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bingoboingobongo · 1 year

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task force 141 + snow day

Characters: Simon "Ghost" Riley, John "Soap" MacTavish, Kyle "Gaz" Garrick, John Price, Alejandro Vargas, Rodolfo "Rudy" Parra

Warnings: none

A/N: fun fact i've never actually been in a snowball fight (or made a half decent snow ball)

alrighty so it's an off day at the base

the task force has just finished up a big mission and now they're waiting on what the next move is gonna be

and it's been snowing all week so there's a lot of snow piled up outside

rudy's been excited about it the whole time because he loves snow

i mean it's not like he gets a lot at las almas so he eats it up whenever it snows

sorta tosses out the idea of a snow day and waits for it to snowball into something bigger (ha i see what i did there)

honestly for the rest of the team the snow isn't that big of a deal for them

even alejandro isn't that affected by it

but rudy's been obsessed with the idea of a white christmas since he knew what it was so i don't blame him

he pitches the idea of a snow day and pretty much everyone is down

ghost is a hard no at first but then changes his mind

(he realized he could attack soap with snowballs)

the whole crew is having a great time outside

and now onto some individual headcanons of what sort of mischief they're getting into

rodolfo "rudy" parra:

bro rudy is just living his best life fr

he is trying to do anything and everything that is possible in the snow

the first thing he did is throw himself onto the ground to see how far he would sink

the snow was actually pretty deep so it made it worth it

definitely spent quite a bit of time making snow angels and then calling alejandro over to look at them

also took a riot shield from the armory and used it as a sled

it was very very fun

he spent like an hours just sliding down different hills

and yes he and alejandro slid together a few times too

after that he made a few snowballs and threw them around

he's not very good at making the snowballs tho so they always fell apart in the air

he also kept having to go inside every two hours to warm up because he was getting too cold

also made a mini snowman and put it in the freezer to try and preserve it

and you bet he made everyone take soooo many photos of him so he could remember the moment

alejandro vargas:

alejandro has a little more experience with snow than rudy so he's more chill about it

spends most of the time hanging out/watching rudy

ofc they went sledding together

alejandro had to try and steer because rudy's sledding philosophy is to just slide and let fate decide where you end up

also had to put up with rudy trying and failing to throw snowballs at him

and rudy continuously calling him over to look at the snow angels he made

alejandro made a few with him too

but he spent a lot of his time crouched down making snowmen

definitely made a little war scene like the colonel he is

had two sides and soldiers and trenches and everything

almost punched soap when he crashed into it though

but it's okay because then rudy came over and helped him make it again

and honestly that's the peak of the day for alejandro is just hanging out with rudy and seeing him so happy

john "soap" mactavish:

soap's super hyped about the snow day

it's not specifically the snow but moreso the fact that it's just a break from training

soap planned on spending the day throwing snowballs at ghost

but he spent most of the day avoiding ghost's snowballs instead

he also went sledding a lot

had sledding races with alejandro and rudy

and yes he also used a riot shield too

he tried to get ghost to ride with him so he could steer but ghost refused

he had to ask gaz instead

and yk what it was worth it because gaz was surprisingly cracked at steering

except that one time when he accidentally steered them straight into a tree

he tried to walk it off but was so dizzy he fell right on top of alejandro's snow war scene

then had to flee from alejandro's rage

he also made a snowman but it got destroyed when he had to duck behind it to dodge one of ghost's snowballs

he ended making another one though

he really wanted to try and get one of ghost's skull masks to put on it but ghost wouldn't agree and he was too scared to try and sneak into his room

simon "ghost" riley:

tbh ghost doesn't care much about the snow day

he grew up with snow so it's nothing new to him

plus he would rather spend his off days reading in his room with a warm cup of tea

but price told him he should hang out with the others and also he realized the snow would let him throw snowballs at soap

it worked out too because soap threw a snowball at him first so ghost had a reason to throw one back

and to say ghost did not let soap's initial attack slide would be putting it lightly

mans spent the entire day hitting soap with a snowball whenever he could

soap's on a sled? that's fine, moving targets have always been easy for ghost

soap's hiding behind a tree? ghost can be patient

soap's trying to apologize to alejandro? perfect, a distracted target is an easy target

i mean ghost is a sniper man, and his perfect aim does not just apply to shooting

so soap was struggling man

only downside is that ghost's a pretty big target and it's hard to hide in the snow

but thankfully ghost has a killer death glare he can shoot soap if he tries anything funny

also has a giant smirk under the mask every time he hits soap

kyle "gaz" garrick:

gaz is excited for the snow day

like soap he's just down to skip out on training

he spent the morning sledding with soap

until he crashed them into the tree and then price made him stop so he wouldn't crash again and get himself hurt

he threw a few snowballs around and ended up having a little snowball fight with alejandro and rudy

but then he accidentally hit ghost square in the back of the head

and oml his veins filled with ice when he watched ghost slowly turn around and shoot him a death glare

he definitely feared for his life for a moment though

immediately came up with an excuse to go inside for a bit

he came back out though and then he spent the rest of the time making a snowman with price

he wanted to make a really big snowman

like frosty the snowman levels of big

he and price spent like an hour just making the bottom snowball

turned out a little lumpy and def fell apart a few times before they got a decent base

and then the other two snowballs were surprisingly hard

they kept falling apart and crumbling when they would try to pick them up

they had to get all hands on board to put them on

but it was worth it

john price:

price was pretty reluctant to allow the team a snow day

but they had all been working really hard so he figured they earned it

started the morning off just watching them like a dad watching his kids

was definitely smoking a cigar and maybe drinking some tea too

he was initially resigned to just spend his day inside away from all the team members

no offense to them but he needs a break too

but after gaz came in he convinced price to join them and so he did

he spent the afternoon building a snowman with gaz

they ended up decorating it with price's bucket hat and a cigar

he also made everyone gather around the snowman and take a picture

and you bet he keeps that sucker in his wallet

also price definitely did not approve of them using riot shields as sleds

but he did not say anything because even though it was dangerous it was pretty creative

was definitely fighting the urge to say i told you so though when gaz crashed

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agentravensong · 3 years

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Two ways Weird Route could go (DeltaRune spoilers)

I have two different ideas for how Chapter 2's Weird Route could continue in future chapters. I'll describe them below the cut. Spoilers, obviously.

(For those who don't know what this route is, here's the breakdown. Yes it's all real, I've played through it myself.)

Both these ideas assume that Berdly's gonna be in the hospital or something for most of the rest of the game.

1. Noelle Focused

This path assumes that the Weird Route will be focused on Noelle's corruption throughout all chapters.

In that final Hospital scene, Noelle implies she's going to do some digging on what's wrong with Kris. She's def gonna be in some future Dark World adventures, which means more opportunities for us to command her.

This is my main prediction for this path:

At some point, Noelle will become possessed by the Red Soul, and we will control her directly.

The main evidence for this? The faceless angel doll in Rudy's room, that Noelle and Dess made for him. I mean, Weird Route def points even more at us being the Angel (Spamton literally calls us that when we go to get his ring, and the other shopkeep calls Noelle "angel" before that). And faceless to me signals possessed. Consider how Kris appears almost faceless to us most of the time.

Why would this happen? Oh, I can think of plenty of reasons:

Noelle learns the extent to which the soul has been hurting Kris and takes it to save them

Noelle becomes so obsessed with the idea of getting stronger and is allured by the Soul to the point that she takes it on willingly to become as powerful as possible

kind of related to the last point: Noelle mistakenly believes that having the Soul will grant her more agency

Noelle can't stand the pain of hurting people under the Soul's command but, seeing how it seems to affect Kris, believes being fully possessed by it will numb her guilt. If it'll be using her either way...

Something terrible happens - like, say, the death of her father - and Noelle believes the Soul will give her the power to fix it

Switching gears, Kris could force the Soul onto her to save themself... though I'd like to think they wouldn't do that, and they more than anyone would know giving it to her wouldn't be a kindness. Perhaps they try to get rid of and Noelle just gets unlucky enough to be caught in the crossfire?

Or, perhaps, neither Kris nor Noelle have any say in it. Perhaps we simply reach a point where Kris is actively fighting against us, and so we transfer to a more willing vessel. One we've already groomed.

However it happens, Noelle ends up under our direct control, and we likely have a fight as her against the rest of the Fun Gang. I could see this working with the "only one ending" theory if the goal we as the Soul are trying to accomplish is the same in both runs, but in a regular run, we as Kris would be fighting against the Fun Gang plus Noelle at this moment. Or maybe it'll actually be two different endings, who's to say.

(Bonus theory: If Noelle isn't the faceless angel, then perhaps Dess will come back as it (assuming she's dead)? Probably won't be faceless in the player-possessed sense if that's the case)

2. Not Noelle Focused

Alternatively, what if, instead of focusing on Noelle, we do what we did to her to other people from HomeTown? Specifically, Kris's other classmates?

Well, first of all, it would make "Snowgrave" as the route name not really work. But beyond that...

The rest of Kris's class, minus Temmie, has already been helpfully split into pairs: MK and Snowy, Catti and Jockington.

So I could easily see the next two chapters each involving bringing one of these pairs to the Dark World, and the Weird Route involving getting one of them to kill the other. I figure we'd do this with MK and Snowy first, because a) they seem to be less close than the other pair, and b) Snowy would surely have ice magic like Noelle, so the kill method could be the same, with the kill method for the other pair being a surprise (perhaps by that point we'd have the ability to keep enemies from fleeing when their HP is depleted?).

Now, this only takes up two of the five promised upcoming chapters. Unless, perhaps, they're spaced out to be every other chapter? After all, Chapter 3 seems like it'll be set in Kris's home, so it wouldn't really make sense for any of Kris's classmates to be involved. And considering Chapter 1 didn't have a weird route, it would make a consistent pattern.

Either way, by Chapter 6, we'd have three Lightners who have been negatively influenced by the SOUL, and three who have "fallen down". I also figure that, by then, Ralsei and Susie will have caught on to what we're doing.

How does it end? Not sure. However, if it's true that DR only has 1 ending, then I figure there'll have to be some way to bring back the "dead" characters. ...Hopefully.

That's all I've got for now. Might come back and edit this post if I think of more. I'd love to hear y'all's theories!

#deltarune #deltarune chapter 2 #deltarune spoilers #deltarune snowgrave route #deltarune weird route #noelle holiday #kris dreemurr

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067supremacy · 3 years

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Trigger warning: this entry features the reader being followed and grabbed at knifepoint. If this is something that will make you uncomfortable, then please don't read it!!!!

So, I wrote this about a month before Resident Evil Village came out. As you can probably tell as this includes ideas of my own; and missed out some obvious problems that now show after playing the game. It was fun to imagine what the character was like at the time, from what we had to go on! :’) (also, I originally wrote this for the blonde who was rumoured to be called Daniela, but Daniela doesn't get enough love!!)

Guardian-Angel

Living your life at night had become your new regular. Your girlfriend Daniela is unable to live her life during the day, and despite the hardships, it came with, you were more than happy to give up the daylight to be with the woman you love.

Living with a vampire had its ups and downs, but you wouldn't change her for a second. You had been something of a stabilizer for her. When you first met her, she was stuck in her crazy gothic look. She was deadly and bloodthirsty, but you had a way of calming her to a tranquil state. Daniela had two different looks that were determined by her mood. When Daniela was calm, she was a natural beauty. Her Red hair was long and healthy, she had clear skin, and her attitude was caring. But when she was upset, Daniela was utterly different. She was full of anger, covered in black from head to toe, the surrounding area of her mouth was covered in crimson red, her fangs would grow through frighteningly sharp, and wasps would manifest seemingly out of nowhere.

You knew the dangers of living with a vampire, but it didn't matter to you. You trusted Daniela with your life. The first time you slept in the same bed as her, you couldn't help but worry about the possibility of her biting you. Little did you know that she could sense your worry and had even decided to tease you about it by resting her face in the crook of your neck. Daniela was in love with you. And deep down, she feared that one day your time would come. After all, she would be here long after your demise. The conversation of turning you was something she had yet to do, but the thought was always there. She had come close plenty of times to ask you to be with her for life, but her idea of rejection led her to remain happy with what she had.

It had just gone 1 am when you left 7-Eleven in a hurry. The pitch-black sky was unnerving but relaxing at the same time. There was a lot to enjoy about the night-time. Like, how quiet the streets were, how empty the store was, and how the sleepy nightlife was stunning to look overhead. The stars lead you home as you silently walk by yourself, you curse at the fact you left your headphones at home, but at least you could enjoy the walk back.

The dim streetlights ahead offer little visibility, but they give you absolute comfort. You come to the end of the high street where fast-food restaurants end, and the streets get much darker. With no cars going by, it's hard to tell what's up ahead when you turn right into a second street in which should be a straight shot to your apartment. You notice a man traveling just a few steps behind you. You felt uneasy about it but pushed the thought to the back of your mind. You speed up slightly to put some distance between you. The way the world was nowadays, you couldn't trust this situation; it is sad but true.

You decide to do a full circle through an alleyway and back out to the street out of curiosity. Sure enough, the shadow figure follows your every move, and that's the last that you were going to play with this. You pull out your phone and call Daniela with shaky hands. The phone rings once, and the voice you love so much answers cheerfully, but you can't even remember what she said as you were blinded with panic.

"Dani, I think someone is following me," you say in a hushed tone as to not alert the shadow figure following you. Almost as quickly as you finished the sentence, you can hear the familiar sound of wasps manifesting in the background. There is no time to be wasted in Daniela's mind. You can already hear the change in her voice as she asks for your location.

It's like you can feel Daniela's heart aching at the thought of your discomfort, something inside you doesn't feel right when Daniela gets like this, and it's ultimately why she agreed to stay calm in all circumstances.

"Just keep walking home, baby. I'll come and meet you." Your vampire girlfriend replies as you hear the phone fall to the floor and the raging hive leaves the apartment. The sound goes quiet, and you're left with your thoughts, but not for long as the footsteps get closer and louder. You can feel the presence on your heels. Before you know it, a large hand had taken you by the arm and directed you into the closest alleyway.

You yelp at the tight grip on your arm, the groceries you had from shopping had been sent to the floor, but you clutched your purse for dear life. The shadow figure was around 5ft 10Inches tall. The person was stocky in build, rugged looking. They wore a black hoodie and a black balaclava. The only thing you could see was the person's eyes. They pierced through you, you couldn't tell if they held hostile intent or if they were just trying to scare you, but that didn't matter. The person pushes you to a corner and unsheathes a small blade.

A man's voice, deep and resonant, shoots out from his mouth. "I'm gonna need that purse and whatever jewelry you have on you," He waves the blade before your eyes, almost teasing you that he had the upper hand.

Your fears boil over as the tears start to stream, and you feel powerless. You fold your arms over your purse in an act of defiance. The man in front of you seems to be getting impatient already, but you manage to bumble out a small plead, "Please, just let me go," The man chuckles at your plea.

"Just give me your shit, and then you can go. I won't even hurt you," the man jokes dryly. At this point in time, the tables had turned, "You can go now, and you won't get hurt," you confidently claim. Your confidence comes from the single wasp that crawls up the sleeve of the man's hoodie, but the single wasp was soon joined by another one, and then two more.

"I'm not fucking playing around now, give me your th- "he's cut off by the sting of a wasp on his neck. The few on his hoodie fly to the end of the alleyway. A woman's laugh surrounds the area, an angry hive of wasps come together and begin to form the silhouette of a tall woman. Your woman.

The man takes a step back in fear, which gives you the chance to storm toward the love of your life. You smoothly run straight past the form of Daniela, something that the man tries to replicate, but the swarm of wasps begins to surround him. They trap him within a tunnel. You knew what this was and where it was going. Daniela was manifesting into her proper, vampire form.

"the man screams and thrashes around, attempting to swat the wasps away from him, but his attempts were futile. The manifestation of her form becomes complete when she pushes him to the floor. Her movement is quirky but calculated. The wasps cocoon the two in a small dome. Keeping him grounded, Daniela laughs at the man's terrified figure. She taunts him with her newfound power.

"She gave you a chance, oh darling, you should have listened to her." Daniela spits her venomous, spiteful tone at the robber. The man attempts to slash at Daniela, and he catches her with the tip of the blade, but her form sheds more of the wasps surrounding the two instead of blood. She laughs demonically as she picks him up with effortless strength. She shoves him against the wall and prepares to end him.

From behind her, you force your way through the hive and touch her shoulder, which has a visible effect on her. She lets her grip on his shoulder loosen slightly. You assure her that you were unharmed, which seems to sway her, but you can still feel her rage within you. You use the power that you hold over Daniela by commanding that she let him go. She's come too far in her time with you to collapse into her bloodthirsty stage again.

And so, she lets the man run, he quickly flees the scene looking like he had just seen a vampire....... Daniela carefully watches the man disappear into the night. The second he is gone, her walls break down, and her softer side comes back out. The crazy gothic vampire look is gone without a trace. Daniela pulls you into her and crushes you into a tight hug. She couldn't lose you. The thought broke her every emotion as she held you. You could hear her breath hitch as she let it all out. Daniela was crying on your shoulder in a dark alleyway at 1:30 am.

"I love you, Y/N. I can't lose you; it would destroy me. I need you safe. I need you alive." She continues to unload every emotion. You reciprocate everything. The massive hug is filled with love and passion. Before you break the hug, you lean into her ear and whisper, "I love you too, Dani. I'm not going anywhere; nothing is going to happen to me. Not when I have my Guardian-Angel protecting me,"

A/N

I'm planning on doing part two, where Daniela has the talk with the reader about turning them into a Vampire. P.S I absolutely love the idea of her being like a normal looking girl when she's calm, but you piss her off........ Game over.

#resident evil #resident evil village #daniela #daniela dimitrescu #re8 dimitrescu #resident evil 8 #daniela dimitrescu x reader #hero trope #lady dimitrescu #gaming #imagine

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frzntrx · 3 years

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FrozenTricks headcanon here!

So Thanos is in NYC, he’s after the avengers (alternate infinity war scenario where Loki ends up joining forces with the avengers cuz he’s worked with Thanos before so he’s the closest they have to having insider information, at least that’s the excuse Thor uses to have them take him in anyway, this way he doesn’t get killed cuz he tries to kill him with FUCKING BUTTERKNIVES because he actually has reinforcements? Anyway back to the headcanon) because he has a bone to pick with Loki, and he knows wherever Thor is Loki isn’t far away. So knowing this, he flees the avengers tower, to protect the rest of them, including Thor, Elsa, and her sister and brother-in-law.

Unfortunately Elsa follows him, because she’s not gonna let him do this alone.

So he chases them into an art gallery of some sort (it’s NYC they’re everywhere I think)

So my headcanon is that when he’s nervous or has anxiety or his emotions get really fucked up,like if he’s embarrassed or mad or really sad, things around him start going nuts, from pictures or objects going in and out of existence, to animals talking, to things legit coming to life, which is how Loki accidentally starts making artwork and statues start moving around, talking, glitching in and out of existence like the matrix, he hasn’t admitted to anyone especially not Elsa because he doesn’t wanna ruin their friendship, that he’s in love with her, and that even though he’s touched that she’s helping him, he’s still worried, so the stupid artwork starts talking, like the painting of the two lovers, mostly yellow, you know the one, they’re whispering to each other, and pointing at them, and he’s like okay rude, but carries on, with Elsa still trailing behind him as more things start acting up in response to his fluctuating emotional energy,

Which leads to them hiding behind a huge marble statue when two of Thanos’s Lackeys pass by the doorway, cuz they know Loki is around somewhere or he was at one time and the effects haven’t worn off yet,

And it leads to/is inspired by a scene kinda like in night at the museum 2 where the Jonas brothers Cupids are singing but it’s because his hidden feelings for her are seeping out slowly and it’s at a really bad time, and it’s being amplified by his powers/the thing I mentioned earlier when his emotions flare up and it affects his magic like Elsa’s powers are intensified by her emotions? Idk…

“Hey! Little angel baby things!!! Shut up! You’re gonna get us caught!!!”

Elsa laughs cuz he didn’t grow up on earth like she did, so she knows what they are and he’s freaking out cuz he doesn’t and he’s totally confused by the little guys,

“Loki… they’re Cupids… the roman people of ancient Italy here on Earth called them embodiments of their god of love…”

“Yeah well now is NOT a good time for a history lesson Els! Let’s get out of here!!!”

To which they follow them into the next room,

It’s weird but it’s really funny, because they’re trying to get the little cherubs to shut up,Loki doesn’t know earth music and so he’s obviously confused as hell, as well as nervous, and deep down Loki is like “oh shit these fuckers are gonna ruin everything- we’re gonna get caught and also Elsa’s going to know I secretly like her because she’s too smart not to put two and two together just please shut the fuck up or get the fuck out your choice just please for the love of god!!!” He’s whisper screaming, luckily he’s talking so fast out of stress she can’t understand what he’s saying, but of course they do, and they all three raise an eyebrow and smirk knowingly, he points at them like “don’t you fucking dare! Don’t you say a goddamn word this is not the time!!!”

To which the Cupids kinda amp it up a bit, just to piss him off, and Elsa giggles because he’s furious,

“Kick the chorus Prince Charming!!! YOU GOTTA ROCK HER WORLD!!!YO SHOW ME WHAT YA GOT TRICKSTER!!!!!”

“I’m NOT Prince Charming just shut up already!!! You know what whatever! Fine sing your hearts out just don’t do it around us! Fuck it! Let’s go Elsa!!!” He snarls and drags Elsa off, who was actually kinda enjoying it.

I know it’s stupid but I love it so much,

And then they come back later after the lackeys have moved on, and they’re singing my heart will go on like in the original because everything is sorta calm, and Elsa is like cuddled up against Loki because she’s actually kinda scared,and he turns bright red, then sighs, rolls his eyes, and glares at them

“Oh great, you’re back… yeah Okay that’s just lovely… I actually do know that one… Anna made us watch that… it’s really inappropriate because she’s not even my girlfriend she’s my best friend and I still hate that song, now go away please! You guys are really whiny kid-sounding and you’re creeping me the fuck out.”

He almost screams the last sentence and they’ve by this point transitioned to burning up, by who else the Jonas brothers because come on! And I honestly like this song better than love bug… I don’t hate love bug, I just like burning up more. And it makes it funnier because Love bug is all cutesy, Burning up is more intense? So like it’s his intense attraction/lust towards her over time, and his feelings about her almost about to burst out like a dam breaking, so it’s funnier because it’s making him exasperated because he knows that’s what’s going on.

And the Cupids freeze when he pretty much almost screams the last word, and then kinda sigh in disappointment and start to leave and Elsa glares at him,

“No you guys don’t have to leave just yet! I thought it was pretty!you can at least finish the song before you go!!! I’m sorry about him! He’s my best friend but he’s kinda boring! You have to excuse him!!!” Because she’s a sweetheart and hates hurting people’s feelings. To which Loki turns and glares at her, kinda butthurt.

“Hey! I’m fun! I’m funny! It’s just now is a really bad time! We’re gonna get killed because of these idiots!!!”

So now Loki’s got Elsa following him around and now an entourage of Cupids doing what Cupids do best- meddling 😂

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lady-star-strings · 4 years

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DNF/Georgebur PotO & LND AU

Okay, to begin with, thank you so so much for giving me the chance to blab about this @dtvibez because I’ve always wanted to work with this AU, but I’ve just never had the characters to do it with and my musical nerd heart is thriving right now. Alright, anywhodilydo, geek-out over, let’s get into it - just a warning kiddos, this is gonna be a long one so strap in and hold on...

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Roles

To start off, let’s address the roles here for how I believe these plots would fit best with the characters involved - it’s purely up to individual interpretation, but these are my thoughts as an in-depth lover of these musicals.

Obviously, our dear George is the leading lady Christine Daae in this story, that was pretty much a given - let’s just be honest here guys, he’s the simp-bait through and through and if that wasn’t Christine, I don’t know what was. Meg - Christine’s friend - and her mother Madame Giry I’m going to combine and make Fundy for reasons I shall disclose later in this post, and Sapnap will have a role to discuss later down the line too, just lemme get there. Now as for the love interests, I can easily say that Eric/The Phantom is Dream and Raoul is Wilbur in this situation. Some of you might be questioning why it wouldn’t be switched because Raoul was her childhood friend and Eric was a gifted musician, but I have answers for you ahead on that, don’t you worry~ ;)

Phantom of the Opera Arc

After studying under Dream - or the Nightmare of the Opera as people prefer to call him - for years to be the star singer he was always destined to be, George is finally granted the chance to do so when some strings are pulled behind the scenes to give him a leading role in an opera. There isn’t anything George wouldn’t do for his Angel of Music after giving him such a chance at success, and Dream is practically preening with pride over how astounding his Georgie has turned out to be. Before Dream can whisk George away in triumph, however, his childhood friend Wilbur shows up out of the blue to shower him in praise and remind him of the puppy love they shared as children before George moved to the opera house. George is smitten with nostalgia, to say the least - it’s nice to put a face to the affection for once.

Needless to say, Dream is hardly pleased with this turn of events and actively tries to keep George not only away from Wilbur, but also to himself because George is quite literally all he has in the world - not even his music can compare to how much George means to him. Of course, the way he goes about this is hardly morally right and only serves to drive George further and further away from him and into Wilbur’s arms as a safe haven from all of the horrors. In the end, though, even after so much heartbreak and all the terrible things Dream’s done to keep him hostage as his muse and love, George finds it in his heart to forgive him for being how the world made him to be and genuinely offers to give up his freedom if it means he won’t be alone in that darkness anymore and Wilbur won’t die.

As expected, Dream realizes he really can’t do that George when it comes down to it - he simply loves him too much to force him to stay if it means he’d wind up hating him for it in the end. He’d rather let him be free and live the life he’s been dreaming of with Wilbur than have him stay and live the rest of his life resenting him. Even so, George is surprisingly hesitant to leave and can only offer to return the wedding ring Dream gifted him as a final goodbye and a silent show of his remaining love for him before he let’s him go in return and goes off with Wilbur. Following that night, Dream disappears from the opera house altogether, never to be heard from again...

Love Never Dies Arc - *SPOILERS*

...Or so the story goes in Paris 10 years ago. Little did anyone know, Fundy actually helped Dream steal away from the opera house when the mobs came searching for him and was unyieldingly by his side as they made their way to America for a fresh start. Once there, Dream - with a little seedy behind-the-scenes help from Fundy - founded a successful side show on Coney Island where he and others like him such as Sapnap and Punz - Miss Fleck and Dr. Gangle - are able to live freely and are treated with respect for their unique traits. Fundy has actually taken to training under Dream to be a successful singer in his own right with a well-known show in the attraction, his only goal to gain Dream’s favor and hopefully prove he’s able to replace George in his life. Dream unsurprisingly has no interest in anything of the sort and still actively mourns the loss of his muse - not even his music brings him joy anymore because it only reminds him of what could’ve been, and Fundy will never be his Georgie despite how much he insists otherwise.

But Dream is a clever thing, and he winds up securing a contract for George - who is now married to Wilbur and is raising a 10-year-old son with him - to come perform at the side show for one last performance. George takes the contract with little to no thought as to the odd pseudonym on the paperwork because Wilbur has lost himself to gambling and alcohol over the years, and they’re desperate for money to survive. At first, George is irate and somewhat heartbroken to learn that Dream’s been alive after all these years, especially after how their lives have turned out following the one night of passion they shared before he disappeared. He admits he still loved Dream when he left and would’ve gone with him, but because he thought they couldn’t be happy and left without him, that ship has long since sailed. They both wish things could have been different, but also accept that what happened happened and all they can do now is move forward with the choices they’ve made.

Much to everyone’s immense shock, though, George’s son is actually Dream’s and not Wilbur’s - a fact which Dream deduces on his own after connecting the dots between his age and musical prowess. Unfortunately, the child is terrified of Dream’s true face just as George once was and after getting the truth confirmed about the child’s real parentage, he begs for him to never know. George ultimately blames himself for what’s happened, and although he can’t take back not telling Dream of their child and the fear said child feels toward him, he swears to perform for him one last time to make up for it before they return to Paris to avoid hurting him further. Meanwhile, Dream vows everything he’s worth in the world to be the child’s once he’s gone even if he can’t be his father, and Fundy isn’t happy to hear that in the slightest because he will have nothing after all the sacrifice he’s made for Dream. All of the sleazy deals and late nights in his dressing room plying people for Dream’s success, and he will get nothing - his mind is just too fragile to face that reality at this point without doing something rash.

Naturally, Wilbur has no clue about any of this at first and makes a drunken deal with Dream regarding George - if George sings for him, he and the child will stay with Dream and Wilbur will leave. If George doesn’t sing, he and the child will leave with Wilbur with all of their debts wiped away as not to burden their family further with his problems. Wilbur then proceeds to try his best to convince George to stay with him by using nostalgia yet again since he now knows who the child belongs to as well, but in the end, George realizes that although he may have loved Wilbur at one time, his love for Dream transcends all that and has never once wavered despite everything they’ve been through. Throughout everything, Dream has always been there waiting for him and wants nothing more than for George and their child to have the life they deserve - Wilbur lost all of that a long time ago. George makes his choice, and Wilbur leaves as promised with the acceptance that he while no longer makes George happy, Dream does and he’ll take care of him - but the child, however, leaves with a distraught Fundy seeking to “right his problems.”

They manage to catch up to Fundy in time to avoid disaster, but not completely as he still views George as the reason he could never be happy with Dream and winds up fatally shooting him in the midst of a mental breakdown. Dream can do nothing but hold George - the man he loved and was finally loved by in return - as it’s revealed to the child who his real father is, only for him to flee the scene in horror of the truth. For once, Dream is at a loss for what to do because there isn’t any more time for them to have their happy ending and he hasn’t any idea what to do about their child without George. In his dying moments, George soothingly reminds him of one simple fact: Love never dies, and the best thing he can do is just live and give everything he can for both himself and the child now as all they have is each other. With a final kiss, George slips away and a sobbing Dream is left cradling his body when the child and Wilbur - who he ran to find to help George after he was shot - arrive on the scene.

Dream isn’t cruel. He understands how Wilbur must feel in the same situation, so he allows him to mourn the loss of George in his own way with the child as he contemplates whether or not he can continue on. While he debates what to do with himself, the child slowly comes to him unafraid and willing to face the man he now knows to be his father in a new light. In his eyes, Dream can see George, and that’s more than enough for him to stay just a little longer in the world.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sorry if that’s a lot to process and read through, but it was a lot to get out and I wanted to be crystal clear on things as not to confuse people. This is for the most part just hitting the main plot points of the musicals, however, tweaking and adjustments and further deep-dive analyses can be done now that I’ve gotten the main idea out of the way. I definitely don’t want to stick too strictly to it myself and want to tailor it more to the SMP events and characters, but I’ll save that for later since it’s already super late and I should be writing my fic instead.

Happy writing kiddos, thank you for letting me indulge myself with this concept and I hope you enjoyed it~ <3

#don't sleep won't sleep #sleep is for the living #poto & lnd AU #dreamnotfound #georgebur #phantom of the opera #love never dies #dream #dreamwastaken #georgenotfound #wilbur soot #fundylive #fundywastaken #sapnap #punz #you don't know how happy i am to finally mess with more musical junk #this is honestly one of my favorite ideas surrounding them

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skullhaver · 3 years

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It's 2021, and I'm watching Buffy for the first time.

The Virgil on my Buffy journey is my long-distance girlfriend, who has loved the show for years. We just finished season 4, and I wanted to write about my favorite episodes so far. I suspect some of my faves are beloved by most fans, but others are weird, personal picks. Buffy fandom, please don't come for me.

I thought this post would be short but I was wrong.

Hono(u)rable Mentions: "Band Candy" S3E6 and "Halloween" S2E6

Both these episodes have fun premises where the Scoobies run around Sunnydale after it was upended by zany, chaotic dark forces. "Band Candy" is fun for devil-may-care teen Giles. "Halloween" is fun for 18th-century-ditz Buffy. These are both very good, and are the sorts of episode I can imagine happily rewatching in the future. I just have more to pontificate upon for the other episodes on this list.

10. "Ted" S2E11

I can’t say I enjoyed this episode, but it did take me for a wild ride. Probably nobody else has strong feelings about this weird story where Buffy's mom dates a stereotypical cheesy family man, who turns out to be a controlling abuser, who turns out to be a robot. I remember shouting at the screen, "Did Buffy just kill a human man?? Is it okay in the moral logic of this show for Buffy to kill a human if he's a direct physical threat to her??" I knew Buffy would have deeper stories than the monster of the week formula we'd seen so far, but this early in season 2, I had no idea when or how that would happen. This was the episode that finally taught me that Buffy is largely not interested in moral ambiguity, or in exploring what it means to be good or bad. Except for season-defining exceptions like Faith and Angel, evil characters are simplistically, essentially evil. But it was wild to believe for a moment that Buffy murdered her mom's abusive boyfriend and would have to live with the consequences.

9. "Helpless" S3E12

When Buffy tries to be genuinely scary, it succeeds with aplomb. The premise of this episode is dumb and contrived ("Giles has to remove Buffy's powers without her knowledge for a seeeecret test by the Watcher's Council") but the chase and fight in this episode are some of the most tense and spooky scenes of the whole series so far. Buffy's vulnerability makes the stakes feel real in a way few other episodes manage. And Buffy's victory is all the more satisfying because she can't punch her way out of this problem, she has to be smart and creative. The fridge horror, of course, is that Giles would endanger her like this in the first place, but that gets sorted out over the emotional arc of the next few episodes.

8. "I Only Have Eyes For You." S2E19

Another spooky episode, this one a classic ghost story of forbidden love ending in murder - but with the twist that the ghosts possess people's bodies to have them reenact their final moments. I love stories about breaking a doomed-to-repeat cycle. I love weird shit like the snakes manifesting in the cafeteria. And I really loved the choice to have Buffy and Angel come to understand their feelings about their own relationship by embodying these ghosts - especially how they embodied different genders than their own to better fit the "roles" of the haunting story, thus subverting the expected pattern. I found this episode clever, poignant, and effective.

7. "Who Are You?" S4E16

"Faith and Buffy switch bodies" is a wild premise, but the real joy of "Who Are You?" is watching Sarah Michelle Geller being an extremely talented actress for 45 minutes, portraying a totally different character. Watching Faith confronted by kindness and love from Buffy's mom, Riley, and her friends, then getting launched into an existential crisis over it is so great. Also, I just dig a good church fight.

6. "Hush" S4E10

As stated above, love an episode that reminds me that these people are talented actors! Featuring demons that render all of Sunnydale unable to talk, we get to watch great physical comedy right next to tense, silent fight scenes. The visual creepiness of the Gentleman and their straight-jacketed weird little helpers is hard to beat. "Hush" is such a clever episode that it ascends monster of the week status to become almost Twilight Zone-esque. Also, for the first time, Buffy sees Riley doing his Initiative thing, and Riley sees Buffy being the Slayer, but they can't talk about it?? That's good shit.

5. "The Wish" S3E9

Both "Something Blue" and "The Wish" feel like the writers decided to use fanfic premises on their own show... so obviously I like them a lot. But getting to watch a dark timeline AU with interesting world-building and attention to detail, a hilarious and horrifying Cordelia POV, AND a smirking kinky vampire Willow? Hello?? And the fact that the Wishverse comes up again in "Doppelgänger" (another truly fun episode) only improves my opinion. I imagine this is the kind of episode fans simply love coming back to.

4. "Restless" S4E22

This David Lynch-ass dream sequence was a weird choice for a season finale, but an extremely ambitious and cool episode. I should say up front that I love David Lynch-ass dream shit. There were creative and well-executed scene transitions as characters moved seamlessly from one dream room into another. Several memorably neat shots - Willow running between endless curtains as she tries to get onstage, Buffy alone in a vast desert with a weirdly high camera angle. And I got myself all excited thinking that the First Slayer would maybe become a different kind of antagonist - maybe not even fully revealed in this episode, or maybe an Id-like aspect of Buffy herself. But I forgot Whedon gonna Whedon, so the First Slayer had to be someone Buffy could punch in the end. And the First Slayer is sadly yet another primitive-themed, emotionally-stunted character of color for this show. Most of her lines in this episode are literally voiced by a white woman speaking for her, and of all the dumb quips to make, Buffy had a line about her hair being unprofessional? Also, I'm a lesbian, so the fact that the most explicit act of intimacy between Willow and Tara this show has allowed us to see occurs in Xander's horny dream sequence... it’s unforgivable, Joss. This episode was one of my favorites ever, deeply marred by some bad writing choices.

3. "Lovers Walk" S3E8

Spike, perhaps the best non-Willow character in this show, is back in Sunnydale, a hilariously heartbroken mess of a man, hell-bent on getting his former girlfriend Drusilla back. (Drusilla left him for a fungus demon.) So Spike breaks into a magic shop to get ingredients for a love spell, where he runs into Willow, who is getting ingredients for a de-lusting spell, because she is worried she and Xander will be too thirsty to behave appropriately in public with their actual partners, Oz and Cordelia. This is a hilarious moment just to exist. This is all the episode needed to do to satisfy me. But the fact that Spike then kidnaps Willow, and it ends with tragic stakes of everyone's relationships coming apart, not to mention me genuinely thinking Cordelia was dead for a minute there - wow. Chef’s kiss. The episode is balanced shockingly well between Spike being an ominous villain, and being the sort of lovable semi-evil (more gremlin-like) side character he'll become in season 4. What a wild ride.

2. "Graduation Day" S3E21-22

I'm counting this two part season finale as one because it's my list and I'll do what I want. "Graduation Day" feels like a quintessential Buffy episode executed to perfection. It has Buffy reaffirming her position as a moral heroine, sacrificing her own blood to save Angel's life even when she thought she had to kill Faith to save him. It has Buffy and Faith (or Buffy/Faith, as I prefer to think of them) getting to square off in a dramatic, tough fight. It has a lot of Mayor Wilkins, a character I truly adore for some reason. Nothing like a public administrator who plays mini golf in his office, wants you to chew with your mouth closed, and will kill a graduating class of high schoolers to gain immortality. The catharsis of the whole school getting to fight back against evil, instead of just Buffy against the world - a real joy. This episode misses the top spot for two reasons. "A special vampire poison and the only cure is the blood of a Slayer" is too contrived for me to let slide, and also I had to see Cordelia and Wesley kiss.

1. "Becoming" S2E21-22

Buffy’s season finales really do have good stories and satisfying payoff. First off, Buffy starts this episode by punching a cop and fleeing from the law. Later, Spike also punches a cop. A.k.a., Buffy said blue lives don't matter. Second - I haven't gotten a chance to comment on this yet, but all throughout season 2, evil Angel is such a joy to watch. As regular Angel, David Boreanaz makes exactly one face ("I am a kicked, angsty puppy") and bless his heart, it gets so tiresome. As evil Angel, he is so expressive, dynamic and terrifyingly creative in his badness. And I love his weird threesome energy with Spike and Drusilla. But also, it's so hard to watch Buffy suffer as she deals with her evil boyfriend doing evil things. Her ultimate choice in this episode, to kill Angel even as Willow's spell restores his soul, gave me some real big feels! Also, this episode marks the first moment of Willow doing big, plot-shifting magic on her own, solidifying her transformation from computer nerd to witch!

Also, shout-out to the many good smaller moments in this episode: Spike making awkward small talk with Buffy's mom, Buffy constantly dunking on Principle Snyder, and Giles being tortured by visions of Miss Calendar (RIP Miss Calendar, I was your biggest fan.)

"Becoming" is an excellent season finale and the kind of Buffy episode I imagine I will want to re-watch in the future just for nostalgia's sake.

#buffy the vampire slayer #guess i will tag this and just engage in pvp if it happens #buffy fandom in 2021 i don't know you but please be nice #this was fun to write #i guess i do like this show!

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consumedkings-archive · 3 years

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15, 17-21 for the writer asks! 💜

lici!!!!! u little angel ilysm

15. a hollywood producer tells you that they want to film just one of your fics. which fic would you want it to be?

i think i'd have to pick ancient names--carry your throne would be SO fun but in almost every sense it exists outside of the range of DC, if possible. lmao. so definitely ancient names for all of the flower horror and seeing live action elliot get to bite through a man's hand!!!

17. what fic are you most proud of?

even though it's not done, i do think i'm the most proud of witching hour. one of the things that really challenged me with it was the fact that i basically took out the entire far cry 5 cast in ancient names, and so writing the sequel with the ending kind of left me with a desire to fill in the cast myself. i was really insecure about it, at first, and certainly got a few people telling me that my pacing was too slow or that i had too many plot threads going on, but i'm really really pleased with how i'm getting the chance to pull them together!

18. what is a line/scene you’re really proud of? give us the DVD commentary for that scene.

ugh you KNOW i'm out here about to say the scene where elliot kills kian. you know, bites his hand and bashes his face in when she realizes the shotgun is empty. kian really out here thought he was gonna be like "ammo's out SORRY guess you can't KILL ME" and underestimated elliot's complete and utter inability to look at a problem and NOT solve it with brute force and zero finesse.

19. who is the easiest/hardest character for you to write about? why?

GRRRR ALL OF THEM. if i had to pick ONE i would probably say, quite honestly, that writing john seed makes me want to rip my fucking hair out all the time lol. i am constantly insecure that my john is like: not good and so then i'm writing it second-guessing everything and even though Pretty Rich Vicious Boy is my Brand(TM) it just doesn't come as easily to me as like, writing roman. or even joseph lol.

easiest is roman. every time i write a roman scene it's like coming home

20. what’s your favorite minor character you’ve written?

your boy santi!!!! santi santi santi.....my greatest love not yet come to full actualization. he really is just out here trying his fucking best you know. his boss is halfway across the country fetching the baby mama and he's been having to deal with jacob breathing down his neck this whole time. where's santi's kiss, huh? where is his smooch for being a team player? he deserves

21. what is the one fic that got away?

wym they all got away. they all get away from me every time i open up a doc or my novlr program. all of them are constantly fleeing me!!!!!

#ask games #ash.txt #1love1hope #lici i love and adore u with all my heart

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sparkie96 · 4 years

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Age difference au, Leon wearing kimono since Simmons kidnap him

A groan escaped him as Leon woke up, holding his head in pain. After blinking a couple of times to adjust to the sudden brightness of the room, he sat up, looking down at his current state of dress, wondering why the hell it was so damn drafty. Why the hell was he in a kimono? Or was there another name for it? Considering it wasn’t the full get-up? He couldn’t think of the right word for it right now. Why pink, though?

Bright blue eyes looked around and took in his surroundings. This was neither his dorm nor Chris’s home...nor anywhere he had ever been before. Where the hell was he? What the hell had happened? The last thing he remembered was...he really needed to stop walking to and from places. Especially if he didn’t have someone with him. Christ, if his mother or Chris found out about this one this time, they were gonna put a GPS Tracker on him.

Though, if he was being honest, his mother probably would pull him from college and have him take online courses full-time and have Uncle Marvin and Uncle Kevin escort him everywhere. Or ask Chris to take him with him everywhere he goes or get him a job with the BSAA.

...that last one didn’t sound too bad. Piers and Finn said that there was never a dull moment in the BSAA. And he would be working with Chris, so that would be even better.

But, he would have to worry about that later. Right now, he had to figure out just what the fuck was going on. Okay, so, step one in investigating; assess the “Crime Scene” or situation. Leon looked around at the unfamiliar room.

It had white walls, there was an alcove in the left wall with a bronze statue of some sort. An angel? It was definitely a guy, but he wasn’t sure what the statue was due to the shadows. There was a fireplace in the wall across from him, with a large, ornate mantle and a marble looking hearth. On top of the mantle was a very expensive looking painting of a serpent devouring a lion. Odd...but maybe a clue? There was a table next to it, two wine glasses sat on top of it, as well as a set of fine china. There were also two chairs. Okay...not weird at all. On the other side of the fireplace, there was a desk underneath one of the windows. He noted that it was also snowing...which meant that he was still in DC...hopefully.

He then looked down at the floor, noticing that it was also marble, like the hearth in front of the fireplace. Above him was a very large chandelier, much like the ones one would see in a movie or a stereotypical rich person’s house. The lights were dimmed though. Leon woke up in a bed adorned with silk blankets and soft sheets. The pillows were soft and smelled odd, but not gross. More flowery or sweet. Perfume? Drugs? He hoped for the first one and not the latter.

Overall, everything looked very expensive, so he was in the home of either a rich person, or someone with expensive taste, but who?

What did he remember last? Leon recalled walking home from campus, having missed the bus. His jeep was in the shop because someone slashed his tires. Chris couldn’t drive him home because he had to stay late at work and do some extra paperwork and get it out of the way so they could spend the weekend at this “Magical Mountain House” Mr. Burton owned.

“Oh, you’re awake.” a voice said, a man standing in the doorway.

Leon looked him over, not recognizing him. He took in his appearance and started making a profile; white male, late fifties, early sixties, black or dark brown hair slicked back. He couldn’t tell what color his eyes were, but he had a mustache and a beard, the same color as the hair on his head. He was wearing a pristine looking white suit, a bolo tie, dress shoes, and wore a large, gold ring on his left thumb. He looked about six feet tall, maybe a bit taller than that. He had a slim build, but no distinct markings that Leon could see.

“You must be very confused...I can’t blame you.” The man said, approaching the bed as maids fluttered in with trays of food and a bottle of wine, setting up the table by the fireplace, “ I would be too if I were in your position...but you can thank your father for you being here. He’s the one that made me very angry.”

Okay, so, clearly, this man knew his father...but how? His father had been dead for some time...at least he thought so. There had been that one time where he thought he saw him when he went with Chris to that one gala, but it must have been in his head. Old friend? Couldn’t have been if Dad made them angry. Someone that played a part in his death? Possibly.

Leon stayed quiet, deciding not to play along just in case the man was not in a “friendly” mood.

“No need to be shy, Leon.” The man said, “I have no intention of hurting you...unless you or your father force me to do so. Let me introduce myself, my name is Derek Simmons.” The man offered a hand in greeting, holding it out for Leon to shake.

The college student looked from it to the man’s face, “...My father is dead.”

The sound of the man’s laughter made Leon jump slightly, not anticipating the abrupt sound, “Oh, of course you don’t know what’s really going on...Lucas is alive.”

Leon furrowed his brows as Simmons picked up a remote from inside of his coat pocket, aiming it at the ugly portrait above the fireplace. Leon watched in fascination as the picture split down the middle, opening up and revealing a screen of sorts behind it. Said screen flickered to life, showing Leon a video of a lab, or maybe a bunker, or some kind of warehouse. The date at the corner of the screen indicated that the video was from a couple months ago, right around when Chris had first seen Leon and Ark’s livestream on YouTube.

He watched as a figure moved on screen, running away from these giant, skinless frog looking creatures. The figure, a man, turned and began opening fire on the creatures, successfully gunning a couple down before running once more. The camera angles switched, the man fleeing through what looked like shipment containers, weaving through them like a maze. The camera zoomed in on the man’s face as he made it to one of the elevators, Leon’s eyes wide in shock.

“No way…” He whispered, looking as though he had seen a ghost.

That man...the one on the screen...it was his father. He was...alive? How? Where had he been all this time? No...Leon shook his head in disbelief, not believing what he was seeing as Simmons narrated what was happening.

“There’s no way.” Leon protested, “My dad is dead.”

Simmons chuckled, “But you saw him, remember?” He asked, pressing another button on the remote control, the screen switching to just last month, Leon now looking at the ballroom from that one gala he attended with Chris. He saw himself, the one camera positioned on him and the other camera was positioned on the Lucas look-alike. The two had made brief eye-contact, but the Lucas look-alike quickly bolted before Leon could fully process what he had seen. Simmons laughed as Leon’s jaw fell open, tears burning in his eyes.

“You see now, don’t you?” Simmons asked, “Your father is very much alive, Leon. He abandoned you and your mother so he could go play James Bond around the world.”

“He wouldn’t…no!” Leon shook his head fervently, “He’s dead! This is some fucked up game! If he was really alive, he would never abandon us!”

“Then why did he?” Simmons asked in amusement, pausing the camera on Lucas, “If Daddy truly loved you...why did he abandon you? Or...do you really know and feel like he did...and that’s why you feel such a strong connection with Chris? Why do you admire him and seek his approval? Do you secretly have “Daddy Issues” Leon? Because your own father abandoned you? Or are you afraid that Chris will abandon you too?”

Leon growled and lashed out, aiming a punch at the man’s face. The man caught it, so Leon threw another punch with his other hand, but Simmons caught that too, shoving him down onto the bed. The bastard was laughing at him, holding him down.

“Don’t worry, Leon.” Simmons said, holding the younger’s wrists down with his one hand while the other brushed brown locks out of his eyes, angry tear-filled blue eyes glaring up at him, “I won’t abandon you.”

#age difference au #sneak peek #chreon #Kennfield #Leon S. Kennedy #Derek C Simmons #Moanday #Send Me Asks

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zenosanalytic · 4 years

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People What Aint From Round Here Is The Problem...

So I just watched Once Upon a Time... In Hollywood and I have THOUGHTS:

Ive read a few reviews&ruminations on this film at this point and I can’t believe that none of them got(or at least, mentioned explicitly) the primary thesis of this movie, spcl given that Tarentino flatly states it out the mouth of his primary protagonist within, like, the first 15-20mins of the film: “...most important thing in this town is when you’re making money you buy a house in town. You don’t rent... Hollywood real estate means you live here. You’re not just visiting, not just passing through. You fuckin live here.” i.e., the most important thing in Hollywood, to Hollywood, is the people FROM Hollywood; Everyone else is just a filthy, trouble-making tourist or profiteer who is “Passing Through” and “Doesnt Get It” and “Is Fucking It Up”(It being the film industry), and probably “Secretly Hates Movies”. There are places and aspects of this movie that are basically a Nativist Angeleno rant, written by a life-long Angeleno film-nerd-turned-film-maker, against Hollywood’s critics(and his critics which he just totally conflates with the former), and probably non-Angelenos(and non-Californians?) in general.

There are two ways to read this thesis: Straight and Subverted/Satirized.

The evidence for reading it straight is pretty plentiful. Lots of reviews have puzzled at where the line connecting the constant hippie-bashing, the weird focus on knocking Polanski’s Polishness & preference for shooting in London, and the inexplicable pot-shot at Bruce Lee is, and I think this is it. “The Hippies” are repeatedly presented as a corrupting force: digging through trash, living in squalourous filth at the Spahn Ranch dragging members of “Old Hollywood” like its owner into it with them, selling drugs, and using sex to “control” men. And attached to this is presenting “The Hippies” as foreign; not only from another place, but refusing to assimilate with the LA way of life and hostile to it. The Manson family are the only explicitly identified “Hippies” in the film(other than, possibly, the one who sells Cliff an acid cig). The only “positive” portrayals of Bruce Lee in the film are silent ones of him teaching anglos kung fu, which has some fairly obvs and well-understood Implications.

But there’s also good evidence for reading it as subverted and satirized. Both Tate and Dalton are NOT from California, let alone LA, and Booth’s origins are left unclear. Dalton’s the only one of them explicitly id’d as being from elsewhere(Missouri), but Tate’s easy to google and she was a military kid who grew up all over the place. When Dalton returns from Italy, that sequence and his look in it are VERY reminiscent of the scenes introducing Polanski at the beginning of the film. The side-characters around Tate, perennially shown in a positive light, are also non-Angelenos. Doing Spaghetti Westerns revitalizes Dalton’s career, despite his disdain for Italian cinema. Tate and her crew, while not explicitly ID’d as “Hippies” and often shown in Mod and other fashion styles, are also presented in “Hippie” fashion, shown listening to “Hippie” music, smoking the “Hippie” Reefer(Im sorry, but Comedy Demanded this phrasing and I am Devout u_u), and implied to be living a polyamorous “Hippie” life.

It really is difficult for me to say which predominates. On the one entirely metaphorical hand, the ways in which Dalton’s Angeleno chauvinism are subverted and mocked are fairly obvs, but on the other emh, the film is FILLED with LITERALLY GLOWING nostalgia for this pre-Hippy, pre-Lefty, pre-70s, Conservative and Republican California&Los Angeles. Dalton’s focus on property-ownership&the film industry in the opening thesis could easily be seen as resolving these subversive contradictions to allow for a straight read(ie: Tate, Booth, and Dalton are “Hollywood People” who’ve both bought real-estate in LA, and who’ve grown up in film or film-adjacent fields and choose to center their adult lives in the film industry). So much, in fact, that I kinda started to wonder abt QT’s politics while watching it. And, if it WAS satirical, then what’s the point of the knock to Bruce Lee and focusing criticisms of Polanski on his Polishness and shooting in London? Is that just meant to characterize Dalton and Booth as nativists and racists?

It really cannot be said enough that there are REALLY MORE APPROPRIATE CRITICISMS to make of Polanski than 1)begin Polish, 2)possessing boyish effeminacy, and 3)preferring to shoot movies in London instead of LA. Which are this movie’s only problems with him(though it also takes the time to show him bitchily smoking a cigarette in an evening gown while being rude to a dog). Obvsl I dont object to villainizing an ACTUAL REAL LIFE VILLAIN like this shitstain, but I DO object to being asked(albeit gently) to participate in this film’s understated nationalist bigotry.

It’s possible that Cliff’s turning Pussycat down during the drive to the ranch was intended to be this but I highly doubt it. And if it was it’d be misrepresenting Polanski’s misdeeds enormously, considering that Pussycat, the too-young girl, is the sexual instigator in this film. Polanski liked to manipulate, drug, and rape underaged girls(he pulled the same shit with models in Europe before getting busted for it in LA, btw, then continued doing it after fleeing back to Europe); really not the same situation.

There’s another irony in that, while the film goes out of its way to call Polanski “boyish” and imply that makes him feminine and that this is Bad, there’s also a subtle under-current that... Tarentino sees himself in his youth the same way? He’s certainly never been short like Polanski and Jay Sebring are/were, QT’s 6 1, but the actors he cast to play them and the description made of the pair in-film are more than a bit reminiscent of how Tarentino looked&was discussed in the press back in the 90s when he was starting out. AAAaaand the film explicitly calls that Tate’s “Type”; leaving me with the question: would Tarentino be able to stop himself from implying a dead starlet would have been attracted to him? I leave the answer to your imaginations, Dear Readers u_u

Having said all that it IS a really good film, which I liked, I dont think it’d be very hard to set aside this political stuff while watching, the driving sequences are especially emotive&exhilarating, and there’s some seriously great acting in it. IDK if I’d say I liked it more than the recent Emma movie, tho.

I feel like each of the trio, Tate, Dalton, and Booth, were meant to symbolically Embody LA/Hollywood/California? Like Pitt especially seemed to be channeling movie characters and CJ from GTA: San Andreas throughout his performance, while I couldnt help but think of Ronald Reagan watching DiCaprio(spcl given the character’s likely politics). So there’s this sense in which the film is a fantasy of “Old Hollywood”, embodied by these three, Vanquishing its “Enemies”, represented by The Hippies(moralizing, pretentious, gross leftist) and potentially Polanski&Lee(foreign film ppl who refuse to integrate into the LA scene). Again, given the political history of Cali after this era, this embodiment raises some questions for me abt the film and QT’s politics(particularly in re: misogyny and feminism).

Also DiCaprio is totally going to get pitched a Reagan biopic off of this role and I sincerely hope he has the good sense to turn that shit the fuck down.

Circling back to the ranting at his critics, this movie was definitely and consciously a response to them. Like: up until the last 5-15 minutes of the film, and aside from a handful of too-lingering too fetishistic too on-the-nose creep shots of the female cast that Tarentino simply could not stop himself from making, OUATiH is precisely the sort of “Serious” film Tarentino’s critics have been saying he should make for decades now(of course he did Jackie Brown, which was that and which he blew Completely out of the park). And then there’s that bloody, gross-out, exploitation-movie ending. I dont actually think it was as bad as many critics were saying it was? For some reason I was thinking there was gonna be a massacre of the ENTIRE Manson family, which would have been totally out of left-field. But it WAS clearly a stinger of a major tone-shift thrown in as a Fuck You to the ppl who’ve called out his violent and exploitative preferences throughout the years. As for me I generally like his movies and think he’s a great filmmaker but he absolutely does go too far sometimes.

Rick Dalton, in an evening-gown, with a mixer full of iced-margarita in one hand, getting all up in the face of the driver of a loud exhaust-spewing jalope in his PRIVATE STREET was TOTALLY Tarentino himself :| By which I mean NOT ONLY that That’s ABSOLUTELY the sort of cameo he would have given himself 30 years ago and if it made any sort of sense at all in the film(which here it wouldnt have, obvsl), BUT ALSO that I feel 94% confident that Tarentino has actually done that at least once in his lifetime :| :|

I think the monologue&interactions T gives Bruce Lee leading up to the fight were probably more insulting to him than the fight itself. Contrary to popular discussion, it isn’t Pitt’s character totally trashing Lee, he gets in one good throw after Lee repeats a successful attack at his request(which I doubt Lee would have ever done from what little I know about him; not being predictable in a fight was his whole Deal), but rather an even duel between them(most of the fight is just the two blocking each others’ attacks). I dont think the film was trying to say “Lee was full of hot-air”, if it wanted to say that it’d have shown him getting trounced instead of showing him knock Booth down then trade him blow for blow, but more “Lee was pretty arrogant and a bit pretentious”.

OK, that’s abt all that I can think of right now: thanks for reading ^v^

#Once Upon a Time... In Hollywood #Quentin Tarentino #Long Post #Cinema #zA Reviews #Movie Reviews #zA Commentary #zA Opinions #analytic posts

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bigskydreaming · 4 years

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What kind of house/apt do adult successful Scanny have?

I think it would be something smallish and unassuming on the outside, very approachable. Maybe even like, a townhome or a duplex or something like that, depending on what city Scott ultimately settles in with whatever pack he builds up around him there vs whomever stays in Beacon Hills.

I don’t have any specific headcanons for where Scott relocates to, its just very important to me that he does, because like. He deserves to get far, far away from Beacon Hills. There are too many bad memories there. Its where he died. Its where Allison died, Boyd, Erica. Like, all the bad things that linger with Scott came from Beacon Hills and that damn evil attention-seeking tree stump, and all the good things that linger with Scott are one hundred percent the product of his own actions and the relationships he fostered with the people that became important to him.

There’s nothing in Beacon Hills that gives Scott anything he doesn’t already have by this point, no reason for him to stay other than his mother, who can literally just move as well. But not with Chris Argent. On account of like, well he died too. It was very sad and tragic, I don’t want to talk about it. Tears were shed, its all still really fresh and raw, we should probably just move on. Its what he would want. Probably. Also who cares, ding dong he’s dead and Melissa’s married to some nice doctor who’s never pulled a gun on her son, as well as possessing other qualities that meet somewhat higher standards, I’m sure.

Anyway. We were talking about Scott saying hasta la vista baby to Beacon Hills followed then by a slow motion dramatic walkaway shot before he gets on his motorcycle, adjusts his mirrors, revs the throttle all action movie star-esque, and also sexily - look, they’re not always automatically the same thing - and then he drives away forever from that toxic cesspit of a homicidal zipcode where square footage is calculated in terms of dead bodies. Leaving behind all the like, million and one reasons for him to say Bye Beacon Hills, see you never, try not to become a central locus for evil, but also, I don’t care if you do, it is hashtag NotMyResponsibilityAnymore. But also, I mean. It never was. Just FYI.

And then he flips the town off and accelerates off into the sunset while the town eats his dust, and admittedly Scott isn’t really the type to throw around middle fingers even where deserved, but fuck it, I’m projecting onto him and its my headcanon and I say that pile of excrement in real estate form needs to be flipped off and also, like. Its just an aesthetic thing. For the visuals. Its the whole dramatic end scene, roll credits, “I came, I saw and I blew shit up and now I’m off to reunite with my love interest and have vigorous victory sex” vibe. You get it.

So they relocate somewhere, wherever that is. I honestly don’t care, so long as its nice and doesn’t murder them or inflict gratuitous bodily harm every week and the nearest Satanic foliage is at least two statelines away. Preferably with a thriving supernatural community where Scott and his pack can all feel welcome and like they belong, rather than outsiders eternally hiding in plain sight among potential enemies. Like, somewhere where their neighbors are all vampires and Fae and other supernaturals, but only so long as like, the only reason they ever come over is to borrow a cup of sugar. Never to betray them to randomly resurrected enemies or guilt trip them into solving someone else’s centuries old and completely pointless grudgematch of Unnecessary Drama and Also Doom.

And wherever it is, the pack have their own dwellings and much needed privacy. Far enough apart that even supernatural hearing and smell don’t have them all playing Peeping Tom whether they like it or not, every time a couple wants to get frisky, but close enough together that they’re all still together, and know that more pack, more community, is always just a short walk away.

Scott and Danny’s place is some sort of small but cozy townhome or duplex or something like that, as I said. Scott’s always very aware of his presence and reputation and the power he both commands and also is afforded by peoples’ embellished expectations regarding him. So it was really important to Scott, and thus important to Danny, that their home be unpretentious. Inviting and approachable and not ‘above’ anyone else, or trying to be. Somewhere that when you got to their street and checked the address if you’re new in town and looking for an audience with True Alpha Scott McCall, you stop and do a double take and almost have to revise whatever preconceptions you have, or at least put them on hold, because like…this is where the famous True Alpha lives? Its so…ordinary.

But that’s the point after all….because the more he was looked at as standing apart from all others, the more ‘ordinary’ became the only thing Scott’s really ever aspired to be.

So its not poor, by any means. They do well for themselves, the whole pack, like you said, Scott and Danny are successful in this future. They have jobs that afford them both a sense of purpose and fulfillment of longheld interests, as well as the potential for discovering more, rather than getting locked into things that grow stale overtime as they outgrow fantasy careers that seemed more validating when they were kids dreaming of the future.

Also their jobs, whatever they might be, make them at least successful enough that it allows them both a large degree of autonomy. They can pick their own schedules, more or less. They have finances, but none that will be massively disrupted or stress-inducing if Scott has to take time off for a couple weeks to help a neighboring pack relocate somewhere new after they flee from hunters. Something where Scott’s never forced to choose between his job and keeping him and his pack financially afloat, versus someone needing his help and it not immediately apparent how long that might take resolve. The dream is stability and comfort, and enough personal agency for Scott in how and where he gets both of those, that he never feels like he’s letting down either his pack or innocents asking for his help, because the demands of his job or finances make him feel like it has to be one or the other, he can’t possibly do both.

Ideally, that flexible schedule means that when Scott isn’t helping others, something he now does by choice and simply because he wants to and he can, not because he’s made to feel he has to, like its his responsibility and his alone, because certain boundary-blind best friends have decided they want to play Peter Parker but are gonna need Scott to step up and play the actual Spider-Man part and lend his power even when someone else gets to decide for him when its his responsibility. Oopsie, I tripped and fell and my Bitter Resentment and Still Not Over It slipped out. Oh no. How terrible. Much woe.

Ahem. Anyway. As I was saying, before I was so rudely interrupted by myself, Scott’s flexible schedule means that when he’s not using it to help others, he has enough left over that he can afford (and justify to himself) using it for himself and his own personal enjoyment and interests, actually prioritize and commit to his own self-care, because a healthy, happy Alpha is a healthy, happy Pack. Someone said that once, probably. Probably not Hobbes. Definitely heard that somewhere though. Trust me, I’m a doctor.

So with the aid of this newfangled invention produced by cutting edge technology, this quote unquote “Free Time…” Scott explores other interests. His own. Le gasp, le shocking, le about the fuck time. He explores the novelty of being able to even have hobbies, because depressingly (why am I like this, science side of tumblr), there was once a time when Scott stopped bothering trying to figure out what all he was interested in, because he kinda assumed he’d be long dead before it ever had a chance to matter.

But by the power invested in me by Fuck You, Jeff Davis, in this future, none of that comes to pass. So free time and personal passions for Scott. He has them, in abundance. So like. He gardens, for sure. That’s why I specified a duplex or townhouse instead of an apartment in a complex or building….they live somewhere where they at least have their own garden or yard. Scott designs and implements it personally, something like his own personal Zen garden on a scale commensurate with What He Deserves. He goes outside whenever he’s starting to feel stressed about some obligation or commitment or another, and just….plays.

That’s what it is to him. He just plants things. Prunes things. Adds fountains or bird feeders or statuary, little personalized touches here and there that make his own personal territory uniquely his and his alone. Gardening in his yard is His Time in His Space, and all the pack know better than to interrupt him when he’s out in his yard working away, unless its an absolute emergency.

Danny enforces this with an iron fist and an ability to tank your credit score and spread all your most embarrassing pictures internet-wide with just a single keystroke. And Danny is the enforcer Scott doesn’t have to be. People forget that everyone loves Danny….but in no small part due to his usual proximity to Jackson. Next to Jackson, everyone looks like an angel. But Danny, on his own? Can be mean. Will be mean, if you touch or hurt or threaten or even just inconvenience his man, because like, who the fuck do you think you are and also it doesn’t even matter because he just replaced your whole identity online and if you’re nice and apologize and kiss ass without Scott ever having to know What You Almost Did, maybe Danny will have mercy on you and actually let you know what your new identity is, so you can use it to like, make a new life with the details he made up to replace your old personal info that no longer gets you anywhere.

Danny - that’s Miss Nasty if you mess with his husband - is chaotic neutral with an exception for “this is my list of special people. Touch any of them and my alignment is Chaotic Evil for however long as until I have personally escorted you to your Doom and physically kicked you into a bottomless pit where you will suffer for eternity.”

But then he smiles and charms everyone into only remembering lol oh yeah, everybody likes Danny, so that once again, everyone forgets that’s at least partially self-preservation because if you don’t love Danny and everyone Danny loves, like, you’re dumb and also screwed. Why are you bad at making good choices.

Don’t feel bad though. Danny’s very good at making people forget this part, t least until the next time he reminds people of that little piece of trivia. Have you seen him smile? Its like that flashing bulb thing Will Smith uses in Men in Black to make people forget what they just saw or were doing. Except without any supervision and/or morality because fuck your ethics, its Danny’s bewitching smile, he’ll use it however he wants. Get your own.

(The thing is, any best friend of Jackson has to have at least a little capacity for Evil. Danny just hides it well, thanks to the cloaking camouflage of Actually Having a Soul in Addition, and like, being a people person who actually understands how people work and how not to alienate them by being a total uncaring jackass 24/7. Its a fine line, except its really not, and Danny is very talented at all things and possesses an abundance of charm. Plus he’s just hot, and like. Let’s face it. That always helps. I mean, definitely never hurts).

The end result of all this tangent-having, is that Scott has enough him time and enough of a barrier from people constantly distracting him, that the exterior of Scott and Danny’s place, for all its otherwise ordinary appearance, Scott has over time turned into his own personal slice of paradise, and is exactly what that looks like to him.

See, the thing about Scott is no matter how hard he tries to be ordinary and value being just like everyone else and get lost in the crowd…..he never will quite manage it, because Scott just isn’t like anyone else. He’s good, in a way that too few people even aspire to be, because so many people just think its not possible. Especially not after having lived through the kinds of traumas Scott has, been dealt an especially unlucky hand. But Scott manages it anyway, in spite of everything, spiting every thing that tries to make him be anything lesser….and because of that, he’ll always stand at least a little apart from the crowd, be a little distinct from the rest, impossible to ever fully be lost or muted by any crowd of any size.

And the little slice of the world Scott makes just his and Danny’s, no one else’s. He doesn’t even need to share it with his pack without it being any less inviting to his pack for all that. It reflects this understated aspect of Scott, this impossible to quantify essence of him that he himself is too unassuming to ever fully realize is there, and everyone else just accepts without questioning…because they’ve learned by now when you’re given a gift, just accept it and appreciate it.

So in structure and layout, their home is nothing special, but amidst a neighborhood of similar structures, it pops all the same. It draws the eye without dominating your vision. It makes you want to look at it, want to come closer, want to be around it, much like the man who designed it. Who made it, cares for it, and never neglects it or takes it for granted. Its always green, year round, and filled with a variety of flowers that come from all over the world but can all complement each other and coexist without endangering any of the neighboring plants. None of them overgrowing the garden or in any way being at any of the other plants’ expense.

They’re like Scott’s pack in that way….of all shapes and sizes, coming from all around the world, of all kinds of types, not even just limited to werewolves. All beautiful, all unique, all existing in harmony. Even though Scott’s never shared this with anyone else, in his mind, each flower or plant he adds to his garden represents one specific member of his pack. Its Theirs, its what he associates with them. In this way, they’re all represented, it reminds him whatever conflict arises internally, its nothing they can’t ultimately all work out without compromising any single individual. And with each plant needing its own special attention and time devoted to cultivating it and caring for it, they serve as proxies for the pack members they represent.

Due to this, Scott can tell himself with just a glance at his garden - reassure himself, whenever his self-doubts get the better of him and he starts to beat himself up for not being there enough for someone or neglecting someone or not doing better - but with his garden, just going outside and checking it over can remind Scott that he’s not neglecting anyone. Because every time he tends to the plant that represents a pack member, Scott reflects on that pack member as he does so. Just going over what they’ve been up to, mentally checking in on them, casting about to see if he’s noticed any sign something’s been bothering them, making sure to spend one on one time with them.

He can’t tend to a plant without associating it with their linked pack member….and in this way, as long as he can look around and take in with a glance the sight of his garden, all carefully tended to, no plant neglected, all watered and pruned and harmonious and appreciated….and it serves as a visual reminder with which to reassure himself….he’s not forgetting anyone, overlooking anyone. Nobody’s being neglected, he’s always thinking about his pack and keeping their best interests at heart and if any problems do pop to mind while he’s tending to one of his plants or flowers, of course that would be the first thing he’d make a plan to go check in on and address personally, once he’s making his rounds later and having a little face time and conversation with his various packmates.

Of all the flowers and various plant types in his garden, there’s only one fruit….a single eye catching and lovingly attended orange tree. That’s Danny. They’re his favorite, and orange is his favorite color. There’s just something unique about it. Especially in the midst of so much green.

The flowers nearest the front door and around the external structures of the building, a pillar underneath the small, roofed-in entrance way, perhaps, a gate at the front of the property, next to the driveway, maybe a trellis along the wall just next to the door…..the flowers adorning and framing the entrance to their home are a carefully arranged spray of seven different hues.

A literal rainbow, advertising this House and All Who Live Here Be Gaaaaaaay.

Scott’s always had a sly, understated sense of humor. Mischievous, but not usually at anyone’s expense, and subtle enough that most people don’t tend to credit him with having much of a sense of humor. He does though….he’s just never needed words to express it.

Advertising himself and his personal pride with a literal year round rainbow that’s still subtle enough that most people don’t clue into its layered meaning or implications without being told. Later in life, stable and safe and more centered, Scott gets a pretty big kick out of how often people fail to see what’s right in front of them. Him living his best life on his own terms and not even being shy about it….and if other people can’t connect the dots on their own….its a pity, Scott muses with a mostly internalized laugh, that most people are just in too big a hurry or too eager to take things at face value to truly see what their surroundings look like and are full of.

Danny gets the joke, and thinks its hilarious how few other people figure it out. But that’s mostly just because Danny can be kind of a dick. He’s sorry not sorry. Its not his fault people are dumb. RIP to 90% of humanity, but he has braincells.

He and Scott complement each other well.

Similarly, just as Scott’s personal space is outdoors, natural, and helps him feel part of the world, feel part of nature, connected to it and in harmony with the natural order of things and not something completely separate….Danny’s personal space is indoors, the extra room converted entirely into his personal office or Batcave. Filled with monitors and screens and hard drives, a Hacker’s Paradise that keeps Danny plugged into the grid, manmade tools and his own cultivated expertise giving him the world at his fingertips. Any needed information or a satellite view of something happening with allies on the other side of the world is just a few clicks of a mouse away.

He’s also got every video game console known to man, because Danny’s Me Time is kicking ass on whatever game the latest redditor or twitterbaiting bigot to catch his ire is high-ranking on.

And if he also happens to use his gameplay as an opportunity to backdoor into said Wankstain’s systems and do whatever needs doing to make his life and those of all his enabling social circle’s a living hell and a lesson in empathy that comes too late cuz nobody has any for them because they suck and are Satan….

Well. Sucks to be them, and also, what kind of moron makes enemies while online gaming without first erecting even a nominal defense against Superior Intellects who might feel like retaliating against his jokes, that aren’t really jokes so much as the synaptic misfiring of racist braincells and proof that sometimes, evolution shits out a turd?

“That sounds like victim blaming,” Scott notes in an absent kind of tone when watching over his husband’s shoulder one day. Not really judgmental so much as just something to say.

“You say victim blaming, I say pest control,” Danny hums unapologetically. “Sides, can’t be victim blamed if you’re not a victim, and you can’t be a victim if you’re really just a human-shaped mistake who has no redeeming qualities, an online presence that’s the virtual equivalent of bad BO with no medical cause for an excuse, and a social media history that makes a strong case for your best possible contribution to society being a qualifier for a Darwin Award. Would you blame a cockroach for getting itself stepped on by stepping out into the light? I mean, you could, I guess. Just doesn’t seem terribly productive if you ask me.”

“Why do you hate cockroaches? They’re living creatures who never did anything to you, why would hurt them by comparing one to this guy?” Scott asks, because that’s really the more important part of the conversation.

“Dunno,” Danny shrugs. “I’m sure I could find some way to blame it on childhood trauma if you really need an answer.”

“No, just wondering if you’re gonna be done in time for dinner. I’m making tortellini.”

“I’ll be done in ten minutes, I swear. And ready to eat like a metaphor that’s more appropriate to you. Righteous vengeance really works up an appetite.”

“Uh-huh. Just out of curiosity, who exactly are you righteously avenging at the moment?”

“Humanity? Good taste? God, who couldn’t possibly have foreseen this free will thing would go so very wrong? That poor defunct condom that tried its best but in the end, just wasn’t up to the task of keeping this shithead from being unleashed unto the Earth? I dunno. Do I have to pick just one?”

Not really. As stated, Scott’s not actually judging anymore than Danny’s trying to hide this from him. They’re both in total agreement about the kind of people Danny cyber-vigilantes. They just have different approaches about how they should be handled. Scott, while not violent by choice for the most part, does tend to favor the direct approach. He just feels its right that a person know why exactly he thinks they’re a terrible person who deserves what they get. So he tends more towards the approach of: punch a bigot in the face, wait for a second for a whiff of remorse or sign someone might be suddenly reevaluating life choices, because he’s Scott and hope springs eternal, but when no such revelation comes, just shrugging and walking away. Oh well. He tried. Sorta. Well, kinda.

Danny, in contrast, prefers to go for the jugular and leave no hint of who or what might have been behind the all-encompassing full frontal assault that hits every online trace of his target’s miserable and miserly existence. It keeps them paranoid and this keeps him sated. Plus, his stance is when they don’t know what exactly earned them an enemy of his caliber, it forces them to reflect or at least call to mind every thing they can think of doing wrong to someone that might result in that someone hating them this much.

The ironic thing of course is Danny doesn’t even really hate them, because that implies a level of giving a shit he can’t ever quite seem to muster. He mostly just thinks they suck and should suffer for that. And he gets bored a lot.

Look, his husband and fellow werewolves are off saving the world every other week and being all kinds of kick-ass and action adventure movie-star types in the process. A guy sitting behind at home all the time has to get his jollies somehow. Also, he’s compiled a very engaging soundtrack to accompany his personal heroic undertakings, and it does wonderful things for his self image. Danny’s all about that self-care.

Plus, the first time he and Scott had something of a disagreement on their approaches, Danny unapologetically stated that loving him meant loving his vindictive side, because he personally was quite fond of it and thought it was really something of a Look. Also, making that Look into a Thing might be something of a dealbreaker for him, because he really didn’t want to undersell his capacity to be petty, and how little shame he felt about having said capacity. His essential life philosophy boils down to sometimes people just suck and somebody needs to say so. Maybe by draining their bank account and redirecting the funds to an ironically relevant charity.

“Fine,” Scott had conceded with a sigh. “Just be careful about making enemies like this, I don’t want you to get hurt.”

(That was really his only real concern all along. He’s a Nurturing Nelly. Scott can’t help but be a worry wart when his husband roams the internet highways under a masked IP address, taking on bandits and bigots all willy nilly, with not a bit of concern for himself. Its their biggest common ground, and Danny doesn’t have claws or a killer bite to protect himself with. A bite fetish, maybe, but that’s not quite the same thing, and also neither here nor there, and also also, he would like to plead the fifth while reminding you he can access and pull up your full porn-browsing history if you’d like to press that line of conversation further. Pervert).

Anyway, alls well that ends well, and thus Danny couldn’t help but be charmed at the reminder that his hubby is a man with clear priorities and his biggest is always gonna be the safety of his loved ones. Aww, sweetums.

“Aww, sweetums,” he said, just to see Scott squirm, because the more unexpected the endearment, the more Scott doesn’t know how to take it. And a squirmy Scott is an adorable Scott, Danny has always felt, and he is a man who appreciates his eye candy, as well as a go-getter who knows what he likes and goes and gets it, even if that means playing dirty. Especially if that means playing dirty. Danny likes dirty.

After all, dirty men need to shower, and showering together conserves water, and having sex while showering together is just a solid application of having eyes, a hot husband, and a healthy libido. It just makes good sense. He’s goal-oriented and a linear thinker, what do you want, leave him alone. He’s valid and you’re just jealous.

Still, exotic endearment applied, he’d then followed up with:

“How dare you accuse me of being so bad at the thing that I am most skilled at that you imply I’m even capable of ever leaving digital tracks like a total N00b. What do I look like to you? A 4chan poster who just figured out how to spoof their GPS for the first time?”

Danny rolled his eyes, exaggerating his wounded pride. It was the principle of the matter, and he was very principled. Sometimes. Kinda. If principles mean whimsy and whimsy means shh, don’t interrupt me, I’m doing bad things to bad people and this is very important work that must be savored or you really don’t get the full oomph of the revenge-gasm. Yes, he said revenge-gasm and he meant it. No he will not elaborate. Imagination is free.

“Ten points from Gryffindor for your low opinion of me, your valued and valuable life partner. Also, no sex for you, until…..okay maybe that’s too far. You seem like you’ve learned your lesson.”

“You’re too merciful,” Scott had said drily.

“Nobody’s perfect,” Danny had said lackadaisically. “Also, not to disrespect your tortellini-making expertise, but any chance we can put a pin in dinner until after we go have wild, passionate sex? This pending revenge-gasm is making me horny and I really hate to waste a good head of moral crusading.”

“That was a terrible pun.”

“I have never made a pun in my life, how dare you, my sense of humor is sophisticated. I’m not a peasant, Scott. And where did we land on the sex.”

“Didn’t we just do it this morning?”

“I have needs, Scott.”

“You’re insatiable.”

“And water is wet. I don’t see the relevance. Also, if you don’t want me jumping you 24/7, you have no business being so hot. Its your own damn fault, deal with it.”

“There you go with the victim-blaming again.”

“I’ll do five Hail Marys after I finish doing sinful things to you and racking up another five. Its more efficient to tackle them all at once.”

“Not sure that’s how that works, babe.”

“Eh, guess I’ll just go to hell then. Still worth it. Still your fault. Oh look, I’m naked all of a sudden, how did that happen?”

Scott sighs. “What am I going to do with you?”

“R is for Ravish me, if you’re really looking for suggestions. I can probably do the whole alphabet if you need. Or just do me. Whichever.”

Scott cut off further melodramatic peacocking with a kiss.

Things proceeded to a total media black out from there. Further voyeuristic attempts at seeing the Alpha and his mate get down, get down, would necessitate the invocation of the cautionary tale of the last pack member to not properly respect the sanctity of the inner sanctum of the Vindictive Master of Digital Identities and Other Important Details. His name is Chester, middle initial A., surname with a phonetic similarity to certain orifices. That wasn’t always his name, but it was once Danny got done with him, and that was only after Scott gave him the Pointed Stare of One Who Will Look More Benevolently On Those Who Demonstrate Both Mercy and Restraint.

Tis very much a tale of woe, as Chester is 6′5″, 260 lbs of visually intimidating werewolf muscle, and facial features that when accompanied by choice words and phrases, rather does call to mind certain similarities to certain orifices.

Like I said. Danny is very good at what he does. And everybody loves Danny.

….Aside from all other motivating reasons, its just a good idea in general.

Y’know.

Practically speaking.

#scanny #future fic not fic #idk #look call it whatever you want just dont quote me #like I ever know how to describe half the stuff that comes out of my head #lol as ifffff

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achtung-attitude · 5 years

Photo

It is 1998, in East Los Angeles. A young boy calls a name. “Moya, Moya!!”

A 10 year old Moya stands in an alley, watching as three older boys run away from her with bloody lips and black eyes. Before the boy calling her name reaches, she quickly rubs the tears out of her eyes, before turning to face him. “What is it, Manuel?”

“Your mama is looking for you, Moya. She wants you home right away!”

“... Mierda. Ok.” she sniffs. She begins to walk home. Manuel trails along next to her.

“Did… did you really take those big kids on all by yourself?”

She answers his question by raising her bruised and bloody knuckles.

“Qué genial! You’re so tough, Moya!”

The girl smiles warmly. “Tough as I need to be. Are you ok?”

Manuel casts his eyes down. “Yeah… I’m sorry. If I was tough like you, I coulda fought those big kids myself… And now you’re gonna get in trouble for fighting…”

Moya throws her arm around his shoulder and smiles, “Don’t worry about it. I’ll always defend you, no matter what! I promise, no matter what happens, I’ll defend the whole barrio!”

Manuel gazes at her, and declares, “... Nobody will ever beat you, Moya! Nobody!”

---

The year is now 2005, and 17 year old Moya Pezzente is getting beaten to hell. She had been working in the same supermarket for over a year, in order to support her family.

She lived in the harsh streets of East Los Angeles, wherein the highest concentration of Latin Americans resided. The gangs were mean, the police even meaner, and all around her was bitterness and despair. She did what she could. For her friends, her younger brothers and everyone else, she tried to bring hope. In spite of all the chaos and pain, she tried to be like a saint to them. Brave, strong, protective. No-one would harm them under her watch.

This night seemed no different, at first. Ten men in ski-masks came storming into the supermarket, wielding lead pipes and tire irons. One of them, armed with a golf club, knocked the greeter’s teeth out before Moya had vaulted over the cashier counter and kicked him in the head, knocking him out instantly.

She put up a good fight, but the sight of an iron cross tattoo on the neck of one of the assailants gave her pause. Skinheads. This was not a robbery. It was an attack.

One of the men slammed a pipe into the back of her head and all the strength left her legs. She collapsed, and the skinheads wasted no time in kicking her while she was down. This is where we catch up with her, as the heaviest of the skinheads, picks her up off the ground and holds her against the front window. Obviously the leader, he calls to one of his minions. “Bob?”

“Yeah?”

“What’s that word the spic chicks hate? The Spanish one?”

“Oh,” says Bob, “Perra. Means bitch.”

“Purra, hmm. I like that. It’s a nice-sounding language, you know that? You probably thinkin’ I hate all you wetbacks, but I don’t. I just don’t like it when you come to our country and take all the jobs from hard-workin’ fellas like us. All you have to do is head back south, and then we’ll be all good. That sounds fair, don’t you think?”

“Fuck… you…!! I was born here… this is my town…!”

The lead skinhead grins softly beneath his mask, then delivers another hit to her gut. He releases her, and she falls to the ground again, coughing blood. “I don’t know why I thought we could come to an understanding,” he says, “You brought this on yourself, you hear me? You shoulda stayed where you belong…!” He raises his foot to bring it down on her head, but suddenly he stops.

The roar of an engine sounds from outside, and the skinheads look up. Too late, they see the headlights closing in on them and they scatter, just as a 1967 Chevrolet Camaro bursts through the front of the supermarket, ramming into Bob the skinhead and knocking over five aisles. Moya gazes at the scene. To her, peering through bloodshot, swollen eyes, it is like something from a comic book. A hero appearing in the nick of time to the rescue. Sure enough, a hero steps out of the car. She wears a turquoise suit, and covers her face with a blue luchador mask.

“Do you sell lightbulbs?” Phantasma asks of the battered Moya.

“WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU DO?!” roars the lead skinhead, his voice tinged with panic, “WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?!!!”

Phantasma says nothing, but simply turns to face the rallying skinheads. They charge at her blindly, and in the next instant, they are on the ground. Moya can barely believe what she just saw, it happened so quickly. Most of them, the masked woman brought down with her own fists, but a few she never even touched. They simply flew backwards as if an invisible fist had driven into them. Once she’s done, she walks over to Moya and offers her hand. “I saw you fight. You’re tough,” she smiles. “I like you, mija.”

From that moment on, Moya was utterly devoted to her. As soon as her injuries were healed, she practically pleaded to join Phantasma’s gang, and in time, she was accepted, quickly becoming her closest lieutenant. Together, they managed to take all of East Los Angeles. They were not like other gangs, but a force for justice that even the police left alone.

It didn't matter that Phantasma was the head of a gang herself, Moya felt that she was doing the right thing. In following her, she found hope, something she never imagined she would feel again. Hope, she now knew, came from strength. Only by being the strongest there was, could she have hope, and bring hope to others.

This was the high time in Moya's life. It did not last.

---

Three years pass. Moya is now twenty, and all alone. One by one, through raids and shoot-ups and occasional confrontations with the police, the friends she had made died. So devoted to their leader, they did not even take their own lives into consideration. Phantasma would order on whatever dangerous mission she desired, and so they did. At the cost of their lives, they did. Until Moya was the last from her barrio to have survived.

One day, Moya is called out to an old, long abandoned boxing gym to meet with Phantasma. As soon as she arrives, Phantasma is there, waiting for her, standing in the centre of the ring.

“Come on up here, Moya,” she calls, gesturing towards herself.

“Are we sparring?” Moya asks, climbing between the ropes.

“No, I have something more important I need to talk to you about.”

Moya stands before her. Her face is downtrodden. “...You missed Manuel’s funeral.”

“I know. I had things I needed to attend to. Things that could not wait. Moya… it’s time for you to come with me. You are the one.”

“The one?” she asks, “What are you saying?”

“Until now, you’ve only been my lieutenant. Loyal, brave and smart. But now, I offer you the chance to become so much more. I offer you the chance for us to become… sisters. More than anything, mija, you have shown your ability to survive. Every challenge you’ve faced, you’ve faced it tremendously. That is why you’re still alive.”

“You… You’re building this up a lot, Boss…! I can’t understand what you’re saying… All I did was do what you needed me to do… I don’t need a special title--!”

“It’s not about the title! It’s about power!” Phantasma breathes deeply. “True power only comes to those who are willing to sacrifice everything. Only they have the will necessary to achieve greatness!”

“Power…” Moya mutters. She thinks back, to the supermarket and the skinheads.

“Look, it’s not complicated,” a voice says. Moya looks over, and sees Tito, who had been Phantasma’s lieutenant even longer than her. He reclines against the edge of the ring, laying his chin on the mat. “Just say yes, and then we can really get this thing going.”

“Silence, Tito! The choice is hers to make,” Phantasma says, then turns back to Moya “But I trust you. I trust that you will say yes” She raises her hand, palm facing up, an offertory gesture.

Moya stares at the hand, and into the face of her hero. This woman saved her life, in more ways than one. To her, she was like a goddess, an idol to be worshipped. But now something is different. The look in Phantasma’s eyes has… changed. These aren’t an idol’s eyes, but those of a human being. She is pleading with her. Pleading. A knot enters her stomach and she thinks of her friends, whom she promised to protect. All of whom are now dead. Something is wrong. Something is horribly, horribly wrong.

“... No.”

“What?” Phantasma says, shocked. “What did you say?”

“I don’t want it… I don’t want that kind of power… where I have to lose everything I wanted to protect…!”

Phantasma raises her arms, her mouth open. She cannot seem to find the words. Eventually, she begins, going to lay her hands on Moya’s shoulders “...Moya… I chose you because I was sure you had the ability within you! You cannot squander that potential, you must--”

“NO!!” Moya yells, batting Phantasma’s hands away. She steps back, putting distance between her. Her mouth hangs open. She is as shocked by her actions as Phantasma is. They stare at each other in silence, before Moya finally turns and slips out from under the ropes, walking quickly to the exit.

“... Go… Go on then!” Phantasma shouts at her back as she flees, “Go back to your miserable little life…! You have nothing without me! Nothing!!”

Tito, watching her leave, steps next to his boss. “She’s lucky she ain’t met All Kill yet,” he says, “He wouldn’t take that quite so lightly.” Phantasma ignores what her lieutenant says, just standing there in the ring, alone, despondent.

Moya did not turn back. For the first time in her life, she had turned her back on violence. Now, she had no purpose. No path in life. Nowhere to go. For days, she wandered the streets of LA, in a daze, until finally, she happened to be picked up by a lone squad car.

“You alright, ma’am?” said the young woman in the car. “You been on the sauce, recently? You need a ride somewhere?”

Moya stares at her, and at her uniform, crisp and clean, all blue and silver…

#jjba #jojo's bizarre adventure #jojo no kimyou na bouken #achtung attitude #moya pezzente #phantasma juarez #ch22

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truthbeetoldmedia · 5 years

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The 100 6x09 "What You Take With You" Review

Episode 6x09 of The 100, “What You Take With You,” written by Nikki Goldwaser and directed by Marshall Virtue, saw the return of Clarke, Octavia finally starting down the path to redemption, the return of some old friends, and a farewell to another. Without further ado, let’s dive in!

After Octavia came sprinting back out of the anomaly at the end of the last episode, Gabriel desperately wanted to know what happened in there. He’s been waiting 150 years for someone to go into the anomaly and tell him what it’s like (why doesn’t he just… go into it himself?) and Octavia is the first person to ever come back out of it. But she can’t remember anything. Gabriel has an idea — a concentrated form of the red sun toxin that they have used in the past to uncover hidden memories. He mixes up a concoction to inject into her arm, and Octavia slips into a spiritual journey.

She finds herself alone in his hut, faced with two glowing boxes. The green one has angelic music, voices whispering her name. Then the glowing red box appears, rattling, angry voices emanating from within. We also distinctly see a photo of Josephine on the same table as that box. Octavia has to choose: green for the anomaly, or red for the Red Queen? The sounds coming from the red box definitely bring back images of the fighting pit Octavia ruled over, which makes me wonder if the gentle sounds coming from the green box are also associated with a period in her past, a period of time in the anomaly that she found peace. She opens the red box and a swarm of red, glowing butterflies pour out, reminding us of the innocent moment in Season 1 where Octavia followed glowing blue butterflies. When the butterflies clear, Octavia is standing in the fighting arena, angry members of Wonkru shouting and beating on the fences, Blodreina looking down on her. We also see a large strip of cloth covered in symbols that are familiar to us — we see them in the new opening sequence — but not to Octavia. She flashes back to moments in the bunker, and then further, as she stabs Pike through the gut, as she sentences Bellamy to fight in the pit, as she kills her own people to make them eat human flesh, as she leads them into the gorge to be slaughtered. Octavia tries to flee the pit, but finds herself chained down, and instead collapses into the fetal position and sobs.

After what seems like a long time, the door to the arena swings open, and in walks Pike. Their conversation was so poignant that I just have to share the whole thing here. He tells Octavia that they have unfinished business, and she denies it, simplifying their story to: “You killed Lincoln, and you died for it. End of story.”

“Was it? You think murdering someone in cold blood, even someone you have reason to hate, is justifiable?” “Yes.”

“And yet, it turned you into this.” [He gestures at the pit]

“Think what you want, I’m not here for you.”

“No. You’re here because of me. The path to the future goes through the past, Miss Blake. Psychology 101. We are what we’ve done and what’s been done to us. Now, you’ve had a rough go, I’ll give you that. And it’s made your dark side strong. I suppose you needed that, to protect yourself under the floor. But what about now? Who are you now? What do you want, Octavia?”

“I want you gone.”

“You tried that; it didn’t take. It has to be something else.”

“I want to know what happened inside the anomaly. That’s why I’m here.” “Maybe nothing happened. Or maybe you’re not supposed to know! They don’t call it the anomaly for nothing. What I know is, you chose the red box, so stop wasting my time and answer my damn question! What do you want? … Okay. Because class is in session, allow me to facilitate the discussion. How does it feel to know that… everyone hates you, everyone you care about, even your brother?”

“Not good.”

“Oh, I expect not. But that’s not the worst part, is it? You hate yourself too.”

[Octavia starts crying]

“Good. One more time. What do you want?” “Forgiveness.” “Deeper. Much, much deeper. Forgiveness is for minor offenses. You murdered people to get them to eat their friends and families. And then you burned the farm to get them to march, because you couldn’t live with the idea of not getting to that valley, even when there was another way! You got 400 people killed in that gorge! You caused the world to be destroyed! What you want needs to be earned! Now SAY IT!”

“Redemption.” “What’s that? I can’t hear you.”

“Redemption!”

“Ding ding ding! A gold star for Miss Blake. I was trying to earn mine when you put a sword through me. Which brings us to big question number 2. What are you willing to do to get it?” “What if I don’t deserve it?” “Deserve’s got nothing to do with it.”

Now Blodreina enters the conversation — “Shut up, Pike.” She strides into the arena, and suddenly Pike is in chains too, and there’s a sword at Octavia’s feet. She orders Octavia to kill Pike. “Here we go again,” says Pike. “Doing the same thing and expecting a different result is the definition of insanity. Einstein said that.” Pike and Blodreina argue, the angel and devil on her shoulders, and Octavia crumbles to the ground, whispering her old mantra: “I’m not afraid.” Blodreina holds her sword at Pike’s throat. “Charles Pike of Farm Station,” she begins, and Octavia flashes to a memory of Lincoln on his knees in the mud. “You have been sentenced to death in accordance to the laws of Wonkru,” Blodreina continues. Octavia flashes again to Pike saying a very similar thing as he prepares to execute Lincoln. “Any last words?” Blodreina asks. “Not for you,” reply Lincoln and Pike. Pike looks at Octavia and repeats Lincoln’s last words; “May we meet again” in Trigedasleng. Octavia tearfully leaps to her feet and blocks Blodreina from executing Pike, and in doing so, she breaks the cycle. Pike vanishes, and Blodreina charges Octavia. The two even fight differently now; Blodreina wild and reckless, Octavia careful and guarded. The fight ultimately ends with Octavia stabbing Blodreina through the heart and saying in Trig, “Blodreina no more.” She then wakes up on the table in Gabriel’s hut, a tear leaking from her eye.

Octavia has been one of my least favorite characters for several years, and the deciding factor was when she beat Bellamy bloody while he was chained to a rock. Then in Season 4, they teetered on the edge of making her an antagonist, but didn’t have the courage to pull the trigger. Finally, in Season 5, they went full villain with her, which was the most interesting she’d been to me in 2 seasons. But in Season 6, they looked to be trying to start up a redemption arc, but didn’t start with the most important thing: making amends. Octavia justifies why she turned the fighting pit into a source of entertainment, she justifies why she burned down the algae farm and forced her people into an ambush that killed hundreds, she justifies her abuse of people she loves. And then she demands they wipe the slate clean and pretend it never happened — without so much as an apology. Now, finally, finally, we’re seeing Octavia actually work toward redemption. I’m not gonna lie; seeing Pike rip into Octavia like that, exposing her entitled, selfish nature and listing out all the awful things she’s done was one of the most gratifying scenes of television I’ve seen recently. I want to like Octavia again. I’m invested in this redemption story, to see if she actually learns from her drug-induced spiritual journey and does better and works on her problems. (Can you tell I’m all about Monty’s admonition to “do better here”?) The one thing I would have preferred in Octavia’s breaking the cycle would have been for her to just walk out of that fighting pit. I wanted them to show that she doesn’t always have to kill something or someone. They could have had her leave Blodreina to be miserable and fester in her fighting pit, and walk out and be free to start her journey of redemption.

So, what are we thinking about the anomaly? Any theories? Before the season started, I thought the anomaly could be a temporal rift, a place where two universes were touching. That would explain the showdowns between two versions of Octavia we saw in the trailer, and why some dead characters were coming back. Of course, we now know the reasons for both of those, but still aren’t sure what the anomaly is. It definitely seems that time moves differently there; Octavia ran into it with ratty hair and an old lady arm, and came back seconds later completely normal. But it seemed more time had passed for her, though she doesn’t remember what happened in it. I also have a feeling that Diyoza might not come back out, or if she does, she’ll be much older (hence the kid she saw, Hope). Also, I know this connection has been made a million times, but — the anomaly eats up radio messages and spits them back out at random. Can you think of any other important radio calls that went unanswered but have been referenced several times throughout the season? I will eat my hat if Bellamy doesn’t hear Clarke’s radio messages to him at some point here.

I know a lot of people have picked up on the chemistry between Gabriel and Octavia, I’m not super here for The 100 throwing another love interest at Octavia. She needs to be single and alone and work through her issues because she consistently abuses the people closest to her, who often happen to be people of color — Bellamy, Lincoln, Indra, and likely now Gabriel.

Back in the woods, Bellamy hauls a handcuffed Josephine along to find the Children of Gabriel. Josephine insists that they need to turn back, because they’ll kill her if they find out she’s a Prime, but Bellamy vows he won’t let that happen. And we get yet another instance of a character calling Bellamy or Clarke out on their feelings for each other. “The people you care about are in trouble. I guess you just care about her more,” Josephine accuses him. Bellamy succeeds in finding the Children of Gabriel, but even though they don’t know Josephine is a prime, they still take the two captive and chain them up in a cave that we definitely haven’t seen used before for every cave on Earth. Bellamy tries to tell them that he has information Gabriel needs to know, but the Children don’t seem convinced. While they wait for their fate to be decided, Josephine commiserates with Bellamy about having been in love with and pining for someone for hundreds of years, very clearly implying a parallel with him and Clarke. “What, are we gonna be friends now?” she snarks. “Doubtful,” Bellamy fires back, a clear parallel to him telling Echo that he’d never trust her in Season 4. This clearly means that Bellamy and Josephine are gonna date, right?

And as Josephine tells Bellamy about having been in love with Gabriel for all those years, and how he’s been trying to kill her for the last 70, Clarke taps out through Josephine’s finger in Morse code: B-O-O H-O-O. Bellamy realizes that Clarke can hear them, and Josephine tells him that means the wall separating their minds is almost gone. Which means Clarke will die soon, and Josephine will download back into her mind drive. Bellamy asks Josephine to let him talk to Clarke, but she refuses, saying she’d have to give over control to do that. But she tells him that since Clarke can hear him, “just say what you want to say.” The Bellarke theme swells as Bellamy looks at her, hope and heartbreak evident in his eyes. “I won’t let you die,” he vows, then turns away before tears can spill over.

“My father was a fool for letting you people stay. All that time spent building a sanctuary for the human race, and he destroys it because of the most human thing of all — love.” She looks at Bellamy and adds, “One look at you — he should have known how this would end.” She’s right; Bellamy is going to tear Sanctum down to save Clarke.

“I guess I’m just saying all this because I know so much about you now.”

“Hmm, you do, huh?”

“Mm-hmm. Take you and Clarke, for instance. Now that’s a weird relationship, isn’t it? First you want to kill her to save your own ass, even though it means the genocide of your own people on the Ark, and then you become besties, bonding over the actual genocide at Mount Weather. ‘Together.’ You lock her up, she locks you up, you leave her on Earth, she leaves you to die in the fighting pits. I mean, it’s exhausting, frankly.”

“Tell me about it.” (And all the Bellarke shippers watching yelled, “RIGHT?!”)

Their captors come back into the cave and prepare Bellamy and Josephine to be moved, saying that the Sanctum riders are coming. Josephine struggles against the man moving her, earning a shove for her trouble. The man picks her back up, but a blonde woman notices a trickle of black blood from her lip. The Children of Gabriel prepare to execute her, despite Bellamy’s frantic pleas. As Bellamy tries to convince them to let her live, Josephine closes her eyes, and when she opens them, we can tell that Clarke is back in control. “Wait!” she calls out, head still on a stone to be beheaded. “Gabriel loves her. Is this what he would want?” The man swings his sword down at her neck, but she kicks his knee and quickly kills or incapacitates the group of people in the cave. Bellamy, eyes shining, can tell Clarke is back in control, and Clarke tells him that Josephine knew she had to give control back to Clarke or get her head cut off. Clarke tries to free Bellamy from the chains still holding him to the cave wall, but more Children of Gabriel approach, and Bellamy tells her to run. She refuses to leave him at first, but he insists, so she dashes off, but not before giving him the key to his cuffs. (Can we just take a second to appreciate Eliza? I know I’m always singing her praises, but she makes a distinct difference between Clarke and Josephine, from her voice to her body language, and it’s so cool to watch.)

Clarke sprints through the woods away from the Children of Gabriel, following the sounds of motorbikes. She manages to flag down the Sanctum riders, who recognize her as Josephine, and take care of her pursuers. Most of the riders take off after the rest of the Children, but Jade stays to get Josephine back to Sanctum. But Clarke hits her over the head with a rock and takes her motorbike for herself. But she’s startled to find Josephine 1.0 standing next to the bike, admonishing her for knocking Jade out. Things are getting worse, Josephine explains, and Clarke needs to give back control. Josephine will just take it back when Clarke falls asleep, anyway. But Clarke grabs Jade’s radio and says, “Gabriel, my name is Clarke Griffin. Josephine Lightbourne is in my head. If you can hear this, we’re coming to you.” When Josephine sees that Clarke isn’t going to go back to Sanctum, she offers to drive the motorbike — but Clarke will have to give over control. But with a smirk, Clarke straddles the bike and starts it. Josephine realizes that, just like she got knowledge from Clarke, Clarke got some of her knowledge. “Sucks, doesn’t it,” Clarke says to her in Mandarin, then puts the helmet on and roars off through the woods.

After Octavia wakes up, she makes a beeline to one of the motorbikes she and Diyoza left outside Gabriel’s hut. He follows her, asking what she saw in the anomaly, but she still doesn’t know, but she does know what she has to do now. The anomaly gave her a second chance, and now she has to earn it. The two shake hands as Octavia prepares to leave, but then a radio message comes in, one of the Children of Gabriel telling him that they have a prisoner that claims Primes can now make hosts. Then Clarke’s message comes through, and Octavia decides to stay there and wait for Clarke.

On the Eligius ship, Kane is having trouble adjusting to his new life. He looks at his new body, unsettled by not bearing the marks of his past life, but Abby says that he doesn’t ever have to worry about “that” (being killed or nearly killed) ever again. So she’s definitely not gonna be satisfied giving him this one life; she will try to make him live forever and likely do the same herself. I wonder if they gave Abby a lineup to choose from for Kane’s new body, because he sure is hot, and she’s taking every opportunity to get her hands and mouth on him, to the point where I was howling with laughter during a solemn scene. This is how I imagine the scene where Abby picked a new body for Kane playing out (slight NSFW warning for butts):

Also, Marcus “Known Cannibal” Kane telling Abby she tastes different is hilarious considering, you know, “The Dark Year.” There’s also an interesting parallel (or lack thereof?) in one of his conversations with Abby. Bellamy told Echo in the beginning of Season 5 “Nothing is going to change on the ground,” and Abby tells Kane here, “Things will be different on the ground.”

Raven confronts Abby about killing Gavin so Kane can live. She asks Kane if he’s okay with this, but before he can answer, Simone and a group of guards walk in. As Simone and Abby discuss getting the rest of the nightblood serum down to Sanctum so they can make more hosts, Kane notices one of the guards looking at him strangely. “You knew him,” he says to the woman, who tells him that Gavin was her husband. Kane is already horrified, but then the woman asks him to pass a message on to her husband, and Kane realizes the Primes have been lying to the people. The woman leaves to get the shuttle ready to go down to Sanctum, and Kane confronts Simone, despite Abby’s attempts to quiet him. The confrontation was so “Kane” that I’m half convinced they just put prosthetics on HIC’s face to make him look different! After Kane storms off, Raven gives Abby a self-righteous look and says, “I’m not sure it was worth it to him.”

Raven and Kane wake up Indra (!!!!) and she instantly knows something is afoot. Her suspicions are confirmed when Kane 2.0 warmly greets her in Trigedasleng. We later see Indra looking out the window of the ship onto the planet, while Raven and Kane argue. Raven says that she didn’t know until they got to the Eligius ship what Abby was planning, otherwise she wouldn’t have flown the shuttle, and tells Kane that she tried to talk Abby out of it. “Not hard enough,” he replies, much like his response to Bellamy in Season 2 when Bellamy told him that he’d done his best to protect the delinquents against the grounders. Kane can’t believe what Abby has done, and doesn’t understand why, but Indra tells him it’s because Abby loves him. Kane can’t believe that Indra could be okay with this, but as she points out, “On the Ark, you floated people for stealing food. On the ground, my people cheered as children fought to the death to lead us. Is this so much worse?” She suggests that this might be what they need to do to survive, just like those other scenarios. “What I know is that I am looking at my once crucified, resurrected friend, and I can see why some might think that’s a miracle.” (Side note, does this imply that the grounders do have records/knowledge of religions before the apocalypse? Or that Skaikru told them about Jesus while they were in the bunker?)

Kane tells Indra why the whole hosts and Primes thing is bad, and Raven tells Kane that this is why they need him. This exchange annoyed me, because obviously Indra can tell that murdering innocent people and lying about their deaths is bad, and they don’t need Kane to tell them that. Kane then tells Raven that she’s always known what’s right. I’ll admit I laughed here, because if that’s true, that means that Raven has consciously made the wrong decision time and time again. She tortured Lincoln, she tried to turn Murphy in for Finn’s massacre, she refused to help Luna and her people when they were suffering from radiation sickness. The show and the fandom often try to prop Raven up as this paragon of right and goodness, but the truth is, she’s done just as many terrible things as the rest of them, and is by no means a good moral compass.

Raven, Abby, and the Sanctum delegation, along with the container of nightblood serum, prepare to go down to Sanctum, waiting for Kane to join them. But suddenly Indra, Niylah, and several other members of Wonkru burst through the shuttle doors with guns, and Raven grabs the nightblood serum from Simone and hands it over. Indra leaves with it, while Abby and Simone demand to know what’s happening. Raven tells Abby that Kane told them to keep her there, and when Abby tries to push past Niylah, Niylah tells her that she doesn’t want to see this. Abby pleads with Raven to let her go, and Raven relents and takes her to the airlock. In yet another parallel to Abby’s losing another man she loved via floating, Indra tries to hold her back from the airlock, telling her she shouldn’t be there, but Raven tells Indra she deserves a chance to say goodbye. Abby, sobbing, begs Kane through the airlock door not to do this, and as the camera focuses on their nearly-touching hands, then pans up to Kane’s face, we see the crucifixion scars on his wrist, the symbol of the coalition on his forearm, and Henry Ian Cusick’s familiar face once more. He tells Abby that this was wrong, but that if he’d been in the same position, he probably would have done the same to get her back. But he won’t be able to live with himself, and neither will she. Abby insists that they can make a new life, they can start over. But Kane tells her that he’s doing what she always said she would do — making sure they deserved to survive. But I can’t for the life of me see how killing himself after a stranger sacrificed his life for him is what makes them deserve to survive. Kane tells Abby that she’s strong, much stronger than him, and thanks her for all the times she’s saved him— not just his life, but him. He tells her that if he doesn’t do this now, they’ll both live to regret it, and so many more innocent lives will be lost (again… how?). After all the times Abby has said, “first we survive, then we find our humanity again,” this is how they get their humanity back. Abby breaks down in sobs, and Indra starts to recite the Travelers’ Blessing, with Raven joining in. “May we meet again,” Indra tells him in Trigedasleng, then steels herself and opens the airlock. Raven catches Abby as she collapses, and we see Kane fly out into the vacuum of space.

This show has always had trouble distinguishing between true self-sacrifice and suicide. Within the first few episodes of the show, a young girl threw herself off a cliff to escape the consequences of murdering someone. It was portrayed as heartbreaking, but ultimately the only solution. A few episodes later, when it became public knowledge that the Ark was failing, 320 members of the Ark sacrificed their lives so that their children and the rest of the Ark inhabitants could survive long enough to find a solution. I would argue that this was in fact noble self-sacrifice, albeit unnecessary, as we found out at the end of the episode. In Season 2, after Finn suffered a mental break and slaughtered a village of grounders, rather than deal with what he had done, he sacrificed himself to the grounders to be tortured to death. Now, he was undeniably in a nigh-impossible situation, with Lexa calling for his death, but the Sky People were willing to work towards a solution. Nonetheless, again, his suicide was the only way he could fix things.

In Season 4, Raven and Clarke both acted self-sacrificially — Raven by straining herself to find a solution to save her people, even though she knew it would likely ultimately fry her brain, and Clarke by climbing the tower to align the satellite so that Bellamy, Raven, Harper, Monty, Emori, Murphy, and Echo could get to the Ark in space, even though she stood a better chance of surviving inside Becca’s lab, and very little chance of surviving at all. Again, I would classify those things as selfless acts to save their friends. There have been plenty of others, from Jaha staying on the Ring to get the Ark back to Earth, to Clarke telling Roan she’ll go peacefully with him (to her death, as far as she knows) if he spares Bellamy. But there have also been instances of straight-up suicide portrayed in, if not a fully positive light, at least a neutral light. Finn didn’t know how to deal with what he’d done, so he killed himself. Charlotte didn’t know how to deal with what she’d done, so she killed herself. Jasper and most of the delinquents committed mass suicide because they couldn’t deal with life on the ground. Octavia tried to get McCreary’s men to kill her in the gorge so she wouldn’t have to do the hard work of being better. And Kane threw himself out an airlock because he didn’t know how to deal with what Abby had done.

I understand that Henry Ian Cusick got another, larger role in a different show, so they had to write him out of The 100, but Greyston Holt did a fantastic job as Kane, so much so that I almost believed he truly was Kane. How much more interesting would it have been if Kane had decided to take Monty’s words to heart and do better, instead of just giving lectures on morality like he’s been doing in the last couple seasons? They definitely needed to destroy the nightblood serum that Abby had made so that the Primes couldn’t make more hosts and kill more innocent people to continue living forever, but it was absolutely unnecessary for Kane to die. Clarke has synthetic nightblood too; does she need to die? Yet the show completely framed it as Kane sacrificing himself for the greater good. I mean, at least with Finn’s sacrifice, his death accomplished something. But with Kane it’s like when King David from the Bible, while on the run for his life, wished for some water from his well in Bethlehem, then when some of his men risked their lives to get it for him, poured it all on the ground. Kane killing himself didn’t bring Gavin back, nor was it necessary to keep the Primes from making nightblood, it just spat in the face of the sacrifice Gavin made and was solely because Kane couldn’t accept it. If they really wanted to be done with Kane, and wanted his death to be a heroic sacrifice, it would have been more interesting and heroic for him to somehow sacrifice his own life to let the host, Gavin, continue to live. I mean, Abby can totally fish Kane’s body out of space, take out his Mind Drive, and plug him into a new body! And who’s to say they can’t get the nightblood serum while they’re out there? While Kane’s death was executed (no pun intended) beautifully, the absolute unnecessity of it just left it feeling a little bit hollow.

Michaela’s episode rating: 🐝🐝🐝🐝

The 100 airs Tuesdays at 9/8c on the CW.

#The 100 #What You Take With You

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neverwatchedonepiece · 6 years

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One Piece Movie: Strong World

The only thing I knew about this before wading in was Strong World was written by Oda himself. This was a good sign. After all, Toriyama wrote Battle of Gods, one of the recent Dragonball movies and I liked it a lot. Mainly because it was funny, but it also expanded the universe and opened up a ton of new potential plot directions. (Granted, I haven’t watched the latest DB series, so I have no idea if this was a good idea or not.)

The first thing I noticed about Strong World was, of course...

Hello, Movie Budget!

It is beautiful.

Seriously, look at those floating islands. The scope. The detail. Tiny Luffy in the right hand corner. If this was a video game, I’d be thrilled to play it.

Everything in this movie was that little bit lovelier than usual. There are a couple of scenes that stick out in particular. When Robin, Franky and Brook escape from the armed ants near the beginning (the swirling blossoms, the vibrant colour scheme). When the Strawhats look up at Shiki, stood on a stonehenge-like trilithon with the setting sun behind him (nice silhouette of the Strawhats) and, in general, those amazing shots of the Strawhats lined up, ready to fight.

Everyone looked great, too. All the Strawhats had new outfits (Robin suited the glasses and casual jumper dress, and Franky was perfect for that leather jacket).

Plus that Nami fan service...

But I suppose the important question is this: why was Luffy tearing about on those floating islands, running away from a hilarious conveyor belt of murderous animals that culminated in a giant preying mantis being suplexed by a huge sloth bear?

The answer is this guy.

This Is What You Get For Being Nice, I Guess...

Shiki was a good movie villain. Threatening enough to cause trouble for the Strawhats but not over-powered to the point it disrupts the main canon plot (I hate it when that happens in movie specials). I like how he was integrated into the main plot (at least in the anime). There was that teaser back in Marineford when Sengoku mentioned Shiki in the same vein as Roger (and I thought it was something noteworthy, haha).

Well, it was a bit.

Post-Marineford, Shiki, who had been defeated by Gol D. Roger twenty years prior, had returned. After destroying a few innocent towns in East Blue, he flew his vast, floating island of a ship through the airspace of Marineford, its oars cutting through the clouds and left Garp and Sengoku a little message to remember him by. (That scene was good, if a bit CGI-tastic.)

On his way, he encountered the Straw Hats, who were just hanging out on the Sunny. The Coo News dropped and they discovered the grim situation in East Blue. Then, a vast ship passed overhead. Amazing, right? But it was headed straight into the path of a dangerous storm that Nami had spotted. Luffy, being decent, gave the order to alert the floating ship.

Shiki, being a villain, reacted somewhat badly to this news. He shot every single Navigator on his ship. What did he pay them for? Honestly! But look through yonder telescope. There was a sexy, young Navigator on the Sunny. The one who was sharp enough to spot the coming cyclone. And there was a vacancy. Several, in fact.

Aided by the power of his Float Float Fruit, he descended onto the Sunny’s deck. His design is cool. Those sword legs are awesome. It did not take him long to “invite” the Strawhats to his place: the floating islands of Merveille.

I say, “invite”. Kidnap is much more accurate.

Shiki’s Diabolical Fanservice-Filled Plan

And that was how the Strawhats ended up on Merveille.

And Nami in a swimming pool in a bikini, of course. (Don’t think I didn’t notice that scene when Nami pulled up those impossibly tiny shorts. But hey, it’s a tropical island. It’s hot, right?)

Mid-swim, Shiki and his goons showed up. For some reason, they performed a dance number. One of his goons was also one of the most annoying characters I’ve ever seen in a movie. His shoes made a dumb fart sound. His name was Dr Indigo, but I’ll call him Fart Clown.

Fart Clown rushed in with a new test subject: a duck that generates electricity. Shiki has been engineering fighting animals using a drug they developed from a local plant: the IQ plant. Nami did not approve and asked him what the hell he was doing. Shiki refused to reveal his goal, but dropped a few Significant Lines. “I’ll tell you once you join my crew. There are certain favours I’ll only do for crew members.”

Of course, Nami wasn’t planning to stay long. As soon as she found an escape route, she was off, with Electric Duck Billy in tow. Flying around with Billy, she spotted Luffy because he had amassed an increasing stampede of roid-raged creatures after his blood.

Tear-Filled Reunions?

(Best joke in the movie. Why do you pretend to hate each other? You are fooling no one, guys.)

Meanwhile, the other Strawhats had been finding out interesting things.

Sanji and Usopp dodged sabre-toothed tigers and sharp-shooting buffalo and found themselves at a village filled with malnourished older residents and young children. They found out about how Shiki controls the village, takes away working-age residents to work at his palace, how the rest can only scrape by and that DDMs patrol the streets, recording everything anyone says or does. These people also had feathers. Why? No one knew.

Zoro and Chopper rescued a small girl (there is always a filler kid in movies) who had strayed from her village in search of a plant to help her grandmother. The grandmother was laid low by an airborne malady that originated in the Daft Green trees that surrounded the village. A double-edged sword: the trees kept them safe from the marauding animals but were also poisonous. There is a cure, but it’s derived from the IQ plant, and Shiki takes them all for his mutant animal projects. Chopper, by the way, did not have a good time around the trees.

Robin, Franky and Brook (well, not Brook, ahaha) avoided being stripped of their flesh by a crowd of angry, armed ants, then Franky improvised a Crawley Davidson (ahaha) to travel across the island in search of the others. There, they came across Shiki’s Palace. Elite pirates had gathered. There was a dress code. A random pirate told them Shiki had plans to demo his world-domination plans by destroying the village where all the feathered people lived, just like he’d destroyed the other towns in East Blue. (I liked how quick Robin was to play along. She’s such a good intel-gatherer.)

Unfortunately, they were too far away from the village to warn the other Strawhats.

Nami figured it out, but it was too late.

Vanguard Nami

This was the part of the movie when the protagonists suffer a defeat. It had to happen.

Shiki appeared to recapture Nami. He was delusional, saying Nami really wanted to be part of his crew, honest. Luffy, Zoro, Sanji, Usopp and Chopper tag-teamed Shiki, but the villain had an iron plot shield. His power was cool, though. You can tell Oda was behind it. The uses of it were very creative. Shiki made the earth float, engulf the Strawhats like a tsunami and them in a twisted spiral of dirt.

Then he forced Nami into a corner. She agreed to join his crew. Usopp tried to stop her, but Shiki still had his iron plot shield. Shiki decided to be nice and let her leave a Tone Dial message for her old crewmates.

Of course, when Robin, Franky and Brook finally found them an dug them out, Luffy listened to 80% of the message and got the wrong idea. How could she say Shiki was stronger than them, that he’d never measure up to a guy like that?

I knew there had to be more to that message. Nami would never say something like that, would she? (Interesting that Sanji was the one who asked to hear the message again.)

Luffy’s anger fuelled his epic rescue mission!

Which was just as well, as Shiki had executed his plan to tear down the protective trees. Murderous animals swarmed the village. The downtrodden people had to flee for their lives. Nami had been caught trying to betray Shiki (I still don’t get why she wanted to blow up the trees with dynamite) and he imprisoned her, leaving her to succumb to the Green Disease.

As Shiki headed towards East Blue, the Strawhats rocketed towards his palace on the Sunny.

Robin Must Have Mentioned the Dress Code

The big fight scene was great.

The explosions, the smokey silhouettes, the sharp tailoring and the badass walk in were a joy to watch. Even the guns and the Kill Bill style brawl (you think you can take on the Crazy 88?) were fun. I liked how the first words out of Luffy’s mouth were: “Is Nami okay?”

Then, when Shiki lied about her doing just fine, Luffy respected Nami by saying, “Nami didn’t sacrifice herself. She came here to fight as our vanguard. Prepare yourself. We are the main force!”

Luffy acted like the captain. Gave Usopp and Chopper orders to find Nami, while the rest of them cleaned up. Franky fought the scrubs. Brook stealing the limelight when Sanji fought the gorilla for Robin was hilarious (”I WILL SHEAR THE FLESH FROM YOUR BONES!” “I have no flesh.”)

Luffy ran after Shiki and Zoro was elevated to angel status in my eyes for offing that IRRITATING FART CLOWN.

And a word of advice: don’t say anything bad about being born in East Blue to Zoro.

“Don’t Bother Our Captain.”

I agree, Chopper. He is cool.

Hasta la Vista, Fart Clown The only good thing about you is that you had some pre-made Green Disease cure about your person that Chopper and Usopp looted from your unconscious body.

They found Nami just as she exacted her Revenge Plan. Billy the Duck lit the dynamite fuses and the Daft Green trees surrounding Shiki’s palace were obliterated. The enraged fighting animals stampeded in and smashed Shiki’s palace. It was wild. Fun to watch.

Enraged, Shiki tracked Nami, Usopp and Chopper. But guess who followed him and was, at that point, literally steaming with rage.

Monty Python’s Grand Finale

“NAMI, I’M GONNA BEAT THE CRAP OUTTA HIM AND WE’RE GONNA GO HOME!”

When Luffy makes a promise. He delivers.

And this is where the movie budget came into its own. That Gear 3rd animation was glorious.

I liked how the Strawhats took down Shinki. It reminded me of when they teamed up to take down Oars. They have come a long way and are now a well-oiled machine of efficient teamwork.

While Luffy used Billy the Electric Duck to counteract his lack of reach (I mean, Luffy’s reach is great, but Shiki can fly. What can you do?) Nami used an approaching storm to their advantage. Usopp and Chopper menaced the navigation team to turn the islands directly into the path of the storm. Robin helped Usopp and Chopper blow the palace to Kingdom Come. Franky prepared the Sunny for a quick getaway.

Shiki was caught mid-gloat (always the villain’s Achilles’ Heel). Merveille sailed right into the coming storm. Nami, of course, revealed her Clima Tact and called him out. Usopp sent a lightning attack deliberately into the rumbling clouds. Brook called everyone else back to the Sunny, leaving Luffy to clean up.

As Luffy’s lightning-charged, giant foot screamed towards Shiki, I thought: yes. This is exactly the kind of spectacular, over-the-top finale a bigger budget movie needs. GET HIM, LUFFY! (It also had shades of Monty Python’s Flying Circus. You ever seen that giant grey foot in the opening? The theme song was stuck in my head for ages afterwards.)

So it was that the Strawhats saved East Blue and the feathery Sky Angel People! Two birds with one stone. How about that? Let it never be said that the Strawhats cannot multi-task! (The feathery Sky Angel People bit didn’t make much sense. How could you forget you were a race of Sky Angel People? But whatever, I just went with it.)

At first I was confused as to why the Marines were arresting Shiki’s goons. How did they know where to find them? Then I realised Garp and Sengoku had probably been chasing them since the stunt Shiki pulled at Marineford.

And the heart-warming (ship fuelling) scene at the end with Nami’s real message played at the end?

“Promise me you’ll come rescue me.”

Awesome. Good movie. Glad you guys recommended it.

Shiki has clearly never watched One Piece.

#one piece #neverwatchedonepiece #nwop #never watched one piece #strong world #monkey d. luffy #roronoa zoro #sanji #usopp #nami #tony tony chopper #nico robin #franky #shiki the golden lion #monkey d. garp #sengoku #fart clown

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caranfindel · 5 years

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Recap/review 14.09: “The Scar”

THEN: Since this is the mid-season finale, the Then basically sums up the entire front half of the season. So much Then. It goes on forever. And you already know all of this, so I’m going to decline to recap the recap.

NOW: Kansas City, Missouri. The worst office Christmas party since that one party at Nakatomi Plaza. Cheesy music, clothing and dishes scattered about, and, oh, blood on the floor. A guy tries to flee (don’t wait for the elevator!) and ends up getting killed by something with a festive hat and big teeth, right under the mistletoe. Super!werewolf, I guess.

Super!Werewolf comes into a fancy suite to tell someone that he killed the last one, and didn’t feed because he wants to be hungry tomorrow, and then he calls this person Michael.

So. Um. Michael is actually not in Dean at all. He is, in fact, using a Latina-looking woman as a vessel. So now I’m in a bad mood about the whole thing because Michael hiding in Dean was a much, much better plot. (And maybe a little bit because I was oh so wrong.)

Michael’s minion Melanie shows up with “the last two volunteers.” Two werewolves. One of them is Garth. Ruh roh! Michael recognizes him, since he has Dean’s memories. Garth says yes, he’s Dean’s friend, but since the war is coming, he has to be on the winning side, and that’s Michael’s side. Melanie reveals that tomorrow night, the shit is going to hit the fan in Kansas City. Duh duh duuuuuhhhhh!

Title card!

Bunker. Kitchen. Jack is sitting in the dark eating a bowl of Cookie Crisp Crunch Cookie Crunch cereal. {Sidebar: Which I’m sure is scrummy, as Mary Berry would say, but the absolute best cookie-based cereal is Thin Mints, which is only available seasonally.} Cas comes in and turns on the light and gives him a look. Jack’s immediate reaction is “Don’t tell Sam” because SAM IS HIS DAD. I suppose it’s possible that Sam is the only one of this three dads who cares about him eating sugary cereal, but I choose to believe “don’t tell Sam” is because Sam is HIS MAIN DAD. Jack says Sam told him it will rot his teeth. Just brush them after you eat, duh.

He says he can’t sleep, and Cas assumes it’s because of the whole dying-and-coming-back-to-life thing. He assures Jack that’s “a rite of passage around here,” and no one can argue with that. You’re an official Winchester now, Jack. Jack says it’s actually because he’s thinking about Heaven and wondering if his mother is safe. He thought Heaven would be perfect and Cas is all, ha ha, nope, lemme tell you some stories, kid. But he says he trusts Naomi to do everything to protect the souls.

Jack then asks about Cas’s deal, particularly, why can’t Sam and Dean know about it? Cas doesn’t want to burden them with it. And since The Empty isn’t coming for him until he gives himself permission to be happy, he’s not worried that it will happen soon. “This life may be a lot of things, but it’s rarely happy.” I can’t argue with that either. He joins Jack in eating the cereal, and I don’t know why he likes it, because it seems like he’d taste the molecules. And there’s a weird “joke” about the decoder ring in the box.

Elsewhere in the bunker, Sam is on the phone with Garth, who is doing that stupid, stupid thing where you talk in your normal voice on the phone when you’re trying to hide from somebody and you also keep your back to the door so you can’t see if anyone comes into the room. I hate that thing. He says they want to change him into a super!werewolf by drinking blood mixed with grace. Sam tells him not to do that because it will rot his teeth and because they don’t know how safe it is. Garth says he’ll just pretend to swallow, and then hangs up when the other werewolf volunteer comes to get him.

Dean comes in and tells Sam Garth will be fine, but Sam says “I pulled him out of retirement for an undercover mission. If something happens to him, it’s on me.” Oh, okay. I wondered if Garth running to Michael was supposed to be a coincidence. But it’s just Sam being a leader. And right now, any hopes I had that Garth would survive the episode have been completely washed away. But Dean thinks they’re on a roll and everything will be just fine.

Sam’s extra heavy scruff sets off his pretty, pretty guilt so nicely.

Cas interrupts to announce “it’s Ketch.” I thought we were just going to talk about Ketch a lot this season without actually paying the actor to show up, but he’s skyping with Jack, who seems fascinated. He tells the guys that he did manage to get his hands on another Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch, like they used in 12.08, LOTUS. But he was being followed so he did the reasonable thing and put it in the mail, so it should be there the day after tomorrow. He did pay extra for certified priority express, but seriously, Ketch. This is not the time to cheap out. You couldn’t pony up for overnight delivery?

He’s a little petulant about the fact that he doesn’t have the BMoL resources he used to have, and whose fault is that? Sam kindly doesn’t say “you tried to kill us, asshole, and you also banged our mother” and just explains that they actually need the thing right now, and Ketch is all “sorry guys,” and the music indicates that this is supposed to be humorous.

Kansas City. Garth and Other Werewolf are parked in Michael’s penthouse office. Other Werewolf tells Garth that a friend of his made the transformation into super!werewolf, and the only thing that can kill him now is “the full Ichabod.” Hee! I like that. He also makes the second Fortnight reference of the season (that I’m aware of, anyway).

Melanie the Minion enters and gives Other Werewolf his dose of go juice. After he drinks it, his eyes glow blue. She hands Garth a vial and tells him there’s nothing to be afraid of, because “only one in seven volunteers explode when they drink it.” Garth calls that “Russian Roulette odds,” though I think those would be slightly worse, at one in six. He says “slainte” (which makes me miss Rowena) and tosses it down, but obviously doesn’t swallow. Michael enters and everyone stares at Garth and he’s forced to swallow, complete with confirming glowy blue eyes.

Garth then overhears a conversation between Michael and Melanie about “her” being at an abandoned recycling facility in Omaha. Michael instructs Melanie to send a team to “kill her and destroy the spear.” Michael can feel all of his monsters drawing closer, taking positions outside the city, waiting for orders.

Bunker. Sam has tracked Ketch’s package and found it’s at a facility in Joplin, Missouri that’s closed for the holiday. And that means we can go break in and get it, he says with a grin. He gets a call from Garth, who tells him about Michael’s team being sent to Omaha to get a spear. Bingo! Garth lies that he was able to fake swallowing the super cocktail, and also fills Sam in on what he knows about Michael’s plan for Kansas City. Which apparently is going into effect on Christmas Eve. The gang decides they need to try to stop it. They know where Michael is, they know when it’s happening, they may have some angel cuffs Bobby’s been working on, they have a spell from Rowena… all they need is the holy hand grenade.

Dean says he and Cas will go to Omaha (3.5 hours from Lebanon, if you’re wondering) and get the spear, while Sam and Jack go to Joplin (about 6.5 hours if you avoid the interstate, and you know Winchesters avoid the interstate) and get the holy hand grenade. Then they’ll meet in Kansas City, and at first I think he says Nakatomi Plaza and he’s making a Die Hard joke, but it turns out he’s saying the actual name of the Michael’s hideout, Hitomi Plaza. But I’m still gonna call it a Die Hard reference because, come on. {Japanese Sounding Name} Plaza? At Christmas?

And yeah, they’re breaking the brothers up again, but I’m okay with it because (1) Sam is with Jack, and (b) we’re actually going to get to watch Sam’s story instead of it all happening off-camera.

Omaha. As they get out of the car, Cas comments that Dean seems happy. It reminds me of Dean telling Sam he seemed happy in AU Land, and we know how that ended up. Dean says how great it is that they saved Jack without any strings attached, which would be awesomely creepy if he were doing what he did to Sam back when he discovered his brother hadn’t burned the Book of the Damned after all, and he kept circling him saying what a good thing it was that Sam had burned the book, and Eldon Styne said it can’t be destroyed, and isn’t that crazy, because I know I saw something burn. (Damn, that was a good scene.) But no, this isn’t that. This is just a ham-handed reminder that Dean Doesn’t Know Cas Made a Deal, And Strings Are In Fact Attached, for those of you who have forgotten. Or are trying to forget.

Awkward!

Dean tells Cas “when you and Sam were possessed by Lucifer, I thought I understood, but I didn’t, not really.” You know who really needs to hear this speech? Sam. But okay. Dean feels like he has a chance to kill Michael now. “So yeah, I’m good.” Cas is less good about the whole thing. They enter the unlocked facility and we pause on the door long enough to make me wonder if it means something.

Meanwhile, in Joplin, Sam and Jack are driving an old blue muscle car (a 1969 Cougar, according to The Husband) and have parked it right smack dab in front of the building they’re breaking and entering. Sam disables the alarm and goes to pick the lock, but Jack (who is wearing a Santa-red jacket with white sherpa trim, because apparently he gets his fashion sense from Sam too) asks if he can do it. He taught himself using the Internet because JACK TRULY IS SAM’S KID, GUYS. Oh, bless him. Bless him so hard. Though I do think they’d be breaking into a back door, not this door right out front, but okay.

I’m so proud of you, my felonious son.

Omaha. The abandoned facility appears to be empty, though there is evidence Dark Kaia was there. A dirty pan, a filthy mattress, a large-barrel curling iron. Dean notes, just like he did the first time they tracked Dark Kaia, that her food is still warm. Cas suddenly wonders where Michael’s forces are, since they knew about Kaia’s location sooner. Maybe they already have her? But Dean thinks not, because there are no signs of a struggle. Okay, guys, don’t you think something is probably fishy here, then?

{Sidebar: Did Dean and Cas stop for a three-hour breakfast on the way? Is that why these events are happening at the same time?}

Joplin. Sam and Jack exit the building with their precious box. Jack cheerfully reads a “Happy Holidays” logo on the box, and then things get a lot less cheerful, because Sam notices a black van with its windows blacked out just in time for the first super!werewolf to hit him with a baseball bat. He’s just conscious enough to witness Jack being dragged into the van, screaming “Sam!” Sam gets to his feet and looks like he’s going to go after the fleeing van, but a familiar female voice says “I wouldn’t. Hey, Sam.”

Oh fuck. Sam recognizes Michael immediately. “Happy holidays,” says Michael, holding the the holy hand grenade. Sam draws an angel blade and says “you’re gonna kill me anyway.” He lunges at Michael but gets tossed into a truck and waits to die. Michael does the glowy blue eyes, but it’s not to kill Sam, it’s to melt the holy hand grenade. Then Michael renders Sam unconscious.

Omaha. Dean is calling Sam and not getting an answer. Okay, so if he’s been calling long enough to be concerned, maybe there is a little bit of a time differential here. Maybe he and Cas did do their thing before Sam and Jack got to Joplin. He gets a call from Garth, who says he tried to call Sam but didn’t get an answer, and that Michael left a few minutes ago to “back up his forces.” Well, if that refers to the forces that kidnapped Jack, then I guess Joplin and Omaha are happening simultaneously, and I know I’m the only one who cares about the logistics, so let’s handwave that and carry on.

Dean says whereever those “forces” are, it isn’t Omaha, which surprises Garth. He promises to call Dean if he hears anything. Then, surprise surprise, Michael shows up behind him. Wow. Who could have ever predicted that someone would overhear one of Garth’s sneaky phone calls? The ones he has at full volume with his back unguarded? (Seriously, Garth. Text.) “Let’s talk,“ Michael says.

Dean angrily wonders what they should do next, and suddenly finds himself with a spear at his back. He tells Kaia they didn’t come to take the spear, they came to ask for it. Kaia says no, and he says she should just kill him then. The only thing that will stop Michael from killing the people he cares about, and then the rest of the world, is that spear. So if he can’t get it from her, he may as well be dead. {sniff!}

She asks what’s in it for her, and says she wants to go back home, because it turns out this new world sucks as much as the old one, and at least in her world she understood things and had her own magic. She needs "the special boy” to open the rift for her (YES JACK IS A SPECIAL BOY), and Dean blatantly lies and says he can, and he will. Cas points out that she must be very, very afraid of something if she’s even willing to consider giving up her spear. She says she has people she’s bound to protect, and then gives Dean the spear. “If you don’t bring this back to me, I will find you and kill you.”

I kind of want Dean to say “if I don’t bring it back, it’s because I’m already dead.” Maybe because this reminds me of him taking the First Blade from Crowley when he killed Cain. Or Appointment in Samara, which I just watched, where Dr. Robert asks if Dean has anything for Sam if his death reversal doesn’t work, and Dean says that if it doesn’t work, nothing he has to say will matter to Sam anyway.

Kaia needs to think about effectiveness instead of drama. There’s no way she could seriously stab him, the way she’s holding this. She doesn’t have any leverage.

So, Dark Kaia has someone she wants to protect. Is there an AU Claire in her world? (Do I care? Nope.)

Dean looks down when his phone rings, and when he looks up, Kaia is gone. The call is from Sam, who really ought to have his own ringtone on Dean’s phone, don’t you think? Sam tells him what happened. He repeats it word-for-word after the commercial, which is weird. Sam doesn’t know why Michael didn’t kill him. And it should be pretty obvious that if Michael didn’t kill you, Sam, it was because he wanted you alive for some reason. (And probably not the same reason I want you alive.) They agree to meet in Kansas City. Cas warns Sam “don’t you go in there alone.” Sam agrees to do what he’s told, as he always does (ha ha).

{Sidebar: Sam’s got a head start that could be a short as 15 minutes or could be as long as an hour, depending on the route you take.}

Kansas City. Jack is led into Michael’s penthouse suite and unceremoniously dumped on the floor. He gives him a villain monologue about how he destroyed Kansas City in his world, but people interfered and things got messy, so he’s doing it better this time, with a wave of monster transformation. That’s how you succeed. Work smarter, not harder.

Michael tells Jack that “we’re the only kin each other has left in this world,” which seems wrong by anyone’s definition. Because if angels from different sides of the rift can be called “related,” that means every angel in our world is Michael’s brother. Jack says “my uncle is in the cage,” and I’m oddly pleased that Insane Archangel Michael hasn’t been forgotten. (I’ve still got hopes he’ll come back, and he’ll be played by Matt Cohen.) Michael clarifies that their relation is based on power, not family, because Jack will live forever and see it all. “You’ll see it all, with me… And as your power returns, and grows, we’ll only become more alike.” I guess it’s smart of Michael to decide Jack needs to be turned into an ally, but this isn’t going to do it. It’d be easier to just kill him.

“Sam, Dean, and Castiel. They’ll come for me.” Michael smiles and leaves, and doesn’t say what I’m thinking, which is “I know, honey, and that’s exactly why you’re here.”

Down in the lobby, this episode’s two super!werewolves emerge from the elevator into the parking garage. One runs off to take his position, while the other notices a blue 1969 Cougar parked nearby. And promptly gets the full Ichabod. Melanie the Minion sees the body on a security camera and runs into an elevator. Unfortunately for her, Sam is in it. Ichabod treatment number two!

Sam shows up in the penthouse suite and cuts Jack loose. Before they can flee, he hears footsteps. It’s Garth! They’re safe! Ha ha not so much. Down in the parking garage, Garth suffers from some stomach problems and then turns around with glowy blue eyes and grows some gnarly new teeth. He tells Sam he’s sorry, but Michael won’t let him stop, and attacks. Sam gives him the Raised Index Finger of Reason and says “you don’t have to do this.” He fights Garth, and then Jack jumps in to save him, and finally Sam ends up apologizing as he chokes Garth unconscious. (Post-exertion huff! Yes!)

I love the way Sam always holds up that one finger when he’s trying to get someone unreasonable to do the reasonable thing.

Time jump. “Sleep tight, buddy,” Dean says, as he shuts the Impala trunk on a trussed-up, unconscious Garth. I don’t know how there’s room for a person in there, since half the trunk is full of weapons, but he’s a small guy. “Thanks for waiting for us,” Dean says sarcastically. “I didn’t have a choice,” Sam says. Which is pretty not true, and Dean gives him a look.

Sam thinks that when Garth turned into a super!werewolf, he created a window for Michael to spy on them. Dean hopes killing Michael will undo Garth’s powered up status. Sam has called other hunters to Kansas City “in case we don’t win up there.” I hope he told someone about Garth in the trunk. “I wouldn’t be against us,” says Dean, awkwardly trying to spin the spear.

Once again, Cas is the one looking at the big picture. “Michael’s monsters are all over this city,” he says. “If he feared us in the least, he would have sent some our way.” Sam deduces that Michael wants them there. (That’s a good reason to run, fellas.) And since Michael can detect Cas’s presence, they have absolutely no element of surprise, and are obviously walking into a trap. And during this conversation, the Christmas muzak that’s been playing every time we’re in this building is replaced by “Ode to Joy.” Now I wonder if this episode has been sprinkled with other Die Hard references that I missed.

(Oh god, young evil Alan Rickman, you sexy motherfucker. )

They stride through the parking garage in slo mo, under the strident vocals of “Ode to Joy,” and again it seems like maybe this was supposed to be humorous. It’s definitely lighthearted. (I’m not complaining. I love “Ode to Joy.”) (And yes, I’m aware it’s actually Beethoven’s 9th Symphony.)

{Sidebar: If we’re going Die Hard here, does that mean Sam and/or Dean are going to be running around in a tank top? Because I’m here for that.}

I am totally and completely here for that.

Upstairs, Michael pours a drink and waits impatiently for TFW to show up. Finally he smiles and says “there he is.” Michael wanders through the penthouse calling for Cas, who finally shows up and attacks the archangel with a regular angel blade. “Why’d you come alone,” Michael asks. “Advance scout? Strongest player first?” I guess, technically, Cas is the strongest player in this group, but that doesn’t mean he comes out on top the most. So, can Michael really not sense the others? Not even Jack?

Michael punches Cas in the face and then drags him in front of the big window. Sam and Jack are hiding off to the side, and as they make their move (and are equally unsuccessful, unless you know they’re actually there as a distraction), Dean jumps from his hiding place and lunges at Michael with the spear. But he’s really not that good with it and ends up dropping it.

Michael is monologuing at Dean, telling him that all the bloodshed is on him and he gets to watch it, which would be a really good opportunity for Sam to grab the dropped spear and take a shot while Michael is distracted. Instead, Sam sayss “Dean” and tosses him the spear, just like with Lucifer. {sigh}

Dean manages to cut Michael, but it’s not a serious wound. He stands there holding the spear, but not striking. Michael smiles and Dean’s vision goes blurry, and then he has flashbacks of his time as Michael’s vessel. Then Michael drops to the floor, unconscious, and Dean gets a weird look on his face and has one more flashback I don’t recognize. It’s Dean, or at least he’s dressed as Dean, standing behind a bar wiping a glass. What is this? When did it happen? Is it Dean or Michael?

Seriously, I’m stumped.

Anyway. As the remaining members of TFW stare at him in confusion, Dean snaps the spear in two (which, of course, destroys its power) (and oooh, Dark Kaia is gonna be so pissed) and turns around to reveal glowy blue eyes and I’m grinning because I knew it! I knew it! Michael has been in there all along, and this whole other vessel was a ruse, a flunkie, an illusion, a simultaneous vessel, or something else but NOT MICHAEL BECAUSE MICHAEL WAS IN DEAN ALL ALONG.

Except. Oh. He wasn’t. Well then.

“When I gave up Dean, you didn’t think to question it?” he says. “To ask why?”

(YES, WE DID, WE ALL DID, RIGHT HERE, DID YOU NOT HEAR US?)

Michael actually did abandon Dean as a vessel, because “Dean was resisting me. He was too attached to you. To all of you. He wouldn’t stop squirming.” (And yes, I know that first you meant Sam, he was squirming too much BECAUSE HE LOVES SAM, and I’m just gonna roll around in that for a while.)

So Michael really was gone, but he left a door open. “Just a crack.” Is that what Dean’s dizzy spell was? The open door? And also, does consent work differently for AU angels? Because we know from Tamoh!Gadreel that on this side of the rift, angels have to get consent again, even if they’re trying to inhabit a vessel that formerly gave consent. So this little “open door” trick of Michael’s shouldn’t work. But maybe they’ve got different rules for angels over there.

I’m actually enjoying Michael!Dean here. And, of course, stunned/devastated Sam.

Michael!Dean kind of has a halo here, doesn’t he? Oh, clever, clever Show.

Michael says he did this in order to crush Dean completely, “so this time he’ll be nice and quiet for a change.” You know, I think the way to crush Dean would have been to kill the three other people in this room, but maybe Michael knows him better than I do. He tells them this time, Dean is buried. “And now I have a whole army out there, waiting. Ready for my command. Ready for this.” He holds up his fingers and snaps.

Well, Thanos, there’s your cliffhanger.

So! I’m disappointed that I wasn’t right about Michael hiding inside Dean, and I think “I wanted to crush him” is a reasonable goal, but there are easier ways Michael could have done that. Like forcing Dean to watch as he kills everyone he loves. And I wonder why Michael didn’t think to plop Dean into a happy fantasy, like Gadreel did with Sam. That would have been even easier. And we didn’t get anyone running around in a white wifebeater with lacerated feet, which was another disappointment.

But for a mytharc episode, this was fairly tight. If the Buckleming had written it, there would have been a lot more B plot (whatever the B plot might have been), a lot more “humor,” and less time to spend on the characters we actually did care about. The brothers were split up, but it was done to tell two stories simultaneously, and not just so Dean could replace Sam with Cas or a random character. We did get some good Sam & Jack, and some badass Sam, as well as confirmation that Dean loves Sam most of all. So we’ve had worse.

And now the holiday hellatus begins! I hope your Christmas Eve is better than the one going down in Kansas City.

#spn #14.09 #tv recaps #recap #the spear #spoilers

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waterstar2016 · 6 years

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Hey, I read the latest Raph story you did with spanking and rough sex. Do you think you could write for Leo too? I have the feeling not, but I thought I might ask anyway. Thanks anyway!~

18+ Content. NSFW.

Here you go, my first Leo fic! I hope you like it.

You’re in a dark room. The only source of light is from a flickering candle somewhere behind you. Your hands are tied at the wrists with a piece of blue silk. You shiver slightly. For, the only piece of clothing you have on is a dainty pair of black lace underwear. You’ve been told to sit on the edge of the bed and wait. Your gaze travels around the now familiar space. You live here with your boyfriend Leo. As you wait in anticipation for what is coming you remember the first night you met him.

You were taking the bus home. It was making its rounds in a poorer area. Tired workers eager to get home to their families after another long shift. You roll your eyes, the city really needed to change the lightbulbs in the street lamps, it would make it safer for the people who lived there. Suddenly, the bus comes screeching to a halt and you grab onto the rails above you trying to stay upright. You get slammed into the pole in front of you. Reaching up to feel your head, your fingers come away sticky with blood.

The doors at the front of the bus are ripped off, and what could only be described as warthog man steps up the stairs and onto the bus. He had a bright purple mohawk. “Hey y’all folks. Sorry, but not sorry but we’re gonna relieve you of your personal effects.” Being at the back of the bus you slowly reach for the handle of the back door exit. You turn it slowly keeping your gaze on the beast that is making his way down the aisle, collecting people’s wallets and cell phones.

You had managed to turn the handle the entire way. Now all you had to do was push. Making eye contact with a few people, you slightly tilt your head at the door. They nod. They’ll follow your lead. Making your move you push open the door and jump down. Recovering your stumble you turn to try and help as many others get off the bus as you can. A massive hand grabs you and spins you around. You’re now face to face with a Rhino. He looks down at you and snorts. You back yourself up and find yourself up against the bus. Just as he’s about to grab for you he goes flying into the trashcans set out on the sidewalk.

The warthog still on the bus yells “Rocksteady, it’s the turtles!” Turning you see him him run back to the front of the bus and crash through the already mangled doors. It’s hard to see. The red lights from the brakes don’t do much for illumination. Sliding to the ground, you hold one hand to your head while trying to see. You hear the sound of motorcycles taking off and a voice over them. “Damnit, they got away!” People flee the scene, forgetting about the person that tried to help. You try to get up, but a wave of dizziness overtakes you. A figure approaches, looking up you see that this one is a mutant turtle. Miss, are you alright? You gulp and nod. The motion of your head makes you wince. He gets on one knee beside you and gently pulls your hand away from your face to inspect the wound. His eyes meet yours. “My name is Leonardo, but you may call me Leo if you wish. Thank you for trying to help the others on the bus. That was very brave.”

That night Leo had ended up carrying you home and made sure that you were ok. His appearance was a little jarring at first, but you found you felt a tingle of attraction. He had the most amazing body, and his eyes were like blue fire. Leo would come to visit you, and after a little time you started seeing each other. Leo was the most attentive partner you ever had. It was almost like he could read you. And the sex, o my god the sex. Some nights he would tease you into oblivion by making love to you slowly. So slowly that you would end up begging him to make you cum. On others, he would fuck you so hard so that you felt like you were going to pass out. He had seemingly limitless strength and stamina, and he used them both on you. Grinning to yourself you remembered the first time he had tied you up. Leo was a kinky son of a bitch and you loved him.

A voice jars you out of your reminiscing. “Hello,Angel. I see you’ve been a good girl waiting for me.” You look up and see him leaning on the doorframe. Leo slowly enters the room and shuts the door. He starts walking towards you. In response to the feline grace of his movements you feel a shiver run down your spine. Standing in front of you he starts unwinding the wraps at his wrists. His gaze never leaves your body as he slowly unwinds the material. Leaning over he does the same to the bindings on his legs. Still looking at you he walks over to a shelf and places the strips of fabric in their holder. He then takes off the rest of his armour.

Even though he had yet to touch you, your body already yearned for his. You knew what he was capable of making you feel. Leo returns to stand above you again. Your gaze is level with his now protruding cock. You lick your lips. He was so fucking thick. No matter how many times he pounded you, it always felt like he was tearing you in two, and you loved it.

Leo looks down at you, and you can see love and lust radiating from the blue depths of his eyes. You look up at him and nod, giving him your consent. He smiles “Remember, blue moon, ok Angel?” He always gave you a safe word. He could get rough, but he always, always kept it to where you could take it. You’ve never had to use the word.

Leo smirks “All I’ve been thinking about today is you leaving for work in that tight little skirt.” He reaches behind you and grabs a handful of your hair, and pulls your head back so you’re looking up at him. “Do you know how hard it was for me today, waiting for you to come home?” He leans down and kisses you. It starts soft, slow and tantalizing and it sets your nerves ablaze. His hand fists into your hair tighter while his tongue slips into your mouth. You moan in response and your stomach flips.

Leo pulls away from you releasing your hair. He drops to his knees in front of you. Taking his large hands he rests them on your knees. Your chest is heaving with your breathing and you can feel your wetness start to drip out of your core. Leo inhales. Growling, he forces your thighs apart. You throw your head back and gasp. He leans down and starts nipping his way slowly up your leg. Each sting causing you to moan in delicious pleasure.

He grabs your hips and pulls you closer to the edge of the bed. The first word escapes your lips “Leo!” You feel him smile against your thigh. His one hand slides around your hip and over your stomach. It keeps moving down. As he reaches your slit he takes two fingers and slips them underneath the material. He bites a little harder at the feel of your slickness. You hear him “That’s it Angel, drip for me.” Suddenly he clenches the material and pulls it up between your moist lips and tugs it upwards. His other hand grabs your thigh making it impossible for you to move it. You throw your head back and let out a moan.

Leo starts tugging harder, the material between your slit is riding up against your clit and causes your back to arch. A scream escapes your throat. “Fuck, Leo!” Leo relentlessly keeps up the rhythmic pulling. Your heart is hammering in your chest and your nails are digging into your hands. Letting go of your thigh Leo grabs your underwear at the side and tears it off your body. You hear the material rip and watch as he throws it to the floor. All you can do is gasp. Leo leans in and nuzzles your pussy with his mouth, his tongue slipping out only adding to the torture with its flicks. He turns his head and takes a hold of your outer lip and pulls on it with his teeth. You arch into his face, your hands reaching down holding onto his head. He lets go of it and bathes your pussy with long sweeps of this tongue. Pulling away, he makes you groan “Leo, please.”

Leo raises his head slightly and you can see the candle light reflecting off his now shiny mouth. Your body is squirming in response to the sudden denial of his touch. He stands. Putting his knee beside your body he starts pushing you down on the bed. Before your back hits the sheets he grabs you around the waist and flips you over. You moan and bite the comforter beside your face. Leo takes his finger and starts rubbing it against your now dripping slit. You start slightly rotating your hips desperately trying to get more friction.

You scream in shock and your eyes snap open as the first sting of his hand lands on your ass. A second sharp slap and a third follow. All the while his finger is continually lightly caressing your slit. The stark contrast between the two sensations sends your nerves into overdrive. You start whimpering into the bed.

Leo leans over you and nips the back of your neck. His finger finds your entrance and pauses. You scream “Fuck, please!” He moves beside your ear. “Fuck, please…what?” Your hands grasp whatever material you can hold onto. You manage to find your voice. “Fuck, please Leonardo!” At your words he slips his finger inside of you. You scream into the bed.

Leo starts to finger fuck you slowly. The tempo and force slowly increasing. Not stopping the movements of his hand, he gets up and moves in behind you. His thick finger starts pumping into you harder. He adds a second finger and starts pushing down towards your g-spot with each thrust. You are beyond screaming. Your voice is caught in your throat. Leo pulls his fingers from your pussy and you squirt a little as they leave your body. A whine manages to work its way out of your mouth.

You feel Leo move in behind you. He slaps your ass again. The force of his slap sends vibrations into you. “Spread your legs wider, now.” He growls out. Your pussy clenches involuntarily at the tone in his voice. Wiggling you move your legs wider apart and wait. Feeling the head of his cock pierce into your pussy you scream and more of your juice coats him. He grabs your hips and in one hard thrust he rams himself into you. Without pausing he starts fucking you hard. He’s driving himself into you relentlessly. The force of his thrusts are ramming you into the mattress. You start to beg, “Leo, please make me cum!”

Without losing rhythm, Leo reaches under you and places a vibrator on your clit and says “I want to feel you clench my cock. Cum Angel! I want you to cum for me now! Your body tenses at his command and you scream as your orgasm rips through you. “LEONARDO!!! Your pussy squirts around his cock and it runs down both your thighs. Leo isn’t done. Removing the vibrator Leo grabs your hips, his fingers digging into your flesh and starts fucking you even harder. Your walls still spasming over his cock. Leo yells “Fuck!” and with one last final thrust he empties his load into your pussy.

You’re both breathing hard. Leo eases himself from you. Crawling up on the bed beside you he reaches over and undoes the knot that is holding your wrists together. He puts his arm around you and pulls you into his plastron. Tenderly he nuzzles your shoulder, lips easing the sting of his earlier bites. You sigh in contentment.

Leo pulls away and gets up. He reaches down and effortlessly picks you up and carries you into the bathroom. Setting you down on the edge of the tub he starts running a bath. While he’s waiting for it to fill he kneels in front of you and grasps your chin gently. Meeting your gaze he smiles. “I Love You Angel.” You smile in return. “Leo, holy shit do I ever love you.” His eyes spark a deeper blue.

When the bath has filled he picks you up and sets you into the warm water and then gets in behind you. Wrapping his arms around you he pulls you into him. You rest you head back against him and can feel your hearts beating as one.

End.

#tmnt leonardo #tmnt smut fic #prompt #first leo fic #leo x reader

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