No matter what shit he gets into, no matter how much he may envy the uptown kids—none of them will ever have Georgia Maybank and he would gladly flaunt that.

He may not have designer clothes or a fancy car to drive to school. But they don’t have Georgia Maybank, dancing around barefoot in the kitchen while she badly sings along to some old 80s song that is playing on the radio, just to make him crack a smile.

JJ grinned as his mother grabbed his hand, pulling off the counter before they jokingly began to waltz around the small kitchen, some classical song playing from the small radio that sat on the counter by the stove. JJ only laughed as he apologized for stepping on her toes again, but she didn’t mind. She just smiled and continued to dance.

“Why do I have to do this? I’m starving, woman!” He whined playfully as he twirled his mum around a few times.

“Because, JJ, one day you’re going to have a beautiful girl—or boy, I won’t assume—that will somehow fall for that charm of yours,” She spoke softly, placing a hand on her son’s cheek, a proud glint in her eyes when he rolled his eyes at her statement but still had a small smile on his face. “And I will be damned if I don’t teach my son how to sweep a girl off her feet.”

“Nothing says romantic like stepping on a girl’s toes.” He stated bluntly.

Georgia only laughed and ruffled his hair before she turned back to the stove. She grabbed two plates, putting in a larger portion for JJ—which with his new transformation wouldn’t actually be enough but he will sneak out during the night to eat the leftovers when she’s asleep—before placing them on the small dining table in the corner, gesturing for him to join her.

The rest of the dinner was fairly uneventful, simply just JJ telling her about John B’s updated seven-year plan with Sarah Cameron and Georgia sharing any particularly interesting stories about patients she had to deal with during her shift. JJ really let this dinner sink in. As much as he loved his mother, her inability to say ‘no’ and be so giving kind of bothered him. Because she had taken up extra shifts for a few of her colleagues due to something about the ‘stress of wedding planning’. JJ had been seeing her less and less—and though it was good for his recent Spider-Man shenanigans—this dinner made him realise just how much he missed her. Just a nice, wee dinner with his mum, nothing else. And everything seemed to be going well, until he heard the radio presenter’s voice flowing through the kitchen.

“Locals say that Spider-Man is the next best thing to happen to New York since deep-fried pizza! But I don’t know, Janet. I mean, who is this kid? Where did he come from? There just seems to be a lot of unanswered questions with this so-called hero. Can we really trust some prepubescent boy who probably spends his day with his head in a textbook? It just doesn’t seem—“

The radio presenter was cut off by Georgia turning the volume down. “People can’t appreciate a good gesture anymore.” She huffed. JJ watched her closely as she finished off washing the last of the dishes before turning to face him, a small frown on her lips.

“I think he’s doing the city a favour.” JJ said half-heartedly with a shrug.

Georgia nodded, her fingers gently fiddling with chain around her neck, well more specifically the gold ring attached to it. “I know but,” She sighed. “What a shame, putting all this pressure on a poor teenage boy. Oh, I feel bad for his parents!”

JJ coughed a little. “It could be his decision, you know.”

Georgia continued as though she hadn’t heard him. “I could only imagine how stressful it would be have your son out there, throwing himself at danger.” She shook her head as she made her way to where JJ still sat at the dining table. “Promise me you wouldn’t do something so careless?” She asked sweetly, gently cupping his face in her hands as she looked down at him.

Now, JJ knew there was a teasing tone to her words. She wasn’t being serious because, how could she? Her son being a superhero with crazy powers? Not possible. She and JJ shared everything and it was because of that he couldn’t help but feel a wave of guilt wash over him. He hated lying to his mum, he hated keeping secrets from her. They were always close, JJ never felt the need to hide things from her. There was always such a comfortable vibe between them. But he knew how she would react if he told her the truth. He knew she would freak out and make him stop. And JJ didn’t want to stop. As much as he hated the guilt that bubbled inside him, he pushed it away and gave her a grin.

“Of course not, I would come up with a better name than Spider-Man.” He joked lightly and closed his eyes when he felt his mum press a kiss to his forehead. He nuzzled his head slightly as he wrapped his arms around her, resting his head against her stomach. He smiled softly when he felt her hands running through his hair, just like the way she used to do when he was younger and struggling to fall asleep. He tried to hold back a yawn.

“That’s my baby boy.” She said with a gentle laugh.

“Mama, I’m a not a baby! I’m a man now.” He whined but he didn’t pull away from her grip just yet. He missed his mum’s hugs, sue him.

“You’ll always be my baby boy.” She commented with a small shrug.

“Yeah, yeah,” He murmured. After a few moments of silence, he looked up at her, giving the best puppy-dog eyes he could. She was always a sucker for those. “Can I go hang out with JB and Pope tonight?” He asked with a sweet smile.

She rolled her eyes but nodded. “Just be back before your father gets home.”

**********

JJ rubbed his hands together as he stared at the view from the roof. New York looked absolutely stunning this time of year, especially at night. The sky was pitch black, and it should’ve seemed daunting. But the bright lights of the city illuminated everything. It was mesmerising, a sight that JJ would never get tired of seeing. And with his newly discovered powers, he found something therapeutic about swinging around the city and being surrounded those bright lights. It felt like he was swinging through the stars—he obviously didn’t share that with the boys, they would take the piss out of him. Speaking of which…

“Where the fuck is he?” JJ hissed, turning to look at John B who only shrugged in response. As much as JJ liked New York at night, it was cold. The lower body temperature caused by the spider bite really didn’t help the situation. He had a hoodie and a jacket on and still the light breeze was making his teeth chatter.

“I don’t know.” John B shrugged. JJ rolled his eyes in annoyance. It was 9:15pm and JJ was about five minutes away from freezing to death.

Just then, the rooftop door opened and a wild Pope was sprinting towards then, panting heavily as he ripped his backpack off and quickly unzipped it. Words were leaving his lips but between the panting, neither of them could work out what he was saying.

“Dude, calm down, breathe!” John B exclaimed. Pope nodded and took a minute to catch himself.

“Your lives are gonna change forever!” He grinned before looking at JJ. “Strip.”

JJ raised his eyebrows. “What?”

“Strip.”

“Dude, it’s like fifty fucking degrees, I am not gonna fucking strip!”

“Stop whining and do it!”

JJ huffed and started to take his clothes off, muttering some very…colourful phrases towards Pope. However, he didn’t get much time to question his friend’s demands because the second he was stripped down to his boxers, he had a bunch of fabric thrown at him.

“Wait…is this…?” He trailed off, looking at Pope with a new look of excitement shining in his eyes.

“You bet,” Pope grinned. “Say hello to your brand-new suit, Spider-Man.”

JJ excitedly began to pull the suit on, suddenly forgetting all about his theatrics with the cold. But Pope wasn’t done with his surprise.

“The suit is a total upgrade!” He began, his hands moving wildly as he spoke. “The fabric is strong but flexible. I have added small web-shooters to go over your spinneret glands so you can have a more direct shots. There are a few extra things I’ve added like a small heater to keep you warm and a few sensors, so we can keep track of your vitals. Oh, and for us—” He paused before handing John B a silver bracelet.

John B looked at the bracelet in confusion. “Uh, thanks?”

Pope only grinned and showed John B that he was wearing a similar bracelet. He slipped it off before unclipping a small oval shaped device from the middle of the bracelet. “This is the coolest part,” He nodded for John B to copy his movements. “To be honest, these took the longest. I had JJ’s suit done like two weeks ago but—”

“And you made me wait this long? Dude, I looked like a weirdo running around in joggers!” JJ groaned, but there was no real hostility in his voice.

“Just put on your mask, dude!”

JJ rolled his eyes but didn’t answer as he slipped the mask over his face. He was a bit surprised at how easily he could see through it, way better than the goggles he had before. The suit was a perfect fit—props to Pope after it took an hour to get all of JJ’s measurements. The material was tight and breathable, practically clinging onto JJ like a second skin. Oddly enough, he felt far more comfortable in it than his last costume. Pope clearly liked the colour scheme, having kept the red and blue palette but with a massive spider on his chest, with lines wrapping around him to look like a web. He looked totally badass, he felt badass. He felt like a proper hero from one of those comic books and posters Pope has around his room.

“So, how do I look?” JJ asked, flexing as he gave the boys a little spin. Pope only grinned, proud of his creation. John B gasped, clearly just as hyped as JJ was.

“Dude, your ass looks great.” John B commented, causing JJ to snort.

“When does it not look great?”

“Guys! The last surprise!” Pope piped up, causing both boys to stop staring at JJ’s ass and instead turn to him.

“These little guys,” He said, nodding between the small oval devices in his and John B’s hands. “Are gonna help us keep in contact with you while you’re swinging around. Little ear pieces so we can help you out and keep tabs on you if you need any help.”

“Where’s my bracelet?” JJ frowned beneath the mask.

“You don’t need one, dumbass. Your ear piece is connected into your mask!” Pope grinned proudly. JJ let out a scoff, shaking his head.

“Pope, you fucking genius!” He yelled, and he pulled his friend into a tight hug. John B, feeling a little left out, quickly joined the hug.

“This is so cool, dude, now we are like an actual team!” John B grinned.

Pope was the first to pull back, looking at JJ with a wild look in his eyes. “I think it’s time for Spider-Man to show the city his new look.”

JJ grinned under the mask, already beginning to take a few steps back. “I think you’re right.” And without a second thought, he left himself fall off the edge of the building.

On that October night, New York watched their own hero swing through the streets, letting the cheers and whoops of the strangers sink in. They watched their hero in a new light, a more professional one. The next day, he was no longer that kid running around like some wannabe. He was Spider-Man, the new saviour of New York and a beloved hero.

It was wild what a good new suit could do for your reputation.

**********

“Did you see the pictures The Daily Bugle released?”

“He looked so hot!”

“I’d let him save me any day!”

“You don’t even know what he looks like…”

“So? Have you seen those arms? Nothing else matters!”

JJ couldn’t help but let the smirk on his face grow as he walked through the corridors of the school. It was the day after his new suit reveal and he wasn’t going to lie, he was soaking in all the attention. He was particularly enjoying the twitter thread that was made about his ass. John B didn’t lie, his ass did look good in this new suit.

He continued his way through the sea of students before he made it to his chemistry class, not surprised that people were still talking about Spider-Man. His eyes instantly glanced over at Kiara, who was sitting at their workbench scrolling through her phone.

He grinned as he quickly past the other students and sat quite comfortably in his seat. His eyebrows raised slightly when she didn’t react at first to his appearance. His curiosity got the best of him as he leaned towards her, peeking over her shoulder to see what she was looking at. Now, JJ won’t lie to you, but when he saw her staring at pictures of Spider-Man, his ego definitely inflated a little. Okay, maybe more than a little but you get the point.

“You a fan?” He couldn’t help but ask, trying to keep his smirk to himself.

Kiara quickly snapped her head to look at him, slamming her phone down screen first onto the desk. “Can you mind your business?” She huffed, trying to calm her heartbeat a little. She didn’t even hear him come in, which is odd since usually you could hear JJ from a mile away.

“Aw, c’mon, Kiara! I thought we were besties now.” He grinned to her, wiggling his eyebrows a little. He leaned forward on the desk, bringing him a little closer to her. His forearms were pressed against the desk, his body leaning on them. She noticed how close their hands were. But after yesterday, she refused to left JJ get under her skin again. Or at least let him see how much he is bothering her. So, she stayed where she was, not moving back like he expected.

“You know my name.” It wasn’t a question, more a statement.

“Surprised?” He whispered, smirking a little when he noticed he wasn’t moving away. JJ risked it a little more and moved a bit closer.

“Took you long enough.” She replied with a shrug. JJ’s grin only widened.

“Oh yeah, counting down the days, princess?” He raised an eyebrow. He noticed her lips quirk a little, like she was fighting back a smile.

“You wish, pretty boy.”

“You think I’m pretty?”

“Shut up.”

“I think someone has a little crush, Kiara.” He grinned at her, only to witness her roll her eyes and push him away.

“In your dreams, Maybank.”

“Oh, you’re definitely in my dreams, Kiara.”

She rolled her eyes again but didn’t bother replying this time. She instead focused her gaze on the front of the class as Mr Marino entered the room, beginning the lesson. But if she had glanced over to the blond sitting on his right, she would’ve seen he was smiling throughout the whole lesson.

**********

“Thank you, dear!”

JJ nodded his head a little in acknowledgement and gave the older woman a small salute. “Always here to help, ma’am.” He said, handing her the small handbag that he had just rescued from the hands of some man who had tried to steal it from her.

“Aw, you’re really starting to win over the senior citizens.”

JJ rolled his eyes when he heard Pope’s voice through his earpiece. “Dude, I think she pinched my ass.”

“Lucky you, older woman, that’s hot.”

“JB, shut up.”

JJ snorted a little at the bickering, extending his arm out before he was swinging between the buildings with no trouble. He had been using any free time he had lately to be out in his suit, getting used to all the cool, extra bits that Pope had added. And he won’t lie, the boy really outdid himself. JJ felt like a total badass, being able to swing around and save people and feel like a real hero. He also enjoyed the change in attitude people had with him. He was Spider-Man, the city hero. He was appreciated. He was wanted. Not something JJ felt very often.

“Anything happening around town?” JJ asked, his eyes scanning the streets below, waiting to see any conflict. He couldn’t help but feel as though there was a part of him that was on edge. He couldn’t really explain it, it was like a bad shiver down his spine. It was a similar feeling he felt before that bank robbery fiasco a few weeks ago. It was a nasty wee feeling, one that had him on alert. Something was wrong, he didn’t know what. But he could sense it.

“Nah, everything seems to be fine. Maybe you should take a break, you’ve been swinging around for, like, three hours. You need to rest, dude.”

“What?” JJ muttered, so quiet that the boys on the other side barely heard him. That couldn’t be right, he can feel it. Something isn’t right, something bad is going to happen. “Guys, are you—”

He was cut off by a series of screams.

JJ’s body was reacting way before his brain did, like his hero side just leaped into action at the alert of any distress. He was swinging as fast as he could, his arms burning a little as he got closer and closer to the sound of those screams. He could hear his blood pumping in his ears, could feel his heart rate pick up. The adrenaline coursing through him, making him forget about the burning in his muscles from the three hours of patrolling he had done.

“That’s fucking weird, there is no police reports coming through.”

JJ ignored the voices coming through the earpiece, his whole body feeling rigid as he crouched on top of a building, looking at the carnage below. There, in the middle of the square stood what looked like a moving black cloud. Civilians were screaming and running away, but the black cloud just remained. His eyes narrowed slightly, like he was waiting for it to do something, to lash out. But it didn’t. He opened his mouth, ready to ask Pope if he was just imagining something when he heard the black cloud speak.

“Spider-Man, oh Spider-Man! Come out, come out wherever you are!” It spoke in a raspy, demonic voice. Whatever this way, it wasn’t human. JJ may have failed biology, but he knew that for sure.

“JJ, don’t. We are have no idea what this thing is. It could be a trap—”

“I got this, Pope.” JJ muttered, ignoring his friends’ pleas to think this through as he swung down, landing a couple of feet away from the black cloud. “You called?”

Suddenly, in the middle of the cloud, JJ swore he could see lips begin to materialise. He frowned beneath the mask but didn’t move away. His fist was clenched at the side, ready to react if the cloud tried anything.

“Ah, we finally meet, Spider-Man.” The cloud spoke again. The voice sent shivers down his spine. JJ pushed away that feeling of discomfort. Something about the cloud felt familiar, but he couldn’t tell what. It was like an annoying itch he couldn’t reach.

“Am I supposed to know who you are?” JJ questioned. “Look, dude, if you’re a fan, I appreciate it, but you don’t need to scare away a whole block of people to get my attention. You can just ask for an autograph like everyone else.”

“JJ stop provoking it!”

“You’ll know me soon enough.” The voice replied ambiguously. JJ furrowed his eyebrows together. Whatever this cloud was, it was being far too vague for JJ’s liking.

“PEOPLE OF NEW YORK, I SPEAK OUT TO YOU!”

JJ winced, clutching his ears. His body was on high-alert, his ears sensitive to pick out any small noise or rustle. He looked at the cloud and then at his surroundings, noticing how every screen—every phone, every billboard, every electrical compliance in this vicinity that he could see—was projecting the black cloud. It was broadcasting to the whole city. JJ couldn’t help but wonder where the fuck the hidden camera was. How was it doing this?

“YOU LABEL THIS KID AS YOUR HERO! YOU TRUST THIS CHILD WITH YOUR LIVES! YOU ARE FOOLISH!” The voice boomed, suddenly the black cloud began to form tentacles that were slithering from whatever was at the centre of it. “LET ME SHOW YOU THE TRUTH! LET ME SHOW YOU WHO YOU HAVE TO PROTECT YOU!”

JJ was a little too distracted by the concept of a cloud broadcasting to the city that he didn’t even notice one of the tentacles slithering towards him. It wrapped itself around his leg before swinging him into the nearest building.

JJ let out a small oomph as his body made contact with the brick wall. He could hear yelling in the distance, the sounds of people screaming. But nothing was overpowering the ringing in his ears as he slowly dragged himself to stand up.

“JJ, GET UP! JJ!”

“Jesus fucking Christ,” He muttered, blinking a few times before he turned back to look at the cloud. He felt the hairs on the back of his neck rise and quickly rolled over to the side, the tentacle that threw him smashing into the wall not even a second later. That rush of adrenaline hitting JJ again as he quickly swung out of there, not even looking behind him until he knew he was a good distance away to assess the situation.

“IS THIS WHO YOU WANT PROTECTING YOU? A COWARDLY TEENAGER? C’MON, SPIDER-MAN! LET’S SEE WHAT YOU’VE GOT!”

JJ swore under his breath, trying to catch up with his thoughts as he watched more tentacles appear from the cloud. “Where the fuck are they coming from?” He muttered before swinging down to a lower building rooftop, crouching at the edge. He narrowed his eyes as he extended his hand out, shooting a web towards the centre of the cloud. There had to be something solid within this thing, something he can grip on to, something he can fight. But he was met with nothing. “Fuck.” He frowned before he began to crawl down the side of the building.

“You seem a bit jealous, mate!” JJ called out, watching as all eight of the tentacles seemed to snap their attention towards him. God, that was scary. “Don’t you have to tell me some wild origin story before you kill me?”

“MY AIM ISN’T TO KILL YOU, SPIDER-MAN. NOT YET!”

“Oh, that’s really reassuring, thank you so much.”

“I WANT NEW YORK TO SEE HOW PATHETIC YOU ARE. HOW USELESS THEIR SAVIOUR IS.”

“A bit of an odd wish, if you ask me.” He murmured to himself, quickly snapping his wrist before swinging around the black cloud. He watched as the tentacles reached out for him, just grazing him as he swung between the buildings.

“JJ, FIGHT BACK!”

“How the fuck do I fight something that isn’t solid? Get a vacuum? If you have one big enough, please do share. Call the ghostbusters or something!”

He heard more screams, some closer than he expected. He assumed everyone ran off, but when he turned his head to the side, he noticed a man standing there, frozen in fear. More importantly, he saw a car heading straight towards the scared man.

“Shit, shit, shit,” JJ yelled as he quickly yanked his web, spinning around and landing in front of the man, his hands extended out in front of him. Seconds later he felt the impact of the car, the weight and momentum it came crashing in at hit him strong enough to make him slide back a few feet. “Go, dude!” He yelled at the man, who had finally come to his senses and thanked JJ profusely before sprinting away. JJ groaned and threw the car away from him, huffing slightly.

“HOLY SHIT, JJ! THAT WAS A CAR!”

“Oh, no shit, Sherlock! I thought it was Barbie’s Dreamhouse.” Only JJ would be sarcastic while his life is in threat.

But it was that sarcasm that distracted him long enough for one of the tentacles wrap around his ankle, yanking him down from the small jump he had taken so the web he was currently gripping snapped with ease, preventing him a quick escape like he planned. He didn’t even have time to scream before he noticed the tentacle bringing him closer to the middle of the cloud, his eyes widening slightly.

He wiggled around in the tentacle’s grip, trying to find a way out but it was relentless. He wasn’t sure what was real or not, not sure if he imagined screaming in his head or if he actually did as he was dropped into the centre of the cloud.

Then, he felt nothing.

JJ was vaguely aware of his surroundings. He didn’t know if his eyes were open or not, but it was dark. He tried to move his arm, but it felt constricted, like he was swimming in something really thick. His brain was screaming at him to call out for Pope and John B, to move his hands and swing out of here, to do something. But another part of JJ felt completely content in this situation. He couldn’t explain it, but something washed over him, like a massive electric shock that made him aware of just how…familiar this seemed. It was similar to the feeling he had earlier.

He felt safe, understood.

And then that feeling was gone.

Suddenly, JJ found himself being thrown around in circles, something holding a tight grip on his ankle. But soon enough, that let go too and JJ was soon flying through the air, too out of it to even react fast enough to web onto something or soften his eventual crash.

JJ felt the air be completely knocked out of him, his body bouncing off the concrete a couple of times before he rolled over. It took him a few attempts to finally open his eyes, take in his surroundings, to see he was in some dingy alleyway. He turned his head to the side, briefly seeing a black blob in the distance. He could hear some muffled yelling.

“HEED THIS AS A WARNING, SPIDER-MAN. NEXT TIME WE MEET, IT WILL BE OUR LAST!”

JJ vaguely furrowed his eyebrows together before turning his head to stare at the blue sky above instead. When the ringing and the muffling was over, he could hear the screams of his friends coming through the earpiece.

“JJ! JJ, PLEASE FUCKING ANSWER, DUDE!”

“JJ, ARE YOU DEAD?!”

“WHY WOULD HE FUCKING ANSWER IF HE WAS DEAD!”

“SHUT UP, I’M FLUSTERED!”

JJ frowned a little, his whole throat felt dry and numb. There was also a metallic taste in his mouth that told him he must’ve bitten his tongue at some point. God, he hated the taste of blood. “It…It felt…”

“OH MY GOD, JJ!”

“IT FELT LIKE WHAT BUD? YOU GOOD?”

“It felt just like me.” He finally got out.

Then everything went black.

[kinetic-elaboration]

September 1: 3x06 Spectre of the Gun

Okay so, it might be a little early to declare myself a S3 apologist, since there are still a lot of eps I’ve never seen, but I feel like I’m pretty close..

This ep was so good!! Honestly I think it’s one of my faves. And perfect to usher in Spooky Season.

Honestly, this show really is my happy place. Just all the characters together on the bridge, on some kinda adventure, looking at weird space buoys and investigating stuff.

Again, this buoy looks like a Windows 98 screensaver.

Kirk keeps referring to Spock as “Science Officer.” Is he mad at him? Full of some particularly intense longing that requires him to put extra distance between them?

Excuse me, you address US as aliens? YOU’RE the aliens.

Hmmm, so it seems they’re not friendly.

It’s addressing them in different languages!!! I love it. Love the reminder that Uhura’s first language is not English,also.

“True telepaths are dangerous.” As opposed to fake telepaths like Vulcans lol?

The Melkotians withdrew immediately. They invented space travel, they saw space, and they said “not for us” and they turned around and left. McCoy would like them; they’d have a lot to gripe about together.

The welcome mat is NOT out.

“Unlike Mr. Scott’s transporter, this unit is not functioning.”

It legit looked like Spock put his hand on Kirk’s back there. Like he clearly raises it, but not far enough to be seen above Kirk, so like.. what was the point? Where did it go?

LEE CRONIN--oh no, flashbacks lol.

“We come in peace”--immediately pulls out gun.

I should have watched this when writing my Western fic.

Just bits and pieces of a Western town... and a completely red sky...

The guns are “crude but dangerous.” If only Sulu were here; he’d love this.

An announcement with a specific time and place on it--that’s a very precise detail to just pull from their minds. Must have come from Kirk’s, that nerd. Maybe Spock. But probably Kirk.

“Because my ancestors pioneered the American frontier.” I mean did they really get to the frontier? Or just... the Midwest?

Maybe it’s actually because he’s a cowboy at heart?

Aliens using his own ancestral sins as the pattern for his own death for breaking their law IS a great (possibly partially unintended) idea. Oh also, if they think that Kirk and co. are here to ‘tame’ or colonize them, then the Western setting makes even more sense--you’re no different from your ancestors, you came somewhere new and brought lawlessness and violence and death, but not this time!

Can you believe Kirk knows all of these details about the OK Corral? NERD.

Spock is so proud of himself for knowing the phrase “had it out.” Look, I used slang correctly!

These are some creative aliens.

“We know death is real here.” Or is it? They’re literally telepaths guys.

Hmmm, this building doesn’t need a roof I think. - The aliens probably

Can’t believe Scotty thinks his usual is his actual usual lol. You’re going to drink bourbon and like it!

Kirk and Spock look so good together.

They’re obviously Chekov’s disapproving parents.

“The day is still young, Ensign.” I don’t remember the exact context of this but Spock is SO judgmental.

What is Kirk doing? This guy is a hallucination; he won’t be convinced by touching some cloth. There’s nothing to convince! He’s only a Concept.

“Have you seen clothes like this?” / “Yes.” / “Where?” / “On the Claytons!” Comedy gold.

Kirk really thinks he can charm his way out of anything. Hmmm, maybe if I just talk nicely to the Earps, they won’t kill us.

“In small amounts, it [bourbon] was considered medicinal.” Lol.

Scotty is becoming a bourbon guy!

“Mr. Chekov is inVOLVed” lol. Is that what the kids are calling it these days?

“A lot of people and things have tried to kill me.” No need to brag.

THAT’S how you make a city limits sign. Put a dead animal skull on top. I live quite close to a city limits sign and I think it could use a cow skull.

Western Cossacks!!

Poisonous snakes and cactus plants. That really distills the Aesthetic down to its core.

This is a good Kirk episode. He’s really being a good Captain: coming up with different ideas, being creative, pushing his crew to brainstorm.

Bones and his tranqs again.

Bones meets his old nemesis: Old Timey Medicine.

Why was Doc Holiday just...chilling in his own dentist chair? (My mom suggested: power nap. Let’s go with that. Power nap + ability for optimally dramatic entrance.)

Also I can’t believe McCoy just goes into this guy’s practice and starts helping himself to all the serious drugs.

Chekov definitely isn’t the marrying kind.

RIP Chekov.

Bones does not sound very sympathetic here. Jim, get over it, he just died, whatever.

And then two seconds later he turns around and tells Spock he’s not sad enough! You can’t win.

“We all knew the risk when we joined the service.”

“My feelings are not a subject for discussion.” !!!!!!! This line!!

“You worked closely with him.” Yes! Chekov is his protege!

“Bones, Scotty, stop bullying Spock.” <-- not an actual quote but it might as well be.

If this were AOS, Spock would already be choking Bones out.

Whoops, no one told Chekov he wasn’t supposed to die!

“Let’s organize! Let’s form an anti-Earp union!”

“I can’t kill them!” he says in a mad rage.

I mean, it is important, though. That’s not what he does.

Kirk is /disgusted/ by lawlessness and frontier justice. What a Rebel TM.

I feel like Bones was waiting for the gotcha moment when Spock compliments him. “Saying nice things about me? That’s not how this relationship works!”

“Nothing can go wrong.” / “Up to now, everything has gone wrong.” He has a point.

That pause before Spock admitted it hasn’t been tested lol--they don’t want to admit it.

“[The bourbon’s] for the pain.” / “But this is painless.” / “You should have told me that before.” The unexpected comedy stylings of Scotty and Spock.

It doesn’t work--guess Spock’s got to take back that compliment now.

“Captain, you don’t understand--they’ve been telepaths the whole time which we already knew!”

“We’re not going to move from the spot.” * is immediately in a different spot * Well I mean at least he’s trying. He’s doing his best!

Love the OK Corral sign also. Weirdly creepy. With its accompanying horse.

Spock doesn’t have any hips for the holster to rest on.

“What did Chekov die of?” / “A piece of lead in his body.” That would do it.

If the tranquilizer should have been effective, does that mean Scotty is actually passed out right now?

Honestly, this is all so spooky. TRUE Western Horror Ghost Vibes.

Also very trippy. If you don’t believe it... it’s not real... some kinda weird chicken and the egg argument regarding our belief in the truth of physical laws idk but it sounds good. Spock brings it home.

Even with the wind whipping around him, Kirk is SO in love. His absolutely adoring expression... So soft...

“Very well, Sir, I’ll meld with you again. Not that I particularly want to. It will be a sacrifice. But I’ll manage. Even though you’re such a dynamic individual haha ha I’m fine I’m cool.”

I feel like Scotty is NOT into the mind meld. He looks terrified. Maybe he should have saved the bourbon for this occasion.

I know the mind meld is supposed to be a replacement for on screen hypnotism...but is this not hypnotism? Like even more than past uses? In this case, Spock is leaving them with suggestions that he wants to continue AFTER the meld, as opposed to, like, efficiently sharing information or giving immediate suggestions. And the scenes themselves are very creepy and...hypnotic.

Kirk’s patented move: WHOLE BODY ATTACK.

Well, we wrapped that up right quick.

Did they... never actually leave the bridge? Or even navigate past the buoy? This actually brings up a lot of questions as to when the aliens started the hallucinations, what their bodies looked like to the rest of the crew, and how they woke up--since there’s obviously been a bit of a time skip, as Bones is already examining Chekov.

Lol at Chekov, saved by horniness. “Nothing but the girl was real to him.”

“A vast alliance of fellow creatures who all believe in the same thing...”

Kirk’s vision of the utopian future is so powerful, he’s effectively gotten the welcome mat put back out.

A personal question? Kirk is intrigued.

Ah, but it’s just another excuse for Spock to be a hypocrite--how did humans survive? How did VULCANS survive? And for the show to remind us of its utopian vision of the future... we will move past violence, we will prove ourselves attractive to and worth of new alien friends.

Then McCoy walks out so Kirk and Spock can have their Moment. He undoubtedly knows what’s up.

So this ep was shown one day before the anniversary of the shootout at the OK Corral AND on Halloween week. It is very much a spooky season episode. So surreal and strange. Ghostly.

I know using sets rather than on location shoots, and not even building whole sets, was a budgetary issue but tbqh I think it worked in the ep’s favor. It added to the alien feeling of it and was an accidentally creative way of showing that these images were pulled from Kirk’s mind.

This felt like a very Classic S1-ish ep to me. I think it’s because Kirk was foregrounded as the Captain/hero and we get to see not just his intelligence and creativity and leadership but also his compassion and his moral core. He IS the values of the series, personified, and that was clear here.

But we also got to see lots of him and Spock, casually working as a pair, and the use of the rest of the landing party crew was very deft also. I loved that there was time to mock Chekov’s horniness, to talk about Spock and Chekov’s professional relationship, to joke around with Scotty, to show more of the Spock and Bones dynamic.

Again, great sci fi concept. I think this would have been another possible inspo for my Pirate AU if I’d seen it in time (although I think I picked a good mission-concept ultimately). I’m fascinated by the Melkotians: who are they? What do they really look like? Do they communicate any other way but telepathically? Are they corporeal? What is their planet like? And most importantly, what experience lead them to be so isolationist? They specifically refer to the aliens as “disease” coming into their home. And it’s when Kirk shows himself to be fundamentally nonviolent even in the face of his own death, they let the Enterprise through.

Basically, I always enjoy hints of alien societies that bring up more questions for me than answers. I love speculating about it.

The next two eps I’ve seen and remember well and I know they’re classics. I’m really looking forward to them!

[shadowthrone-ammanas]

Ghost Kid Chapter Twenty-One: It Was an Accident

Mu still wasn’t quite at full strength yet and it had been a while since she’d last exerted herself and thus it wasn’t long before she collapsed to the forest floor onto her hands and knees, gasping for breath. That kind of thing didn’t happen in dreams. Meaning this was very real and thus that Hat Kid was indeed dead. She’d had to have died in the crash, especially considering how mad she’d been at Mu, saying Mu had killed her.

Mu hadn’t though. It wasn’t her fault. “It was… an accident,” she mumbled out loud to herself as she leaned back against a tree. “An accident.” She hadn’t intended for Hat Kid to get hurt at all, let alone that badly. So she couldn’t be held accountable for it.

Except… she’d caused the crash. If she hadn’t snuck aboard the ship or pushed Hat Kid into the command console the ship never would’ve crashed and Hat Kid would still be alive. So even though it was an accident it was still her fault. And to think she’d been mad at Hat Kid because she’d gotten ‘the better deal’ in the crash. It was the other way around though; Mu was the lucky one, extraordinarily luck. She’d survived and was doing okay now while Hat Kid was dead.

How was that even possible? It shouldn’t be. Enemy now or no Hat Kid had been Mu’s friend once upon a time. It had been a short friendship but she’d still been the first friend Mu had made since the Mafia had invaded and killed all her friends from before. And Mu’s actions had directly led to her death.

She let out a sob as she pressed her forehead to her knees. She should get back up and resume running because Hat Kid was going to find her soon if she didn’t. She wanted to kill Mu and was probably justified in that desire. Mu didn’t want to die though so she should move and get away but… she had trouble really caring right now. So she just sat there and cried instead because what else could she do?

[A short time later]

“This is starting to get really awkward.”

Mu flinched and scrambled back up to her feet. How could she have let her guard lapse enough to let someone sneak up on her? The world around her was suddenly grey and thick impenetrable fog made a wall around her and the being who’d spoken. He had no legs and wore what might once been fancy clothes. His head was misshapen and his eyes coloured strangely.

“Though I suppose that is my fault,” he continued. “I should add an auditory competent to my intro so that even those who are not paying attention to their surroundings may be made aware of my presence. Perhaps a choir, singing a creepy Latin melody about the moon of course. Or maybe distant howling of wolves singing to the moon, normally a pretty sound but in the right circumstances, it can be bone chilling too. Which do you think would be better?” He turned his gaze back to Mu.

Getting caught sobbing was the worst way to be caught but hell if Mu was going let that define this interaction even if her tears still stained her face. “How about you don’t be a pecking creepy bastard instead?”

“Hmm… no, I’ve tried it a few times, it’s not very fun. Before we head any further into this conversation though we should introduce ourselves. I am Moonjumper, I hail from the horizon.” He gave her a slight bow as if they were at a ball or something.

Mu instinctively glanced around, looking for possible escape routes. But assuming the fog wall wasn’t magically made solid, how far out did it extend? Because running through fog that thick in unfamiliar territory would undoubtedly lead to tripping and crashing into all sorts of things, possibly getting turned all the way around too. So escape probably wasn’t an option here. At least it wasn’t the infamous Snatcher though so… “I’m Mustache Girl, call me Mu. Now what do you want?” Getting snappy with whoever or whatever Moonjumper was might not be smart but she didn’t care.

“I would like to know why you were crying.”

“That’s none of your business.”

“It has something to do with Hat Kid, correct? She seems to think you killed her. You mumbled about it being an accident though.” He’d been watching her. For how long though? “Which I’m sure it is for I can’t imagine any scenario where one child would willingly murder another.”

“I-it was. I didn’t mean for that to happen, I didn’t.” That didn’t make it any less her fault though now, did it? She wasn’t going to start crying about it again though even if part of her wanted to.

“Yes, that is often the way of things. Now may I inquire about what your goal in entering the forest is? You were clearly taken by surprise when Hat Kid jumped you so that must mean you didn’t come here to talk to her. Unless you did and her ghostly form is what surprised you.”

This guy had been watching her since even before Hat Kid had jumped her? So… like right when she entered for very close to it. … The forest really wasn’t her habitat, huh? She couldn’t wait to get back to the island where she knew every nook, cranny, alleyway, and shortcut; no one could sneak up on her or follow her there without her noticing.

“Why do you want to know?” she asked, crossing her arms.

“I am curious and depending on what it is, I might be willing to assist you.”

“Why?”

“First, you’re a sad child, what heartless monster wouldn’t want to help a child they find alone in the words crying? Second and most importantly, you seem to be in opposition to Hat Kid who is aligned with Lukas who I happen to enjoy occasionally causing trouble for.”

“Who’s Lukas?” As far as Mu knew Hat Kid had never had a friend by that name, she’d have heard of it. Though it was possible the friendship had been made after her death.

“The former owner of the body I’m possessing. Which is actually why I like messing with him so much; he had some pretty bad self-esteem issues leading up to his death, it makes me inclined to dislike him. The feeling is mutual though; he doesn’t like me either despite everything I did for him.”

That didn’t answer Mu’s question. Though did it really matter anyway? He was offering her possible assistance with her goal. … Which was stealing the Time Pieces! With them she could undo the crash, make it so Hat Kid’s death never even happened!

“Why would I trust you?” she asked, not daring to get her hopes too high but she could use the help of a powerful being such as Moonjumper. The forest was big, the ship could’ve landed anywhere inside it, searching through it while Hat Kid hunted for her while also avoiding Snatcher wouldn’t be an easy task on her own.

“Because you’d be dead if I hadn’t shielded you from Lukas and Hat Kid. They passed by a while ago, looking to take your soul and eat it. So, would you like to come back to the horizon with me? Maybe we can reach a proper agreement and cause a bit of mayhem, huh?” He grinned at her.

Mu needed the Time Pieces more than ever so… “Okay. But if you try to rob me or anything else I’ll stuff all your organs into a jar.” She probably didn’t stand a chance against him but she sure as hell wasn’t going to let that stop her from threatening him.

“Ohoho, that sounds rather unpleasant even if I don’t really have organs. I shall endeavor to stay on your good side.”

Previous / Next

[nadziejastar]

Theory on Subject X and Saïx’s Berserk State

“Rejoice, Naminé. Soon you’ll meet the hero you’ve been longing for.”

Naminé’s shoulders tensed when he said her name. She didn’t look up when she spoke, her voice tiny and faint. “I’m…glad.”

I think the real meaning of “358/2 Days” was supposed to refer to the fact that Axel was reliving his past for the entire year. I’ve written before about how I think Isa originally awakened his berserk state not because he was filled with darkness, but because he wanted to protect Lea. And I want to go into more detail about that. I found it interesting that in the manga, right after Axel disappeared, Saïx felt like tormenting Kairi in her cell. He used a line similar to Marluxia about Naminé waiting for her hero. 

“A heart? I have a heart? No one wants your nonsense!” Saïx raised his sword over Naminé—but Riku was there with Soul Eater to intercept the blow.

“Hmph. I don’t have time for these games.” Darkness welled from a rift behind Saïx. “Run along and help your dear hero.”

During the battle for Destiny Islands, Saïx said that Riku couldn’t protect anything using darkness. Then he said to go help your “dear hero”, referring to Axel.

“Why would caring about something be a weakness?” Xion asked, baffled.

Roxas lowered his head. “I don’t know. I didn’t get it, either.”

I’m not the only one surrounded by things I can’t understand, Xion thought. Axel would explain it, though…

“I hope Axel comes back soon,” said Roxas.

She nodded. They would have so many things to ask him.

I think Isa was used as bait before. And that’s why it was mentioned that Axel would know what it meant to have something you care about be a weakness.

Roxas dallied anyway, peering through the doors again. The rose, the thing he treasures, is his weakness?

Nope, I don’t get it.

I wonder if Axel will know what it all means…?

It’s mentioned more than once, too. On Day 119, and Day 150.

“What are you going to do with us?” she demanded.

Saïx narrowed his eyes. “You are the fire that feeds Sora’s anger.”

That was all he said. And then he vanished again.

“I have to do something…,” Kairi murmured. “Sora’s in danger because of me…”

Saïx seemed to have very personal contempt for Kairi. And here’s a good example of why I just cannot accept that Saïx gets to play on the beach and eat ice cream with everyone in the epilogue, instead of Isa. He tortured Kairi, lol. They really weren’t trying to pull any punches with his characterization. Sora was not even there to witness it, so there really was no reason for him to do this other than to vent his feelings and take his anger out on her.

The Beast had a ferociously strong heart—its strength of will alone had taken him to Hollow Bastion to save one of the princesses, Belle.

“Looks strong,” Axel remarked from behind them.

“Yeah. He is,” Riku said, sinking into thought.

His heart is even stronger than his body. It’s exactly the kind of heart the organization wants…

“But someone that strong won’t just do whatever the organization says,” Naminé murmured.

“Well, this is their chance to show how persuasive they can be,” Axel said with a bitter smirk.

Even in KH2, they implied that Axel knew how “persuasive” the organization could be at getting people to do things they didn’t want to do.

Day 171: The No. i Project

Author: Saïx

Xion failed to complete its mission. If this continues, destroying it and using the next Replica as the Duplicate would undoubtedly yield a higher-grade copy. No. i was among the initial lot, which naturally raises questions about its capabilities. At present, it is nothing short of broken. I cannot fathom why Xemnas would want to keep it.

I think there was a similar situation where Isa was trying to protect Lea who wanted to rescue him. Lea was in danger because of Isa, so Isa was full of conviction, like Kairi. He went berserk, and used up every bit of his strength. I think that the Beast was meant to parallel Isa’s backstory as well as Lea’s. You can see even more clearly in the manga that the Beast went berserk trying to protect Belle. But he felt like he failed.

Saïx sounded vaguely disgusted. “What do you care for a broken, defective failure?”

Isa probably collapsed like Xion and the Beast did. I definitely think that the ordeal caused Isa to be in a state where he lost his sense of self, and he became zombie-like, similar to Roxas during his first week. And that’s when he was Norted. Saïx would have no memory of this happening. Xemnas and Xigbar do, which is why they are amused by his obliviousness.

Day 174: Just a Replica

Author: Saïx

Xion continues to sleep. All analysis on its function suggests no marked change. The copying appears to be working, but a Replica is a Replica. My latest report to Xemnas on this net me no clear answers. He simply stood, smiling. At times I find his thinking impenetrable.

A few days later, Xion was asleep but still functioning and copying. Saïx still thought she was broken and didn’t know why Xemnas wanted to keep her. And Xemnas gave Saïx a creepy smile. Day 174 is called “Action, Reaction”. That is another name for Newton’s third law. “For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction”. Whenever one object exerts a force on a second object, the second object exerts a force back on the first object. The force exerted by the second object is equal in strength and in the opposite direction to the first force.

Roxas: Look, I'm just saying. All I saw in the hole they dug was a wooden chest full of junk.

Axel: And the Heartless were in the chest?

Roxas: I dunno. I think maybe something else is causing them to show up.

Axel: Like?

Roxas: Didn't something seem kind of off to you about the guy in red?

Axel: Off? Off how?

The mission on Day 174 was in Neverland. Roxas learned how to fly because he believed, and Hook was drawing the Heartless to himself due to his greed. The same concept is brought up when Axel came here with Roxas later, too. 

Saïx: So, you really do care for her. In that case...the answer is no.

Sora: You rotten...!

Saïx: Are you angry? Do you hate me? Then take that rage, and direct it at the Heartless.

It’s similar to the relationship between Roxas and Xion. And actually the experiments that Young Xehanort was conducting on Andy’s toys, too. He was “testing the strength of their bond”. I bet there was a similar situation between Lea and Isa’s hearts. In the manga, Axel knew that Hook was drawing the Heartless to him and convinced him to throw away the treasure (to save Peter Pan, surprisingly). And a comparison was made to Axel having something he was afraid to lose. I think the apprentices were using Isa to draw the darkness out of Lea or something. Instead of greed like Hook, it would be rage and hatred.

“Sora or Xion—it matters not. But we need one of them under our control. Bear that in mind.”

Saïx nodded, and a serene smile came to Xemnas’s face.

If that smile meant anything, it was beyond him.

Xemnas gave Saïx a creepy when he was asked about the memory devices. Saïx was wondering what Xemnas’s true agenda was for placing them.

“Sora has a pretty powerful effect on her,” said Xigbar, pensively stroking his chin.

“Both of them have connections to Sora, but we only need one of them under our thumb,” Xemnas replied. “Whether Xion takes from Roxas the rest of what he has to give…or whether he destroys her first and takes back what is his, there is no change to our plans. No matter how, Sora’s power will belong to us.”

“Understood.” Xemnas disappeared nearly before he heard his order acknowledged.

“Don’t let us down now, kiddo. Shouldn’t be too much trouble without a heart,” Xigbar told Saïx.

Same thing here. Xemnas asked if the devices were ready, he reminded Saïx that they only needed one of them, and Xigbar made a weird comment about Saïx being a kid without a heart. Xemnas and Xigbar seemed to take pleasure in reminding Saïx that they only needed one. Lea and Isa apparently had some kind of reciprocal effect on each other, like Roxas and Xion did.

A memory. My first memory. Saïx took me by the hand and brought me out of Castle Oblivion. “This is the last you’ll see of these walls… Xion.” Yes, I remember what he said to me. And I remember where I was. Castle Oblivion.

Day 224 is called “Anomaly”. Both Xion and Naminé are called anomalies. 

Subject's memories have not returned, and our conversations remain less than lucid.

Subject X was also a unique subject who didn’t collapse like all the others. On this day, Xion remembered that she was taken from Castle Oblivion by Saïx. 

Hayner: We can't be together forever... so we'd better make the time we do have something to remember.

Axel suggested going to the beach, which was a sign that he knew something bad was coming.

Secret Report 1: Recollections

Secret Report 1 is obtained after clearing Battlegate 1 at Olympus: Realm of the Gods / Courtyard.

Am I alive? I awoke in a cell, alone until the researchers came with their tests and their prodding to uncover my identity. I had no answer to offer them. Four friends, and a key…that is the sum total of my memory. I could not even recall my name. I was simply called “X” there. My only solace was the time I spent talking with the two boys who would visit from time to time. One day, a man came to take me from the prison. I could not see him for the darkness, save that he wore an eyepatch.

Subject X was taken somewhere by Braig/Xigbar, like Xion was by Saïx. This report is located at Olympus. Perhaps the Realm of the Gods was drawing an allusion to the Final World, which is where people exist between life and death. Isa was sent there after going berserk. 

Ansem's Report 2

The experiments caused the test subject's heart to collapse, including those of the most stalwart. How fragile our hearts are! My treatment produced no signs of recovery. I confined those who had completely lost their hearts beneath the castle. Some time later, I went below and was greeted by the strangest sight. Creatures that seemed born of darkness...What are they? Are they truly sentient beings? Could they be the shadows of those who lost their hearts in my experiments?

Ordinarily the subject’s heart would collapse and they’d become a Heartless. But Lea believed in Isa so he was the only subject whose heart didn’t. It’s “action, reaction” at work. Lea’s heart had an effect on Isa’s heart, and vice versa. Isa was an anomaly and then became a highly valued specimen by Xehanort.

Demyx: Hey, even us Nobodies need our rest, right? Exhaustion kills!

Saïx: I’m sending you with Demyx today. Try to inspire in him a little of your work ethic.  

Demyx: Heartless duty again today? I keep telling them I’m not cut out for this stuff…

The recurring theme at Olympus Coliseum was that Demyx wasn’t cut out for fighting, and that nobody expected much from him. Day 224 was no different. The mission took place at Olympus Coliseum and Saïx wanted Demyx to go with Roxas to make increase his work ethic. Phil said this was the “big day” where Roxas could finally compete in the Games and Demyx slacked off.

Demyx: Right!? And what a shocker to find out Xigbar was the other finalist! What’s up with that… I can’t imagine he was here on a mission. You never can tell what that guy is thinking…

Roxas: Maybe he just wanted an excuse to fight me… To test me.

Demyx: No way, man! I wouldn’t read into it too deep. Besides, the mission’s over, right? All’s well that ends well, man!

Roxas: I…guess so, but…

The most noteworthy part of the mission was that Xigbar was the finalist; he wanted to test Roxas. I think Xigbar was also tasked with testing Isa after he recovered from the initial incident. 

Roxas: So people work you harder when they have expectations? The Organization expects me to do hard missions all the time. Aren't expectations the same thing as orders?

After he went berserk, they probably thought he had much more fighting potential than they originally thought, and pushed him harder. Isa was left in a bad state afterwards. Not long after, Ansem the Wise discovered what was going on. He took Isa, hid him away, and released the remaining subjects.

Secret Report 3: Experiments of the Heart – Notes on Subject X, Excerpt 1

Subject was found in the central square shortly after dawn. Female, approximately fifteen years old. After seven days’ observation, she spoke her first words, but could not provide a name. Subject exhibits signs of profound amnesia, and displays concern for which world this is. Her words suggest that she departed her home world with others, though she cannot recall the names of her erstwhile companions. All efforts to explore those memories have met with a rejection response.

After his initial experiments on me, Ansem the Wise ceased his research into the heart, his hand stayed by some fear I cannot fathom. Yet this new subject is like me: devoid of memories. She is the perfect sample upon which to continue my master's work. She, too, could benefit from it; by traversing the heart, we have a direct path into memory. I myself have begun to reclaim my lost past thanks to these very experiments.Who is she? Whence has she come? These are questions no scientist could ignore.

In the manga, Saïx was in a bad mood after learning that Xion and Demyx had been using his computer. He went into his berserk state and tested Demyx when he was slacking. Roxas was upset that he’d use force on a comrade, but Saïx said anyone who obstructed their goal was expendable, even organization members. Roxas didn’t quite understand what he meant, but it seemed like he was speaking from personal experience. This is the only time Saïx’s berserk state gets featured like this in the Days manga, so I tend to think that it was related to his backstory.

“Get up.”

“Just five more minutes…,” Axel mumbled.

“No. Get up—now.” The voice was distinctly annoyed.

Axel relented and opened his eyes. “What are you even doing in here?”

Saïx was standing next to his bed, as irritated as one might have guessed from his voice. Axel hadn’t been so rudely awakened since before turning into a Nobody.

“Xion ran away.”

In the manga, this whole scene with Saïx at Olympus Coliseum was on Day 255 while Axel was looking for Xion. It was immediately prior to Axel arriving on the clock tower and telling Roxas why the sunset was red. Then lying to him about Xion’s disappearance. The novel seemed to be drawing a connection to Axel’s past on Day 255. He mentioned that he hasn’t been rudely awakened like that since becoming a Nobody. And it just so happens that Subject X was discovered shortly after dawn. 

Every time he tried to wake up, all Axel could think was how badly he wanted to go back to sleep—although he was getting enough rest.

He just wished he could have a day to himself and do nothing but sleep. It was probably some remnant of his human memories.

I’m sure that Lea had sleeping issues ever since he was kidnapped and experimented on, but they probably got even worse when Isa went missing. Axel was thinking this after he took Roxas to Castle Oblivion.

Day 276: Behind the Truth

Author: Axel

Xion is gone. Roxas still doesn’t know anything, but Xion found out. That’s why I need to find her. We don’t have hearts, so we accept the facts we’re given as the truth. But something far more important lies behind that truth. Saïx would laugh at people with no hearts calling one another friends, but that doesn’t make it not so. As the Nobody of the hero of the Keyblade and the Replica of that Nobody, these two are special. Unique in every sense of the word. But that doesn’t change the fact that we’re friends. Nothing will. Got it memorized, Xion?

Day 276 was a pretty important day. This is when Axel reluctantly suggests that they go looking for Xion.

Secret Report 4: Experiments of the Heart – Notes on Subject X, Excerpt 2

My pilot studies used a handful of subjects, but none possessed the fortitude to endure them. Ultimately, all suffered mental collapse. I knew it would be a heavy blow to lose a subject as unique as she. Upon discovering the tests I’ve been conducting, my master demanded that I cease my work immediately and destroy what research I have compiled. Worse still, he ordered the release of my remaining subjects. She is gone. Where is Subject X now? Has “wise” Master Ansem hidden her away?

There really are uncanny similarities between Subject X’s story and the story of 358/2 Days. Xion was gone, Subject X was gone. Roxas and Xion are unique, and Subject X was unique. I think Axel also went to look for Subject X. Because Subject X was Isa.

[theonceoverthinker]

OUAT 3X15 - Quiet Minds

What did the doctor diagnose Zelena with when she came complaining about knee pain?

Oz-teoperosis! XD

I wish I could get you to a doctor! I’m actually pretty sad to watch this episode and I’m sure you know why. So let’s get to it. Under the cut is where you want to be.

Press Release

Neal finds himself back in Storybrooke and yearns for a way to reconnect with his son Henry, whose memories of his father are gone, while also trying to find his own father, Rumplestiltskin, whom he has just learned is alive but missing, and Regina discovers a possible connection with Robin Hood. Meanwhile, in the Fairy Tale Land that was over the past year, agonizing over the death of his father, Neal - with the help of Belle and enchanted candelabra Lumiere - attempts to find a magical solution to bring back Rumplestiltskin from the dead.

Main Thoughts - Characters/Stories/Themes and Their Effectiveness

Past

I like how Belle and Neal’s past conversation is almost meta like in their discussion of the nature of Rumple’s sacrifice (Ex. Belle debates that Rumple saved everyone whereas Neal debates that he saved just his family). I like this discussion so much and wish that we had more Neal and Belle moments because these kind of discussions about Rumple’s morality are so interesting! Neal is much more critical of Rumple’s every act, be in kind in nature or not while Belle is more lenient, choosing to believe in him. I can’t help but wonder how these two would’ve worked together going forward had Neal not died. Would they have been able to get along because of those differences? Probably, but I could see the occasional fight break out between them. And it’s interesting to see how in the end, Neal is right. While undoubtedly the thing anyone would do -- save their child over the dagger -- it was selfish for everyone who now had to deal with the consequences of that decision. Rumple saved his family -- not the grander scheme of things. BUT that’s not framed as a terribly bad thing either, and rightfully so, as evidenced by neal calling it a “true sacrifice” during his death scene. It’s still legit.

I like how Neal’s lack of magical understanding -- one of his biggest character flaws -- is what gets him into this mess, as well as his impatience to get back to his family. I some ways, it reminds me of a reverse version of “The Crocodile.” There, Rumple’s need for vengeance, over-reliance on magic, and impatience costs his best chance at getting back to his family and the same happens here.

The dialogue between Zelena and Rumple has much more meat to it in hindsight than during the first go-around. There’s this whole other layer to the conversation that’s completely missed without the context that Rumple was Zelena’s tutor and taught her basically how to be evil and powerful!

Present

The story in the present section is definitely one of those “all come together moments” where the plot is more of the driving force than a story and it works fine enough here.

Because of that...well, let’s talk about Neal’s death, why don’t we?

I feel like when talking about Neal’s death, we have to do it in two parts: The first is how the death worked on its own (I.E. the staging, how it fits into the story of the episode, etc.). The second is how it worked as the death of a character (I.E. what this character’s death left people desiring, was it an appropriate death, why this death happened, last impressions of the character). I’m going to focus on the first part here and the second part over where I talk about the cultural elements of the show.

So within a vacuum, how was Neal’s death handled in the confines of this episode? Eh. Neal is so adamant about getting back to his family and making things right and just leaps at his death without looking for another option. I just can’t help but feel like Neal would be a bit more stubborn with that. He’s giving up his chance to be alive with him family. If this was the only way and alternatives were explored a bit more, that would’ve been one thing, but they’re not. Belle reads exactly one book and they don’t even try to consult Blue or Regina before going to this final resort. It’s not impossible to believe, but it is hard.

But that’s not all there is to a death. Some of it can come down to his goodbyes to other characters and Neal had the benefit of dying beside the two people he was closest to: Rumple and Emma. And while Henry is absent during the scene, and understandably so given the story, his absence of presence and memories creates an extra layer of underlying tragedy to this death that thankfully is brought up in the next episode. But let’s keep our focus on Emma and Rumple. Now, I like talking about shippy stuff at the bottom of my review and I will further elaborate on my points there, but to sum it up, it was honestly so beautiful and touched upon every point it needed to. I genuinely loved it. As for Rumple, it’s perfect. I love the sharp denial Rumple has for Neal’s passing, jumping between every stage of grief and being left so emotional as he finally passes. Every touch is so important and emphasized and I think the staging of Emma holding Neal so those touches would stick out more was a masterful choice.

Insights - Stream of Consciousness

-Zelena, I don’t recommend wearing that Wicked Witch cosplay while trying to blend in!

-”Beautiful one.” Not really selling me on adoring your monkeys when you sound like you’re about to butcher a puppy, Zelena!

-FUCK! Rumple can run! Does Storybrooke have a track team because if so, put him on that track team!

-Oh jeez. While funny (And I do believe that’s what they were going for, and it works), I am so glad Killian gave Belle a better apology later on in the series.

-”What the hell?” What the hell’s right! Lumiere is more than a touch creepy!

-Yay! We’re finally starting to really touch upon the Captain Beauty friendship!

-”I got you breakfast because I am supermom.” I love the way Emma says that line and sinks into that big armchair as she says it like, “Yeah, I’m a boss.”

-”That’s a bagel?” Emma, I am so proud of you for instilling such a good taste in bagels into your son. *Tear falls*

-In case there was ever a doubt to Henry being noble as all hell, he’d rather go back to SCHOOL than be lied to!

-Not gonna lie: Neal looks REALLY hot in that t-shirt!

-Watching Neal hear about how Henry not only doesn’t remember the bond they’ve formed, but how he does remember him as a jerk is so harsh and heartbreaking!

-I love how Zelena just concots this whole fucking story for Lumiere that is so typically Rumple! XD

-So I’m looking at the cover to the book that Belle’s reading about The Dark One and it says “IN A AKY ACAZ CA KAWO.” Does anyone know what this means?

-”Born out of -- well -- darkness.” More like vengeance, but sure, whatevs.

-Neal! Why did you blow Lumiere out?! And without a warning?! That was just rude!

-”Says more about them than it does about you.” I don’t know about that, Zelena. Your story was pretty convincing, tbh.

-For all of Zelena’s strengths as a villain, the woman is as subtle as a brick to the face! XD

-REGINA CAUGHT A FUCKING ARROW! WHAT A BADASS!

-Not to get into shippy stuff, but that’s 2 couples so far that have explored this farmhouse!

-JELLO! I still mourn for the jello scene that never canonically was, but fuck, I love this one!

-I love the shot of the clearing by The Dark One’s Vault! The snow and wintery atmosphere makes it so gorgeous!

-Once again, Robert Carlyle is creepy and awesome as hell for it!

-Seriously! Someone get Rumple on a track team!

-I can’t help but feel like it may have been a better idea for the candle to not be revealed as a villain until Belle discovers it. Like I get that he’s supposed to be redeemed, making this a double twist of sorts, but I wasn’t feeling it.

-”The Wicked Witch?” Belle’s tone to me implies that Belle has either seen or read “The Wizard of Oz.” Thoughts and HC’s?

-Like father, like son with that impatience!

-Neal, when things start to glow, we take our hands off of them!

-He loves pizza! I like how just like with the underlying softness between Robin and Regina, there’s that underlying memory of Henry and having pizza with his dad.

-The special effects team must’ve had a fucking FIELD DAY with that transformation in the woods! The actual hell?!

-I love how Lumiere calls his bit of goodness a flash of conscience because damnit -- that’s what it is!

-”I’ll be watching over you guys from somewhere.” Good HEAVENS! I have one HELL of a theory about the nature of the Underworld for Neal and Rumple. Remind me to tell you about it some time!

-”Let go.” NO! Rumple, save him!

-I feel bad laughing given that we just lost Neal, but WHY do the Charmings have two doors to their bathroom! Even the architects in Storybrooke are so fucking extra! XD

-”That was rather ill-timed.” Zelena, you fucking bitch!

-Okay, when Zelena stepped over Neal’s head, I was terrified she was gonna crush him.

-We get a nice bit of Golden Swan in this episode! Not only are they mutually grieving Neal’s loss as he dies and for a few moments afterwards, BUT we see how Rumple has faith that Emma will rally everyone to defeat Zelena!

-I’m not gonna lie: I’m kind of loving this Rumple whump. Having the dagger shoved quite literally in his face -- I don’t know how to describe it, but it does stuff to me, okay!

-I don’t know if Zelena makes him walk back to his cafe instead of poofing to torture him or if he voluntarily does that so he gets some time to himself to mourn, but either way is so sad!

-GOING FROM A FATHER MOURNING HIS SON TO A FATHER PLAYING WITH HIS SON IS NOT OKAY FOR MY PSYCHE, WRITERS! *Cries*

-That having been said, seeing Robin and Roland play together is fucking precious!

-Take that, people who say no one cares about Belle! Snow goes over there and checks on her! :D

-Oh sweet! The lake is back, which will henceforth be known as The Mirror Lake! Like seriously, the entire crew was having a fucking field day with this half season. These shots! These effects!

-THE TEARS ARE BACK AGAIN FOR THIS EMMA/HENRY TALK!

Arcs - How Are These Storylines Progressing?

The Wicked Witch - Once again, Zelena gets to show off how intimidating she truly is! In the present, she continues to manipulate everyone into thinking she’s a good person and even when she’s exposed, she still manages to kill Neal in the process. And in the past, her plan is straight up devious and so cleverly put together. Even as she’s now exposed, getting there only took four episode and didn’t lag too much at all. Also, there’s still so much to get into that there’s enough fresh ideas to keep the arc chugging along. Also also, I REALLY get how so many people wouldn’t want a redeemed Zelena after this moment. Hell, I don’t think I want it anymore either! Like, Zelena is fucking wicked and just as much as wicked always wins, seeing her laud Neal’s death -- a death that she cause -- over Rumple fucking hurts to watch!

Emma Accepting Home - I think that Neal’s death was an important thing to depict to show Emma the dangers of being in Storybrooke and to reinforce her desires to leave with Henry for a life in New York.

Favorite Dynamic

Neal and Killian. Look, we had a bunch of good dynamics here, but this was a sad episode and I need something lighthearted to fangirl over. This is about as good of closure as we were ever going to get between Neal and Killian and I utterly LOVED it. The jello Killian offers Neal is funny as all hell, I love their conversation concerning the nature of the good and evil deeds they’re doing and...THAT HUG! It’s sweet and and awkward and a little uncomfortable, but is also so earnest. And fuck me gently with a spoon, Neal calls Killian...well, Killian! There aren’t a lot of characters who do that and the implication of them doing so is that on some level, they get who he is, so to see Neal join those ranks is just beautiful.

Writer

Kalinda Vazquez is our writer today, and boy was she stuck with a difficult episode. Killing a major character is NEVER easy, especially such a big one. Until the the end of Season 5, this was a burden left solely on her shoulders alone (Unless you thought Rumple did die during “Coming Home,” I didn’t). And with that difficult situation, I think she made something very solid. Neal’s death, while not ideally set up in some ways, IS a tragic scene that allows for Neal to get a degree of closure with the three most important people in his life. I can talk about the rest of the episode, but that was where the writing needed to work, and thankfully, it did.

Culture

I feel like I should preface the discussion about Neal’s death as an overall factor on the series as a whole by talking about my original experiences with the character. I binged Seasons 2 and 3 a few months apart, so a lot of Neal’s time on the show passed for me in a blur. I didn’t hate him by any means, but he didn’t leave a big impression on me.

This rewatch changed things. I started to pay more attention to him as a character. That happened mostly I think because there’s always been such a controversy surrounding him and because I didn’t pay much attention to him last time in favor of some of the flashier characters, I wanted more than anything to form my own opinion on him. Much to my pleasure, that opinion was positive, and as I closed in on his death, I began to get sad at the thought of it -- so much so that I put off the start of this review basically all day.

Anyways, let’s talk about the larger factors of the death (I.E. what this character’s death left people desiring, was it an appropriate death, why this death happened, last impressions of the character). I talked about my last impressions of him, so we’ll get into everything else.

Now, I can’t speak for anyone else here, but I can speak for me when I say that I was left desiring a lot more development with Neal’s relationships with both Rumple and Henry. While I like the resolution Neal and Rumple got, i can’t help but feel like it had to zip dash to the finish line when Neal’s introduction back into the series implied that this was going to be a harder road. We only got a few episodes of them being at odds and while those moments were mostly great, they’re so little compared to all of the baggage they had. There’s no point where Neal sees the scale of what Rumple did cursing this land and reacting to it and he barely gets to spend time with Belle.

As for his time with Henry, yeah. I would’ve liked to see more of them. After Neal’s death, Henry carries so much grief over him throughout the other seasons, mentioning him at least once a season until we hit 7, but in terms of the time they spend together and how that time is spent, we come up really short. They play games and have pizza and that’s all well and good, but I feel like it would’ve been great had Neal occasionally given Henry some advice or left him with a phrase or something that would’ve equaled out to all the love that Henry has for him. Like, where Neal’s “with great power comes great responsibility” Uncle Ben moment? What we got was fine enough, but I would’ve liked to honestly have seen a bit more meat to it.

Was the death appropriate, or rather, was it warranted? Certainly more so than Robin’s (I’ll get to that one), but to tell you the truth, I’m not sure. I think that it opened up story possibilities that were taken good advantage of and Neal’s death was given the dignity he deserved, making the death more than just something done for shock, but as a story point that would follow Henry, Rumple, and Emma for a while. I think the broad strokes with Neal’s character were taken care of prior to the death and while I have my issues with it in regards to the finer details of some of his dynamics, Neal was pretty complete. That having been said, the issue of if a death needed to happen is a valid one and it opens a lot of points that, to be honest, I just don’t know if can delve as deeply into it as the topic deserves. There are so many factors that go into this conversation, up to and including the magical world of OUAT and the resurrections that take place afterwards. So my answer is a light yes, but there is so much room for nuance in this conversation that it’s nothing I’d give a ride-or-die answer to.

Now here comes the “fun” question: Why did Neal die? A lot of people attribute it to Captain Swan and bringing an end to the love triangle, and that is not a line of thinking I agree with. And I know, it makes sense that I’d say that as a CS shipper, but I beg you to follow my line of thinking here.

Neal was killed because of the choice to make Rumple a baddie again. When you look at Season 4, Rumple plays a gambit on everyone. If Neal were alive and in character, he would not have been able to do that without getting caught by someone other than Killian. I’ve mentioned before, but what makes Neal a great character and a great contrast to Belle is that while Belle is willing to often give him the benefit of the doubt, Neal isn’t. Neal would’ve been on Rumple’s ass the second he heard something shady and Rumple’s so shady, he makes the space underneath a pine tree look like the Sahara on a cloudless day. And look, that’s not Rumple’s fault, or even the writers necessarily, but I’m gonna say that they had some idea of what they wanted from Season 4 by this point and they understood that there had to be a trade off for Rumple’s development of an evil plan and his returned love for his power. And Neal, just as he was in this episode, was the price. I’m not happy about it -- I hope that’s something I’ve made clear -- but that’s my thought process.

Rating

9/10. Everything about this episode was going to come down to how well Neal’s death was handled. Fortunately, it was done well -- not flawlessly, but well. The story was solid and it delivers on giving the audience a level of closure for the character, closure that will continue for the rest of the season. Even the past segment offered something unique in that regard, making for a weird kind of love letter to Neal. It’s an episode that really does encompass his character and a send off that is divisive, but for me, more satisfying than not.

Flip My Ship - The Home of All Things “Shippy Goodness”

Swan Fire - You really see just how determined Neal and Emma are to get back together here and it works so much! Even Belle ships it, explicitly reasoning the safety of Emma’s necklace was a result of it originating from their “True Love.” No matter what you get from that line, I think the role that that necklace took on for both of them as well as its presence throughout the series shows how special Neal and Emma were to each other. Also, I love seeing Emma and Neal bonding over their evil significant others. Watching them laugh together in the forest just shows how in-tune they are with each other. Seeing Neal remorseful for how things with Walsh turned out is so sweet. Finally, let’s talk about Neal’s death. Neal’s attention to making sure Emma knows that she can find love and happiness is so important here. Neal cares so much about Emma and you see it as he shakily holds that necklace up to her, begging her to continue on her story. And seeing Emma barely able to hold herself together while watching Neal die guts me. The acting from both of these guys is amazing! And that hug as she cradles him to her chest choked me up and got some tears welling!

Rumbelle - “I love him -- all of him -- even the parts that belong to the darkness.” I really like this line and it leaves a lot to be discussed when it comes to the nature of Rumple and Belle’s love. It’s important not only to see as a point about the depths of Belle’s love for Rumple, but also as a point about that love’s limitations. As I said in my “Skin Deep” review last summer, Belle is one of the only characters who gets to show amusement at some of Rumple’s antics. But I like this line because it gels well with the breakup we see in Season 4, Belle likes the darkness, but has clear limits on what how much Rumple can let that darkness effect him. It makes Belle a good character with human-like limits, but showing that there is something attractive to even a good person about the darkness. ANYWAY, let’s just look at Rumple and Belle’s reactions to Rumple coming out of the vault. Belle’s got freakin’ tears welled up and Rumple’s first word is her name! It’s -- to quote a sexy narrator -- straight out of a telenovela!

Outlaw Queen - Once again, I like their banter a lot! I also like the gentleness that’s formed between them because of their adventures in the Enchanted Forest. While they don’t remember it, there’s an underlying feeling of trust that you can just tell is there and watching it is really fun. Like, they’re really cute and despite later seasons really taking me out of OQ, I do sincerely love their origins here. Also, I want to talk about this line: ”From where I’m standing the ‘Evil’ moniker seems to be something of an overstatement.” I know this line gets a bit of criticism, but I actually think it works. For me, part of what works about Outlaw Queen is that Robin, from his perspective, is a redeemed villain and he’s hanging with and will come to court a redeemed villain. From his current perspective, he sees her in her current more redeemed form and thinks that she’s on his level, but currently has no idea what he’s getting into. That’s what makes the Marian twist at the end of Season 3 so big and why I’m so annoyed that that nuance isn’t brought up later! ...Sorry I got a bit off topic back there. Finally, I love their chemistry! Sean and Lana have some sexy chemistry in 3B! I love the way Robin and Regina are basically flirting over drinks! It’s cute as all hell!

-----

Wow. That was… a lot. This episode left me with a lot to think about in terms of fictional deaths. Please don’t take anything I say here as ultra definitive because I promise you, I could see my mind being swayed by a good enough argument.

Anyways, thank you all for reading that and to the fine folks at @watchingfairytales! Love you all and see you all soon!

Season 3 Total (145/220)

Writer’s Scores: Adam and Eddy (39/60) Kalinda Vazquez (26/40) Andrew Chambliss (27/50) Jane Espenson (20/30) David Goodman (20/40) Robert Hull (30/40) Christine Boylan (20/20)* Daniel Thomsen (20/30)

* Indicates that their work for the season is complete

Links to the rest of my rewatch will no longer be provided. Tumblr now take posts with links outside of searches and I spend way too much time on these reviews to not give them that kind of exposure. Sorry for the inconvenience, but they still can be found on my page under Operation Rewatch.

[rwdestuffs]

Done dirty: Jaune

Yeah, I’m surprised too.

Let me get this out of the way: I don’t like Jaune. I really can’t stand him. I want the people reading this to know that beforehand to understand on the likely chance that I go on a tangent that make Jaune out to be the devil incarnate. It is merely an aspect of my own opinion that I have, and I have every right to dislike Jaune. Much like how Jaune fans have every right to like him as well. But this post is about how he has been done dirty. Not just by the fans, but by the narrative.

See, Jaune was supposed to be an audience surrogate. Which means he asks the important questions that the audience doesn’t know, so that they can be informed. Unfortunately, the question that is asked is not a good one that was thought of.

“What is Aura?”

Aura is supposed to be an integral part of the world. Jaune stated that his ancestors were great heroes, but he is somehow not knowledgeable in this area. It would make far greater sense if he only knew the basics. Alternatively, there could be a class where the students learn how to use their aura in tactical applications. The concept could be explained there.

Not only that, but it also implies that having aura unlocked isn’t a requirement for addmitence into Beacon. And since Beacon is a school where you learn how to fight monsters, and I presume criminals (given Pyrrha’s comment about it in Volume 1), you’d think that aura unlocked would be a requirement.

That’s more of a tangent on Beacon as a school than it is about Jaune, so let’s move on.

Jaune cheated his way into the school. And this presents a problem in the sense that he for some reason expected that sleeping in class and not studying outside of class would make him a skilled hero?- He comes off as entitled because of how he worded it.

It really just feels like he thought that just attending Beacon would give him the skills he wanted. And then he sort of… bemoans that he isn’t as good as the rest of his friends?- Y’know, the ones who actually earned their right to attend the school?- Those friends.

Jaune put not only himself in danger with this stunt, but also his team!- He never attended any kind of combat school, nor did he partake in the entrance exam that Nora, Ren, Blake, Qrow, Raven, and likely a few others had to do to prove himself. He is risking his team’s reputation and the lives of others with his lack of experience and training. For fuck’s sake!- CARDIN made it in on legitimate terms!

Contrary to popular belief, Jaune is not endangering only himself, he is endangering the rest of his team. His lack of ability and experience means that his team not only have to protect themselves (and civilians if the case calls for it), but also Jaune. Because again, he lacks the experience, training, and willingness to get better. The only ‘reason’ he decides to accept Pyrrha’s help later in the volume is because he got an ego boost (that Pyrrha helped him out with), and while yes, he did feel like a jerk for how he treated her earlier, it wasn’t until he emasculated Cardin (again, with Pyrrha’s anonymous help) that he finally decided that maybe just maybe, he’d need some training.

Volume 2 also pushed Jaune to the forefront. As I’m sure a lot of people are aware, a common touchy topic in the good ol’ rwde tag is that Jaune kept asking Weiss out numerous times. I can understand being sympathetic with Jaune the first time. Rejection is hard, but them’s the breaks. It was when he repeatedly asking her out (despite her saying ‘no’) that it got irritating. Not only that, but both the fans and Weiss VA, Kara believed that Weiss should “Give Jaune a Chance.”- Which, no. Absolutely not. I don’t know in what world where “No” means “Try again later” but I’m pretty sure that this isn’t that world. The narrative seems more content in making Weiss be in the wrong for daring to have some autonomy and rejecting Jaune instead of… pointing out that Jaune was harassing her. And at the end of the prom arc, Jaune gets to dance with Pyrrha. He didn’t really learn a lesson on respecting women after all that, he just……… got to dance with Pyrrha.

Also Jaune gets his first solo victory at the end of Volume 2!- He flails his sword around, and downs an ursa through sheer luck!

Volume 3 actually toned down Jaune quite a bit, so I won’t put much here. He acts like a human being, and suffers through some intense stuff. But we enter a hard spot here:

Pyrrha’s death.

See, up until Volume 4 rolled around, Pyrrha’s death was sort of like… Schrodinger’s Cat. She was both fridged only for Jaune’s development and at the same time, not fridged for only Jaune’s development.

There was a lot of speculation about what would happen. How would Ruby react to it?- How would Ren and Nora react to it?- How would Yang, Weiss, or Blake react to it?- How would everyone react to it?

The answer is: We don’t get to see. Jaune is the only one who gets to react to Pyrrha’s death. Jaune and only Jaune. Which presents a problem as he is taking away from other’s development and reactions to Pyrrha’s death. He not only calls the area that Ren saw his village get slaughtered in “creepy”

Jaune is right to be angry here. And while he is wrong for being angry solely at Qrow (He seems to have no issues with Ozpin in Volume 5), he is still right that they forced the choice upon Pyrrha. As a person of great power once said:

So yeah. Jaune has every right to be angry at Qrow, but earlier in the Volume, when RNJR was fighting Tyrian, Jaune looked away when Tyrian was about to attack Ruby.

This is the same guy who charged a Nevermore weaponless to try to save Pyrrha, right?- Jaune’s lack of consistency in this scene ultimately got him more hate from the rwde tag (And I will include myself in that, as I was guilty of it too), but again: where is the consistency?

I get that Jaune was outmatched there, but for him to go from “I’ve gotta stop this grimm from hurting my friend! I may not have my weapons, but I’ll try my best!” to “I have my weapons, but what’s the point in trying to take this guy on?- He’ll just beat me anyways.” is jarring. And this isn’t even mentioning that he earlier said,

Way to say that in front of the girl who saw two of her friends die right in front of her and two orphans who saw an entire village get slaughtered in front of a grimm. How many of your family members did you lose again?

Look, Jaune came off as really insensitive in that scene, and it will be undoubtedly something that the rwde tag will rag on for years to come.

And in Volume 5, he’s sidleined again. A bit anyways. Jaune gets semblance training alongside Ruby’s silver eye hand-to-hand combat training while Ren and Nora……… don’t need to at all. Look, if the reason behind Ruby’s hand-to-hand training is so that there’s a way for her to survive if she’s disarmed, then Ren needs a way to survive if he ever encounters a person who could match his speed or shrug off his attacks. And like I mentioned earlier, Jaune has no beef with Ozpin. Where was his rant about what they forced upon Pyrrha then?- Did Ozpin give the same spiel that Qrow gave too? Tangent aside, he does provide some interesting commentary, and has some unique dialogue with Weiss and Yang. As a Yang fan, and Jaune detractor, I do like the point where she refers to him as “vomit boy.” While it felt forced, it was a jab at Jaune, and given how sparsely those jabs are in the canon show are, I’ll take it.

And the Haven fight, oh boy! was I waiting for this.

Jaune starts it.

Now, I have no issues with Jaune starting the fight. It’s a human emotion that he gets to have, and he is staring down the person who murdered his partner. The problem is that he isn’t punished for it. Like I said plenty of times before, Yang had human emotions when she charged Adam, and she got punished for it. And then there’s the fact that he takes on Cinder.

See, Jaune really doesn’t have much narrative reason to take on Cinder. Had he been there for Pyrrha’s death or had he accidentally gotten in the way and caused Pyrrha’s death (like it was in the original notes), then Jaune’s rivalry would be justified. Unfortunately, the narrative never set up a Jaune vs. Cinder rivalry, and it hurts the story. Cinder was foiled by Ruby in the first episode, and the Volume 2 opening showed Cinder and Ruby fighting. Plus, there’s the fact that CInder got two of Ruby’s friends killed right in front of her, as well as Cinder’s seething hatred for Ruby in Volumes 4 and 5. Jaune was never a factor in any of those, and he had no right to take on Cinder in a narrative sense.

And then after saying to the sociopath that he doesn’t matter and that it is his friends that do, Weiss gets impaled. And we only really see Jaune reacting first. Where is Yang’s reaction?- I understand that Ruby was knocked out by that point, but couldn’t have she also screamed out her name when she woke up?- Jaune is the only one to scream out her name.

(Thank God that he didn’t say “I can’t lose anyone else…”)

But can we talk about how this is becoming a trend?- Female characters being harmed or killed just so that Jaune can develop?- I highly doubt that Ruby, Yang, Ren, Nora, Qrow, or even Oscar are going to develop from this, and there’s no reason that Cinder couldn’t have targeted Ruby (for narrative reasons, as well as her own established grudge), Ren (who is stated to be a glass cannon, and has far less bad blood than with Jaune than Weiss), or Nora (who hasn’t gotten much of a backstory yet, and would actually get the audience scared that she might die). Yeah, two of these characters I suggested are also female, but they have better reasons to get impaled than Weiss (who had to be massively nerfed just so that the fight with Vernal would be a total stomp).

The hardest part about all this are the people who constantly defend Jaune’s every action.

“He’s just following his dreams of trying to become a hero!”

- By endangering people?- Why couldn’t he ask his parents to enroll him in a combat school or something?

“He’s a teenage boy. They tend to ask people out and not get the hint!”

- That’s an explanation. Not an excuse.

“He’s honoring Pyrrha’s memory by merging it with his stuff!”

- So I guess mama and papa Nikos don’t matter then, huh?

Nobody is saying that Jaune isn’t allowed to have emotions. But when the best defense you can muster is along the lines of “Is he supposed to just stand around, show no emotions, and do nothing like [insert relevant character here]?”- Then it just shows that they want only Jaune to act and react like a human, and not anyone else.

I’m fairly certain that some of people who defended Jaune starting the fight also overlap with some of the people who berated Yang for wanting to save Blake.

Jaune has had a major arc in pretty much every volume except for Volume 3. Which is a bad sign when Ruby has only gotten one, and it barely lasted half as long as Jaune’s first character arc that he also got in Volume 1.

His initial isn’t even in the title. He never once got a trailer. There’s no reason for him to be at the forefront of events and being the only one to react to the events that happen.

It’s not necessarily that Jaune gets development, it’s more that other characters DON’T get to develop because that honor goes to Jaune. Jaune gets to act human, but he is never treated like a human. He is never called out for his actions, and he is always met with defenders in the FNDM despite other characters being met with belittlement for doing similar actions (need I bring up Yang’s belittlement for trying to save Blake again?).

Jaune’s lack of proper treatment and constant spotlight hogging is what makes him a poor character.

[thisguyatthemovies]

Let’s get small

Do we really need more Marvel Cinematic Universe movies? Probably not. The franchise is 10 years and 20 films old now, and if it ended tomorrow, its legacy would be that of a string of incredibly fun and lucrative films.

Will the world get more MCU movies? Undoubtedly. Three are in the works for release next year. And the end isn’t in sight. So long as they show no signs of slowing at the box office and if the films can remain fresh while sticking to a formula, Marvel will keep churning them out.

“Ant-Man and the Wasp” is the latest entry in the franchise. And while it is far from flawless, it does nothing to tarnish the MCU reputation. It also does little to advance the franchise (except that telling mid-credits scene), but that matters little, especially given the title character’s status as sort of a second-tier Marvel superhero. Ant-Man is among the Avengers, but he isn’t carrying the franchise the way Iron Man, Thor and Captain America must.

As such, Ant-Man isn’t expected to bring in the behemoth box-office numbers that “Black Panther” and “Avengers: Infinity War” did. But “Ant-Man and the Wasp” did open as the No. 1 film domestically and brought in a surprising $76 million in its first weekend. So it’s no earnings lightweight.

In this film, the charismatic Paul Rudd reprises his role from the 2015 Ant-Man debut. He plays Scott Lang, a thief who usually gets caught. In fact, that’s how he became Ant-Man, taking the bait and breaking into the home of Hank Pym (Michael Douglas), who developed the technology to let Ant-Man shrink (and grow, and go mid-sized).

MCU movies aren’t released in the stories’ chronological order, and this one takes place in the time period after “Captain America: Civil War.” Lang, because of his antics in that movie, is on house arrest and is nearing his release. His inner turmoil (as all good superheroes have inner turmoil) is that he wants to fly straight so he can be a good father to young daughter Cassie (Abby Ryder Fortson), but he is caught up in matters of world importance that involve Pym and his daughter Hope (Evangeline Lilly), who also happens to be the Wasp.

There is much – perhaps too much -- going on in “Ant-Man and the Wasp,” and most of it seems to matter little. The story is a bit busy (having five writers in the credits is never a good sign) and full of scientific mumbo jumbo, but this is an MCU movie, and that’s how these things go.

In a nutshell, Lang might have the ability to help find Janet van Dyne, Hank’s wife and Hope’s mother. She was lost in something called the “quantum realm” after downsizing and going inside a Soviet missile to disarm it some 30 years ago. Ant-Man went into the same realm in the first film, and Janet might have planted some key info in his mind.

Matters, of course, become complicated. The Ghost (Hanna John-Kamen) wants the technology to reach the quantum realm so that she can reverse the effects of a blast from some scientific experiment that allows her to become ghost-like (even without her creepy suit), though doing so takes its toll on her body, and she’s running out of time.

She’s not the only one impeding the search for Janet van Dyne. Sonny Burch (Walton Goggins) wants Pym’s technology for the same reason most bad guys want whatever the good guys have – power and money.

The movie plays out with us not knowing (nod nod, wink wink) whose hands the technology will end up in. This being an MCU movie, we know the climax will be a giant CGI battle in which millions of dollars of public property and who knows how many lives are destroyed.

Not much sets the final battle in “Ant-Man and the Wasp” apart from those in other MCU movies except for the characters and their vehicles (and some funny props) changing sizes as needed. This gives the final battle/chase a touch of humor that can get lost in the end-of-the-world drama in some MCU movies.

Rudd is his usual self – funny and easy to root for. Lilly’s Wasp is a great addition, though she probably is underused in the action portions of the movie. While no one is mistaking them from Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams, Rudd and Lilly seem to have developed a little more romantic chemistry this time.

John-Kamen provides most of the film’s darkness, but it never gets in the way of the laughs and action for long. Goggins’ character, a shady businessman with a touch of Southern accent, seems tacked on, perhaps the result of so many writers. His portion of the story could have been reduced, perhaps even eliminated, and it wouldn’t matter. Michael Pena is back as Lang’s former prison buddy turned boss, and he provides some hit-and-miss laughs (another scene of characters being lip-synched to Pena’s voice probably wasn’t necessary).

This is a better movie than its predecessor, but not by a lot; mostly it’s more of the same, with a little more polish. Peyton Reed is back as director, and even though this film gets cluttered, it is a more cohesive effort than the first, which was rushed after Edgar Wright backed out as director.

“Ant-Man and the Wasp” does the things we expect an MCU movie to do. It entertains, makes us laugh, maybe tugs at our heart strings ever so briefly, dazzles us with some science stuff and then ends with an epic battle.

Don’t ask more of it than that, and you’ll be fine with this MCU movie and all the others coming our way.

[beyondthetemples-ooc]

1 3 and 10 c:

Ahh, thank you for the ask! c:

1. What is your favorite DC movie and why? And least favorite?

Justice League vs. Teen Titans! Because I’m simply biased as hell.

To ALL of its elements! Azarath! In a MOVIE! Arella’s story got RECOGNIZEd– even ANIMATED! It gave Raven’s gem a BACKSTORY! It’s everything I’ve ever wanted out of a Teen Titans animation.

(Azarath being animated in a movie fulfilled my SOUL, you have NO fucking idea. It was AMAZING. And so well animated too? So pretty? So peaceful? So nice to look at? Holy god, I want ten thousand hours of documentaries on that place??? legitimate tears in my eyes when we saw it. honestly, it was just… it was so good.)

Not to mention, while the production value was Kinda Eh, the writing was really clever and the Moments (silly, fun, heartfelt, freaky, dramatic) were all really well done. It captured the “Heart” of those feelings, emotive and raw and honest. I actually enjoyed the fun moments. Myself. And wasn’t just “distantly admiring people being happy”. Do you know how much of an ACCOMPLISHMENT that is?

The music was really cool. Not to reveal my Immortal Inner Emo Kid. But “Down to Nothing” is a really good song. (One of my only problems with this movie is that it was shoddily edited in the scene, and it’s a shame, because it really is a good song… {lD it was kinda my anthem for a long, long time after this movie. “Help me: believe in something, cuz I am: broken, I’m down to nothing. And it’s just so hard to be this way, but it’s just as hard to change. So: help me, believe in sooomethiiing….”)

(Because it’s in this movie, I grin a bit whenever Ciaran randomly shuffles it up. But also because I just really like the song itself.)

Also really cool: Trigon was an abusive asshole. Ultra mega props for that element; not just making him a Bad Guy because he’s Powerful and Wants to Rule the World, but legitimately showing that he was a BAD “GUY” *and* a Bad Parent.

Also nice, Damian felt less shoehorned in than Certain Other Really Recent Robins were in the comics…. (The reason for that may have been glossed over and a touch cliche, but it worked for the movie. It did what it needed to, nothing more and nothing less.)

Good thing too, because Damian being A Kid was really nice to see. (Raven too, let’s be real. Those kids need more “fun” in their lives.) Bond the children! BOND THEM, GODDAMN IT. That’s what any good Teen Titans story really needs; friends who are a FAMILY. They love each other, even if it’s hard-earned and hard-kept.

Focused on the PEOPLE, and their WELL-BEING, just as much as (if not MORESO!) than “ohshit, Big Bad Guy to deal with here”.

(the rest is under a cut, because godDAMN. I got rambly once I started talking about Raven.)

And perhaps most important of all to me: Raven’s characterization was amazing. Truly a masterpiece. Any time you’ve got a comic character with 7 different tones and 3-4 Literal Deaths and like 28 different writers having handled her: It takes a LOT of work to pick and choose what you want to do with them. It takes a lot of WISDOM and even prowess to triangulate your Own Characterization between such dramatic differences. Raven has been cold and distant; warm and soft; sharp and bitter; lost and clueless; wise and knowledgeable; she’s a very LAYERED and COMPLEX character even in each individual VERSION.

And the movie portrayed so many of her key characteristics so wonderfully. It’s a very “complete” picture of my absolutely Iconic Favorite Character, it encompasses so much of my Favorite Parts of her throughout her entire history, and it was just such a delight to experience. I, in my unpopular opinion (at least among my contemporary Cartoon-First Generation of Teen Titans Fans), actually really liked her voice actress, too? So subtle. So snarky. So soft, even with its edge of attitude. It was such a good fit for such a good incarnation!

And then there’s the fact that they included Jaime (who does well on his own, but honestly always seemed like a natural fit to the team), Kori (a Key Titan, let’s be honest), and even Gar (because his playfulness is a key part of Whole-Team Characterization too honestly; it wouldn’t be the same without him). It was a good setup, even with the comics this continuity’s based on being totally cracked.

And Cyborg showed up. Despite working “in the big Leagues” now. Thanks for throwing us that bone, at least. lD

And Damian? They did a great job of giving him character developement. Much needed. Good shit. If he can’t be with Dick!Bats in this verse (and I deeply prefer Dick as Nightwing anyways), that’s a really good fit for him. Learning to be human. Getting comfortable with Some Normalcy. Good and relateable.

That movie was just. Ahhh. SO Good. X3 As a Teen Titans fan especially, but also just as a person who likes a good Team Becoming Family story.

I love it. It has its caveats, but none of them dampen my obnoxiously heartfelt love for this thing.

*

(…yikes .after THAT essay, the rest of my answers are going to feel so shallow.)

All that bias aside though, my other favorite DC movie is definitely Wonder Woman. Hands down. Undoubtedly, no contest, no holds bar. It was a phenomenally well-told story with a lot of wit and compelling characters that used absolutely MASTERFUL rising action, and felt GENUINE. It was told from the heart as well as the camera, and it was told beautifully. Smoothly. It felt godly and human all at once. I can’t explain it very well, but it was genuinely one of the best movies I have ever seen.

I never got very into Wonder Woman, but from what I know of the 80’s and the Really Recent comics: It also captured her backstory, her personality, and her Style of Heroism really well. But even without being very familiar with her as a character? It’s a gorgeously well-done movie.

( Note: I still haven’t seen Justice League yet, but from what I’ve heard, I’ll probably end up liking that one too.)

*

Least favorite? I don’t know, honestly.

(My least favorite superhero movie is that one Marvel one with Vision, because I literally fell asleep while watching it. That’s the first time in my entire life I’ve fallen asleep while watching ANYTHING.)

But for DC, even the silly obnoxiously-radioactive-colored Batman and Robin has its place in history.

Can I just say, maybe… “the Injustice: Gods Among Us cutscenes”?- raven’s voice really grates my nerves, and not even in a Fun Creepy Way.- Whose idea was it to have SUPERMAN go evil? Like? ?? Who thought that was in any way a reasonable idea. - the story in that game felt really cobbled together. The comics are a lot more interesting, fun, and though there’s a lot of, like, Random Occurrences that seem to happen Exclusively For The Drama, in the game there are a lot of ill-explained things and general Random Chaos. Not my kinda story.

*

3. Which DC character should be introduced in movies/shows? Or have a movie/show of their own?

I mean. My automatic response is “Raven”, but I only ever want to see that if it’s being done right. The way CW wanted to do it kinda ripped the heart of everything I know/love about her to shreds. (”Relateable normal teen girl sudden has powers”? What? What??? That’s literally NONE of Raven’s backstory, shoo. Begone. Good riddance.)

That aside, I’d honestly probably watch the HELL out of a Nightwing show. Or movie. Just LET DICK BE HIMSELF. Without being attached at the history AND HIP to Bruce!

Or Death? or Sandman? I don’t know how well they’d translate to TV; Nightwing would certainly be the safer bet. Neil Gaiman’s writing is half as great as it is because of the WRITING. The style. The narrations… But, I mean: Coraline was just wonderful~ So why not a Sandman movie, too? Given the right director, and the right special effects team…?

(Constantine would’ve been next on my list, for a better movie anyway. but he’s already getting some decent recognition. So whoop whoop. Good shit. Nice Decision, DC. I Approve.)

10. Which DC character portrayal do you think is better in the comics than in the movies?

Batman. By far.

I’m just sick of all this manpain and gritty, utterly-unyielding violence, and… politics? Where’s the humanity?

Aren’t these writers forgetting that he’s someone who has suffered, and is doing all this, not just to beat up bad guys and look cool, but to save others from what theyd do? To HELP PEOPLE, not to growl like a man-tiger and punch things?

You can be badass and still have a heart, you know. Comics!Bruce does. (Most of the time.) And that’s a big part of why I like reading Batman comics so much.

And on that note, the conspicuous lack of Robins in (most) movies is an insult to comic history. Batman’s family-seeking and protect-the-children tendancies make for a much more interesting franchise, honestly. Give us a colorful cast! (Literally!) Give us diversity! Give us more stories with more characters so it has more facets than just “some guy wants to kill people; can’t have that”!)

As a sidenote: what I’ve seen of Gotham, it’s doing a really good job of encapsulating his Heroic Tendencies as well as his “sense of Duty” to Gotham and its people, while keeping him human AND super cool. That’s an important balance.

[aion-rsa]

WandaVision Episode 7 Review: Breaking the Fourth Wall

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This review contains WandaVision spoilers.

WandaVision Episode 7

There are only a couple of episodes left of WandaVision and in case you were worried you’d have to wait and see who has been behind the nefarious nature of Westview then worry no longer. As we hit the end of WandaVision episode 7, “Breaking the Fourth Wall,” we learn who’s been pulling the strings.

And while you might be expecting one of the two big bads we discover today, the last one might take you by surprise. But before all that we join Wanda in a Modern Family inspired beginning where Elizabeth Olsen perfectly deadpans her way through a cold open. She recalls the events that ended the previous episode as if they were nothing more than a drunken night. You know, rather than transforming an entire SWORD base and trapping its inhabitants. 

Olsen once again shows why she was the perfect lead for Marvel Studios’ first TV show and why it’s a crime that Scarlet Witch hasn’t been given a proper story like this before. She whips between heartbreaking and hilarious with the quiver of her lip. As she does a lot of direct-to-camera work this week, we get plenty of pure Olsen emoting. While Wanda “punishes” herself with a day to herself, the twins are worried about their mom, and Billy (Julian Hilliard) is fretting about his burgeoning powers. Luckily for Wanda, Agnes (Kathryn Hahn) arrives and offers to take the children away so she can relax. Without Vision there to stop her–which he did on previous occasions–Wanda allows her neighbor to take the twins back to her home.

While Wanda makes quite a point of saying this will be a day dedicated to her, this is really an episode about two of Westview’s other women. Monica Rambeau (Teyonah Parris) and Agnes (Kathryn Hahn) have both become fan favorites since the show started and this week we get to see them come into their own in very different ways.

For Monica, it’s the realization that Director Hayward allowed Wanda to kidnap Vision in order to reactivate and control his sentient synthezoid weapon. While we already knew that he was as Darcy put it “a dick,” this is confirmation that he’s also a corrupt bad guy with plans to destroy Westview and its inhabitants. Armed with a space rover and high-tech gear, Monica embarks on a mission to break back into the Hex. But when the vehicle is rejected, she decides to go in alone… changing her fate forever. 

If you’re a comic book fan you likely won’t be shocked that Monica gets powers from going through the Hex. We already knew that she’d been changed by her previous visit. After showcasing her personal strength and will by pushing through the barrier, she’s gifted a new set of skills. From what we see in the episode it looks like Monica can see the spectrum of light, which makes sense as after she became the first woman to hold the mantle of Captain Marvel, Monica took on the mantle of Spectrum. While we don’t see many of her powers here, we do see her face off against Wanda and survive. So we know she’s packing some serious heat, and that’s a good thing as when we leave Westview this week we’re dealing with a whole new kind of threat. 

We also need to deal with the conundrum of Vision (Paul Bettany). We last saw him trying to escape Westview, which led to Wanda expanding the Hex and creating even more chaos, turning the SWORD base into a circus. We find Vision at the edge of that family fun palace, desperate for help. Lucky for him, Darcy Lewis (Kat Dennings) is right there. Of course, she’s now a circus escape artist and has no idea who Vision is. But with the help of the Mind Stone, Vision changes all of that and soon has an ally to help him find himself again.

Dennings and Bettany are great here, the former bringing a blunt humor to the horrific recollections of what Vision, Wanda, and the Avengers went through. Darcy is a truly great character and we want more of her in every part of the MCU, but for now we’ll luxuriate in her playing getaway driver for a synthezoid in a funnel cake truck. Bettany is a great straight man, selling the utter bafflement that Vision clearly feels as he picks apart his past. 

To be honest, though, he should be more worried about his present than his past, as Wanda has an unexpected guest. While she tries to relax, Monica arrives desperate to tell her the truth about what Hayward has been doing and his maniacal plans for Vision. But just when it seems like Monica has broken through to Wanda–and shown off her superhero pose–they’re interrupted by Agnes. Parris is undoubtedly the hero of this series, not just as Monica who is clearly the central heroic figure but also for her performance filled with nuance, heart, and complexity. Monica has always been on Wanda’s side, even after being trapped by her mind magic, and she has put herself at risk again and again to try and help. But this time Wanda’s meddling neighbor pulls Wanda away from her potential ally, and the pair head to Agnes’ home. 

We’ve never seen Agnes’ home before this episode and it’s appropriately creepy. We briefly saw the boys enjoying the “quiet” that the home offered but yet when Wanda arrives the kids are nowhere to be seen. And in a totally not creepy suggestion, Agnes tells Wanda that they might be in the basement… you know, that totally normal place where kids like to play.

Alas, as Wanda soon discovers, Billy and Tommy are not in the basement at all. In fact, it’s more like a strange magical lair than a basement. Stone pillars surround the room and a strange book glows on the side. If you’ve been thinking that Agnes might actually be the Marvel Universe’s very own witch Agatha Harkness then give yourself a pat on the back because once Wanda is trapped, Agatha reveals her true name and face as well as giving herself her very own musical introduction. 

Hahn has been one of the best things about WandaVision all season. Her comic timing, dedication to the weird, and nuanced performance have made her one of the show’s biggest enigmas and talking points. And it looks like for once us theory-heads were right. Agnes was really Agatha and she’s been behind everything bad in Westview. While Hayward might have allowed the Hex to happen so he could restore Vision, Agatha has been the one manipulating Wanda. We get to learn how in a wickedly funny musical interlude that introduces a new show called “It Was Agatha All Along.”

Hahn delights in the reveal, playing the villain with aplomb as we see how she was affecting each and every moment of the show so far. It’s a massive twist which even the biggest Agatha-theorists might not have seen coming as the witch is often an ally rather than an antagonist, though she has been both in the comics. 

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And if you’ve been wondering where Pietro is, then make sure to stick around after the animated credits for the show’s first mid-credits sequence, which sees a fateful meeting at Agatha’s place. While we say it each week, this honestly might have been the best episode of the season so far, and we cannot wait to see if WandaVision can continue at this quality and really stick the landing. 

The post WandaVision Episode 7 Review: Breaking the Fourth Wall appeared first on Den of Geek.

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[river-phillips]

This Is The House That Doubt Built | River, Maya & Iann

Accompanied by Iann and Maya, River checks out the home of the late witch Leeman Calloway, her only lead on finding her parents. A man obviously linked to her parents in some way, he must have left answers behind. But will the house have what she needs, or simply leave her with more questions?

@ianncardero   @mayaparker

River had been sitting outside of the house for about fifteen minutes, intentionally here earlier than she’d told Iann and Maya to meet her. She’d checked the house number and the street sign against the slip of paper Ephram had given her more times than she could count, just to be sure. It wasn’t the mansion she’d been expecting from a witch with old money, but it was still one of the biggest houses in the area. The architecture definitely had european influences, looking like the oldest place on the block. She sat on the stair of her RV, facing the house. The windows seemed like mirrors in the setting sunlight, reflecting the blinding light into her eyes. When she heard a car pull up, she gave Jackson a little pat on the head and then closed him inside the RV.

Maya showed up pretty much as soon as she could given travel time. Honestly she jumped at the opportunity to think of something other than Shaw. The house was Tudor in style or some sort of English anyway. Instead of approaching the house though she went over to River where the selkie sat on the stair of her RV. "What's up dude?" she asked.

The chugging old Westfalia showed up, and Iann parked it across the street, jogging over to where the two women were. "This place?" Iann asked, squinting up at the rather well-maintained house. Iann was surprised; he'd been expecting something a bit more...shack-like. He paced in front of it, trying to look around the sides. "Either someone's been doing the up-keep on the outside, or this place has a spell on it. Externally, anyway." He looked at River. "We should make sure there aren't any, ah, booby traps."

River greeted Maya when she showed up with a small wave, and soon Iann was upon them as well, already jumping into it and scoping out the house. "Probably the neighbors," River said, gesturing to the other houses on the block. "People probably trim the hedges and cut the grass so their property values don't go down." At the mention of traps, River looked to Maya. "I think that's your cue." The sun was setting quickly, and the street lights had kicked on. River reached into the small backpack she had sitting at her feet and handed each of them flashlights.

Maya glanced up when the Westfalia rolled up. Iann didn't both with pleasantries instead immediately speculating on the presence of booby traps in the house. When River mentioned that was her area of expertise she shrugged, "I mean I thought I was just hear for my Young Frankenstein references, but yeah I can see what i can do." She approached the front of the house. Closing her eyes she felt some sort of barricade in front of her. "Yeah, there's something here. Like a..." she searched her mind and her magic for the word. "An illusion." Stepping past the edge of the yard she opened her eyes. The yard had transformed into an overgrown mess. "Oh yeah, this is a hot mess," she said and glanced back at Iann and River, "But no booby traps as of yet."

Iann barked a laugh at River's speculation about the neighbours keeping the place maintained for the sake of curb appeal, and when Maya used her magic to confirm it, Iann nodded and snorted. "The things we do for appearances..." Iann clicked his tongue, then looked down at River, motioning her to follow Maya. "After you," he said, as if it was an incredibly generous offer. "I have my lockpicks if it's needed." If Maya had her own ways, Iann didn't mind that either. "Or maybe we'll get lucky and the front door will be ominously unlocked, ooooooh." He squiggled his fingers lightly along River's small shoulderblades.

River raised her eyebrows as Maya confirmed an illusion on the property and Iann had a laugh about it. "I guess that's the muggle in me," she chuckled. It was times like this when she was acutely aware of just how out of touch with the supernatural she still was, even if she felt she was getting a hold on it all. She stepped up to the front of their little group and sure enough, the yard was overgrown and the exterior of the house was in complete disarray. A pit formed in her stomach as she approached the porch, and when Iann tickled her back, she jumped, letting a hand fly back to slap his arm. "Not cool!" she hissed with an involuntary smile. Turning back to the door, she grabbed the knob and pushed. To her surprise, it swung open. The house had that cliche haunted house feel. The creepy crawlies. The heebie jeebies. Whatever you wanted to call them. As the door creaked open and the moaning of the hinges echoed through the house, the River stepped inside. Even though there had been an estate sale after Calloway’s death, there was still quite a bit of stuff there. It seemed the place had been ransacked before, but many drabber items had simply been left alone. Cobwebs hung across furniture covered in sheets. Floorboards were missing and the white wallpaper was dirty and peeling. Teens had definitely gotten in here at least once before, sprawling graffiti across the walls in blood red spray paint that bled into eerie patterns. It was easy to see how this house was once a rather stately place to live, however. Gold and silver fixtures were stuck on many iron accents (with some of them recognizably snapped or cut off, undoubtably for the cash). The hardwood floor was a magnificent oak, and the staircase leading up from the foyer was equally as beautiful, even under the heavy coat of dust. To each side of the foyer was a dining and living room, left and right respectively, and leading back past the staircase was the kitchen it looked like, and undoubtedly a few rooms back there she couldn’t see the entrance to. “Where should we start?” she asked the others.

Maya found the fact the front door was unlocked almost unbearably suspicious. She held her flashlight in a way that meant it could be used to hit someone. Upon entering the house she first looked for movement. Hearing and seeing none did nothing to relax her. Although to be fair she was on edge a lot these days. "Well when I was a delinquent teen we didn't bother looking for basements, so I'd start there. Maybe a dumbwaiter?" She paused, considering a moment her own motives. "Honestly I might just want there to be a dumbwaiter."

Iann was surprised that the door was open, and although he was playing off as light-hearted, his eyes were sharp and keen as he looked around. Fortunately he was taller than the other two and could look beyond them. The house was lavish - or at least it was, once. 13 years ago, even. Iann whistled lowly. "What were your folks doing getting bailed out by a guy as well-to-do as this?" Iann murmured. "Whatever relationship they had, they were clearly on the receiving end." Iann honestly didn't know too many selkies who were, well, wealthy. Not in a landfolk definition anyway. No selkie corporate fatcats or selkie families in Jamara, unless they won the lottery or something (and then their estates were generally eccentric and oceanic). "Do you think...do you think your folks...lived here? Watch the floor, don't fall through." He headed to the staircase, testing a couple of the stairs, and they seemed sturdy enough for his weight. "Whatever we do, let's not split up, hm? Maya, see if you can find a concentration of magical residue in the house? And River..." Iann motioned to some old knick knacks in the old living room. "Maybe there's photos in there, something that you might, ahhh recognize. Do you know what, ah. What your bio-parents looked like?"

At Iann's first question, River's stomach balled up all over again. It's almost as if she'd been so focused on finding Calloway that she'd forgotten about her parents. Focused on the next step and not the end goal. "The basement sounds like a good idea," She headed down the hallway back to the kitchen, and about halfway there, almost directly under the stairs, was a large oak door that probably weighed more than she did. She reached for the knob and pulled, but it wouldn't budge. A latch with padlock held the door in place, but grabbing the lock to examine it, she realized it had no keyhole and no combination dial. "Uh, maybe we'll come back to this." She walked back out into the foyer. "Yeah, I've seen a couple pictures." Each of her siblings had been sent away with one. All except her. "Let's check out the living room," she suggested, walking into a space that felt more like the size of a mini ballroom. She started shining her light on the knick knacks on the mantle, most of them tiger themed.

Maya listened to Iann speculate as she looked around. It did seem the house had been abandoned for awhile. Dust had settled on nearly every available surface. She followed River as the selkie went through the kitchen. There River found a door without an obvious way in, no keyhole or combination dial. Maya ignored River's suggestion that they check the living room. A lock like this meant something was behind it. Closing her eyes Maya thought of what Faye had said. She had something like the power of suggestion and maybe she could suggest to the lock that it opened. To that end she also gave it a sharp thwack with the butt of her pocketknife. It bust open. "I don't about y'all, but I'm going to check behind door number two."

Iann lingered between the two women, as River headed into the living room and Maya remained near the mysterious door. He shifted back and forth on his feet, looking between the selkie and the witch as they did their thing. "Don't go alone!" Iann hissed at Maya. "What'd I just say about not splitting up?" He shined his flashlight towards River, raising an eyebrow at the rather garish tiger-based knick-knacks. "What the hell's up with those tigers? River? Both of you better keep talking at me or else I swear to fucking god."

River heard the padlock clatter to the floor in the hallway and abandoned the gaudy tigers to rush back to Maya. The padlock was laying on the hardwood and the large door to the basement had swung open. "You broke the lock? Sweet!" But as she approached, she and Maya were kicked back by a force punch to the gut, knocking both of them on their asses as the door swung shut violently.

Maya felt something, magical, knock her and River back on their asses. She stood, eyeing the door suspiciously. "Rude," she said, "But there's definitely something down there." For at least the moment it didn't seem to want to let them in though. She glared at it for another moment as if that would scare it into opening for them. Turning back to the other two she asked, "Someone said something about tigers?"

"Unbelievable," Iann muttered, once his shock and alarm receded. It seemed that despite the violent rebuke from the basement's door, the two young women were alright. Still, Iann bent forward to not really help River up but just sort of brush the dust off her jacket like he was a fussy Auntie. "If it shut itself then it can be opened. Just has to be opened the right way....and I'm beginning to think this house is just one big puzzle." And it was waiting for you, Iann wanted to say to River, but he didn't. Maybe not River specifically, but someone. Someone who knew there was a mystery in this house that needed to be solved. Iann was just glad that it seemed to be River. That so far, he hadn't noticed any evidence of other people breaking into the house to do some snooping, other than the bored teenagers looking to vandalize, of course. "What'd you find in the living room, Kansas?"

River took a moment to get to her feet after being knocked back, coughing a little bit at the dust kicked up in the flurry. Getting to her feet, she brushed past Iann and pushed on the basement door. It wouldn't budge. "Fuck," she hissed, giving the door a curt kick with her boot. She turned around, running frustrated fingers through her hair, and sighed. "Uh, yeah, tigers. Living room." She marched out of the hallway and toward the gaudy tigers again. They were carved out of marble. The more she looked around, the more she noticed the motif all around the place. "What's with this guy and tigers?" she asked aloud while searching around some more, finally finding an end table and opening the drawer. Inside was a bit of junk. Notepads, pens, nail clippers. But there was also a tattered envelope, filled to bursting with what looked like pictures. She picked it up and pulled the first one out. When she laid eyes on the faces, her chest tightened. “This is…” It was all of them. Leeman Calloway. Her parents. Her adoptive mother. Pictured with a bunch of other people, all smiles and laughter as they posed for the camera. Next picture. Her dad kissing her mom on the cheek. Next picture. Calloway with his arm around her adoptive mom. It was really them. It seemed all the pictures were of the same night. A tear dropped from her eye and landed on her mother’s face, distorting the ink as the old photo paper wrinkled a little with the moisture. She hadn’t even realized she’d started to cry.

Maya followed Iann and River. After all this wasn't her show. She kept looking over her shoulder for danger, for someone or something to stop them from investigating. Evidently the house had a plan for them. Glancing over at River Maya noticed her crying. "You okay dude?" she asked, hesitantly stepping forward. She didn't want to give a hug that River didn't want, but did seem like the selkie needed a hug.

"Maybe he's some sort of shape-shifter...like selkies only. Uh." Well honestly Iann had never actually found any proof about shapeshifters who weren't either werewolves or selkies, but. Anything was possible, right? He poked around as well, only looking behind him at the other two when he heard Maya ask if River was okay. "Wha..." Iann came over, looking over River's shoulder at the photos. He reached down and plucked the ones River had already looked at from her hands, squinting at them. "You recognize them? Who are they? These ones..." Iann touched his fingers along the faces that looked familiar, if only in the way they held a resemblance to River herself.

River nodded quickly, sniffling and wiping away some tears when Maya approached her. “Yeah, I’m okay…” Then Iann came over and took some of the photos. “That’s my parents,” she said, pointing them out in the photo. “And that’s Calloway right there. I recognize him from the sheriff’s computer.” She took a deep breath before pointing at a fourth face. “And that’s my adoptive mom.” She handed over some of the photos to Maya too, so she could see, and quickly flicked through the rest of the ones in her own hand. “But I don’t see anything that’s gonna help us in these,” she said quickly with another sniffle. Her tone was curt. Dismissive. Somewhat defeated. “We should try another room. Maybe upstairs?"

Maya took the photos when they were offered to her. It didn't escape her notice that River had avoided her question. She let it happen though, not wanting to prod an already open wound. "Yeah upstairs," she agreed and headed for the stairs. She climbed them carefully, waiting for the stairs to turn into a slide or some other ridiculous booby trap. Instead she was delivered safely to the second floor. Trying the first door on the left Maya found it locked. "Hey, Iann you got a lockpick?" she asked. She could probably suggest to the lock that it open with her magic, but she'd rather keep something in reserve in case they met something more menacing than a locked door.

"Adoptive mom?" Iann said in surprise, lingering in specific at the photo of Calloway with her adopt-o-mom. Everyone in the photos definitely seemed happy. If not good buddies and pals, then maybe good co-workers. But co-workers in what? Here Iann had been assuming that Calloway was the 'big bad' behind River's parents deaths, but now he was reluctantly wondering otherwise. It'd be much simpler if he was bad and they were good, but. Simple wasn't life, was it? If River didn't keep a hold of the photos, Iann pocketed them himself and followed the pair up the stairs carefully. Each stair groaned under his weight, but he tread lightly. One hallway, which allowed Iann to glance into a couple of the other rooms, but he didn't see anything at a glance. He returned to where Maya was with the locked door, his eyebrow raised. "No busting it open?" he asked, pulling out the kit from his other pocket and unrolling it. Crouching down, Iann stuck the tools between his lips, using them when needed to try and pick the lock. He heard a click and Iann turned and looked up at River as he carefully twisted the knob open.

As the newly unlocked door swung open, River’s heart started to pound. All these locked doors meant something had to be hidden here, and she was starting to dread what that might be. She stepped forward and through the doorway into a medium sided bedroom, completely devoid of any furniture. Just moonbeams streaming through the window to hit the hardwood. But when she swung her flashlight up to get a better look, she spotted a small table in the corner littered with tiny objects. She approached it carefully, finding sigils she didn’t recognized, shaped onto the table with sea salt. Scattered around it were pearls, shells, and rocks. “Do you guys know what this is? Some sort of…ritual or something?” she asked, turning back toward Iann and Maya.

Maya shrugged, "Figured I should save the magic in case we like run into a ghost or Frankenstein or something." She stepped out of the way allowing Iann to pick the lock. To her mind the fact that the house was leading them to locked rooms seemed odd. Wouldn't it be better to slowly swing open a door? After all they might not have a lock picking kit. Or maybe the house figured a locked door would pique their interest. Following River into the room she looked around at the various ocean-adjacent objects and the sigils. Mostly she was familiar with her own magic, but this felt vaguely magical. It wasn't as strong as the illusion making the house appear well kempt. "Whatever it is it seems amateur as fuck," she said with a shrug.

Iann looked around first, before coming over to the strange little ritual altar on the table. No bed, no living went on here. Just this ritual table. "Calloway was a witch?" Iann couldn't remember if River mentioned that or not. He wanted to pick up the little tidbits to get a better look and feel, but resisted the urge. "The sigils aren't familiar to me but...I don't know much about, ah, magic related to seafolk," Iann said regretfully. "And whatever this is, it was either meant to impress someone who didn't know any better, or an attempt at a very specific sort of spell. I can't believe the salt stayed...like this. Lovely..." Iann murmured, dying to touch it.

River nodded. "Yeah, I told you he was a witch," she said. She took note of Maya's observation. That the set up looked amateur. She didn't know what that meant in the grand scheme of things. Or what this whole spell set up was even for. Did it have some deeper meaning, or was he charming his laundry done? There was no way of knowing and River hated this. They were only finding more questions, no answers, and she was getting impatient. Her annoyance was obvious on her face, she was sure. She always had a hard time hiding her emotions. "There has to be something else in here," she said, tearing across the room to a closet. She pulled it open. Empty. She darted out of the room, leaving Iann and Maya behind, and started to search the others on the floor frantically, all almost equally as barren. When she returned to the hallway empty handed, she let out a frustrated, ragged breath.

Maya continued to look around. Her eyes looked for something out of the ordinary. Perhaps a clean spot where there ought to be dust. She didn't know much about magic related to sea creatures either and had to rely on her more human senses. Iann's words that the salt had stayed put caught her attention. "Here," she pulled out her phone and snapped a picture, "We can look these up later, see if we can't figure out what they mean." As she said it River, for lack of a better term, freaked out. River scampered around, opening and slamming doors. Maya moved to the doorway to watch her. "I still bet there's something in the basement, although how we're going to get in I'm not sure," she said keeping her voice and demeanor calm

Iann had the luxury of not being particularly affected by any of this; after all it wasn't his family, his danger. He made a grunt of appreciation when Maya thought to take photos of those strange salt sigils with her phone, then followed River back out into the hallway. "River..." he started to say, but his next words were swallowed up by a sharp intake of breath. "Did - did you hear -" Iann fell silent again, when the creaky hinge noise was even louder this time. And it was coming from downstairs. Leaning over the banister, Iann craned his head as he looked down and then he looked back at River. "That basement door's open again. Maybe this time?" Maybe it was time. He headed down, reaching the open door and touching it gingerly. It didn't slam shut, and just opened even more, but not exactly inviting. Iann shone his flashlight down, but he couldn't see the end of the stairs. "Those stairs don't look particularly sturdy."

River started to try to calm herself, taking deep breaths as she stood in the middle of the hallway. She could feel a panic attack threatening her, and she was doing her best to stave it off. Maya's calming tone was helping. But her heart got pounding again when she heard the creaking of hinges downstairs. She wordlessly followed Iann down the stairs to the basement door. He touched it and it didn't slam shut, but her approaching would be the ultimate test. And when she did...nothing. The door stayed open and the creepy basement invited them to come down. She desperately wanted to run down there, but stopped herself. "This feels like a trap, right?..."

Maya's head turned at Iann's question. She had dismissed the noise as the settling of the house. Following the other two downstairs she saw the basement door was open. Apperently the house had decided they were worthy of seeing what was down there. When Iann touched it the door didn't slam or throw him backwards "I mean I'm assuming all of this is a trap," she said, "But I can go down first." Shining her flashlight down the stairs she moved cautiously. The third to last step snapped underneath her. She barely managed to catch herself with the wall and managed to drop her flashlight into the hole in the process. "Aw fuck, can I get some light down here?" she shouted back up the stairs.

"Oh - oh! I gotcha, I got --" Iann slapped at his jacket for a moment, until he pulled out a little glob of what looked like blue plasticine. He pressed his thumbs into it and then lobbed it down the stairs where the bioluminescent thing glowed brighter and gave Maya and the stairs an eerie but visible illumination.

As River saw Maya almost fall into the snapped stair, she didn't wait for Iann to throw his glowing stone down to her. She took off down the stairs, hearing them groan under the quick movement. Once she reached Maya, she reached out to help her up. "Way to take one for the team," she teased, her tone forced. She was trying to stop herself from freaking out again. Stepping over the stair, she stepped onto the basement floor carefully, and when she did, the room lit up like a Christmas tree. Not from any sort of electricity. No, little orbs of light hung in the air near the ceiling. The basement was painted white concrete, pristine compared to the rest of the dilapidated house. Eerily so. And unlike the rest of the house, there was no clutter. No junk. Just a display case on a pedestal with a gold object inside that she couldn't quite make out from how far away she was. "Well that's not creepy at all..."

Once she was on solid stair again Maya rotated her ankle, making sure it wasn't sprained. It felt fine. Her attention was quickly grabbed by the small blob of light Iann tossed down the stairs at them. Shaking off River's worry she replied, "Don't worry about me. I'm fine. And Iann later you're going to have to tell me about that little blob thing." For now though there was a task at hand. Maya followed River into the basement proper. It was too clean, too white. The whole set up set off alarm bells in her head. "See I want to take it and get the fuck out of here, but I've also seen Raiders of the Lost Ark," she said, stepping forward to inspect the pedestal for any sort of booby traps.

"Well someone's going to have to take a closer look at it," Iann said approaching the pedestal. "It wanted to be found...but only after we saw that shrine thing first. And the photos, maybe." Iann looked at River. "This is the payload, and you came here for answers."

River approached the pedestal slowly. Inside was what looked like a pocket watch on a stand. It was delicate. Intricate in design. Looked extremely expensive. "Maya's right, I can't just...." she started, making an exaggerated grabbing gesture. But what if she could? He was right, the house had guided them down here. Gingerly, she pressed her fingertips to both sides of the glass case, tilting it back on a hinge so the pocket watch was exposed. She reached out to grab the watch slowly, but hesitated. “If something happens, y’all better run,” she said, before wrapping her fingers around the golden watch. When she did, her vision whited out. It felt like electricity was coursing up her arm and through her body. Her head flew back, sending her reeling to the ground, and she started to convulse. Her mind was ablaze, flashes of different colored lights, faces, objects. Everything passed too quickly for her to recognize, blurring together in a flurry of painful passes.

Maya wouldn't be surprised if the house allowed River to take whatever this gold pocket watch like artifact and only River. The question was quickly answered as a hard no though. "Holy fuck," she said, but refrained from grabbing River. Contact with her might just injure Maya was well. When it was over she stepped forward carefully, "River, can you hear me?" Her focus narrowed first to making sure River was okay. They could worry about how to better investigate the object after that was settled

In truth, Iann wanted to see what would happen. The convulsions were disturbing definitely - but Iann felt confident that any physical ramifications didn't compare to whatever River might be experiencing...emotionally? Mentally? Psychologically? It took precedent, and he was glad that Maya didn't try to touch the selkie but tried getting a response from River nevertheless. "We'll - if she doesn't change, then we'll take her out of here," Iann said to Maya.

The flashes…they finally faded, and the bright white ceiling of the basement came back into view. River’s eyes were dry, the back of her head hurt, and her body ached all over. She heard Maya’s voice and her eyes flicked over to the witch’s concerned face. “Yeah,” She sat up slowly, looking down at her hands to see the pocket watch gripped in her fist. She opened her hand to find it undamaged. Reaching up to touch the back of her head, she came back with red fingertips, twisting around to see a little red stain of her blood on the white floor. “Shit, what happened?”

Maya sighed in relief when River spoke. She was a little worse for wear it seemed, but not dead or unconscious which was a plus. "Not entirely sure, but I would put that in like a handkerchief or a sock or something before it tries to electrocute you again," she replied. This was probably their cue to get out of here. Any further investigation could be done near a first aid kit. "And we should probably head out too since this house seems to have showed us whatever it wants to show us."

"What happened? What the hell happened to you??" Iann replied to River's question. When he saw the blood on her fingers, Iann came around to eye the blood on the floor. They should leave, but...it wasn't a good idea to leave one's blood on a witch's floor, even if buddy was long dead. "Ah - you two go on? I'm - I'm gonna just clean this up first." Iann was sure Maya would be able to get River out fine, make sure she didn't have a concussion or anything.

"I don't really remember." Taking Maya's advice, River slipped her boot off and took off her sock, dropping the pocket watch into it and shoving it into her jacket pocket. Then she slipped her boot back on and carefully got to her feet. “I didn’t really black out. I sort of….whited out? But it didn’t really show me anything.” What the fuck did this house want from her? Ugh. Every movement hurt as she leaned on Maya for support.

Maya accepted River's weight easily. She glanced down at Iann was cleaning River's blood off the floor. "Okay," she said, "We'll meet you outside." She trusted Iann to clean up. Careful to be gentle Maya helped River up the stairs. Once they were outside she sat River down on the steps of her RV. "Okay, can you tell me your name and the date?" she asked, inspecting River's pupils for dilation. "And if I can have your wrist I want to check your pulse, just in case."

It seemed like whatever happened, the strange timepiece that River took out of the house was like removing the heart of the house. It wasn't like Iann could sense magic himself, but there was a thrum that just seemed to fade. The house became a house, nothing more. Iann felt it was safe then, to dart out of the house to his van, grabbing some enzyme cleaner and other supplies to rid River's blood from the site. Even if the house wasn't imbued any longer, others could still come in here and make use of it with the right skills. And considering River was being hunted down, better safe than sorry. He went up the to ritual alter then as well, nabbing a shell. Just one. No harm in that.

River took a deep breath. “River Iris Philips. It’s January 17th.” She offered her arm to Maya. “I swear I’m fine,” she insisted. She watched as Iann came out of the house after cleaning up the blood. “Thank you guys for coming with me. Seriously.”

No sign of a concussion. River's pulse seemed fine as well. Maya wasn't entirely satisfied, but there didn't seem to be any immediate physical danger. Of course that left plenty of room for potential mental or emotional danger. "Totally dude. And call me if you need anything else yeah?" Maya replied.

River stared at the house again, back to its illusionary self now that they were outside of the barrier. Reaching her hand into her jacket pocket, she gripped the socked watch to make sure what had just happened was real. In her other pocket were the pictures. They hadn’t gotten any clear clues. No smoking guns. No obvious answers. But she was used to this. She often had little to work with when she was trying to find her siblings in the past and had managed. They hadn’t found any sort of map pointing to her parents like she’d hoped, but they’d found a thread to follow, and that was good enough for now.

[ts-hvv4]

EPISODE THIRTEEN: BRO I REALLY AM A VILLAIN - NED

Well, I just voted out Sharifa, someone who had my back until the end (but would have undoubtedly won in a landslide). It sucks and was an incredibly hard thing to do, but I'm not playing for a team, I'm playing for myself. I was going to vote out Jake until a coalition was formed (literally) a minute before Tribal consisting of me, Jake, Sarah, and Malik. Sharifa had an idol and this was probably one of the last real opportunities we had to vote her out. PLUS, I won immunity so I'm feelin pretty good :)

Jake is NOW after all this time deciding to spill info about Kurt and how he’s this guy who is just acting like he’s dumb but he really isn’t and how he’s seen this first hand and yadda yadda. Why are you waiting till THIS round to say this?! This could’ve been said rounds ago? Thanks for the information, definitely gave me something to think about but it’s a bit too little too late for me. I might get kurt next round but for now, I know my plan and I have it set.

In a shocking turn of events, I'm about to betray the last remaining member of my Final 3. It's become apparent today that Malik is unwaveringly loyal to Kurt and Lukas also has a bond with him, so I don't like the odds of me and Sarah making it to the end amidst that. I feel like I'm basically playing for 2 people right now, because I'm personally in a great spot but Sarah's tough to maneuver through these people. I feel like I'm a tugboat pulling a cruise ship through a field of icebergs. It would be easy enough for me to navigate them on my own-- in fact, I would bet $1000 I have a guaranteed spot in the Final 3 on my own-- but I'm pulling this massive target through a sea that was NOT MADE FOR CRUISE SHIPS! I've been the lowkey power player literally throughout this entire game. I've been manipulating people since day 1, to the point where I think I'm the only person who's known every single thing that's happening (aside the Andreas vote I slept through) every single vote. I led a flip to eliminate two kingpins before the merge and have been able to use bigger players as puppets to put me in a great spot. Chris? Matt? Dennis? Nicklas? All objectively horrible moves for other people that I was able to convince them to make to allow me to get further. This vote is between Jake and Kurt, and Sarah and I are the swing votes. All we need is each other, because Sarah gave me her vote steal. And even if the others wise up to what we're doing and flip the vote on her, because I won immunity and have the vote steal, we'll both be safe in the case of a deadlock tie. At this point I think I'm going to vote out Kurt, because he's the link connecting Malik and Lukas and the thought of those 3 rising up against me and Sarah is intimidating. How crazy is it that I can vote out two people who were undyingly loyal to me in a row and still have a great shot at making it to the end? Everyone's been sleeping on me, but this vote is gonna be the alarm.

*a little while later*

Bro I really am a villain and it feels good

*a little after that*

BRUH I JUST GOT KURT TO VOTE MALIK! I ain't even gotta make up a story hahaha

*a round after THAT*

Yo I literally just said "let's just vote Lukas out" right after Lukas joined the call

*Spoiler alert this is just the Ned show for the rest of the season*

I would not be shocked if I go home tonight. Sarah freaking GAVE Jake immunity last night and now wants to play her idol on herself... I feel like Jake could easily flip on us and join Malik and Lukas and there's not much I can do about it if I'm their target. Pray for me

*Really? NOBODY ELSE MADE CONFESSIONALS?*

So here we are. The Final 4. Sarah - my true ride or die. I had to put in freaking LEGWORK to bring her here, and I'm shocked that people didn't realize that we were a duo in Bangladesh and also made the Final 3 together in a side season. As put best by Sid from Ice Age, "They do this every year!" It's gonna be a hard fight if we both make the end, because Sarah's played a much more visible game-- seriously, 2 idols and a vote steal (though I still take credit for her second idol find lol how the heck was that fair) and she's also burned far fewer bridges than I have. My best shot is if she shows up high and starts cussing people out like she normally does. Jake - I was able to use him as a target to flip on my old alliance and then as a pawn to carry me to the end. I just know he's won before and I predict the jury's gonna be pretty bitter and convince themselves that he was some mastermind. That's what Tumblr Survivor players do best: convince themselves that a player who really did nothing was actually in control the entire season so they don't feel like they're bitter jurors. Malik - what a guy. To put it harshly, the goat of the season and someone I think everyone was eyeing to take to the end. I'm just happy I jumped on the opportunity first :) I think the fact that he's been freaking creepy with most of the guys in the cast should be enough to stop him from getting any votes, but I can also see the jury being angry with ME for even bringing him. I played my butt off and I'm pretty sure I'm going to FTC, it's just a matter of beating Jake because I think he'd kill us all in the end. Ultimately I want to win and I truly believe I played the most dominant game this season; I consistently held all the cards and the only time I didn't know what was happening was when Andreas went home because I was asleep in SWEDEN! I knew where every idol and advantage was at all times and pre-and-post-Andreas, I knew where every person's vote was going at every Tribal. I seriously was calling the shots and nobody picked up on it because I convinced them all I was loyal to only them! My concern is that no one will hear me out because they think I was inactive or a follower (seriously, I had 4 exams the first day of the game and then I went to Sweden for 3 days but is it REALLY comforting to believe that an inactive person outplayed y'all?). I'm just hoping I can prove them wrong. Coming into this game with my highest placement in TS being 8th, I felt like I had something to prove, and no matter the outcome, I know I can leave confident that I've shown that I AM a competent player. Every time I win an ORG the VL always seems to be disappointed LOL so hopefully people like me this time

YA BOY JUST WON THE FINAL IMMUNITY CHALLENGE!!!! Not only was that the most painful 3 1/2 hours of my life, but after Malik and Sarah dropped, it was freaking up to me to beat Jake, who'd almost definitely win if he made it to the end. It got to the point where we were balancing our books on two fingers for over an hour, when out of the blue, Jake's book dropped. I FREAKING EARNED THIS WIN, DAWG. He still thinks Sarah and I are taking him, but honestly... we'd be stupid to do that. He's slipped his way this far against all odds and honestly, I give him credit for pulling together the Sharifa blindside. That was WICKED. He's an incredible player and I have a ton of respect for him. During pressure cooker, I prayed a LOT and honestly kind of felt like Captain America: "I can do this all day."  

https://qph.fs.quoracdn.net/main-qimg-1ee3c0e35d5b7ff09226c8656c57a203

I just hope people will respect the balls-to-the-wall game I played, because I know I've played a crazy game and I want this win. So bad. 

I have pretty much realized that I will not be winning this season, but it’s fine as long as jake leaves. I figured rounds ago since I wasn’t getting my way, people would think I was just dragged along by people as a non threat but I’m HOPING if Jake does leave I can plead my case over Sarah and hopefully over Ned, who I feel will floor me rn.