#i wanted to include who let the dogs out but that came out in 2000 </3 | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

Visit Blog

Explore Tumblr blogs with no restrictions, modern design and the best experience.

Fun Fact

Tumblr has 411 employees.

#i wanted to include who let the dogs out but that came out in 2000 </3

onbearfeet · 3 months

Text

Kat watches Moon Knight

Okay, so with the encouragement of several people on here and the emotional support of my roommate, I have finally (in February 2024) started watching Moon Knight, a show whose basic concept scares the shit out of me.

Context: I had an adopted older brother with DID. Note that I said "had". That's past tense because life treated him so appallingly poorly that he died (horribly, in prison) when I was 19. Part of that abuse was enabled by pop-culture depictions of DID in the 1980s and 90s that convinced everyone who knew about his condition (including the court system) that he was a walking time bomb.

One of my earliest memories is of my brother as a young adult, playing Super Mario Bros with my toddler self. Another is of him patiently teaching me how to make friends with a large dog. I never met any of his alters, afaik; I was small and cute and safe for him to be himself with, so he probably didn't need them around me. He was a profoundly gentle man when he was allowed, and it hurt like hell to see him turned into a monster in movies and on TV. I've turned off a lot of "psychological thrillers" in sorrow and disgust.

Ironically, I loved Moon Knight comics as a kid in the 90s, BEFORE he was retconned to have DID circa the mid-2000s. Because those comics came out right after my brother died in 2002 and leaned HARD into making people with DID seem like violently unstable monsters (for reference, see the cover of Moon Knight: God and Country), I stopped reading them around 2008, when I couldn't take being poked in the trauma by a comfort character anymore.

But I do love Werewolf By Night, and there's been a lot of good fic mashing Jack up with Moon Knight without dehumanizing anyone, and several people have encouraged me to try the show. So this post will be a place for my thoughts as I try to work my way through with my Essential Editions in one hand and my memories of my brother in the other. I'll add to it as I watch.

If this entertains the Moon Knight fandom or provides useful fic reference, so be it. Just don't be jerks on my post.

Also, anyone who chooses to be shitty about my brother will be eaten by bears. I don't make the rules.

Episode 1

Okay, we open with Steven as our POV character, and he's...convinced he's a sleepwalker. All right, not terrible. Steven is now a bumbling nerd, which is probably an improvement; good luck making a billionaire playboy sympathetic in the 2020s. Jake would be the logical everyman POV from the comics, but I understand from fic that he's got a different role now. I'm confused about the accent, but it's only episode 1, and Steven clearly doesn't yet know who Khonshu is, or that Marc exists, so obviously there's a ways to go here. (Is Marc ... undercover inside Steven? Ugh, this is a trope I have seen and do not like.)

Did Marc kill Steven's fish? Did Khonshu kill Steven's fish? I'm baffled by the fish. Which is a nice break from the larger anxiety. I'm gonna try to worry more about the fish.

The bits with Steven losing time and finding himself in odd situations were distressingly close to the old tropes, but both of those happened to my brother, so I'm not going to bitch about them quite yet. I want to be as fair as I can.

Oh, hey, I recognize Harrow from the comics. What up, dude. How's the cult biz treating you?

The end of the episode, with the jackal thing chasing Steven into the bathroom, came RIGHT up to the line for me. I realized that what I was most afraid of was that the story would assign "good" and "bad" labels to the alters--make Steven the sweet, innocent one and Marc (or maybe Jake, I guess) the monstrous killer. The early flashes of Steven covered in blood didn't really help allay that anxiety. And now Marc is demanding that Steven let him have control in a pretty threatening manner. But so far, it seems like the contrast between Marc and Steven is one of competence--Marc is better at fighting and Steven is better at ... panicking? Unclear. At least Oscar Isaac is playing the protagonist, so his character(s) might remain sympathetic. Nobody has been monsterized quite yet.

I finished the episode with every muscle in my body locked up, waiting for the emotional punch in the face. But I did finish it, and I think I'm gonna try episode two.

#kat watches moon knight #moon knight #marc spector #steven grant #i guess I'm processing trauma again #hello trauma my old friend

81 notes · View notes

twwpress · 1 year

Text

Weekly Press Briefing #29 - January 8th - January 14th

Welcome back to the Weekly Press Briefing, where we bring you highlights from The West Wing fandom each week, including new fics, ongoing challenges, and more! This briefing covers all things posted from January 8 - January 14, 2023! Did we miss something? Let us know; you can find our contact info at the bottom of this briefing!

Challenges/Prompts:

The following is a roundup of open challenges/prompts. Do you have a challenge or event you’d like us to promote? Be sure to get in touch with us! Contact info is at the bottom of this briefing.

@thefinestmuffin and @JessBakesCakes are hosting a casual Josh/Donna Rom Com Fest that will reveal on February 14. Prompts and claims are open; details here.

Photos/Videos:

Here’s what was posted from January 8 - January 14.

Josh Malina posted a screenshot of an email about his donation to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.

Marlee Matlin posted photos of herself with the late David Bowie in honor of his birthday.

Marlee Matlin posted a selfie with makeup artist Brett Freedman.

Marlee Matlin posted a memorial post for her friend Vae who has passed away.

Mary McCormack posted a star-studded group photo from a To Leslie screening party at Courteney Cox’s house.

Rob Lowe posted a trailer for his new movie Dog Gone, which came out on Netflix January 13.

Janel Moloney posted a video from a performance she attended at STREB in Brooklyn.

@down_brad_: January 9 | January 10 | January 11 | January 12 | January 13

@janelmilfoney: January 9 | January 10 | January 10 (2) | January 11

Edits/Artwork:

The West Wing | Holy Ground by @dark_timeline_ [VIDEO EDIT]

#CJTOBY: we had it good there for a while by @zieglercregg [VIDEO EDIT]

Creator Spotlight:

Each week, we will talk to a fandom creator and interview them about their work and their process. We’ll also give you the opportunity to ask them questions, too! Want to be a featured creator? Find us via one of the methods listed at the end of the briefing!

This week’s creator is worldsofdreamers on tumblr and on ao3. You can find the spotlight on tumblr or on twitter.

This Week in Canon:

Welcome to This Week in Canon, where we revisit moments in The West Wing that occurred on these dates during the show’s run.

Season 1, Episode 12: He Shall, From Time to Time aired on January 12, 2000.

Season 2, Episode 11: The Leadership Breakfast aired on January 10, 2001.

Season 3, Episode 10: H-Con 172 aired on January 9, 2002

Season 4, Episode 12: Guns Not Butter aired on January 8, 2003.

Season 5, Episode 11: The Benign Prerogative aired on January 14, 2004.

Season 6, Episode 11: Opposition Research aired on January 12, 2005.

Season 7, Episode 10: Running Mates aired on January 8, 2006.

Editor’s Choice:

This week brought us the anniversary of two big Josh and Donna hurt/comfort episodes in Guns Not Butter and The Benign Prerogative. We thought there was no better way to celebrate than to share some of our favorite Josh/Donna hurt/comfort fics this week!

so cover me up and know you’re enough to use me for good by sam_writes_fics | Rated T | Josh Lyman/Donna Moss | Complete | “I need to learn how to not be so… how to keep things at arm’s length.”

“I hope not.”

It’ll be a cold day in hell before he lets this city turn his Donnatella into a hardened, soulless political operative, he decides right then and there. He’ll quit his job and drag her out the door with him before she even comes close.

all we know is don’t let go by mikaylawrites for defendingtheearth | Rated T | Josh Lyman/Donna Moss | Complete | Donna nods, but a tear slips down her cheek. Josh reaches for her, wishing he weren’t wearing gloves so she could feel his skin on hers. She grabs his hand with both of hers, clutching onto him with surprising force until the anesthesiologist puts her under and her grip slackens. He watches her eyes close, unable to tear his gaze from her face.

The last thing he wants to do is let go of her hand, but one of the nurses gently tells him he has to leave. They guide him out of the room, and the moment the door closes behind him, Josh knows.

He’s in love with Donna.

In which the events of the Gaza arc bring Josh and Donna together rather than drive them apart (and Donna’s mental health gets the attention it deserves).

if you’re feeling small, i will love your shadow by scullymuldrs | Rated T | Josh Lyman/Donna Moss | Complete | The one consistency in her life was that: Donnatella Moss could take care of herself.

often a sweetness by thefinestmuffins for hufflepuffhermione | Rated M | Josh Lyman/Donna Moss | Complete | Josh and Donna cope with a series of increasingly intense and unsettling events in the only way they know how: by turning to each other.

*Or; a fic to fill in the emotional gaps in late season 4*

now and at the hour of our death by aeoleus | Rated T | Josh Lyman/Donna Moss | Complete | Who was with you, Stanley asks.

Everyone was with me, Josh replies.

I thought we agreed not to lie to each other, Josh, Stanley says.

Coda to Noel.

home, in varying degrees by joshatella (shuuuliet) | Rated T | Josh Lyman/Donna Moss | Complete | After Amy asks Josh a question he doesn't really want to answer, he calls Donna for comfort. But Donna, unbeknownst to him, needs a little comforting, too.

Set after the events of 3x08: "The Women of Qumar".

stood on the cliffside (screaming ‘give me a reason’) by hanyolo | Rated G | Josh Lyman/Donna Moss | Complete | And she’s glad she isn’t there to see the doe-eyed look of concern she knows he is giving her right now. It’s the same look he gave her when she told him about her car accident, right before she told him she wouldn’t stop for red lights and left him speechless in the doorway of his dimly lit office; as they sat together on a park bench on a cold October night waiting for Cliff Calley to return her diary; as he held her hand in the operating room because she’d been scared and disoriented and needed him to tell her she was going to be okay.

It’s a look she’s seen plenty of times before and she knows it has the power to break her.

// josh trying to take care of donna while she deals with the aftermath of gaza

On Joyful Mornings by JessBakesCakes | Rated G | Josh Lyman/Donna Moss | Complete | “Are you afraid of me?”

What she wants to say is Joshua, sweetheart, right now you’re about as terrifying as my neighbor’s new puppy. But there’s a palpable sadness in his voice when he asks her. So instead, she can only say “Of course not, Josh,” and put down the carton of eggs before joining him on the other side of the counter.

Or, Josh and Donna wake up on the morning after the events of "Noel".

Fics:

Presenting your weekly roundup of fics posted in the tag for The West Wing on Archive of Our Own. If you are so inclined, please be sure to leave the authors some love in the form of kudos or comments. Be mindful of posted warnings/tags for each story.

Josh/Donna

The California 47th by pipisafoat | Rated G | Josh Lyman/Donna Moss | Complete

To Our Women by Prof_Frink | Rated T | Josh Lyman/Donna Moss | Complete

to live for the hope of it all (the folklore drabbles) by flowersinapril | Rated T | Josh Lyman/Donna Moss | Complete

Do You Have Room For a Turncoat On Your Coatrack? by TemperanceCain | Rated T | Josh Lyman/Donna Moss | Complete

heartbreak, you know, drives a big black car by phos3 | Rated M | Josh Lyman/Donna Moss | In Progress

that's the kind of love i've been dreaming of by hanyolo | Rated E | Josh Lyman/Donna Moss | Complete

A Dream is a Soft Place to Land by StealtheRest | Not Rated | Josh Lyman/Donna Moss | Complete

but i knew you by swancharmings | Rated E | Josh Lyman/Donna Moss | In Progress

For As Long As You’ll Give It by Bric_a_Brac | Not Rated | Josh Lyman/Donna Moss | Complete

Thanks, for Noticing by TemperanceCain | Rated M | | Josh Lyman/Donna Moss | Complete

Other Pairings/Gen Fic

walk it for you anytime (thin, thin line) by jazzjo | Rated G | C.J. Cregg/Andrea Wyatt | Complete

No Matter What by All_That_Jazz_93 | Rated G | Kenny Thurman/Male OC | In Progress

Where The Hell…? by dumbchemist | Rated T | No pairings listed | In Progress

Figures of Speech by Darsynia | Rated T | Toby Ziegler/Original Female Character | In progress

bartlet for president! by buddyhollybenhur | Rated T | Josh Lyman & Sam Seaborn, Josh Lyman & Leo McGarry, Sam Seaborn & Toby Ziegler, C.J. Cregg & Josh Lyman | In Progress

almanac by jazzjo | Rated T | Amy Gardner/Andrea Wyatt | Complete

A Different Life by PreppyPrincess5103 (JAG crossover) | Rated M | Sarah "Mac" MacKenzie/Sam Seaborn | In progress

Multiple Pairings

Children of the Apocalypse by murph283031 | Rated T | Leo McGarry/Annabeth Schott, Josh Lyman/Donna Moss, Mallory O'Brien/Sam Seaborn, Abbey Bartlet/Jed Bartlet | In Progress

There are no second acts in American lives (except when there are) by norahb | Rated T | Josh Lyman/Original Female Character, Josh Lyman/Donna Moss, Sam Seaborn/Original Male Character(s) | In Progress

Paradise City by casliyn | Rated E | Josh Lyman/Donna Moss, Amy Gardner/Josh Lyman | In Progress

THE WEEKLY PRESS BRIEFING TEAM CAN BE REACHED VIA THE FOLLOWING METHODS:

Twitter: @TWWPress

Email: [email protected]

Feel free to let us know if we missed something, if you have an event you’d like us to promote, or if you have an item that you’d like included in the next briefing!

#josh x donna #the west wing #josh lyman #donna moss #fanfiction #tww fic #tww fic authors #tww fic recs

10 notes · View notes

ageofxail · 2 years

Text

Sometimes I just have to stop and sit down and reflect on the things this one particular book I own has been through. It’s only forty years old, but it has seen some life.

Specifically, said book is the 1983 edition of the United Kingdom’s Norwegian Buhund National Club Stud Book. It’s literally a maybe hundred page book containing photographs and three generation pedigrees of the couple dozen Buhunds that lived and actively showed in the U.K. at the time. It’s a mint green paperback book that was thrown together as cheaply as possible, probably cost about five pounds for a copy if I had been after it in 1983.

By the time it reached my hands, it was already worn on the spine and has at least eight different stains in them. Some are coffee, some are tea, maybe one or two are water. They’re old enough to no longer hold the scent of what made those stains, but they’re noticeably _something._ Someone, at some point, spent some time pouring over and memorising the family trees of a bunch of sunshiney little spitzy dogs, just as I do now, today, in the next century over.

At some point, that book ended up in a box, and it was donated to a used bookstore. Or maybe sold, I don’t know. This book, printed in Lancashire thirty-nine years ago, found its way into a used book store with no hint of who its previous owner was apart from the note in the inner binding that says “Hygge’s grandfather is on page seventy-eight! That’s who gave him his quirkiness!”

Who is Hygge. What quirks did Hygge’s grandfather have? All I know from this story is Hygge’s grandfather is a particularly handsome wheaten Buhund named Abu, who was the son of Olaf and Polly Perkins, children respectively of Trump, Fanna, Snorre and Pensive. Cross referencing those pedigree names with a few different pedigree databases tells me Abu sired 28 Buhund puppies across eight litters. Who, in turn, sired or damed an additional two hundred puppies. And that’s just accounting for registered pups. I can’t find one two generations down from Abu named Hygge, but maybe someone’s Buhund bred with a different breed, and there was some Buhund mix out there named Hygge whose owner loved him so deeply they requested some information about where he came from. I don’t know. I can’t confirm that, but its wonderful to think about that hypothetical dog named Hygge who was, along with his mysteriously vague “quirks,” very loved by someone.

Sometime after this book, somehow, left the hands of Hygge’s owner - maybe they passed away, and their books got lotted up into a thrift store? Maybe they changed hands a few times? It wound up in a store in York. I have no way of knowing how long ago it arrived at that shop, only the listing for the book itself was posted on AbeBooks in 2016. Four years before I saw it, myself.

Including shipping, I paid $54.38 to have this book wrapped up and sent to me in America. Three months passed, and I still hadn’t gotten that book in the mail. I reached out to the bookstore itself, and asked if there was a problem, only to find out the store’s previous owner had unexpectedly passed away a few weeks prior and it was still being sorted what was going to happen to all of these books, as he had neither any staff nor family to take over the shop. My reaching out to them let them know that there was an AbeBooks account to check for orders, and it got a ton of that shop’s books sent to where they needed to go. I received not only the studbook, but a whole box of dog books - antique training guides written in the late 1800s, a couple mid-2000s trick idea books, picture books featuring currently recognised breeds, and I cherish each and every one of these books/

But not one of them is as clearly, personally loved as that 1983 Buhund Studbook.

I added my name, where I bought it, and when I, eventually, have a Buhund of my own, I’m going to paste a picture of them into the blank Notes section in the back of the book. And when I pass away? I want that book to go to someone else who also loves Norwegian Buhunds, and I want that stranger’s love of Hygge to be known to someone else.

#flying false colours ;; ooc #fuck im emotional #who let me fall in love with this breed #who let me pour everything i learned about researching hsitory into researching Buhunds #i NEED to share these emotions with someone and the dash is going to read this #maybe

4 notes · View notes

seishirology · 3 years

Text

Blue Lock as Types of Problematic babies I hate!!

missing kotaro + mamizuka twins are open :D honestly this was a weird one, it just came to me while I was thinking, and I really went, "wow- blue lock boys would totally be problematic babies-" WARNING ; there will be a lot of slander and what seems like hate speech but I'm just complaining about babies includes ; isagi, bachira, rin, nagi, shidou, sae + ego A/N ; these are my opinions only!! There's also ego up there cause he's more problematic then the actual blue lock boys. I also use the term "baby/babies" loosley, often using it interchangeably with toddler, so sorry about that masterlist

ISAGI YOICHI

I feel like isagi is that one baby that reaches out for someone else when he's handed to you

I hate babies like isagi

he's also the one that wakes up in the middle of the night, and ruins everything by crying

you can see it in his eyes when he cries he's doing it on purpose

but when he's not crying he's zoning out and it's the weirdest thing ever to witness

he's just sitting there drooling and his pupils are moving like chameleon eyes-

but he'd be a cute baby though

but changing his diaper often comes with a big surprise

I feel like he'd never poop his diaper-

like ever

but once his mom comes around or something the whole room stinks up so bad you could pass out

his baby rating is a 4/10 because he's cute but I like sleep more than babies like him

BACHIRA MEGURU

😐😶😐

even as a baby I feel like he'd be freaky

not in the dirty way, I just feel like he's the type to eat play-doh and actually like it

he "kind of" reminds me of Takuma Mamizuka

he's the type of kid to willingly go with a stranger for candy, completely forgetting all the warnings his mother's given him

bachira has probably never cried over dogs dying in movies as a child, he probably laughed it off or something

would totally hurt your feelings if you asked him about something, he's a child and ha no filter

wouldn't lie to you for candy, if you asked baby meguru to tell you if your dress was ugly he would tell you it's ugly if he thought so

standards are wayyy too high even though he's a child

the type to loudly judge a daycare's wall colour

doesn't let the babies sleep in their cribs, always bothering them

torn between wanting to become a painter like his mom or becoming a soccer player

always brings a ball to daycare and won't leave without it

not to make it depressing, but he probably sits alone in a corner holding his ball talking to the monster he plays with

8/10 I won't give him a ten because he doesn't sugarcoat words

ITOSHI RIN

man-

I don't want to deal with kids like him

"my brother's the best-" "my brother's the coolest!" "Your brother is lame! Mine's cool!"

I love my brother my ass

he never shuts up about his brother

whenever he opens his mouth you get the urge to staple his lips together to prevent him from talking ever again

really really cute though

his cheeks are so squishable they're like memory foam

but he always comes in wearing the ugliest clothes ever-

neon green shirt, blue jacket, and plaid shorts

dresses like he's from the 2000s and his parents just let him leave looking like a hot mess

hates daycare workers because they never want to listen to him talk about his brother

really hates the baby cribs because he's not allowed to sleep on them

really upset that he has to sleep on the floor mats instead of a dignified crib like the babies

2/10 he's cute, I love him, but -8 points for talking too much

NAGI SEISHIRO

um,,,,,no

can I reject babies like him???

literally the creepy babies who stare back at you whenever you're holding them

almost never cries because he's too dignified for it, but he screams a whole lot

always talking gibberish though, he acts like other people can understand him

gets really defensive if you talk about his mom at all near him

like you could just be there going, "wow his mom's pretty-" and he'll start yelling in baby talk at you

glares at daycare workers because he always hears them talking about his mom

really relaxed at home, you'd forget he was there if he didn't drool on the couch

falls asleep everywhere except at daycare

he goes to the daycare everyday but he still isn't used to it

thinks he has some type of superpower and brags to the other babies about it in baby talk

or so I assume

nagi's also seems like the type of baby to hate everyone equally, he has no favourite you're all the same

except his mom of course

7/10 because he won't let you talk about his mom

SHIDOU RYUSEI

I-

no thank you take him back

he's the scariest toddler you'll ever come across

bullies other kids at the daycare, one time tried to give a baby a papercut but it didn't work out and he was sent to the time out corner

I do feel like he's got good toddler mental health

doesn't let anybody step over him or the boundaries he's set for them specifically

hates everyone though, he doesn't like babies because they cry, teens and adults because they don't treat him equally, and other toddlers because he thinks they're ugly

really good sense of empathy though, and often consoles other children who cry despite him trying to give them papercuts all the time

sometimes just laughs out loud like a maniac by himself, but he only does it because he enjoys everyone's reactions

LOVES LOVES LOVES movies with guns and everything, he finds them really cool

shidou is also really good at remembering things that were done to him and holding grudges or favouring someone

what you do to him will be returned tenfold

cries whenever he gets shots and hates the dentist because when they scrape plaque off the back of his teeth his gums swell up

4.2/10 because I think he'd try to give me a papercut when we first meet or something not only that but if I accidentally hit him or what he'd probably hit back back with a chair or something like that

ITOSHI SAE

isn't much better than rin

"my brother scores better than you-" "you call that a goal? even my baby brother can do better!" "who taught you how to dribble? my brother's legs are short but they work better than yours!"

on a soccer team for young kids and can't stop comparing his teammates to rin

he's always talking about how his brother does better, is cuter, has squishy cheeks, is cute, is very adorable

sometimes when he looks at rin he bursts out crying because he's so cute and doesn't ever want him to grow up

loves his brother a lot, you could almost say his only reason for living is rin

it is unknown whether he loves rin or soccer more

doesn't like going to daycare but he tags along sometimes whenever he doesn't have to go to kindergarten

plays with rin and only rin everyone else can go,,,,,play

always complaining to his parents how they should stop going to the daycare because they're making rin sleep on the floor

can never say he hates rin

he's a very good talker for a child

knows how to get on everyone's good side

but avoids all adults and other children like they're the plague

sometimes he brings a soccer to daycare and plays with the other kids when rin asks

loves any daycare worker if they show the even the slightest interest in soccer

8.6/10 I would love a kid like him, but he should learn how to stfu about rin though -1.4 points because he sounds like a tiger parent and I can't deal with that rn

EGO

😐

no please not a problem child

he's that genius kid your parents are always comparing you to

never happy with his results

hates losing and will rub it in your face whenever he wins

literally doesn't let anyone else win

he's that kid that's more benevolent than adults

at family functions he's your little cousin who does so much better than you why can't you be like him

pitiful and I don't like to pity people

probably cries in the bathroom at daycare and stays in there for hours wondering if someone will notice he's gone

I would like to give him a hug

but he build walls that stretch longer than the great wall of china and are higher than the walls in aot

the kid you hate because he's better than you

I think he's hated for unjust reasons

the type of kid you only hate when you first meet him but once you get to know him you hate him even more but in an affectionate way if you understand

7.8/10 because he seems like a great kid, but I don't have the guts to get close to kids like him

I must say I enjoyed trash talking babies much more than I expected. But it slowly went from complaining straight up about babies to baby headcanons

#blue lock headcanons #itoshi rin #itoshi sae #shidou ryuusei #ego jinpachi #bachira meguru #isagi yoichi #nagi seishirou #blue lock nagi #blue lock isagi #blue lock bachira #blue lock shidou

178 notes · View notes

lee-scribbles-and-doodles · 3 years

Text

My Top Ten Overlooked Movies With Female Leads In No Particular Order

Note: When you see this emoji (⚠️) I will be talking about things people may find triggering, which are spoilery more often then not. I mention things that I think may count as triggers so that people with them will be aware before going in to watch any of these.

Edited: 3/16/21

Hanna (2011)

So, before I get into why you should watch this movie, I just want to take a moment to say why it's near and dear to my heart. Growing up as a queer kid in the early 2000s, seeing portrayals of people like or similar to myself on anything was rare at best. It was mostly in more "adult" movies or shows that my parents would occasionally let me watch with them that I'd see any lgbtq+ rep at all. Often times they were either walking stereotypes, designed to be buried, evil, or all three.

Then here comes this PG-13 action thriller with a wonderfully written main female lead who, at the time, was close to my age, and who got to kiss another girl (her very first friend, Sophie) on screen in an extremely tender and heartwarming scene. To say the least, it was a life changing moment for me personally.

Now that I've gotten that out of the way, Hanna is a suspenseful movie about a child super-soldier named, you guessed it, Hanna (played by Saoirse Ronan) and her adoptive (?) father Erik Heller (played by Eric Bana) exiting the snowy and isolated wilderness of their home and taking on the shadowy CIA operative, Marissa Wiegler (played by Cate Blanchette) who wants Erik dead and Hanna for herself for mysterious reasons.

It also has an amazing soundtrack by the Chemical Brothers, great action scenes, and it has an over arching fairytale motif, which I'm always a sucker for.

⚠️ Mild blood effects, some painful looking strikes, various character deaths, and child endangerment all feature in this film. However, given its PG-13 rating, a majority of viewers are presumably able to handle this one. Still, be aware of these going in.

Sidenote: It's recently gotten a TV adaptation on Amazon TV, although I have not watched it, and do not know if Hanna and Sophie's romantic/semi-romantic relationship has transferred over.

A Simple Favor

A Simple Favor is a "black-comedy mystery thriller" centered entirely around the relationship between two mothers, the reclusive, rich, mysterious, and regal Emily (played by Blake Lively), and the local recently widowed but plucky mommy blogger, Stephanie (played by Anna Kendrick). When Emily suddenly goes missing, Stephanie takes it upon herself to find out what happened to her new best friend.

It's a fantastic and entertaining movie throughout, with fun, flawed and interesting characters. The relationship between the two female leads is also implied to be at least somewhat romantic in nature, and they even share a kiss.

⚠️ The only major warnings I can think of is that the movie contains an instance of incest and one of the main plotlines revolves around child abuse, although both of these potentially triggering topics are not connected to each other, so there is thankfully no csa going on.

Edit: I legitimately forgot there was drug use in this movie until now. So, yeah, if that's a trigger, be careful of that.

I Am Mother

I became mildly obsessed with this movie when it came out. I Am Mother is a sci-fi film that centers entirely around a cast of two woman, and a female-adjacent robot who is brought to life on screen with absolutely amazing practical effects.

The plot is such, after an extinction-level event, a lone robot known only as Mother tasks herself with replenishing the human race via artifical means. She begins with the film's main protagonist, Daughter. Years go by as Mother raises her human child and the two prepare for Daughter's first sibling (a brother) to be born. However, on Daughter's 16th birthday, the arrival of an outsider known only as Woman shakes Daughter's entire world view. She begins to question Mother's very nature, as well as what's really going on outside the bunker she and her caretaker call home.

⚠️ This movie features child endangerment and reference to child death.

Lilo and Stitch

When I decided to add a single Disney film to this list I initially thought it was going to be hard but almost immediately my brain went to Lilo and Stitch, and specifically about the relationship between Lilo and Nani.

On the surface, this film is about a lonely little girl accidentally adopting a fugitive alien creature as a "dog," but underneath that the story is also about two orphaned sisters and the older sister's attempts to not let social services tear them apart by stepping up as the younger sister's primary guardian. Despite its seemingly goofy premise, Lilo and Stitch has a very emotional and thoughtful center. It's little wonder how this movie managed to spawn an entire franchise.

Despite the franchise it spawned (or possibly because of it), I often find that Lilo and Stitch is overlooked and many people only remember it for the "little girl adopts an alien as a pet" portion of its plot, and I very rarely see it on people's top 10 Disney lists.

⚠️ This movie could be potentially triggering to people who were separated from their siblings or other family members due to social service intervention. There's also a bit of child endangerment, including a scene where Lilo and Stitch both almost drown.

Nausicaä and the Valley of the Wind

Unlike the above entry, I did struggle a little bit with picking a single Studio Ghibli film. Most media of the Ghibli catalogue have strong, well-written, unique, and interesting female leads so selecting just one seemed like quite the task.

However, I eventually settled on this particular film. In recent months, Princess Nausicaä has become my absolute favorite Ghibli protagonist and I'm absolutely enchanted by the world she lives in.

Set in a post-apocalyptic world overun by giant insects and under threat of a toxic forest and its poisoness spores, Nausicaä must try to protect the Valley of the Wind from invaders as she also tries to understand the science behind the toxic forest and attempts to bridge the gap between the insects and the humans.

For those who have never seen the film, I think Nausicaä's personality can best be described as being similar to OT Luke Skywalker. Both are caring, compassionate, and gentle souls who are able to see the best in nearly anyone or anything. She's an absolutely enthralling protagonist and after rewatching the film again for the first time in well over a decade she has easily become one of my all time favorite protagonists.

Whenever I see people talk about Ghibli films, they rarely mention this one, and when they do mention it, it's often in passing. In my opinion it's a must watch.

⚠️ This movie contains some blood, and the folks who either don't like insects or who have entomophobia may not appreciate the giant bugs running about throughout the movie. (Although most insects do not directly relate to real life bugs, and are fantasy creatures).

A Silent Voice

A Silent Voice is an animated movie adaptation of a manga of the same name. While I've never had the pleasure to read the manga, the movie is phenomenal. It covers topics such a bullying, living in the world with a disability, the desire for atonement, social anxiety, and depression in a well thought out manner that ties itself together through the progression of the relationship between its two leads, Shoya and Shouko. It's also beautifully animated. Although very popular among anime viewers, I've noticed that it's often overlooked by people who watch little to no anime. So I suppose this is me urging non-anime viewers to give this film a chance.

⚠️ As mentioned above, the movie deals with bullying, anxiety, and depression (with this last one including suicidal thoughts and behaviour). If discussion of those topics are triggering to you, than you may want to proceed with caution or skip this movie all together.

In This Corner of The World

Another manga adaptation, this one taking place during WWII-era Japan. In This Corner of The World follows the life of a civilian Japanese woman, Suzu Urano, as she navigates simply living and her new marriage as the wartime invades nearly all aspects of everyday life. I think this movie is a good representation of what it must be like to be living as civilian in a country at war where the fight is sometimes fought on one's own soil. It was also an interesting look into pre-50s Japanese culture in my opinion. It's also beautifully animated featuring an art style I don't see often.

Despite it being well known among anime fans, I never really see it be brought up, even among said anime fans themselves.

Side note: I've seen many WWII dramas centering around civilians but they've almost always been about American or UK civilians. This was the first movie I'd seen that features the perspective of a Japanese civilain.

⚠️ Features the death of a child and limb loss. There's also a disturbing scene featuring a victim of one of the atomic bombs near the end.

Wolf Children: Ame and Yuki

This film follows Hana, a Japan-native woman who fell in love with a magical shape-shifting wolf-man, and her trials with raising their children, who can also magically shape-shift into wolves, on her own. It's a very heartfelt movie about a mother's love and the struggles of doing right by your children when you have limited resources to actively guide and care for them. All the characters feel unique and alive in my opinion. Also, the animation is so good that my sister and I initially mistook it for a Ghibli film.

Again, like the previous two anime entries, I don't see it ever brought up outside of anime circles.

⚠️ There's some child endangerment present in the film, although none of it is the fault of Hana as far as I can remember.

Roman Holiday

Roman Holiday is about the fictional Princess Ann (played by Audrey Hepburn), who while on a whirlwind tour of Europe, finally reaches her breaking point over having her entire life be one big schedule and all her words and actions being rehearsed. In the spur of the moment, she runs away in hopes of experiencing what life is like for other women. Unfortunately, she was previously given a sedative, meaning she doesn't get too far before it takes effect. Fortunately, she is found by the kind reporter Joe Bradley (played by Gregory Peck). Believing her to be drunk and unable to get an address from her (because she has none) he ends up taking her home for safety's sake and allows her to sleep off her suppose drunken stupor. The next day, he realizes who she is, and decides to take her on a fun sight seeing trip across Rome in hopes of getting the big scoop. Along the way, they begin to fall for each other.

This is my favorite black and white, old romance film. I think the relationship between the main characters is absolutely beautiful and I have a lot of fun watching it.

⚠️ I'm not entirely sure what kind of warning this film would need. However, it was released in 1953, so values dissonance will probably be at play for many viewers to at least some extent. For example, early in the film Ann is given sedation drugs by her doctor for her behavior, something that is very unlikely to happen today. Also, Mr Bradley deciding to take Ann home to keep her safe rather than call the police or an ambulance is a very pre-90s decision in my opinion.

#hanna 2011 #a simple favor #i am mother #lilo and stitch #nausicaä of the valley of the wind #a silent voice #in this corner of the world #wolf chilren ame and yuki #wolf children #roman holiday #black and white film #anime #disney #studio ghibli #movie recs #top 10

177 notes · View notes

tatestripedsweater · 3 years

Text

Plot: Kit Walker never came back from the abduction of him and Alma, the extra-terrestrials kept him until they were done with the man. In the year 2000 Kit gets taken back to Earth in a time era he is unaware off, he’s just as confused as the person who finds him in the woods.

Kit Walker x GN!Reader

Wordcount: 1941

Tags: @kitwalker02 - Message me or comment below if you want to be added

Key:

Italics - Flashbacks

Bold Italics - Aliens speaking

1964

Kit lay on the bed smoking his cigarette as he looked up at the ceiling, only in his white briefs he couldn’t help but grin slightly at the events prior. It wasn’t the first time him and Alma had made love, in fact it was the second time today they had sex as this morning they fucked before he went to work. Moving so he was sitting on the edge of the bed, he put out his cigarette in the small tray on his bedside table, a clattering soon got Kit up onto his feet.

‘’Alma?’’ He maneuvered quickly to put his jeans on and shirt on before walking out into the living room, she was nowhere to be found. Quietly moving, Kit grabbed the gun he kept under a weak floorboard, he did this so no one would find it but he had to keep his wife protected somehow. The air was cold as Kit walked outside barefooted, not even bothering to put on shoes since he was more concerned on where Alma was, she couldn’t have gone far. ‘’Okay this isn’t funny darlin’!’’

Silence. The fear that something had happened to her had started to set in on Kit’s mind, he didn’t want to shoot into the darkness just in case she was playing a prank on him and the bullet accidentally went into her. As soon as Kit stepped inside the house the entire room was filled with a bright light and everything flew up onto the ceiling, including himself.

“Alma!” Kit screamed out loudly before putting his hands to his ears at the loud ringing in his ears, it was like something you’d use on a dog for it to stop misbehaving, he felt like electricity was being shocked all through his body before everything around him turned white and he was suddenly laid on his back on a cold, metal surface. “Alma..?”

Looking over at his wife she was completely naked as was he, but she was unconscious and no matter how hard he tried to reach her she seemed to get further away from him. “Alma.. please wake up!” Tears were streaming down Kit’s face as his voice cracked, his nose was running from how hard he was crying, the fear was getting worse the longer he lay upon the metal surface. Hearing noises around him soon turned Kit ridgid, it was mumbling in a language he didn’t understand.

His head was beating like a drum, it was as if someone had punctured right through his skull but he wouldn’t put it past these creatures if they did. The mumbling got louder and so did the ringing in his ears, screaming out even louder Kit could’ve sworn his ears were bleeding from the pain he was currently feeling it, he just wanted it all to end.

‘’I think it’s time’’ The moment that left the aliens lips, the sentence unknown to Kit, the surroundings went a blinding white before Alma found herself back in the living room that she called home. Quickly standing up she looked around for any sign of her husband. With her whole body shaking she made her way outside hoping he would be out there, crying out for Kit, but all she got was a beam of light like a fallen star flying across the sky before disappearing.

“Kit..”

2000

You were used to people shutting down your claims of what you believed to have happened that evening. You remembered it like it was yesterday but due to you being a child when the event had happened, people just put it down your brain creating false memories to protect you from what actually happened to your mother. The officer in front of you was the same as all the others, he felt sorry for you so he never shuts you down when you tried to explain to him about the ‘abduction’, but he had to soon stop you since you were getting stares from people passing by.

‘’Y/N stop this.. we’ve been through this dozens of times’’ Huffing heavily you shook your head, a look of disappointment on your face when he said that to you. Staring the officer in the eyes you couldn’t help but narrow your eyes at him, he always seemed to cut you off as soon as people started staring but you believed people of this town deserved to know. Of course you’ve gotten called everything under the sun.

‘’You should be put in a mental hospital! You’re turning into Julia’s mother, Alma, God rest her soul’’ You knew that voice all too well, she was the gossip of the town Mrs Wilkins and she had a face like a toad, and the perfume she wore wasn’t exactly being kind to your nose either. Feeling the annoyance and anger within you, you decided to stand up for yourself and the officer knew the look in your eyes all too well, but it was too late to even stop you before you spoke with a harsh tone towards her.

‘’Shouldn’t you be getting a new mirror, considering your face made the last one crack!” You quickly got pulled away by the officer before the woman you had now offended could speak another word,

“Go home Y/N! It’s getting late for a woman of your age to be out anyway..” He always used that excuse with you, being a girl of eighteen had more downs than ups, you sometimes wondered why everyone who was young couldn’t wait to turn eighteen, you frankly wanted to go back to being a kid again. “It’s six thirty, I can drive you home if you want?”

Shaking your head but staying silent you put your left foot in front of the other and started walking down the now lit street, the streets lights automatically came on around this time and you knew that your father was going to kill you for being out. It wasn’t even late yet they panicked if you weren’t in the house by five in the evening. Since your mothers ‘disappeared’ he hasn’t wanted the same to happen to you due to being the only thing left of her.

Sitting in front of the television watching your evening program your parents always let you watch before bed, you could hear them arguing like they did every day. The comfort of the teddy bears on the screen is all you had at the age of six, you held onto your stuffed bunny as you tried to drown out the shouting from the next room.

“I know they aren’t my kid you cheating whore!’’ You didn’t even understand what the words even meant at that point in your life, but you knew that they weren’t nice onces just from the tone of your father. Slowly turning around once you heard the door open you stared up at him with your glassy and wide eyes, his face turned soft once he looked at you. You were the innocent one in all of this, your mother wouldn’t admit to you not being your fathers even if it was the truth. Watching his every move until he was out of the front door, your mother was the next one to walk out.

“Come on you, let’s get you ready for bed” She acted as if that argument had never happened as she scooped you into her arms, the moment you wrapped your arms around her neck the ringing in both of your ears started. Her grip on you tightened in that moment and all you remembered was the blinding white light and the ringing. Your memory had gotten rid of the both of you going upwards to the ceiling and the details of the abduction. It was as if something didn’t want you to remember what happened that night. But part of you knew what had happened even if you couldn’t remember most of it. That’s what drove you insane.

Looking down at the watch on your wrist it read ‘7:00pm’, you were in for one hell of a lecture so you decided to take a short cut down the forest. You didn’t like the dark as it was but you knew if you took the long route it would be another hour till you got home. You wished you had taken those driving lessons from your father when he offered you them months ago. You would’ve been home by now if you had a car.

‘’I should’ve taken Officer Carter’s offer of a drive home..’’ You often talked to yourself in times off stress and annoyance but you didn’t want to rely on a man to help you with all your issues, even if it was as little as having no driving licence yet.

The snap of a twig caught your attention and goosebumps formed on your skin out of fear. Someone else was out in these woods. Taking slow steps, you made sure to pay close attention to every sound no matter how little it was. You didn’t know if this person was dangerous and you weren’t taking the risk of being kind if they decided to show themselves.

You made your way over to a bank in the forest, thanking god that you had even got this far without coming across the person that seemed to be in here with you, sliding down the bank your eyes caught side of a shadowy figure inbetween two trees. Your eyes didn’t leave the figure but the air got caught in your throat once you saw it run towards you. It’s arms reaching out for you as you fall on the bank floor due to trying to run backwards. Stupid.

‘’Please you need to help me!’’ The moonlight shone down on the figure as it quickly kneeled down beside you. Themale looked scared and you couldn’t help but go wide eyed due to him being in just a pair of boxer shorts. “I-I’m sorry I scared you, but I really need your help!”

“Okay! Okay! Just calm down..” The man in front of you took a few deep breaths once that left your mouth, him thanking you over and over again for your kindness to a stranger. “Just tell me who you are..”

“I’m going to sound crazy, I was taken by these things. I don’t remember much..”

“What’s your name..?” Your voice was timid and quiet but it was enough for the man in front of you to hear. He kept looking up at the sky then back at you and in that moment you knew what he was afraid off. Your mind wandered but in a good way, what if this man had experienced the same thing your mother had done in 1988? Or was he another homeless man looking for a home but pulling the heartstrings of a woman? You didn’t know but you believe the first question that was circling through your mind.

“Kit.. Kit Walker'' Your eyebrows furrowed once he told you his name. You recognised it from somewhere. Your brain was doing overtime trying to figure out where you had heard that name before, the last name you knew all too well. your neighbour, Julia, had the same last name and you thought she had mentioned a distant relative of some sort.

Maybe this was him? The next sentence he said gave it all away on who this man was. “You need to help me find my wife.. Alma..”

The sentence from Mrs Wilkins rang in your head like a bell ‘You’re turning into Julia’s mother Alma’

Maybe she wasn’t so crazy after all.

#american horror story #american horror story gifs #ahs #ahs gifs #ahs imagine #american horror story imagine #ahs imagines #kit Walker #kit Walker imagine

63 notes · View notes

deusexmajima · 4 years

Text

majima meta

ok so since it was widely requested that i elaborate on what i meant when i said that majima’s lack of self during 90% of his adult life directly influenced a mental break in the 1990s/early 2000s, here is my essay on the subject! keep in mind that this is mostly speculation based on what we’ve seen in the games and will include heavy spoilers up through at least y5

SO with that in mind, let’s dig in

so the first thing we need to understand about majima is that he is through and through a performer. we know this, but more importantly he knows it too. he has a persona that he puts on for other people, even before he adopts his mish-mash mad dog persona (which we will get to in a second) and he takes on the role that they need him for at that time. in each and every period of his life, majima is playing a role: in y0 he plays the role of a cabaret manager and a would-be assassin, in kiwami he’s shimano’s puppet on a string and the “mad dog”, in kiwami 2 he’s a building specialist, in y3 he’s daigo’s guardian, in y4 he’s yasuko’s guardian and an informant, and in y5 he’s a martyr.

the mistake i see a lot of people make when analyzing his character in this respect is that this didn’t start in y0 when he adopted his newest persona of the “mad dog”. majima has always hidden himself away in some form or another and adapted himself to fit his surroundings and be the tool someone needs him to be. even in 1985 he’s playing up the role of a delinquent by adopting a more informal kansai accent, which saejima and shibata both call him out on explicitly.

meaning: he dropped the act long enough to tell saejima that he should stay behind and look after yasuko. but this scene gives us another important piece of information about majima that will come in handy in a bit. namely, he drops the persona when he’s being “serious”, as he bristles and says immediately after saejima points this out. in his point of view, the only time he is really himself is whenever he is being entirely open with someone and any other time, he’s closed off - hence why we only see him drop his various roles around people he trusts (saejima, kiryu, makoto, etc). this could be a defense mechanism or it could just be how he is personality-wise, idealizing a certain “character” that he has to perform as and then doing so without question.

another interesting thing to note is that throughout most of his life, it is never majima who assigns the roles that he plays. in y0 it was sagawa, in kiwami it was shimano, in y3 it was kiryu, in y4 it was saejima/kiryu, and in y5 it was kurosawa.

here’s where the problem lies: it absolutely is a defense mechanism after y0 but not for himself; it’s a defense mechanism for other people. majima, over the course of his life starting with the above scene, has come to learn that when he drops his act, people get hurt. badly. when he opens up and shows his true self, people get hurt and despite his best efforts he can’t do anything to stop it. shortly after this scene we see saejima proceed with the hit while majima is thrown into the hole without any way of stopping him and yasuko is left by herself. in y0, majima lets makoto get close to him and ends up having to let her go with someone else after directly putting her in harm’s way. then a few years later there’s the whole mess with mirei park.

after every one of these instances, the person he let get close to him ended up not only getting hurt, but he ends up losing them entirely - saejima in prison, makoto winding up with another man while never even knowing majima’s name, and his divorce. granted, two of those are more akin to some sort of self-exile, in which (x) person got hurt so now he has to get away from them to save them from further injury. majima doesn’t care about himself nor does he need protection from harm and he says as much repeatedly, but he does care about people he considers family and would do anything to protect them, including leaving them in the dust.

but after this self-imposed isolation to protect others, where does that leave majima? in the early to mid-90s, majima was absolutely the most alone he had ever been, stuck under a patriarch that didn’t care for him at best. for the first time in his life, majima didn’t have a family to fall back on - saejima was still in jail, he was no longer in charge of a gaggle of hostesses nor did he have sagawa to even pretend to care for him, and now mirei was gone. not to mention the fact that shimano had kept a strangle-hold on his leash up to that point. it had to have been hard on him and likely the only reason he kept himself alive was because he was waiting for saejima to come along and put a bullet in him. majima looked terrible in kiwami - he was gaunt, pale, looked like he hadn’t slept on a surface that wasn’t a couch in years, and was essentially emaciated. but again, i reiterate: he did this to himself because majima is physically unable to put himself and what he wants before anyone else, so he had to forcibly push everyone away to prevent them from getting hurt because of him. he basically let himself waste away in loneliness and discontent for ten years because he didn’t want anyone else to get close to him and, in his eyes, ruin their lives simply by letting himself get comfortable.

that is, until kiryu came back, grabbed him by the collar of that tacky jacket, and forced him to be his brother. but that’s an essay for another day.

so in conclusion:

this is what he wants people to see, but nothing has ever been further from the truth.

#wow i hope this is like. readable #and perhaps evokes a Thought #yakuza #majima goro #yakuza 0 #yakuza kiwami #yakuza kiwami 2 #saejima taiga #kiryu kazuma #wow this is long sorry #majima is a sad dancing clown on the stage of the tojo clan and i love him

257 notes · View notes

knives-out20 · 3 years

Text

The Impact Of The Intergalactic - David Bowie Opinion Essay - by Beck S.

This is an essay I wrote about the span of David Bowie's career. I wrote it for a summer school course I took last year (August 2021) for a course called History of Rock & Roll.

My teacher gave nice feedback after he marked it, talking about how it was an "Excellent paper. It charts Bowie's progress throughout his career well, and includes significant detail. I could really feel the passion you have about him throughout. In fact, there is *too much* detail! The paper was supposed to be 3 pages max, double-spaced. Still, this is a good problem to have; better too much than too little."

So...enjoy!!

From his early works like Hunky Dory, to Black Tie White Noise in the 1990’s and stretching over to Blackstar as his final album, David Bowie has rarely had a bad album or song- in my opinion. His career has had ups and downs, his musical creations ranging in the way he would pitch his voice and what instruments he would use, the people he would produce with, and the wild things he would say. Charting David Bowie’s development over time is in fact an interesting journey.

Early on in his dreamy career, Bowie would have done nearly anything- or in fact, anyone- to grow in the music world. Hopping from band to band (like The Velvet Underground), producer to producer, doing whatever he could do to get ‘in’ in the industry. His early albums weren’t taken very highly in their times- especially with the ‘man-dress’ he wore on the British release of his The Man Who Sold The World album. Although, this dress was only the start of the androgynous appearance he would soon be known for, over the course of his 5-decade-spanning career.

The 1970’s were strange, to say the least. He married Angela Bowie at the start of the decade, then welcomed their son Duncan Zowie Haywood Jones a year later. Bowie went on to be hopped up on cocaine. David donned the look of one of his famous personas, The Thin White Duke. The same persona with slicked-back ginger hair, a white button-up under a black waistcoat and paired with black dress pants. The same Duke who called Adolf Hitler one of the first ‘rock stars’ and gave off a lot of faschist energy. He said many statements he’d later apologize for and grow as a better man from, which is good- it’s better than standing by then, or even backing himself up and supporting them. David Bowie called that period the darkest days of his life, and blamed the crazy statements on his horrid addiction and deteriorating mental state. The late 1970’s were more favorable, seeing as it gave the world what was dubbed the Berlin Trilogy alongside Brian Eno and David’s personal friend, Iggy Pop. Made up of three of his albums: Low and Heroes (both in 1977) and Lodger (1978). He moved from Los Angeles to Switzerland, then to Berlin as a further decision to escape his addiction (the reason he moved away from LA in the first place). It was in Berlin, of course, where he wrote his famous song Heroes, about two lovers, one from East Berlin and one from West.

Speaking of Berlin, David Bowie performed near the west of the Berlin Wall in 1987; he played so loud that crowds gathered on the east to listen. At this time, Bowie had no idea he would be the beginning of the city’s soon-coming unifying. After his death in 2016, the German government thanked him for bringing the wall down and unifying a divided Germany.

Music isn’t all he is known for, though it is a majority. He also starred in movies from time to time. Being the titular man in The Man Who Fell To Earth in 1976, Jareth the moody goblin king in Jim Henson’s 1986 Labyrinth film (what is most likely his most famous role), Monte the barman in the 1991 movie The Linguini Incident, cameoing as himself in Zoolander (2001), Nikola Tesla in the 2006 movie The Prestige, and even Lord Royal Highness in Spongebob Squarepants’ Atlantis Squarepantis in 2007, among a few others. David Bowie dabbled in the art of acting, and was not that bad at it. He was good enough to gain a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, too. Sometimes it bends my mind that my first introduction to my all-time favourite musician was in a Spongebob Squarepants movie, back before I knew who he was, but David Bowie was never one to shy away from foreshadowing. At least one song from many of his albums would hint at the direction he’d go in for his next release. For example, his track Queen Bitch on Hunky Dory foreshadowed his soon-coming Ziggy Stardust. And the Diamond Dogs track 1984 actually hinted at the Philadelphian soul of Young Americans, which is a more famous song of his, which he went on to perform on The Cher Show with its host.

The 1990’s were certainly an experimental time for David Bowie. But to my knowledge, I think the 1990’s was a time for everyone. He married supermodel Iman some days after performing at the Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert, and released the album I named earlier, Black Tie White Noise. It is known to have had a prominent use of electronic instruments, as was his other 1990’s album, Earthling. The early 1990’s greeted David’s first real band since the Spiders From Mars, dubbed Tin Machine. They recorded three guitar-driven albums which received mixed reviews from the masses, but Bowie looks back at this period- as do I- with a certain fondness; “a glorious disaster” he called it, when talking to journalist Mick Brown. Tin Machine is a period I don’t listen to often, compared to his solo stuff, but I don’t press the skip button when it comes on.

Alas, the starman’s career drew to a close as the 2000s rolled in. David Bowie greeted the 2000’s with the birth of his and Iman’s daughter, the beautiful Alexandria Zahra Jones. After suffering a- strange, as it were- heart attack symptoms mid-song during a concert in 2004, he took a hiatus from his career. I say strange because given what I know, he was trying his best to stay healthy at the time. According to my special Rolling Stone edition magazine about David Bowie (released at the start of this year), he was on tour and performing in a really hot arena. But Bowie was sober, and had quit smoking. He was taking medication to lower his cholesterol, and worked out with a trainer. Bowie looked great, and yet he felt a pain in his shoulder and chest, along with a shortness for breath. A bodyguard rushed onstage to usher Bowie off of it, cutting the concert short. He only performed live once or twice after that point, but was set on never going live ever again. And he kept his word on that, unfortunately but also fortunately. Unfortunately, because David Bowie live would have been quite the experience- I wouldn’t know, personally. But fortunately, because I do not believe anyone needs a repeat of the 2004 Reality scare.

I am actually not too fond of speaking of his final years. Nobody really likes to speak of the last years of their idols’ life before their death, so it’s no surprise. Blackstar was David Bowie’s 25th and final album, recorded entirely in secret in New York alongside his long-time producer, Tony Visconti. The album's central theme lyrically is mortality, and seeing as Bowie was undergoing chemotherapy for his cancer at the time, I see it as his way of coping with his incoming death. His producer Tony Visconti called him a ‘canny bastard’, when he realized Bowie was essentially writing a farewell album. Every song on the album is what is considered a swan song, a swan song in question being a phrase for a final gesture of some sort before retirement or death. In this case, death. Over the course of recording the album, David Bowie’s chemotherapy had actually been working and he had an eerie optimism while recording. But by the time they shot the two music videos Blackstar and Lazarus, where he showed off the definite passage of time and cruelty of chemotherapy through sparse and gray hair with sagging skin, he knew his condition was terminal and that this would be a battle he would lose. Blackstar wasn’t the first album to have been made by a musician succumbing to a fatal illness, but in my opinion it is in fact the most beautiful. It’s jazzy, and elegant, showing how at peace he had become with dying.

Blackstar the album was released on January 8th, 2016. Also known as David Bowie’s 69th birthday. Two days later, David Bowie died at his Lafayette Street home on January 10th after living with liver cancer for up to 18 months. Beforehand, he had let it be known he did not want a funeral nor a burial, but rather that his body be cremated and the ashes to be scattered in Bali by his loved ones. His wish was received, and planet Earth was very much bluer and quieter without his colour and wonderful noise.

As I said earlier on, David Bowie’s career came with ups and downs. His mysteriously close relationship with Mick Jagger, his cross with famous underage groupie Lori Maddox, the births of his two talented children, his faschist bender in the 70’s, and final bang of Blackstar in his final year on earth. Through the highs and lows, his career and his music meant a lot to the quote-unquote misfits and freaks of the world, myself included. David Bowie turned and faced the strange, shouted “you’re not alone!” To those who felt the loneliest, he surely spent his career helping those who needed to be themselves, feel more freer and braver in doing so, no matter what they may be when they are themselves. He never went boring, he never went stale, he sang what he wanted and dressed how he pleased, and kept to his word on how much more to life there is when you’re just that; yourself. A year after David Bowie’s untimely passing, his son Duncan Jones accepted an award for British album of the year that was won by Blackstar at the 37th annual Brit Awards. When he accepted it, he made a speech about his father that I will leave here, and never forget. Seeing as it perfectly encapsulates David Bowie’ legacy, and the true meaning of his extraordinary career.

“I lost my dad last year, but I also became a dad. And, uhm, I was spending a lot of time- after getting over the shock- of trying to work out what would I want my son to know about his granddad? And I think it would be the same thing that most of my dad's fans have taken over the last 50 years. That he’s always been there supporting people who think they’re a little bit weird or a little bit strange, a little bit different, and he’s always been there for them. So...this award is for all the kooks, and all the people who make the kooks. Thanks, Brits, and thanks to his fans.” - Duncan Z. H. Jones (February 22 2017, at The O2 Arena in London.)

13 notes · View notes

swan--writes · 3 years

Text

A Very Mr. Finn Christmas

There was something about ‘Dewey Christmas’ that just sounded...wrong. Anyway, Merry Belated Christmas to those who celebrate! ❤💚

Warnings: none

Words: 1,936

The year had been a bastard. First was your dog dying, then Dewey getting sent home for last school year because of the pandemic, then the spike in visibility of police brutality and the protests. The summer had been brutally hot, you weren’t working, you and Dewey had had to quarantine separately for more than a month and neither of you had been able to see any of your friends. You spent so much time on the couch at your parents’ place upstate before your partner eventually joined you, once his own lease had run out. Despite both of your relief at Dewey getting out of the city, that had also been when he found out for certain that he wouldn’t be able to see his kids in person. California had caught fire, one of your grandparents died of lung cancer and had a funeral you couldn’t attend because of COVID, and another was all set to spend Christmas in the hospital.

Yes, the year had indeed been a bastard, but thankfully, it was almost a dead bastard.

Since your parents had broken down and gone to visit your aunt, you and Dewey had the large house to yourselves for two weeks. The two of you had been pleasantly surprised: despite both needing a healthy amount of alone time, you still weren’t sick of each other. Not only that, but your relationship had fully survived the year. If anything, you were closer now. You still loved his soft eyes, the give of his chubby stomach when he held you, the way his arms felt like your own personal radiators.

Perhaps you shouldn’t have been surprised. Dewey Finn was the kindest man you knew, and the best partner you could have asked for. As immature and rambunctious as he could be, he was also sweet and soft and – though he would never admit it – quite sensitive. Dewey hadn’t seemed to want to talk about it, but he was pretty clearly heartbroken that he couldn’t see his students face-to-face this year. He had held most of his frustration in, since he knew how much it bothered you that you couldn’t work at all with the pandemic happening. Still, you could hear him grumbling in the office your parents had set up for him.

Now, at Christmas, you were trying to find ways to make the season special for your partner. By the last week, you were holding yourself back from writing out a literal Festivities Schedule. You had made a plague year Christmas playlist, trying your best to channel him as you arranged it. It was far from perfect, but you thought he appreciated it.

Your dad’s studio was full of art supplies, so you and Dewey painted ornaments. Neither of you were particularly skilled, but he didn’t care, so you decided you didn’t care either. Fortunately, you had thought to wear clothes you could get paint on because, naturally, it had taken all of ten minutes for your painting session to turn into a full on paint battle to the death. You were fairly certain Dewey had started it, though he insisted on his innocence. Either way, you wound up with Shining Stars gold on your nose and Dark Winter Skies blue all over your sleeve. Dewey got a streak of Santa Red on his arm and splashes of Sparkling Snow glittery white across his shirt and pants. You were sure you still had some glitter in your hair from when he had tackled you and, in a gruff Muppet voice, insisted that you had turned him into the Glitter Monster. Dewey had tickled you until your tears of laughter had soaked into his shirt.

Eventually, you thought to tap out and, breathlessly, you kissed his hand in surrender. Dewey had kissed your nose in return, and come away with a smudge of gold paint across his lips. So he left to wash his face, and you left to make Christmas cookies, and he joined you in the kitchen. You spend the rest of the night playing Mary Lambert’s new holiday EP and singing at each other, harmonizing at all the best parts. He, of course, had no patience for ‘Ave Maria,’ and took the opportunity to wrap his arms around you – getting yet more glitter all over you – and gently sway with you.

The next day was when the snowstorm hit. Your parents’ plow guy cleared the driveway (twice), but you and Dewey were responsible for the walkway. You woke up early to shovel first thing in the morning, despite Dewey’s unconscious arm trying to prevent you from getting out of bed. Peeking through the curtains, you almost let him.

One hour after you went back inside, you could hardly tell that you had shoveled at all.

The snow was lighter on the walkway, however, when you went back outside with Dewey to shovel again. You got the sense that he was enjoying it far too much, and you wondered if he had ever had to shovel before. You imagined that growing up in NYC didn’t leave many opportunities, but you didn’t ask. In fact, you were especially quiet all day.

Finally, when you lost power, Dewey asked if you were alright. It wasn’t until he asked that you realized that the seasonal depression had snuck back into your brain. Dewey was predictably wonderful, and you had to bite the inside of your cheek to hold back tears. Your partner stood back while you lit up the stone fireplace in your mother’s library, then rolled you up in a blanket on the floor, scattering a few pillows around you.

Dewey heated apple cider over the fire. He picked out a small copy of A Christmas Carol, bound in soft red leather, with gold leaf decorating the cover. It had your mother’s name in it, and just below that, yours in shaky lettering. That did make you cry, but only for a moment. Dewey leaned back against your legs and read the first stave to you while you drank your cider. You took over for him after that, for the next stave. Since you were both musicians with decent vocal stamina, you managed to get through the entire book before you had to call it a night.

When you woke up the next day, it was Christmas Eve. The power was back on, the decorations were hung, the tree was decorated, the presents were wrapped, and the cookies were soft. All that was left was to prep dinner for Christmas Day and dance in the kitchen. As far as Dewey was concerned, there was no type of dancing better than kitchen dancing, and you had to agree. Your parents’ kitchen had plenty of open space, and you could twirl each other around or slide in your socks without running into counters or corners.

The plow guy came by to do one more pass over the driveway and throw down some salt. You donned your mask for the first time all week to bring a box of Christmas cookies out to his truck. It surprised you, how thrilled you were to speak to a new human.

When you returned to Dewey, it still felt as cozy as ever. He jumped around to what almost felt like sacrilegious renditions of Christmas songs, including – though not limited to – a truly perplexing version of ‘All I Want for Christmas is You’ by a supremely emo band from the early 2000s. Dewey had insisted it be added to your playlist, and who were you to argue?

He brought out his guitar while you made the sweet potatoes. You were particular about your grandmother’s sweet potato recipe. When he rolled up his sleeves to make pie dough, you hopped up onto the counter, sufficiently out of the way. Dewey wouldn’t give you his exact recipe, though considering his tendency to use bowls instead of measuring cups, you weren’t entirely certain that he knew his exact recipe.

By the time you were both finished with all of the dishes, it was pitch dark out. There was butter underneath his fingernails and French bread underneath yours, flour on both of your shirts, and tension in both of your backs. You fell asleep long before midnight.

The next morning, you heard Dewey’s voice before you saw his face.

“Hey,” he said. His lips brushed against your ear.

You groaned and snuggled deeper under your Christmas quilt.

“Hey,” your partner said, more insistently. He squeezed your waist, and you groaned again but opened your eyes.

“Yes?” you muttered.

Dewey nosed at the skin below your ear. “Merry Christmas.”

Your eyes sprung open now, and you sat up. “It’s Christmas.”

“Yeah.” You could hear the smile in his voice. He must have been awake for a while now.

“Merry Christmas.” You looked at him then. There was a cold gray light filtering into the room, and you could see snow falling gently through a gap in the curtains across from the bed. Dewey’s hair was mussed, and a few waves hung in his face. His stubble was coming in full force. His tee shirt was wrinkled. There was still some Christmas Tree green clinging to the edges of his fingernails.

“What are you lookin’ at?” he asked you playfully.

You suppressed an eye roll and settled for tapping his nose. “You, wise guy. You’re cozy.”

“I’m cozy?”

“M-hm.”

“Can a person look cozy?”

“Well obviously, ‘cause you do. You’re cute.” You tapped his nose again, twice, very lightly. Dewey scrunched up the bridge of his nose, but didn’t lose the soft joy in his expression. “Oh! I have something for you.” You reached blindly for your phone, feeling around on the bedside table while Dewey straightened up.

“Didn’t we set out all our presents?”

“Yeah…” you dragged out the word. “This was sorta last minute.” Your partner waited while you found your phone and opened up your photo gallery. When you found the video you wanted, you opened it and held up the phone between yourself and Dewey.

“…baby?” he said when he saw what was on the screen,

“Yeah?”

“What is this?”

“I may or may not have conspired with your students behind your back.”

In the video, Summer was yelling at his band, trying valiantly to get them all into some sort of order. It seemed to be working. The students seemed to be in their band room, but most of them wore masks. The only kids who were unmasked were Dewey’s singers, and they were spaced apart from one another.

“Is that legal?” Dewey asked. You elbowed him, and he laughed. It was a quiet laugh, though. Almost astonished.

“Hi, Mr. Finn!” Summer said in the video, now facing the camera. “We wanted to do something for you, after all your hard work during these times. So we–”

“She means your–”

“Freddy! Shut it!” Summer snapped. After a short breath, she turned to the camera once again. “We put a little something together for you.” With that, Summer practically touch-stepped offscreen.

When you glanced over at Dewey, he was watching you.

“What?” you laughed.

“I love you.” You heard cymbals playing through your phone’s speaker.

“Shh, it’s starting!” You snapped your attention back to the screen. Dewey shook his head, but followed your gaze.

“I love you too,” you muttered quickly, as the first chords of ‘Faith Noel’ began to spring from Lawrence’s keyboard.

Outside, the snow fell softly to the ground. Inside, beside Dewey, you were warm, and he was cozy, and he loved you. What more could you ask for on Christmas?

Please reblog, if ye are so moved.

Tags List: @skiddyyo @a-okay-rj @geeky-marie @darkblueeyedperson @hannah-de-lioncourt @ironmansuucks @missihart23 @ballerinafairyprincess @thewolfisapartofmysoul

35 notes · View notes

howaminotinthestrokesyet · 3 years

Text

Road Dogs: Metallica on Tour

Metallica‘s first ever gig took place at Radio City in Anaheim, California in March 1982. Their set list included primarily covers with only two original songs, “Hit the Lights” and “Fight Fire with Fire.” They did Savage’s ‘Let It Loose,’ Blitzkrieg’s ‘Blitzkrieg,’ Sweet Savage’s ‘Killing Time’ and four Diamond Head tracks. For diehard fans, this original lineup did not include Cliff Burton as of yet, but instead Ron McGovney. They eventually asked him to leave the group because the guitarist did not contribute anything of value. Another good reason came in the fact that Dave Mustaine fought with him repeatedly. James Hetfield would later say this about that show. “There were a lot of people there, maybe 200, because we had all my school friends and all Lars’ and Ron’s and Dave’s buddies. I was really nervous and a little uncomfortable without a guitar, and then during the first song Dave broke a string. It seemed to take him an eternity to change it and I was standing there really embarrassed. We were really disappointed afterwards. But there were never as many people at the following shows as there were at that first one.”

Metallica’s second and third show took place at the Whiskey a Gogo in Los Angeles. This venue would be where Hetfield and Lars Ulrich first heard future bassist Cliff Burton and his band Trauma. More recently, Ulrich revealed diary entries related to Metallica’s appearances there. "No sound check. Sound was awful. Played great myself, but the band as a whole sucked. Went down OK." The group opened for Saxon, who the drummer had met six months prior after sneaking backstage during one of their shows. After the concert, the monitor engineer asked Ulrich if he had ever heard of Diamondhead. “Of course, we have, we just played a bunch of their songs!" As it turned out, the crew member was only joking about Diamond Head. He would later go on to work for Metallica in the same position for 22 years.

On April 16, 1983 Metallica played its first show with new guitarist Kirk Hammett at the Showplace in Dover, New Jersey. They had begun recording their debut album Kill ‘Em All in Rochester, New York at that time. The set list included all original material that would land on that first album making up nine songs. Hammett had replaced Dave Mustaine, who held quite a bit of ill will towards him for years claiming in 1985 that Kirk ripped off all his guitar riffs, which got him noticed in the metal community. In defense of Hammett, he was simply trying not to make waves in his new group as Ulrich and Hetfield had definitely decided not to cut any contributions from Mustaine.

On March 5, 1983 Metallica played its first show with Cliff Burton at The Stone in San Francisco, who had replaced Ron McGovney. In 2018, a recording of the show came to light online, which you can listen to on YouTube. The lineup still included Dave Mustain as well taking place a month before the other band members would fire him. They performed 12 songs that night essentially previewing everything to be included on their debut album. At that time, James Hetfield was still struggling over whether he should sing lead. On the recording, you can tell why this became the case as his voice sounds incredibly scratchy with absolutely no technique whatsoever. The show also became memorable as a Cliff Burton debuted the future track, “Anesthesia (Pulling Teeth).”

Cliff Burton played his last show was Metallica in Stockholm, Sweden in September 1986 before his tragic passing. A few years ago, Metallica released a boxed set of rarities for their album, Master of Puppets, which included a recording of that final show. In an interview with Rolling Stone, Lars Ulrich and Kirk Hammett talked about their memories of that last concert with Cliff. Ulrich noted, “We played the show in Stockholm, and it went incredibly well. I think it may have been a rare case where we actually played an additional song that wasn’t on the set list, because the show was so good. That’s not something we did a lot then or now. So there was a good vibe.” Hammett would say this in the same interview, “It was significant because it was the first show where James played guitar again (Wrist Injury). He strapped on a guitar and was able to play the encore; I think it was “Blitzkrieg” or something. But I remember the five of us, including John Marshall, being really stoked James was back and playing and looking like was gonna make a pretty healthy recovery. I distinctly remember that show being good, and the feeling when we got offstage was really great and positive and forward-looking. Like, “Great, James is back in and it won’t be long ’til we’re back to our old selves again.”

In November 1986, Jason Newsted would play his first show with Metallica at the Country Club in Reseda, California. He did so in front of a sparse crowd because it had been a secret show for the group Metal Church. Newsted had played with the band for only a short time during rehearsals for the next album. James Hetfield introduced Newsted for the very first time in this way. “Welcome to the very, very secret Metallica gig that every fucker knows about! Here’s the new fucker right over here man, this is the guy… Jason Newsted, we fucking love him, man, so make him feel at home, alright? I want to have some fun tonight.” Their set list would consist of 14 songs from their first three album releases.

In the summer of 1992, Metallica decided to perform a few dates with Guns ‘N Roses. The hype for these shows represented the tour of the year, but the show in Montreal turned into a tragic affair. A pyrotechnic accident occurred as they performed “Fade To Black” causing second and third degree burns on half of singer James Hetfield's body. He recalled the incident, “I'm burnt – all my arm, my hand completely, down to the bone. The side of my face, hair's gone. Part of my back. ... I watched the skin just rising, things going wrong." Jason Newsted would remember that Hetfield looked like the Toxic Avenger from his vantage point. The group immediately cut the show short, so the singer could receive medical attention. He would later say that during the trip to the hospital a road crew member bumped his burnt hand leading him to punch the guy in his “nuts.” For fans still at the show, things only got worse as Guns ‘N Roses delayed getting on stage for two hours. Axl Rose probably only sang for 20 minutes before cutting his night short. GNR Had known what had happened to Hetfield, but they still phoned it in anyway. After that, 2000 people rioted in protest followed by several arrests. This night would lead to great animosity between the two groups for years continuing to this day, but it should be noted that Metallica acted professionally completing the tour with an injured Hetfield. Slash of Guns N’ Roses would later talk about the tour being a financial disaster for them. “Metallica was earning the exact same paycheck as we were every night but while they pocketed the whole thing, we were blowing 80 percent both on union dues for all of the overtime we cost ourselves going on late and on these stupid theme parties. It was just bad." Axl had spent extravagantly on backstage parties in an effort to impress members of Metallica.

In April 1999, Metallica recorded two performances on successive nights with the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra led by Michael Kamen. The idea for such a concert had first come up when they worked with the composer on the Black Album song, “Nothing Else Matters.” He had approached them about such a collaboration, but never heard anything until years later receiving a phone call from Lars Ulrich. They filmed the live show at Berkeley Community Theater in San Francisco as Kamen had written additional material to supplement Metallica’s arrangements. The band also released two new songs specifically for the show, “No Leaf Clover” and “Human.” According to James Hetfield, This idea of combining heavy metal and classical music was originally an idea brought up by Cliff Burton, who had a strong background in both. One can see this throughout Metallica’s songwriting in their early years as the bassist relied on melody and instrumental qualities found in classical compositions like his favorite one, Johan Sebastian Bach. S&M would be released as a concert film and an album, with the latter reaching number one on the Billboard 200 chart.

In 1991, Metallica would play a concert in Russia that has become the stuff of legends because 1.6 million people watched it in person. The highlight of the show came when they played “Enter Sandman” as one could see Russian military personnel rocking out just as hard as anybody else. One must note that they were not the only band there that day as other artists included the Black Crowes, Queensryche, Motley Crue, and AC/DC. The Monsters of Rock Festival would only occur this one year in what would become the former Soviet Union. Motley Crue had played one of the early versions of the festival in 1984, but ironically Metallica had surpassed them as a more popular headliner by this time.

In August 2020, Metallica became the first rock act to perform a pre-recorded concert for Encore Live’s drive-in series. Due to COVID-19 restrictions, live concerts were canceled all over the world, so artists like Blake Shelton and Garth Brooks participated in this drive-in movie concert experience. Tickets to view this at your local drive-in cost $115 for up to six people per car. The show took place at an undisclosed location near their home in San Rafael, California.

9 notes · View notes

jamielea81 · 4 years

Text

Just a Simple Lie

Chapter 8

Description: Having worked on small independent films for the better part of a decade, your friend tells you about an opening for a script supervisor with a large studio. Wanting to advance your career, you apply and get an interview. The only downside, they prefer to hire crew who are married. It’s just a simple lie, right?

Pairing: Chris Evans x Reader

Warnings: Cursing, Drinking, Fluff and Angst

A/N: I really love this chapter and hope you guys do too! As always, this fic is simply for fun. I know nothing about the personal lives of the two actors in this series and mean no harm. I am also totally guessing regarding the studio talk. Comments, reblogs, and likes are always welcome.

Word Count: 4,066

Catch up with chapter 7

Everything was packed back into the large storage bins they came in. Your desk was cleaned out and everything in your hotel room was shoved into a suitcase and a duffle bag. Filming had been completed in the Great White North. There were a couple of scenes that needed to be reshot, but that wouldn’t be more than a week. Monica had changed your flights to an earlier time, stating she didn’t want to sit around the worn-out motel room when she could be headed home to sunny skies. This only caused slight panic on your end. You hated being rushed. Sure, you were a last-minute packer, but when it was unofficially part of your job to make sure all wardrobe and set accessories were returning back to the states, it stressed you out.

The plane would be boarding in a matter of minutes and Monica thought now was the perfect time to grab coffee. You on the other hand were digging through your carry-on bag. Joanna had quite the sweet tooth, even more now that she was pregnant. You had picked up a bag of maple candy but of course you couldn’t find it. You phone buzzed in your purse that was on the empty seat next to you. Zipping up your carry-on, you picked up the bag on your left and dug through the bottomless pit that was your purse, finding both the maple candy as well as your phone.

Chris: What are you doing?

Y/N: I can tell you what I’m not doing…sleeping. Relaxing. Sipping a Mai Tai by the pool. But not the pool here at the hotel, but the pool at my apartment complex where it’s a lot warmer.

Chris: 😂😂😂

Chris had flown to Boston for a couple of days since he didn’t have to be back to California for filming for another three days.

Chris: Bet you can’t wait for filming to be done.

Y/N: If you’re asking me today, yes. But I’m sure next week I’ll be missing it.

Chris: Yeah, this was a fun shoot. I’m going to miss everybody. Some more than others.

Y/N: *Turns around to look behind me*

Y/N: Who me?

You could feel your face grow warmer and warmer. Thankfully, Monica hadn’t returned.

Chris: You have to know I care about you.

“Fuck,” you swore.

Chris: Of course, I’m going to miss you.

Miss. Just another point in the “this is temporary” bucket. You’d miss him too. There was no doubt in your mind.

Y/N: I’m going to miss you too.

Y/N: Monica is giving me the evil eye for not paying attention to her. See you back in Cali.

She wasn’t back, but he didn’t have to know that. This conversation was getting to be too much for you. Your resolve was breaking. You shut off your phone just as Monica appeared with two large to go cups and a small plastic bag full of cream capsules and sweeteners.

“Life saver,” you said, grabbing one of the cups.

Reshoots were now complete. Despite your better judgement, you had spent a large amount of time in Chris’ trailer. Purely innocent of course. He wooed you with gourmet coffee and kept you coming back with pastries. All of it better than what was being served by Craft Services. He found a bakery near the studio the day he was back on set for reshoots and just kept going back. Chris was footing the bill, so you really couldn’t complain. It was like the two of you were trying to spend as much time together as possible. Both of you knowing this would probably be it. Chris didn’t have any other projects with Stone Lite and since your contract was with the studio, you wouldn’t be working together any time soon.

The studio did indeed extend your contract for another movie. Monica apparently had the inside scoop as they did want the two of you working together again like she mentioned. The next film was a teen romantic comedy and the only names you had recognized were the two leads that had done a few things for the Disney Channel. You were a closet Disney freak, what could you say?

The wrap party was in two nights and since you were staying on with the studio, you were going. But Chris didn’t need to know that.

“You’re going,” Chris said bumping his elbow into your side.

You were snug between him and Dodger on his trailer’s couch. The sleeping dog’s nose rested slightly on your thigh. The Evans boys needed to learn a thing or two about space.

Shaking your head like a child, you kept your eyes on your phone reading through e-mails about the next film that would start filming in three weeks.

“Don’t shake your head at me. It’s the last time we’ll be together. I mean, um, all of us will be together.”

You looked up, giving him a disinterested stare. You caught his words, but you were trying to keep it together here. “I don’t know. Seems kind of lame. I mean, I see you guys every day.”

“You’re a pain in my ass. You know that?”

“I think I caught that vibe,” you said jabbing him back with your elbow. “Of course, I’m going. My contract got extended. It would look terrible if I didn’t.”

“Plus, me,” he said with a pout.

“And you Christopher.”

The music was blaring. Some C or D list celebrity the studio hired to DJ the party was pumping out early 2000s dance music. You could barely hear Monica who was standing next to you. Everyone was dressed to the nines including yourself. A sparkly black dress Jana threw at you because “I’ll never fit into it again!” she had said dramatically. She acted in high school and college. That was always Ian’s reasoning when she let her emotions take control of the conversation. Her loss was your gain. It hit just at the knees and had cute, puffy cap sleeves. The neckline was cut in a V and showed the tiniest bit of cleavage. Tasteful cleavage as you liked to call it. You would give it back to her at some point after the baby was born. It would sit in the back of your closet after tonight. Besides, it wasn’t like you spent your evenings in fancy Beverly Hills’ hotels every week.

You excused yourself from your small group and wobbled your way to the bar for another drink. The shoes were yours and barely used. Black, sexy leather with a tall skinny heel. You didn’t do heels, but flats just simply wouldn’t do. Not with this dress anyway.

White wine was your drink of choice for the night. You had spent a lot of money on a Lyft to the party and you would do so on the way home too, so you planned to have drinks. But you were not getting wasted. Not in your fancy borrowed dress and most certainly not in these shoes.

You leaned against the polished wood bar, careful not to lean on the parts that were wet with condensation from drinks that were placed on it earlier in the night. The small black clutch was held tightly in your left hand as the fingers on your right drummed to OutKast’s Hey Ya.

An arm was thrown around your shoulders as you felt the weight of a body pushed against you. It was Chris. You could smell the spice of his cologne without even looking.

“Howdy stranger. What’ll it be? I’m buying,” you joked, not sparring him a glance.

“Is that because the studio’s picking up the tab tonight?”

You turned to face him, his arm dropping off of your shoulder. He stepped in closer, your back hitting the bar. He breath fanned against your face, smelling like beer and mint.

Apparently, Mr. Evans likes to pre-game it.

“Maybe so. I tip well though.” You turned back around seeing that your wine glass was waiting for you. You dropped a couple of ones into the large glass picture placed just below the counter top.

“Next round,” he said. “My brother’s grabbing us some drinks.”

“Ah, that elusive brother of yours is here?” you asked.

Chris had talked so much about Scott that you felt like you knew him.

He nodded his head, biting at his lower lip. “You look great by the way.”

You curtsied, which only caused him to laugh. “Not looking so bad yourself, Chris.” But when did he not look better than most? Black dress pants with a black button-down shirt tucked in. A textured black belt around his waist breaking up the full black attire a bit.

His cheeks tinted pink. Looking past you, he waved someone over. Most likely his brother.

“Y/N, this is Scott,” he started before his brother came into view behind you.

Two beers in hand, he walked past you, handing one off to Chris. “Finally. This one never shuts up. I was afraid he’d lost it and you didn’t actually exist.”

“And I feel like we’re already friends. I know your shoe size and favorite restaurant back in Massachusetts.”

“If I didn’t already know my brother blabs about me, I’d think I have a stalker on my hands.” He set his bottle on the bar top and wrapped you in a hug. It took you by surprise for a moment, making you wobble on your feet.

“Good to meet you too Scott,” you chuckled.

He picked up his bottle and pinged it against your glass. “You too!”

“Where’s Travis?” Chris asked, looking around the space, taking a sip from his bottle.

“He’s not here. Working,” you added as an after-thought.

Yeah, I suppose significant others comes to these types of things.

Chris furrowed his brow and gave Scott a look you couldn’t read. The two of them seemed to have a silent conversation while you nervously sipped on your wine.

“We should dance!” Scott blurted, grabbing your mostly full glass from your hand and setting it on the bar. He reached your hand and pulled you to the dance floor. You turned backed to Chris who stayed put, bottle tipped at his lips.

Get Low had just started play over the sound system. Scott held both of your hands in his while he indeed got low to the ground bringing a smile to your lips.

“Come on!” he encouraged.

A giggle erupted out of your mouth that didn’t sound like your own. With your hands still embraced in his, your hips swayed back and forth with you knees bending bringing you close to the floor. You slowly swayed back up only for Scott to start to go down. You were having a blast and you wished that you had met Scott Evans sooner.

The night went on with you successfully dodging the several shot glasses that were handed your way. Your big mouth had gotten you in enough trouble over the course of this shoot when alcohol was involved. You had one additional glass of wine and had already switched to water.

After taking several pictures in the makeshift photobooth with various crew members, you found yourself back on the dance floor. You didn’t have a full range of motion with the shoes you were wearing but you could sway and raise your hands up with the best of them.

Monica, who you didn’t see as much of a dancer, and Maggie, had trapped you in the middle of their makeshift dance circle along with about two dozen or so sweaty bodies. Everyone was letting loose and having a good time, so you let yourself as well.

The Evans brothers joined your intimate group on the dance floor much to Monica’s delight. You were pretty sure you heard her say “thank god” when Chris danced his way to you. The man could move and you had a hard time keeping to the beat of Usher’s Yeah! while your eyes stayed glued to him.

Hollaback came on to a chorus of screams from all the women on the dance floor. You threw your head back with laughter but sang right along with everyone else with one hand in the air.

Few times I've been around that track So it's not just gonna happen like that 'Cause I ain't no hollaback girl I ain't no hollaback girl

Chris left the dance floor a couple of times, each time returning with a new bottle of beer. Disappointment flooded your mind when you remembered this would probably be the last time, you’d see him. You really wanted to just hangout with your friend and talk in one of the booths that lined the back wall. It was quieter over there, but he was having fun and drinking quite a bit.

It was like a junior high dance when half the dance floor disappeared when Aerosmith’s I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing started to play. Maggie, Monica, and you huddled with your arms linked dancing slowly to the music. A strong tug on your arm had you dropping hands with Maggie. Chris reached for it, placing it on his shoulder while his hands went to your waist.

Oh. Oh!

You placed your other hand on his shoulder and looked around the large room as the two of you swayed. This was so much like a school dance except the cute boy had chosen you instead of you finding a seat on the bleachers.

“So, you come here often?” Humor was your distraction of choice.

You were nervous and often used humor as a way to make yourself calm down. You were already sweating from being on the dance floor for over an hour. Being so close to him wasn’t helping.

Chris smiled at you with sleepy eyes. “I’m gonna miss you, you know? Not gonna be the same.” You nodded your head, trying to concentrate on the song rather than the man in front of you. “You’re gonna meet a whole new group of people on your next film and forget all about me.”

You shook your head. “Not possible.”

“Gonna go off and get married. To that kid,” he shook his head and lowered his eyes. He had a barely there smile on his face, but he was sad. There was no mistaking it. “You happy?” he asked, eyes finding yours.

“Ye-yeah. I’m happy, Chris.”

Chris leaned his head forward and kissed your forehead with that soft pouty mouth. You closed your eyes and took a big breath through your nose. You lowered your head so that it rested on his shoulder. This was all too much. It was all over and there was no going back. If you could do it all again, there would be no ring on your finger. No pretend fiancé. You probably wouldn’t have this job, but at least you wouldn’t have this sadness in your heart.

The song ended and you let your arms fall of his shoulder. Someone smacked your butt making you whip around to see a sly smile on Monica’s face.

“Brat!” you yelled.

She put an arm around your shoulder and pulled you close. “You lucky bitch.”

You laughed loudly and hugged her as she pulled you back into the ladies’ dance circle. You turned your head to see Chris leave the dance floor, Scott following after him.

It was late and about half the attendees had already left for the evening. Some of the crew were going to a diner about a block away for food since everyone was mainly drunk and hungry. You hadn’t seen Chris since your impromptu slow dance. He wouldn’t leave without saying goodbye, or at least you didn’t think he would. After searching a bit, you shot him a text telling him about the plans for the diner and to call you. You stepped outside into the chilly evening air, regretting not slipping on a jacket before you left your place. David, his wife, Monica, Joe, Javier, and Maggie were waiting for you.

“Y/N.”

You spun around to see Chris in the opposite direction on the sidewalk, cigarette in his hand. He took a puff of it before throwing it to the ground and blowing the smoke away from you. It surprised you because you’d never actually seen him smoke before.

“Hey,” you said, taking a few steps closer to him. “We’re going to grab something to eat. Want to come with? I sent you a text.” He licked his lips, hands going into his front pockets. He didn’t respond, so you spoke again. “Where’s Scott?”

“He’s inside. He knows some people here.” Chris shook his head. “Can we talk?”

“Uh, yeah. Give me a sec.”

You turned back the other way where your group was huddled. “I’ll meet you there. Save me a seat.”

“You got it,” David said.

Chris waited for you just outside the hotel door. The doorman opened it for you and the two of you stepped inside. The dance music had ended and but there were still plenty of people at the bar in the private room. Chris grabbed your hand and pulled you into a room that was labeled Business Center on the door. He shut the door behind you and turned to face you. He didn’t speak and if you were being honest, you were scared to death. He had drank a lot over the course of the night, but he didn’t seem drunk.

“What did you want to talk about?” you asked hesitantly.

This dress needs pockets.

The urge to hide is strong and you don’t know why. Something just didn’t feel right.

“Why isn’t Travis here, Y/N?”

“I told you, work.”

“That’s bullshit. That’s bullshit, Y/N. It’s late.”

“He’s working on a new script. We understand each other. Work is important to the both of us.”

Chris ran a hand through his hair, messing up the perfectly styled hairdo.

“Are you happy, Y/N?” Before you could respond, he started to speak again. “Cause you don’t seem happy.”

“God Chris. Where is this coming from?” You turned your back to him, crossing your arms.

“Why are you marrying him, Y/N?”

Every time he says your name, it’s like a nail in your heart.

“I love him.” It’s weak and even you know it. “He’s one of my best friends.”

Neither of those things is a lie. Just not the whole truth.

He comes to stand close behind you, but you don’t turn around.

“He’s not right for you. You never talk about him. We filmed for over three months and he only showed up for like two days, Y/N. You never went home to see him when you could have. He never called you or texted you when we were together. And we were together a lot.”

“What do you want me to say Chris?” You turned around to face him and he looked so damn defeated. “Not every couple needs to be together all the time.”

He shook his head. “Don’t marry him, Y/N.” You let out a puff of air, dropping your butt into one of the office rolling chairs, crossing your arms again. “He’s not right for you.”

This is too much. This was supposed to be easy.

“This isn’t fair, Chris. Why are you doing this?”

He dropped his hands onto the chair’s armrests, hovering over you. “I don’t want you to make this big mistake.”

“It’s not that simple. There are things you don’t know.”

Fuck!

He pushed away from you and turned his back.

“I care about you,” he sighed, taking another deep breath. “Does he make you laugh? Do you smile when you think about him?” He turns back around and now you can see that his eyes are glossy. “Don’t marry him.”

“Please don’t do this,” you said softly, dropping your face into your hands.

“You deserve everything.”

Dropping your hands from your face, you stood up and turned away from him again. “Oh, yeah? Why? What do I deserve, Chris?”

“Jesus, Y/N! Can’t you see that I’m crazy about you?” he pleaded.

You turned back around, with your eyes wide. “Chris,” you said softly.

He stepped forward and took your hands in his. “You deserve to be happy. You deserve someone who loves you more than they ever dreamed imaginable. Someone who treats you like the sweet, beautiful, caring woman you are.” He brought your hands to his lips, kissing each one softly. “I want to hear your voice every day. I want to see your smile because when I’m with you, I can only smile. I want to know what you had to eat. What dumb thing David texted you about,” he chuckled. “If not me, you deserve someone who wants all those things from you.”

You couldn’t help yourself. If anyone asked you about it later, you’d say you temporarily gone insane. With you head leaning closer to his, you closed the gap between the two of you and kissed him. It was soft and sweet and over too quickly but the urge to have him stop talking and the urge to feel his lips on yours won over your rational side. You pulled back only to have him place a hand on the back of your head and pull you to him again. His tongue sought entrance as it played at the crease of your lips. You pulled away. This wasn’t fair to him. He had to know the truth.

Tears slowly trailed down your cheeks. Thick, fat tears because of all the wonderful things he’s said about you but also because you’ve been lying to this wonderful man. Chris let go of your right hand and wiped away the tears on your cheeks.

“I’m not,” you started. “I’m not marrying Travis.”

“You’re not?”

You shook your head no. “We’re not together. Can we sit down?” Chris nodded and pulled one of the other rolling chairs over to the one you previously occupied.

“What’s going on, Y/N?” he asked.

“Stone Lite has an odd hiring practice that most people in the industry know about. It’s not anything official because I’m pretty sure they could get into a lot of trouble if it were.” You took a deep breath. “You’re more likely to get hired if you’re married.” Chris furrowed his brow, but he didn’t speak. “So, I wore a ring to my interview and said I was engaged when I was asked. But I’m not.”

“Wow,” he said, eyes wide. He pushed back on the chair, putting a couple of feet between you, but it felt like a mile.

“I didn’t think it would be a big deal. I didn’t expect people to ask so many questions.” You shook your head. “But the hiring practice is true. Monica’s been with the studio for a couple of years, yet I still got to work with you and Keanu.”

“So, what? You were going to just be engaged to Travis forever so you could keep a job?” He sounded angry and you couldn’t fault him.

“No.” You shook your head. “I don’t know. For a while anyway.” He stood up and paced the small space. “I wanted to tell you. I really did.”

“Then why didn’t you? We were friends.”

Were.

“This is my career, Chris. Getting a job here is a big deal. I’ve been floating for years on small projects and don’t get me wrong, I loved those jobs, but they weren’t enough. I was tired of slinging beer and hot wings just to make sure I could make it to the next film.”

He stopped pacing and walked the few feet to reach you. “You could have told me. You should have told me instead of having some guy fly to Canada to pretend to be your fiancé. I trusted you, didn’t you trust me?”

You looked away from him. He was right. You could have told him so many times but you were so worried it would have gotten out. “I just didn’t think this would go so far.” You honestly weren’t sure if you meant the lie, or what was happening between you and Chris. “I’m sorry,” you whispered, still too afraid to look at him.

“Yeah,” he said, sounding defeated. “Me too.”

The sound of the door opening and then closing made you look up. He was gone.

Tag List: @tanelle83 @pinknerdpanda @allaboutthebooz @estillion14 @panicfob @patzammit @heartislubbingdubbing @collinsstanharbour @twittytelly @linki-locks11 @ab-baybay @impalaimages @jesseswartzwelder @rainbowkisses31 @xostephanie @smoothdogsgirl @mrsambroserollinsacklesmgk @xxloki81xx @thenormreedus @firstangeldragonranch @soitmightgetweird @maeleeme @denisemarieangelina @rvgrsbrns @icanfeelastormbrewing @velvetwonderbucky @kitkat1690 @smilexcaptainx @suppu97 @dangerouslovefanfic @dwights-new-plague @kelbabyblue @sweetlittlegingy @chrisevansforever @evansxxx @southerngracela @bitterstar88 @squirrelnotsam @kitkatd7 @nea90sweetie @marvelislove10 @the-doctors-fallen-angel @hista-girl @cocomel0613 @chrisevansfanfic @zsuzstyina @peach-acid @trynnabemultifandom @mrsshiddleston @tfandtws @heyyouwiththeassbutt @evanlys19 @cheeseburgersstuff @evemej @whymalu @straightforwardly @deidrashouseofpain @samsgoddess @fanfictionaffair @lakamaa12 @imaginesofdreams @captnstarryeyed @the-walking-daryl @benedicttcumberbabe @michellemybelles-world @lorilane33 @divadinag @bellaireland1981 @illi-vanilli @the-walking-daryl @dezzylou24 @jennabenna12 @tinycertain

#chris evans #scott evans #chris evans x reader #chris evans x you #chris x reader #chris evans reader insert #chris evans imagine #cevans #chris evans x y/n #just a simple lie #chris evans fan fiction #chris evans fanfiction #chris evans fan fic

321 notes · View notes

reidingandwriting · 4 years

Text

10 Things I Hate About You (And 1 Thing I Love)

Word Count: ~2000 words

Ship: Peter Parker x Stark!Daughter, Avengers x Reader (platonic/family)

Warnings: Mild language, but that’s it!

A/N: This was so much fun to write honestly, we love fluffy chaos. It was originally going in a COMPLETELY different direction, but I decided to be nice and give you guys the fluffy version instead 😉 I attached the “10 things” list at the end in case you wanted it :)

You took a breath as you stood at the altar, hands interlocked with your fiancé Peter’s, and you began to speak.

“I hate your jokes, they’re so stupid.” Everyone in the room laughed, including Peter. “You’re the only person who could make such lame jokes funny. I especially hate that goofy laugh of yours that follows, that’s what makes the jokes tolerable. I hate that smile of yours, how it lights up the room. Seriously, it’s so bright, I need an Advil for my headache.” Peter let out a tearful laugh and your thumb brushed over his knuckles.

“I hate how hardworking you are. You built yourself up from nothing, you worked hard in everything you did. You overachiever, I look like a slacker. I hate how my family loves you and how they didn’t scare you off. Trust me, my dad tried.” Your dad called out a ‘hell yeah I did!’ which sent the small venue into laughter again. “My family’s all very guarded, but you smashed through those walls and you became like another member of the family. I hate how even my dog loves you, and he hates everyone. You can ask Dad, the day we took him off the street, he tried to bite him. He never liked anyone that I dated, until I met you.” Peter gave you a smile, which you gladly returned. Tears threatened to spill from your eyes, but you blinked them back.

“I hate how you always know how to make me laugh, you know I hate how my laugh sounds. I don’t think I’ve ever laughed this much until I met you. I hate how you always want to help everyone, even when struggling yourself. You could be out in the freezing cold, and you would give the shirt off your back to whoever needed it. You’re going to get sick or hurt doing that one day, you self sacrificing dork.”

“I hate how much you care about your friends. I won’t admit it again, but we truly are lucky to have you. Every endless day we spend with you is the best day. Except for our Harry Styles concert, nothing tops that. I hate how you’d lay down your life for your friends- you’d even do it for people who weren’t your friends. That’s just the person you are.” A few stray tears slid down your cheeks now.

“Even with all this complete and utter hatred I have for you,” your tone was playful and Peter was struggling not to cry at this point. You had told him your wedding vows would be a bit unconventional, he expected nothing less from you. You were Y/N Stark after all, being unconventional was a trademark Stark trait. “there’s one thing I love about you that cancels out all of that.”

“You made me feel like I belonged whenever so many people made me feel like I didn’t. From the second I started at Midtown, everyone treated me differently. Students and teachers were either terrified of me and what my dad could do, or they sucked up to me to get in my dad’s good graces. You treated me like I was just Y/N. Not Y/N Stark, daughter of Tony Stark, aka Iron Man. I was a regular teen with you, and I can’t thank you enough for that, Peter.” You wiped your eyes, smiling at the man you were about to marry. Your almost husband. “You introduced me to the best friends I could ever have, and you became the best boyfriend I could ever have. Boyfriend turned into fiancé, and now fiancé is about to turn into husband. These losers in the audience may be part of my family, but I can’t wait to start my own family with you. I love you, Peter Benjamin Parker.”

“I love you, Y/N Y/M/N Stark.” Peter smiled, a tear slipping down his cheek. “Now, if we’re doing the things I hate about you, let’s start with that god awful snoring.” The rest of the ceremony went on beautifully. Your dad wouldn’t admit it, but he totally cried whenever you and Peter said your “I do’s” and kissed. Meanwhile, Pepper wouldn’t let your dad forget it that he cried. Once the ceremony was finished, you moved the reception outside. Laura and Clint’s kids played with Scott’s daughter Cassie and your sister Morgan, while the adults continued the reception. The wedding was intimate, with your family of Avengers and Peter’s Aunt May and some friends of yours made up the guest list.

“I can’t believe Y/N’s married.” Natasha stood next to Tony, watching as you and Peter made your rounds with all the guests.

“Me neither.” Clint hummed in agreement, standing beside Natasha. “I remember the day I taught her to flip off the paparazzi.” Tony laughed at the memory, Pepper sending a playful glare to the archer. Tony still had the magazine in his office, the picture of you showing the camera your middle finger on the cover. You were only nine or ten at the time, you were all grown up now. You still liked to give the paparazzi your signature pose.

“How about the time she programmed FRIDAY to play that horrible Rebecca Black song every time we tried to use FRIDAY?” It was Steve’s turn to speak, and he groaned as he got the song stuck in his head again.

“Or that time she got FRIDAY to play that Black Widow song every time I entered the room?” Natasha’s face morphed into one of annoyance, but there was no real irritation behind it.

“What about the time Lady Y/N came to Asgard and made friends with Loki?” Thor remembered on your fourteenth birthday how you visited Asgard. It took endless tears and begging for your parents to agree. They finally agreed after you made a ten minute presentation, and Thor had promised to keep you safe. You loved Asgard and the people you met loved you- even Loki was fond of the young Stark. During your weekend in Asgard, you had spent equal time with the brothers. Thor gave you tours of Asgard and the castle, while Loki showed you some important spots from his childhood. You hated having to leave, but you came back every time you could. You even convinced Loki to spend more time on Earth (Midgard as he preferred to call it).

“I can’t forget about the time Tony brought in Y/N to the medbay when her hand was broken, he was hysterical. And you remember how she broke it?” Bruce looked at Tony, who rolled his eyes with a faint smirk.

“By punching that Flash kid in the face and breaking his nose.” Pepper shook her head at the memory, looking at the now grown up kids she loves. “They’ve always had each other’s backs. Now they’ve got each other forever. And they’ve got all of us.” Tony smiled as his older daughter walked over, Peter talking to his aunt. You gave everyone a hug, thanking them for coming.

“Sorry to interrupt, but it’s time for our dance, Dad.” Your dad nodded, pressing a kiss to his own wife’s cheek before walking to you.

“Let’s dance.” You lead your dad to the dance floor, your arm linked with his. You wrapped your arms around his neck, and Tony’s wrapped around your waist as you began to dance.

“I can’t believe my little girl is married now.” Tony spoke softly as you two danced, your dress sparkling under the lights as you moved. “Seems like just yesterday I held you in my arms for the first time.”

“It doesn’t feel real yet.” You hummed in agreement, looking up at your dad. “It still feels like I should be at home, having tea parties with Morgan, and giving you heart attacks with Peter.” Tony rolled his eyes, remembering how mere months ago, Tony was making a cup of coffee. You and Peter came to the lake house for Christmas, and you two were spending time with Morgan in your room.

Tony smiled as he heard the sound of laughter through the halls, until he heard a loud crash and Peter yell “shit!” which Morgan replied “that’s Mom’s word!” Tony ran to the sound, stopping at the sight. Morgan, holding your phone, stood beside Peter, who was doubled over laughing. Then he saw you, sprawled across the floor, roller skates on your feet. Pieces of shattered ceramic, dirt, flowers were surrounding you, which Tony recognized as the vase of flowers Morgan set up last week. You raised your head, looking at Morgan.

“Did you get that on video?!” You fist pumped the air as Morgan nodded, carefully getting back up. You froze when you saw your dad and looked at your fiancé and sister. “Retreat, retreat!!” You skated past your dad, Morgan and Peter following you as they laughed.

“Y/N, Morgan, and Peter! Get your asses back here and clean this up!”

“You see all these gray hairs? You caused them.” You laughed, giving your dad an award winning smile.

“We add excitement to your life.” Tony laughed, twirling you.

“And I can’t be happier that I have you two hooligans in my life.” You smiled as the song paused and everyone looked around. A familiar song started playing over the speakers, and your dad grinned. The slow song had been replaced by Mr. Brightside, one of yours and your dad’s favorite songs. The rest of the guests came to the dance floor, dancing and singing (yelling) the lyrics. The rest of the night was filled with singing, dancing, and laughter.

You stood beside Peter at the end of the night, swaying slightly as you held your sleeping sister. She was older now, but she never missed a chance for you to hold her. Your eyes traveled the room, taking in the sights around you. The rest of the kids were off by themselves, eating leftover wedding cake and drinking soda out of the champagne flutes. Ned and MJ had taken over the music, playing everything from throwbacks to today’s music, jumping around (as they’d call it, dancing) and laughing. The team of heroes were all broken out into their own groups, everyone getting along fine.

“I can’t believe this is our life.” You spoke after a minute of silence. “I remember when it was just me, my dad, and Happy. I never would’ve thought my family would grow from that group of three to all of us now.” Your eyes landed on your dad, who was laughing with the original Avengers team.

“If you would have told me in the start of high school that I was going to become an Avenger, fall in love with Tony Stark’s daughter, and join the family of the Earth’s mightiest heroes, I would think I was in a dream. And now it’s my reality. I’ve always wanted a big, happy family like this. And you gave it to me.” Peter smiled, pressing a gentle kiss to your forehead. Your eyes closed, savoring the moment.

“Our family’s about to expand by one more, too.” You whispered and Peter’s jaw dropped as it clicked.

“We’re having a baby?” You nodded with a smile, laughing as Peter hugged you tight, being careful not to disturb Morgan.

“We’re having a baby. Don’t tell my dad you know, he wanted to be the first to know.” You rested your head on his shoulder and Peter’s arm made its way around your waist.

“Our child really is going to have the best family to grow up in.” As you looked at your husband, you smiled to yourself.

‘Yeah.’ You thought. ‘They really will.’

1. Your stupid jokes

2. Your laugh

3. Your smile

4. How hardworking you are

5. How much my family loves you

6. Even my dog loves you, and he doesn’t like anyone

7. How you always know how to make me laugh

8. How you always want to help everyone

9. How much you care about your friends

10. And how you’d lay down your life for them

11. And how you made me feel normal

Taglist: @daughter-of-stark @agent-barnes40 @spideygirl2003 @ditttiii 💖 Taglist is OPEN, please let me know if you’d like to be added. Requests are also OPEN, feel free to make requests :)

301 notes · View notes

aboveallarescuer · 4 years

Text

How Dany assesses the counsel she receives and makes her own choices (& Character analysis) - Liberation of the Unsullied

This will be a series of posts meant to show that Dany is open to receiving advice and criticism, but that she doesn’t act solely based on what other people tell her to do. On the opposite, GRRM makes great effort to write a Dany who most often merges different viewpoints and/or finds her own solutions to the problems she’s facing. I won’t include every single decision she ever made (e.g. her decisions at court are often made without counsel and her execution of the ritual to hatch the dragon eggs was already exhaustively and deftly analyzed by other people), but there will be plenty of instances in this series that will prove my point nonetheless. The metas will always have four items: in which chapters the events mentioned take place; what advice she receives and from whom; what were her actions; the verdict (whether she followed other people’s advice, ignored/rejected them or did both at the same time).

Since this meta got very long, I'm putting the verdict above so that people who don't want to read the entire meta can at least find its synthesized points right away.

Chapter (s):

ASOS Daenerys I, II, III

The advice Dany receives:

Jorah advises Dany to turn to Astapor and buy the Unsullied so that she doesn't have to rely entirely on Illyrio. He recommends that she pretends to not know Valyrian. He later says that spilling blood will be inevitable in Westeros and that the Unsullied are known for not raping nor pillaging, so she'll cause less damage if she buys them. According to him, trying to be idealistic and noble gets you killed.

Barristan advises Dany to leave Astapor and hire mercenaries in the Free Cities or even expect the support of the Westerosi lords. He's firmly against trading a dragon for an army and tries to publicly intervene.

Verdict:

a) Intelligence and skills

Knowledge of Astapor, Old Ghis, the Free Cities and Essos in general

Dany retains the information Jorah gave her about Old Ghis's history to the point of articulating it in her own words and applying it to the harpy of Astapor (which she differentiates from the one from Old Ghis) to grasp its symbolic meaning.

Dany pays attention to the slave soldiers and identifies on her own where each came from, displaying her knowledge of the Free Cities and Essos in general.

Dany compares the treatment of the Unsullied to the Dothraki's treatment of their slaves, for she already knows a lot about the Dothraki's culture and organization at this point.

Dany notices that there are many other slaves in the city and that they also have varied traits and origins.

Dany pays special attention to the social hierarchy among the masters indicated in their tokars' fringes after Groleo tells her about it, which shows that she can memorize and apply information well.

Dany correctly guesses that the masters won't resist her offer of one dragon because she is aware that Old Ghis was defeated by the Valyrian Freehold five times precisely for that disadvantage.

Growing social awareness

In ASOS Daenerys I, Dany is unaware of the number of casualties and the level of dehumanization that come with the maintenance of slavery. At this point, she thought they were servants just like any others. Also, she didn't have the power and influence to be able to help others (or to think about the ways she could do so). Witnessing the training of the Unsullied will change her mind, similar to how she thought she was okay with the war's collateral damage until she saw the Lhazareen women being assaulted and tried to stop it.

Dany doesn't let Jhogo crack the whip in Astapor to announce her presence because she knows that it is used to subjugate slaves.

After seeing the cruel and horrific treatment of the Unsullied firsthand, Dany can no longer look at all the other slaves in the city and think that what's happening is okay. She observes how pervasive slavery is in Astapor twice.

Like with the whip, Dany already pays attention to the tokar and how symbolically tied it is to the masters.

Dany's growing awareness of all these social issues and her empathy for the slaves' plea stem from the fact that she lived their experiences too: she was also forced to leave her homeland and was later sold as a sex slave.

Dany's refusal to eat dog indicates her refusal to be complicit in the masters' oppression of the Unsullied.

Dany refuses to talk to Jorah about the Unsullied as if their treatment was not dehumanizing, so she tells him to not call them men to not become desensitized to the issue.

Emotional inteligence: restraint and assertiveness as a leader

Dany pretends she doesn't understand the number of insults that Kraznys is throwing at her and later asserts her heritage and titles as a response.

Dany hides her vulnerability and focuses on her political goals while talking to Barristan. She empathizes with Barristan later and reinforces her authority when she tells him that he's free to counsel her ... when they are alone. He is frank by telling her that he thinks she made a mistake by trading a dragon for an army, but Dany still shows self-assurance.

Dany reminds Jorah to call her by her title rather than her name.

Dany restrains her fear once more when she enters the gates of Astapor.

Asking for and gathering knowledge

Dany asks Kraznys if the Unsullied has officers and what is their gear.

Dany notices that Astapor lacks guards and questions why the Dothraki still haven't sacked the city.

Dany confirms with Missandei the reliability of the information Kraznys shared with her and makes more questions about the Unsullied.

Dany creates hypothetical situations in her questions to Kraznys and Missandei to conceal the possibility that she might apply the answers to fight the masters.

Actions during the negotiation for the Unsullied and the exchange

Dany gives everyone (her bloodriders, Jorah and Barristan) in her circle something to do while she meets with Kraznys.

Dany uses a Qartheen gown to negotiate with the slavers.

Dany brings her advisors and her khalasar with her during the negotiation in order to look more impressive (and, consequently, to seem able to pay for all of the Unsullied).

Dany already expected that she would have to offer her ships and one dragon.

Dany takes the necessary steps (based on what she heard from Kraznys and Missandei) to guarantee that the Unsullied will fight on her side and her leap of faith pays off.

Dany throws the whip aside and her draconic force is linked to freedom.

b) Character motivations and past experiences

Why she chose to go to Astapor

Dany wanted to make sure she wouldn't have to rely on other people (whose help is never certain, as she learned very well in Qarth).

She didn't think hiring mercenaries in the Free Cities was a good idea because she'd already seen how that failed for Viserys.

She is unsure of whether the Westerosi will rise to her.

As it's been already said, she thought that the Unsullied were treated as ordinary servants.

Empathy

Witnessing the training of the Unsullied radically changes Dany's initial plans.

Her growing awareness of all these social issues and her empathy for the slaves' plea stem from the fact that she lived their experiences too: she was also forced to leave her homeland and later sold as a sex slave.

Dany empathizes with Barristan and reminds him that he's free to counsel her ... when they are alone.

Dany refuses to talk to Jorah about the Unsullied as if their treatment was not dehumanizing, so she tells him to not call them men to not become desensitized to the issue.

Dany frees Missandei right after the latter is given as a gift (though she'll find out later that Missandei doesn't have a better option).

Dany's past experiences inform her reflections on what grounds should she be ruling and her later rebellion against the masters.

The negotiation scene shows that Dany had many, many options that she could have chosen and did not simply because she wanted to free all of the Unsullied:

If she just wanted an army, she could have offered all the trading goods in the ships and get the 1000 Unsullied that Jorah advised her to get.

If she just wanted an army, she wouldn't have offered to pay double for the untrained boys.

If she just wanted an army, she could have given the trading goods and the ships and left with 2000 Unsullied.

If she just wanted an army, she wouldn't have thought that she must have them all" and that "[i]t was [her] only choice" to offer them a dragon.

Hints that Dany plans on rebelling in ASOS Daenerys II

Dany betrays her uneasiness about what is happening several times (multiple passages below).

Dany makes a hypothetical question to Kraznys, seemingly in an attempt to find a way to offer freedom to the Unsullied.

Dany asks how many Unsullied the master has to sell (because she wants to rescue them all), not how large an army she wants.

Dany thinks she will take more than a hundred, if any at all.

When Barristan urges her to leave the city, Dany thinks she can't do so. She later tells Jorah the same thing.

Dany's steps to make her plan work in ASOS Daenerys III (and hints that she has the details worked out)

Dany already expected that she would have to offer her ships and one dragon during the negotiation.

Dany makes it clear to Groleo that the Unsullied are more important than ships (because of themselves, not their value as an army).

Dany probably shared her ideas with her bloodriders and Jorah.

Dany was using a Qartheen gown (represents inequality, flattery and falsehood) in the negotiation. In the exchange itself, she uses Dothraki clothing (represents war, equality and honesty).

Dany knows that there will be several deaths as a result of what she is doing.

Dany takes the necessary steps (based on what she heard from Kraznys and Missandei) to guarantee that the Unsullied will fight on her side and her leap of faith pays off.

Dany throws the whip aside and her draconic force is linked to freedom.

c) How Dany assessed the advice she received

Jorah

Jorah advises Dany to turn to Astapor and buy the Unsullied so that she doesn't have to rely entirely on Illyrio.

Dany takes his advice, but not before being thoughtful and making many questions and expressing many concerns: how will she buy them? Is it okay to "betray" Illyrio? What about the dangers on the march? What if Captain Groleo doesn't obey? She's not passively and blindly accepting things.

He recommends that she pretends to not know Valyrian.

Dany follows it with seemingly no reservations.

He later says that spilling blood will be inevitable in Westeros and that the Unsullied are known for not raping nor pillaging, so she'll cause less damage if she buys them.

At first, she slaps him for normalizing the Unsullied's training and talking about them as if they were objects to be sold. Later, she still tries to differentiate the attack against targeted combatants from the systematic attack against almost all of the city's population, save for the nobles.

According to him, trying to be idealistic and noble gets you killed.

More on that below.

Barristan

Barristan advises Dany to leave Astapor and hire mercenaries in the Free Cities or even expect the support of the Westerosi lords.

She thinks to herself that she can't leave the city now that she saw what she saw. To Barristan, she replies that the former option didn't work for her brother and that she can't rely on uncertainties.

Barristan is firmly against trading a dragon for an army and tries to publicly intervene.

Dany empathizes with him, but still reminds him that he's only supposed to question her privately and that she means to prove a few things of her own.

Overall

Neither Jorah nor Barristan can take credit for primarily motivating Dany's decision to free the slaves, though they certainly helped her in different ways.

Jorah thought it was okay for her to buy the Unsullied and be complicit in a process that dehumanizes them to the point that people can't even tell them apart or consider them men. As Dany said, "if he were her true knight", he wouldn't think that there was nothing wrong with that to begin with. Dany, on the other hand, refuses to be desensitized by it because she is a true queen.

Barristan empathized with the slaves' plea and doesn't want to be involved in slave trade, which is fair, but he doesn't think that there's anything he or Dany can do about it.

Like with Viserys and Drogo, Dany is influenced by both of their recommendations and apply them in different ways while forging her own path: she will not help to maintain the oppression of the slaves like Barristan advised her, but she won't play by the rules (because they view human beings as objects to be sold and invalidate her moral values, so they shouldn't be acknowledged as such to begin with) like Jorah advised her: she will break the rules because of her moral duty (as she sees it) to free the slaves.

Dany's actions:

In ASOS Daenerys I, Jorah is trying to have Dany distrust Barristan, Groleo and Illyrio. As usual, because of Dany's critical thinking skills, she filters his advice - she admits that it's strange that Barristan is "too old to be a squire, and too well spoken to be serving that oaf of an eunuch", but, at the same time, she laughs when he suggests that Barristan and Belwas are conspiring with the assassin to win her trust. The discussion becomes a bit more heated when Dany realizes that he's infantilizing her, but then he proposes a plan: change course to Astapor and buy Unsullied. At this point, 14-year-old Dany has not yet seen their inhuman training nor did she come to empathize deeply and viscerally with them nor does she have the power that allows her to think about how to help others:

Dany was not certain she liked the sound of that at all. Everything she’d ever heard of the flesh marts in the great slave cities of Yunkai, Meereen, and Astapor was dire and frightening. “What is there for me in Slaver’s Bay?” (ASOS Daenerys I)

She also doesn't understand how slavery is a systemic issue that affects different people on different levels and is still, nonetheless, inherently wrong:

“...In Astapor you can buy Unsullied.”

“The slaves in the spiked bronze hats?” Dany had seen Unsullied guards in the Free Cities, posted at the gates of magisters, archons, and dynasts. “Why should I want Unsullied? They don’t even ride horses, and most of them are fat.” (ASOS Daenerys I)

But how can this person make this sort of comment and then become an abolitionist figure by the end of the book? I want to contextualize that right away to avoid any confusion. ADWD Daenerys III will give us two reasons as to why Dany changed her mind (aside from her empathy and proactivity, of course):

As she will explain to Xaro, his slaves "seemed well treated and content" (which also explains why she didn't react negatively to Illyrio's either) and she changed her opinion witnessing "how Unsullied are made and trained". At this point, she thinks that slaves are treated like normal servants.

Also, she thinks to herself that she was only a beggar queen when she visited Qarth, so there wasn't much she could do. At this point, in the beginning of ASOS, her situation is still similar to the one from ACOK: Dany still has no considerable resources of her own and is being carried around by someone else's ships. It makes sense, then, that she thinks firstly about how to help herself before she considers that she might be able to help others.

It must also be said that the seeds for Dany's character development were planted way back in AGOT, when she thought she was okay with going to war until she realized she couldn't let the Lhazareen women be collateral damage of her actions. Here, she will think she's okay with buying the Unsullied until she goes to Astapor and realizes that no one deserves to be systematically tortured and brainwashed and sold the way they were.

Anyway, back to ASOS Daenerys I. Dany's response to Jorah's suggestion that she should buy Unsullied stems from ignorance - she thinks that the Unsullied are all too fat to ride horses because these are the only ones she saw in Pentos and Myr. To convince her that they are worth buying, Jorah tells her the Tale of the Three Thousand of Qohor, which is basically about a khal who had his khalasar utterly defeated by the Unsullied (bought as an afterthought by the Qohorik). After realizing their effectiveness, Qohor would only employ the Unsullied as city guards. Using that story to convince Dany was a very clever move from Jorah, who must've inferred from Dany's successful cultural assimilation and love for Drogo that she respects the Dothraki's strength (she does, but she's critical as well).

Dany admits that there is wisdom in what he's counseling, but she also notes that her crown is her only possession of value. Jorah responds that the Astapori may offer her gifts the way the Qartheen did or she can sell the trade goods that Illyrio's men took on. Dany is still reluctant because she says she considers Illyrio a friend to House Targaryen (though that's not how she assessed him before), but Jorah argues that a true friend will help her to buy "the beginnings of an army". Dany becomes more excited, but still considers the dangers on the march, and Jorah argues that there would be dangers at sea as well. Finally, Dany wonders if Groleo might refuse to change course; for Jorah, that is all the more reason to ask him to do so, for she will find out where his (and Arstan's and Belwas') true loyalty lies.

It's only then that Dany decides that she will command Groleo to set course for Astapor. The author took pains to make sure that Dany wouldn't just passively sit and listen to Jorah's advice and follow it. He has her making questions and gathering knowledge and forming her own conclusions. Just because hers matched with his (only for now) doesn't mean that she is not being an active player as well.

In ASOS Daenerys II, Dany arrives in Astapor. As we can see in this passage, she is able to retain Jorah's knowledge about its history, articulate it in her own words and apply it well enough to correctly identify the harpy of Ghis and grasp its symbolic meaning just by looking at its statue:

The harpy of Ghis, Dany thought. Old Ghis had fallen five thousand years ago, if she remembered true; its legions shattered by the might of young Valyria, its brick walls pulled down, its streets and buildings turned to ash and cinder by dragonflame, its very fields sown with salt, sulfur, and skulls. The gods of Ghis were dead, and so too its people; these Astapori were mongrels, Ser Jorah said. Even the Ghiscari tongue was largely forgotten; the slave cities spoke the High Valyrian of their conquerors, or what they had made of it.

Yet the symbol of the Old Empire still endured here, though this bronze monster had a heavy chain dangling from her talons, an open manacle at either end. The harpy of Ghis had a thunderbolt in her claws. This is the harpy of Astapor. (ASOS Daenerys II)

In Missandei's very first appearance, we find out how the Naathi are commonly perceived. Such a description seems to signal the author's thematic intents (namely, that war, rather than the peace, is the righteous path in this particular case) right away, as @rainhadaenerys already pointed out in this amazing meta:

The girl spoke the Common Tongue well, for one who had never been to Westeros. No older than ten, she had the round flat face, dusky skin, and golden eyes of Naath. The Peaceful People, her folk were called. All agreed that they made the best slaves. (ASOS Daenerys II)

While she negotiates with Kraznys, Dany follows a smart idea from Ser Jorah:

It had been Ser Jorah’s suggestion that she speak only Dothraki and the Common Tongue while in Astapor. My bear is more clever than he looks. (ASOS Daenerys II)

Some minor points: we get a very emasculating description of Kraznys to make sure his "looks" are as pitiful as his moral values, something that I've already criticized here. And Astapor is described as if it were Hell itself, though that's an aspect that's been discussed elsewhere and I won't belabor here.

Then, Dany gets to hear about the Unsullied's training. I'll give you a brief summary of its numerous cruelties, for they will, as I already showed above, dictate Dany's actions for the rest of this book and ADWD:

They don't have names because they're changed every dawn so they can remember that "they are vermin" and "more dogs than sheep".

They are castrated in order to have discipline, obedience, loyalty and fear and to no longer feel sexual desire.

They're chosen at five years old for "size and speed and strength" to be trained "from dawn to dusk" until they master the shortsword, the shield and the three spears.

As boys, on the day that they are cut, they are given puppies whom they are forced to strangle, otherwise they are killed and fed to the surviving dogs.

Only one boy in three survives the training.

To win their spiked caps, they are forced to "go to the slave marts with a silver mark, find some wailing newborn, and kill it before its mother's eyes".

They are forced to stand "for a day and a night, with no food nor water". It is said that, even after 99 of the 100 Unsullied collapse, the last one will stand until his death.

They won't move or defend themselves even after you lash their faces with a whip or cut their nipples off. That's because they drink the "wine of courage" regularly to feel less and less pain and endure any kind of torture.

And that's not even counting the numerous times Kraznys felt that he was entitled to lash Missandei. It's clear that GRRM strives to make Dany's future cause be as righteous as he can.

While Arstan and Kraznys are arguing with each other, Dany pays attention to the slave soldiers and identifies on her own where each comes from. It's a moment that displays both her knowledge and the fact that she's lived in Essos for her entire life:

Ignoring them all, Dany walked slowly down the line of slave soldiers. The girls followed close behind with the silk awning, to keep her in the shade, but the thousand men before her enjoyed no such protection. More than half had the copper skins and almond eyes of Dothraki and Lhazerene, but she saw men of the Free Cities in the ranks as well, along with pale Qartheen, ebon-faced Summer Islanders, and others whose origins she could not guess. And some had skins of the same amber hue as Kraznys mo Nakloz, and the bristly red-black hair that marked the ancient folk of Ghis, who named themselves the harpy’s sons. They sell even their own kind. It should not have surprised her. The Dothraki did the same, when khalasar met khalasar in the sea of grass.

Some of the soldiers were tall and some were short. They ranged in age from fourteen to twenty, she judged. Their cheeks were smooth, and their eyes all the same, be they black or brown or blue or grey or amber. (ASOS Daenerys II)

Dany often connects the warriors she meets or hears about with the Dothraki, about whom she has mixed feelings but was influenced nonetheless. In this chapter, her critical views of the Dothraki are brought to the fore. Not only she recalls that they sold "their own kind", she also tells Arstan that she herself was sold, which is a huge deal for a few reasons that I'll point out later.

Throughout her interactions with Kraznys, Dany betrays her uneasiness about what's happening several times:

It was hard to pretend not to understand. Dany laid a hand on Kraznys’s arm before he could raise the whip again. “Tell the Good Master that I see how strong his Unsullied are, and how bravely they suffer pain.”

Then he jabbed the swordpoint in beneath a wide pink nipple and began to work it back and forth.

“What is he doing?” Dany demanded of the girl, as the blood ran down the man’s chest.

“Tell the cow to stop her bleating,” said Kraznys, without waiting for the translation.

“They feel no pain, you see.”

“How can that be?” she demanded through the scribe.

“The wine of courage,” was the answer he gave her.

“No names?” Dany frowned at the little scribe. “Can that be what the Good Master said? They have no names?”

Her most visceral reaction comes when she finds out that infants are slain as part of the Unsullied's training, partly because that's too personal for her:

Dany’s mouth surely twisted at that. Did he see, or is he blind as well as cruel? She turned away quickly, trying to keep her face a mask until she heard the translation. Only then did she allow herself to say, “Whose infants do they slay?”

“To win his spiked cap, an Unsullied must go to the slave marts with a silver mark, find some wailing newborn, and kill it before its mother’s eyes. In this way, we make certain that there is no weakness left in them.”

She was feeling faint. The heat, she tried to tell herself. “You take a babe from its mother’s arms, kill it as she watches, and pay for her pain with a silver coin?”

Then we get an indication that she's already thinking of a plan to free the Unsullied at this very moment:

“The Good Master has said that these eunuchs cannot be tempted with coin or flesh,” Dany told the girl, “but if some enemy of mine should offer them freedom for betraying me ...”

“They would kill him out of hand and bring her his head, tell her that,” the slaver answered. “Other slaves may steal and hoard up silver in hopes of buying freedom, but an Unsullied would not take it if the little mare offered it as a gift. They have no life outside their duty. They are soldiers, and that is all.” (ASOS Daenerys II)

I also find it interesting that Dany doesn't ask how large an army she wants (though she admits she needs soldiers), but rather how many Unsullied he has to sell:

“It is soldiers I need,” Dany admitted.

“Tell her it is well she came to Astapor, then. Ask her how large an army she wishes to buy.”

“How many Unsullied do you have to sell?”

“Eight thousand fully trained and available at present.[”] (ASOS Daenerys II)

Which already hints at her desire to rescue them all (not her interest to buy an army), even she must go to extreme lengths to do so.

In any case, after she makes the question above, Dany asks if the Unsullied have officers and what is their gear. Then, Dany solicits Barristan's advice, who, obviously, says she shouldn't buy them. Dany tells him to elaborate on his answer because she wants Kraznys to hear his outrage:

“Why?” she asked. “Speak freely.” Dany thought she knew what he would say, but she wanted the slave girl to hear, so Kraznys mo Nakloz might hear later. (ASOS Daenerys II)

The squire explains that slavery is illegal in Westeros and that she will lose her public support and honor if she arrives with a slave army. Dany emphasizes that she must have an army to conquer Westeros, but Barristan believes that she'll have the support of half of the Westerosi because of Rhaegar (while mincing his words when he praises Aerys). Dany is not so sure, however:

“Those same high lords who abandoned my father to the Kingslayer and bent the knee to Robert the Usurper?”

“Even those who bent their knees may yearn in their hearts for the return of the dragons.”

“May,” said Dany. That was such a slippery word, may. In any language. (ASOS Daenerys II)

Another passage hints at her future actions for suggesting that she will either save the Unsullied or leave them behind if she can't be of help, for she won't take part in the slave trade:

Dany knew she would take more than a hundred, if she took any at all. (ASOS Daenerys II)

And she reminds Kraznys of her heritage and titles, which is more than warranted considering the numerous insults that he threw at her (while she had to feign ignorance, no less). He's not impressed and even accuses Dany of running to her man, which sounds like the author throwing shade at his sexist readers, especially since, despite other people's help, Dany will ultimately forge her own path.

Jhogo intends to crack his whip in the air to announce the Mother of Dragons's presence, but Dany, after witnessing how Kraznys uses the whip to subjugate others, tells him not to use it. This moment shows how, like with the tokar in ADWD, Dany understands the symbolic meaning of the whip (which is also why it's so significant that she uses it to punish Kraznys later):

But when he uncoiled the great silverhandled whip that Dany had given him, and made to crack it in the air, she leaned out and told him nay. “Not in this place, blood of my blood,” she said, in his own tongue. “These bricks have heard too much of the sound of whips.” (ASOS Daenerys II)

Astapor was once part of the Old Empire of Ghis and we see in this chapter that so much of its culture is informed by their pride of their former glory. However, nowadays, the description of the city shows that it's no longer a flourishing place (it is Hell, as I said above). Dany showcases her knowledge of the other cities she visited by associating Astapor with them:

An old city, this, she reflected, but not so populous as it was in its glory, nor near so crowded as Qarth or Pentos or Lys. (ASOS Daenerys II)

She pays attention to the fact that the Unsullied are not the only slaves in Astapor; they are everywhere in the city:

Her litter came to a sudden halt at the cross street, to allow a coffle of slaves to shuffle across her path, urged along by the crack of an overseer’s lash. These were no Unsullied, Dany noted, but a more common sort of men, with pale brown skins and black hair. There were women among them, but no children. All were naked. Two Astapori rode behind them on white asses, a man in a red silk tokar and a veiled woman in sheer blue linen decorated with flakes of lapis lazuli. In her red-black hair she wore an ivory comb. The man laughed as he whispered to her, paying no more mind to Dany than to his slaves, nor the overseer with his twisted five-thonged lash, a squat broad Dothraki who had the harpy and chains tattooed proudly across his muscular chest. (ASOS Daenerys II)

As we see above, Dany notices the slaves' varied traits and origins as they pass by fastened together and how slavery is so normalized that she is not the only one that the masters don't pay attention to, they don't pay any attention to their slaves either. Dany also picks up on the fact that the man is wearing a tokar (like Kraznys was), and I'm sure this will later inform her discomfort using it and her eventual (and righteous) rejection of it in ADWD.

Arstan murmurs an old rhyme and feels sympathy for the slaves and how the entire city is built upon their blood and suffering. However, he never advises Dany to do anything about it: he urges her to leave the city "before [her] heart turns to brick". Dany thinks something that also foreshadows her eventual rebellion:

“...Sail this very night, on the evening tide.”

Would that I could, thought Dany. (ASOS Daenerys II)

But she doesn't allow herself to share her anxieties and vulnerabilities with him because she's his liege, so she focuses on her political goals instead:

“When I leave Astapor it must be with an army, Ser Jorah says.”

Arstan counter-argues that Jorah was a slaver himself and that she could find an army in the Free Cities. That's not how it went for her (and Viserys), though. Even in Qarth, where people were awed by her dragons, it was still not reason enough to get their support:

“My brother visited Pentos, Myr, Braavos, near all the Free Cities. The magisters and archons fed him wine and promises, but his soul was starved to death. A man cannot sup from the beggar’s bowl all his life and stay a man. I had my taste in Qarth, that was enough. I will not come to Pentos bowl in hand.” (ASOS Daenerys II)

(On ADWD Daenerys III, she will also remember that Viserys tried to negotiate with the Golden Company and that they mocked him, which might or might not be foreshadowing for TWOW, in which she's likely to confront Aegon and the Golden Company.)

Arstan says that it's better to be a beggar than a slaver, which leads to the most powerful moment of the chapter and also one of my favorites of the entire series:

“There speaks one who has been neither.” Dany’s nostrils flared. “Do you know what it is like to be sold, squire? I do. My brother sold me to Khal Drogo for the promise of a golden crown. Well, Drogo crowned him in gold, though not as he had wished, and I ... my sun-and-stars made a queen of me, but if he had been a different man, it might have been much otherwise. Do you think I have forgotten how it felt to be afraid?” (ASOS Daenerys II)

I've seen people trying to argue that Barristan was the one who convinced Dany to rebel against the slavers, and this passage, to which @irrationalityi pointed in her wonderful meta, shows exactly that that's not the case: that was Dany's choice and only Dany's.

Barristan, despite feeling empathy for the slaves, never asked for Dany to do anything to help them. Instead, as I showed above, he had only focused on the political ramifications of being a slaveowner.

Barristan had lived his whole life in Westeros up until recently, Dany has lived her whole life in Essos. Barristan has a problem with slavery not only because it is wrong, but because it's not the Westerosi way (Dany is not entirely immune from that, but there's much more to it), similar to how Ned is judgemental of Varys partly because he doesn't follow the Northern way. Meanwhile, as I showed above, Dany pays attention to the slaves and is able to make guesses as to where they came from because her history was that of a refugee who was forced to run away from her homeland as well. Of course her empathy runs deep and of course her desire to do something about the injustice she's perceiving runs deep. No one needs to remind her of her own history.

As @irrationalityi aptly puts, "dany is saying that while ser barristan may have an abstract knowledge that slavery is wrong, and a culturally ingrained distaste for it, she has lived it. she’s not angry at him because he is implying she is doing something morally wrong; she is angry because he is acting as if she doesn’t already know that. she is telling ser barristan that she is not the person the op believes she would be were it not for ser barristan; she is considering purchasing the unsullied because she believes she must to achieve her political aims, but she understands well what slavery is and the consequences of the decision she is trying to make–that for her to own a slave army would be a stain, not on her honor, but on her conscience and her moral character".

Also, if Dany once thought that marrying the Lhazareen women to the Dothraki was a good option, now she's able to acknowledge the injustice of being sold and feeling afraid in general. She no longer thinks that giving the slaves to a better master is a viable alternative, she'll free them altogether.

Which brings me to the way Dany talks about Drogo here. It's very interesting, and I want to make speculations tied to her characterization so far.

In Dany's very first chapter, we find out two things: Dany knows a) that her brother is ineffective and short-sighted and b) that she is a slave in all but name. Even so, she couldn't say these things out loud. In fact, her feelings about Viserys in her thoughts did not match those in her spoken words and actions. Later, something similar would happen with Drogo: she would no longer acknowledge that she was his slave, but rather see him as "the shield that kept her safe". In both cases, Dany avoids to look back and see the full picture and be consistent about her beliefs and opinions because it would hurt too much to challenge her two main sources of emotional support.

However, this eventually changes with Viserys. In AGOT Daenerys III, Jorah admits to Dany how he feels about Viserys - to him, he's "the shadow of a snake". With his support (not that I think Jorah himself wanted to guide her, far from that), Dany says it out loud for the first time in her life that she doesn't think Viserys will ever take back the Seven Kingdoms, not even if he had the military strength to do so. However, because she loves him, she still tries to rationalize his actions and see the better in him in the next chapter. Her goodwill ends after he threatens to kill her son, and she's much more aware of who he was in ACOK and ASOS.

As for Drogo... In ACOK Daenerys III, Jorah, in a vicious attempt to isolate Dany from other men, reminds her that Illyrio sold her to Khal Drogo, which was something hard for her to confront and acknowledge because she was still grieving for him.

In ASOS Daenerys II, however, Dany is able to articulate to Barristan that yes, she was sold and she did feel afraid and she won't let anyone talk about it as if she didn't know these things. I wonder if Jorah (unwittingly) helped her to put things in perspective here as well like he did with Viserys.

Anyway, Barristan is quick to apologize for what he said and Dany forgives him:

“Only lies offend me, never honest counsel.” Dany patted Arstan’s spotted hand to reassure him. (ASOS Daenerys II)

Because Dany admires his "good face" and "great strength", she seeks his counsel, which is why she'd asked him to accompany her to meet Kraznys and see the Unsullied:

The old man had not wanted to sail to Astapor; nor did he favor buying this slave army. A queen should hear all sides before reaching a decision. That was why Dany had brought him with her to the Plaza of Pride, not to keep her safe. Her bloodriders would do that well enough. Ser Jorah Mormont she had left aboard Balerion to guard her people and her dragons. Much against her inclination, she had locked the dragons belowdecks. It was too dangerous to let them fly freely over the city; the world was all too full of men who would gladly kill them for no better reason than to name themselves dragonslayer. (ASOS Daenerys II)

As we see in this passage above, Dany naturally acts like a leader by thinking of which purposes each person might better serve her and organizing them accordingly. She also leaves her children belowdecks, which was most likely the best choice. As she will learn in ADWD, there really are men who take it on themselves to be dragonslayers or, as she'll put it, "heroes".

Dany returns to the ship and Strong Belwas offers her dog meat, which she refuses because "all she could think of was the Unsullied and their stupid puppies". As @thatprettymuslimgirl's post and my addition show, dogs are associated with slavery in ASOS and will later be connected to Hizdahr, the nobles in general and the false peace in ADWD. I'm not really sure if GRRM was thinking about all of this (though he did write big chunks of ADWD Daenerys IX shortly after he finished ASOS), but it's subtext that makes it clear, along with everything else I've already analyzed above, that Dany is rejecting the slavers' way of thinking right away. She might try to make peace with them later, but only because she was tired of war and carnage; her anti-slavery stance was always clear and consistent.

When Jorah finds her, he asks how many Unsullied the Astapori have for sale and Dany responds irritated:

“None.” Was it Mormont she was angry with, or this city with its sullen heat, its stinks and sweats and crumbling bricks? “They sell eunuchs, not men. Eunuchs made of brick, like the rest of Astapor. Shall I buy eight thousand brick eunuchs with dead eyes that never move, who kill suckling babes for the sake of a spiked hat and strangle their own dogs? They don’t even have names. So don’t call them men, ser.” (ASOS Daenerys II)

Here, Dany recognizes that no human being should ever have to undergo the sort of systematic abuse and torture that the Unsullied were forced to experience in order to become as subservient as they are. Dany recognizes how dehumanizing and unacceptable that sort of treatment was for making them "like one man" meant for sale (or "not men" at all) - that's why she tells Jorah to not call them men: she asks that he doesn't erase their suffering and talk as if the way they were treated was, in any way, acceptable.

Jorah doesn't understand any of this, though. While his advice for Dany to go to Astapor ultimately paid off because of Dany's actions, we should remind ourselves that he did her no favor. I've already shown in another post how he still has no problem with slavery even after being exiled, and you can see that in the next passage below: he can't understand why would Dany be angry at him for advising her to go to Astapor to buy them nor why would she be appalled by how they are treated, so he tries to normalize the situation by focusing on how effective as a force they can be ("the Unsullied are chosen as boys, and trained..."). That's enough for Dany, who rightfully slaps him in the face:

“Khaleesi,” he said, taken aback by her fury, “the Unsullied are chosen as boys, and trained—”

“I have heard all I care to of their training.” Dany could feel tears welling in her eyes, sudden and unwanted. Her hand flashed up and cracked Ser Jorah hard across the face. It was either that, or cry.

Mormont touched the cheek she’d slapped. “If I have displeased my queen—”

“You have. You’ve displeased me greatly, ser. If you were my true knight, you would never have brought me to this vile sty.” If you were my true knight, you would never have kissed me, or looked at my breasts the way you did, or ... (ASOS Daenerys II)

She makes it clear here: if he were her true knight, he wouldn't have brought her to Astapor. (And that he forced a kiss on her and looked at her breasts without her consent makes her anger even more pronounced, rightfully so.) Thankfully, Dany is a true queen, but not because of him.

(Also, Barristan explicitly called Jorah a slaver in this chapter, and I wonder if that also heightened her rage in the exchange above, for she's realizing that he does, indeed, talk like a slaver.)

Jorah says that he'll ask Groleo to send them somewhere else (which does not get to the root of the problem), but Dany stops him. Now that she saw what she saw, she can't remain passive about it, she feels it in her guts that she needs to do something:

“As Your Grace commands. I shall tell Captain Groleo to make ready to sail on the evening tide, for some sty less vile.”

“No,” said Dany. Groleo watched them from the forecastle, and his crew was watching too. Whitebeard, her bloodriders, Jhiqui, every one had stopped what they were doing at the sound of the slap. “I want to sail now, not on the tide, I want to sail far and fast and never look back. But I can’t, can I? There are eight thousand brick eunuchs for sale, and I must find some way to buy them.” And with that she left him, and went below. (ASOS Daenerys II)

In this moment, we see that Dany wishes she could do what Barristan told her to do: go west and pretend she didn't see what she saw (hence why it's so ludicrous to argue that he convinced her to free the slaves). But she "must find some way to buy them" now, not just the amount of soldiers she needs, but all the "eight thousand brick eunuchs for sale". As I said it before, she is already thinking about how she might free them.

Dany refuses to become desensitized by slavery, which she instinctively notices is pervasive throughout the entire city:

She stood by the rail and looked out over Astapor. From here it looks almost beautiful, she thought. The stars were coming out above, and the silk lanterns below, just as Kraznys’s translator had promised. The brick pyramids were all glimmery with light. But it is dark below, in the streets and plazas and fighting pits. And it is darkest of all in the barracks, where some little boy is feeding scraps to the puppy they gave him when they took away his manhood. (ASOS Daenerys II)

Interestingly, even here, Dany already seems opposed to the fighting pits.

Jorah shows up and tries to relativize the morality of the situation: if she will spill blood in Westeros, why not here in Slaver's Bay? Dany responds:

“The blood of my enemies I will shed gladly. The blood of innocents is another matter. Eight thousand Unsullied they would offer me. Eight thousand dead babes. Eight thousand strangled dogs.” (ASOS Daenerys II)

While there is something to be said about the parallels between the slavers and the feudal lords and about the collateral damage that Dany will inevitably inflict on the smallfolk when she fights for her birthright (for she seems ignorant of it in this moment), overall, she is correct: you can't compare the attack against targeted combatants with the systematic attack against almost all of the city's population, save for the nobles.

Jorah remembers the human impact of the Sack of King's Landing and points out that the Unsullied will cause less damage than a normal army would, so they'd be useful if she wants to defeat "the Usurper's dogs" and spare lives at the same time.

Then Dany will question why the city, which lacks protection, has not been invaded by khalasars yet:

Dany gazed off at the soft colored lights and let the cool salt breeze caress her. “You speak of sacking cities. Answer me this, ser—why have the Dothraki never sacked this city?” She pointed. “Look at the walls. You can see where they’ve begun to crumble. There, and there. Do you see any guards on those towers? I don’t. Are they hiding, ser? I saw these sons of the harpy today, all their proud highborn warriors. They dressed in linen skirts, and the fiercest thing about them was their hair. Even a modest khalasar could crack this Astapor like a nut and spill out the rotted meat inside. So tell me, why is that ugly harpy not sitting beside the godsway in Vaes Dothrak among the other stolen gods?” (ASOS Daenerys II)

I've showed some signs above that Dany is already thinking of how to free the slaves and, if she wants to do so, she needs to gather information about the city's defenses. She makes questions that get to the point of the matter, as Jorah responds that a) anyone who would want to attack Astapor would have to face the Unsullied, who are renowned ever since what happened at the gates of Qohor, b) Meereen, Yunkai, Lhazar and the eastern hinterlands have no reason to attack the city and c) the Dothraki provide slaves to the Astapori slavers. If the latter give gifts to the Dothraki in turn, the horselords will find it more convenient to ride on rather than fight. What other function their captives would have if there aren't slavers to sell them to, after all? Dany wishes her situation in Westeros could be resolved as easily as that of the Astapori and the Dothraki (by offering gifts and not fighting).

Dany recalls her brother Rhaegar, her main source of inspiration:

“Prince Rhaegar led free men into battle, not slaves. Whitebeard said he dubbed his squires himself, and made many other knights as well.”

“There was no higher honor than to receive your knighthood from the Prince of Dragonstone.”

“Tell me, then—when he touched a man on the shoulder with his sword, what did he say? ‘Go forth and kill the weak’? Or ‘Go forth and defend them’? At the Trident, those brave men Viserys spoke of who died beneath our dragon banners—did they give their lives because they believed in Rhaegar’s cause, or because they had been bought and paid for?” (ASOS Daenerys II)

Of course, Dany never knew who Rhaegar really was, so these statements are about her leadership style and her moral system rather than his.

Once again, Jorah maintains his position: trying to be idealistic gets you killed. Playing dirty makes you win. It's not so different from Cersei's "when you play the game of thrones, you win or you die".

Rhaegar fought valiantly, Rhaegar fought nobly, Rhaegar fought honorably, Rhaegar died. (ASOS Daenerys II)

Jorah didn't really know who Rhaegar was, so I don't think this sentence is necessarily reliable. The spirit of his advice is simple, however: Jorah is trying to normalize the training of the Unsullied and the existence of slavery in general as necessary evils if Dany is to win the game of thrones.

On the other hand, these words were also useful in another sense: sometimes you can't play by the rules if you intend to succeed, especially not if these rules and conventions and institutions treat other people as interchangeable objects to be sold and invalidate your sense of morality. Barristan's advice was also helpful, not in the sense that she should leave the city, but rather that she should not be a part of the slave trade. And so, like with Viserys and Drogo, she will find a solution that was informed by both of these men's advice while also being her own: by refusing to view the slaves as objects to be traded, Dany considered the deal illegitimate and sparked an abolitionist campaign that would influence an entire continent. In other words, Dany did not play by the rules (like Jorah advised), but not by compromising her moral principles, but because of her moral principles (like Barristan advised).

I got ahead of myself her, but I felt that this was the most appropriate place to try to grasp to which extent these men influenced Dany and to which extent she acted on her own.

Now let's go to ASOS Daenerys III. At this point, Dany has already devised her plan to free the Unsullied. She tells the Good Masters that she intends to buy all of them. To appease them, she shows more skin:

She had chosen a Qartheen gown today. The deep violet silk brought out the purple of her eyes. The cut of it bared her left breast. While the Good Masters of Astapor conferred among themselves in low voices, Dany sipped tart persimmon wine from a tall silver flute. She could not quite make out all that they were saying, but she could hear the greed. (ASOS Daenerys III)

Also, in order to show that she is not just a beggar queen and is actually capable to buy all of the Unsullied, Dany brings her khalasar and advisors with her:

Each of the eight brokers was attended by two or three body slaves ... though one Grazdan, the eldest, had six. So as not to seem a beggar, Dany had brought her own attendants; Irri and Jhiqui in their sandsilk trousers and painted vests, old Whitebeard and mighty Belwas, her bloodriders. Ser Jorah stood behind her sweltering in his green surcoat with the black bear of Mormont embroidered upon it. (ASOS Daenerys III)

Groleo told Dany that the fringe on the tokar indicates the social hierarchy amongst the masters, so she pays special attention to each master's fringe's tokar:

In this cool green room atop the pyramid, two of the slavers wore tokars fringed in silver, five had gold fringes, and one, the oldest Grazdan, displayed a fringe of fat white pearls that clacked together softly when he shifted in his seat or moved an arm. (ASOS Daenerys III)

GRRM is trying hard to show that Dany is doing what she is doing for selfless reasons. They tell her that she might get all of the 8600 Unsullied if she has enough gold, but not the 2000 that haven't been properly trained, because they don't want to risk losing their credibility in case the latter fails in the field. But Dany insists:

“Tell the Good Masters that I will want even the little ones who still have their puppies. Tell them that I will pay as much for the boy they cut yesterday as for an Unsullied in a spiked helm.” (ASOS Daenerys III)

If Dany was really doing what she was doing just for the sake of an army, she wouldn't have made that offer. Still, they say no.

Dany frowned in annoyance. “Very well. Tell them I will pay double, so long as I get them all.” (ASOS Daenerys III)

She says she'll pay double to get all of them. One of the slavers remind her that she isn't Queen of Westeros yet, so she should be certain if she has enough gold and trading goods to pay for them all. Dany replies that they should know that better than her, for they've inspected her ships. The Good Master says she would normally have enough resources to pay for 1000 of them, but only 500 if she'll pay double. One of them says she could give them her crown and get 100 of them, but she says no for personal reasons:

“My crown is not for sale.” When Viserys sold their mother’s crown, the last joy had gone from him, leaving only rage. (ASOS Daenerys III)

If you'll recall, she does the same thing back in ACOK Daenerys III. What she does differently here, on the other hand, is to put one of her children in jeopardy. Back in that same chapter, Dany describes the dragons as "all the difference" for her to eventually become more than a beggar queen, so the weight of the risk she's about to take is heavy.

Besides her crown, Dany won't sell neither her people nor her people's goods and horses, but she can offer Illyrio's three ships to the slavers. Now, they say she can buy 2000 Unsullied.

Have in mind that this was Jorah's advice back in ASOS Daenerys I:

“That is what you will find in Astapor, Your Grace. Put ashore there, and continue on to Pentos overland. It will take longer, yes ... but when you break bread with Magister Illyrio, you will have a thousand swords behind you, not just four.” (ASOS Daenerys I)

Now look at the scene from ASOS Daenerys III that we're in:

The fat Grazdan turned to the others. They conferred in low voices once again. “Two of the thousands,” the one with the spiked beard said when he turned back. “It is too much, but the Good Masters are being generous and your need is being great.” (ASOS Daenerys III)

If all Dany wanted was to get an army, she could have stopped right here. She already had twice the number of Unsullied Jorah originally advised her to buy. In fact, she could've stopped earlier when she offered "every bead of amber and jar of saffron", because they were worth 1000 Unsullied, but she chose to pay double if this meant that the masters would change their mind and give her all of the slaves, both Unsullied and untrained boys.

But she doesn't want an army, she wants to free every single Unsullied. This is why the next moment is so meaningful:

Two thousand would never serve for what she meant to do. I must have them all. Dany knew what she must do now, though the taste of it was so bitter that even the persimmon wine could not cleanse it from her month. She had considered long and hard and found no other way. It is my only choice. “Give me all,” she said, “and you may have a dragon.” (ASOS Daenerys III)

That Dany "had considered long and hard and found no other way" reveals two things:

It reveals that Dany already expected that her resources and ships wouldn't be enough for the slavers to close the deal and give her all of the slaves, so she was prepared to offer one dragon, hard as it would be to risk a child.

It reveals that Dany is willing to go to any length to free the slaves. She "found no other way"? Of course she had! Again, she could have left the city and hired mercenaries in the Free Cities as Barristan advised her, she could have bought 1000 Unsullied as Jorah advised her, she could have bought the 2000 Unsullied. But Dany feels that it is her moral duty to free all of these men. That's why "[t]wo thousand would never serve for what she meant to do"; that's why she "must have them all"; that's why Dany thinks that "[i]t is my only choice", just like Brienne thinks "[n]o chance, and no choice".

Barristan tries to intervene and to persuade Dany to take another course of action (and there are still people crediting him for Dany's choices, sigh), but she is determined and asks for Jorah to remove him. She waits for their answer, but she already knows what it will be:

She knew the answer, though; she could see it in the glitter of their eyes and the smiles they tried so hard to hide. Astapor had thousands of eunuchs, and even more slave boys waiting to be cut, but there were only three living dragons in all the great wide world. And the Ghiscari lust for dragons. How could they not? Five times had Old Ghis contended with Valyria when the world was young, and five times gone down to bleak defeat. For the Freehold had dragons, and the Empire had none. (ASOS Daenerys III)

For all that Dany is criticized for her lack of Westerosi historical knowledge, we see in moments like this that she is able to retain whatever facts she learns from other people (we don't know if Jorah, Barristan, Viserys or Groleo told her) and apply them to better contextualize and grasp the problems she encounters. In this case, I also imagine that the Qartheen's reactions to her dragons factored into her conjecture.

And so, as Dany expected, the deal is made - all of the Unsullied and the untrained boys for her in exchange for all her goods (save for her crown and clothes), the three ships and Drogon, the largest dragon, for them. Missandei is given as a gift to Dany.

Dany empathizes with Barristan, even if he still disrespected her authority in public:

Arstan Whitebeard held his tongue as well, when Dany swept by him on the terrace. He followed her down the steps in silence, but she could hear his hardwood staff tap tapping on the red bricks as they went. She did not blame him for his fury. It was a wretched thing she did. The Mother of Dragons has sold her strongest child. Even the thought made her ill. (ASOS Daenerys III)

Like she did in the previous chapter, Dany makes it clear to Barristan that she wants his advice, but she reminds him of her position as well:

“Whitebeard,” she said, “I want your counsel, and you should never fear to speak your mind with me ... when we are alone. But never question me in front of strangers. Is that understood?”

“Yes, Your Grace,” he said unhappily. 

“I am not a child,” she told him. “I am a queen.” (ASOS Daenerys III)

Barristan is frank and says that even queens can make mistakes, for a dragon is worth more than any army, as Aegon proved in the Field of Fire. Dany shows self-assurance by responding:

“I know what Aegon proved. I mean to prove a few things of my own.” (ASOS Daenerys III)

Then, Dany talks to Missandei one-on-one for the first time. Missandei is surprised to find that Dany is actually fluent in High Valyrian. Dany frees Missandei and explains that she will serve as a handmaid, cross another continent and face wars with her if she chooses to stay, which she does because she doesn't have better options. Unfortunately, that's something Dany still hasn't learned, but the next chapter will have her start to understand that very lesson.

Then they start talking about the Unsullied. Dany knows that Kraznys may have lied to impress her, so she makes a few questions to confirm the reliability of the information he gave her:

“Are these Unsullied truly fearless?”

“...Is it true they feel no pain?”

“And they are obedient?”

Missandei confirms everything Kraznys had previously told Dany - they really are fearless, they really feel no pain, they really are obedient.

Dany makes new questions from now on. First, what will she do with them once her war is over? Missandei suggests keeping them as watchmen, reselling them or even asking them to kill themselves. Second:

“If I did resell them, how would I know they could not be used against me?” Dany asked pointedly. “Would they do that? Fight against me, even do me harm?”

“If their master commanded. They do not question, Your Grace. All the questions have been culled from them. They obey.” (ASOS Daenerys III)

In the previous chapter, as I showed (waaay) above, Dany had asked Kraznys what would happen if an enemy (herself) offered the Unsullied freedom for betraying their master. Kraznys replied that the enemy (herself) would be killed for it.

Now, in the moment from ASOS Dany III above, Dany words the question differently: if the Unsullied were sold from one person (masters) to another (Dany), would they fight against their former owner? Missandei answers that they would and echoes Kraznys's words by emphasizing that they do not question, they obey.

It's also worth pointing out that Dany never reveals to be asking these questions for her own sake. In fact, she creates hypothetical situations to conceal the possibility that she might apply that knowledge against the masters. So, by gathering these two pieces of information, Dany now knows what she needs to do in order to begin a successful rebellion: she needs to wait for the transaction to be made and to be acknowledged as their new owner. Only then it'll be possible for her to rebel and offer the Unsullied freedom.

Later, Groleo has another argument with Dany, who is vehement about getting the Unsullied (for the noble reasons I've already discussed above):

“Magister Illyrio is not here,” she finally had to tell him, “and if he was, he could not sway me either. I need the Unsullied more than I need these ships, and I will hear no more about it.” (ASOS Daenerys III)

Dany calls her bloodriders and Jorah to her cabin.

Afterward she called her bloodriders to her cabin, with Ser Jorah. They were the only ones she truly trusted.

She meant to sleep afterward, to be well rested for the morrow, but an hour of restless tossing in the stuffy confines of the cabin soon convinced her that was hopeless. Outside her door she found Aggo fitting a new string to his bow by the light of a swinging oil lamp. Rakharo sat crosslegged on the deck beside him, sharpening his arakh with a whetstone. (ASOS Daenerys III)

Considering that the author emphasizes that "they were the only ones she truly trusted", shows Aggo and Rakharo preparing their weapons for the next day (and they will begin to attack the masters before the Unsullied do) and has Jorah telling Dany that the next day will be a difficult one, I assume she shared her plan with them to make sure it would work out.

Then, she goes up in deck, Jorah finds her and they have a powerful exchange in which Dany reflects on why she calls herself queen in the first place:

“Khaleesi. You ought to be asleep. Tomorrow will be hot and hard, I promise you. You’ll need your strength.” 

“Do you remember Eroeh?” she asked him.

“The Lhazareen girl?”

“They were raping her, but I stopped them and took her under my protection. Only when my sun-and-stars was dead Mago took her back, used her again, and killed her. Aggo said it was her fate.”

“I remember,” Ser Jorah said.

“I was alone for a long time, Jorah. All alone but for my brother. I was such a small scared thing. Viserys should have protected me, but instead he hurt me and scared me worse. He shouldn’t have done that. He wasn’t just my brother, he was my king. Why do the gods make kings and queens, if not to protect the ones who can’t protect themselves?”

“Some kings make themselves. Robert did.” 

“He was no true king,” Dany said scornfully. “He did no justice. Justice ... that’s what kings are for.” (ASOS Daenerys III)

These lines have already been analyzed in so many ways and quoted by so many people that I feel that I don't have anything new to add. I will quote @khaleesirin and myself to touch upon two particular aspects, however:

Dany’s storyline stands in contrast with the whole narrative surrounding the existence of The Others because when it comes to her, the realization we should be having is not that we need to gather / forge light (the heroes) to ready for a the fight against the real, ultimate darkness that’s about to come; Dany, as a hero and a revolutionary, came into view because in Arendtian terms, we have been, and are already in dark times. [...] There’s a reason why Dany’s character is so closely read as a revolutionary figure whose consciousness to fight for change, to end slavery, happens not because of her predetermined role, but because of the experiences she accumulated. (x)

Among her “contemporaries,” she’s the only one who actively sought for a universal sense of social justice, she’s the only one who actively appealed for the humanity of the repressed. (x)

The main takeaway is this: in terms of learning how to lead, Daenerys’ journey is not simply about how to be a ruler but on what grounds she should be ruling. (x)

What happened to Eroeh is not only something that fuels Dany’s anger and need for vengeance. It also fuels her desire to be just and fight for equality. This shows that negative feelings and sense of fairness can feed off each other (and let me be clear that the latter is a much stronger force on Daenerys). Dany had no agency once; she knows how that felt like. Now she, another rape victim to whom the narrative actually cares about giving a voice, will strive to give other people their agency because she can’t stand watching these injustices passively if she can do something about them. After what happened to me, this became so much more meaningful. She makes me feel like I can recover and succeed and be proactive too. (x)

Dany as a proactive hero is inspiring to me for the reasons expressed above:

She chose to fight for a cause that she had no any moral obligation to fight for nor any social ties to the group being oppressed (she transcended feudal loyalties before anyone else did) nor did she think she had a predetermined role to play. She did it all simply because her deep empathy and her own experiences as someone who's been oppressed before led to her development of a universal sense of social justice ("Why do the gods make kings and queens, if not to protect the ones who can't protect themselves?")

Also, as any marginalized group can tell you in real life, we're always met with human opposition like her cause was (unlike the Others' threat, which necessarily involves everyone, but no social movement ever managed to do that). We're angry and traumatized and scared. Dany had all of these feelings too, but she sublimated them into an abolitionist campaign. She is both relatable and a power fantasy. The scene above encapsulates all the key reasons why Dany's character, leadership and overall development matter so much to so many readers.

It's also worth noting that the chapter links Dany's anti-slavery crusade with the War for the Dawn, even if Dany is unaware of that.

Morning finally arrives. Like she did many times before, Dany restrains her emotions here in order to be respected, to be able to act as a political leader and to carry out her plan effectively:

If I look back I am lost, Dany told herself the next morning as she entered Astapor through the harbor gates. She dared not remind herself how small and insignificant her following truly was, or she would lose all courage. (ASOS Daenerys III)

In Qarth, Dany wore their gowns as a way to appease them, but then ultimately chose her Dothraki vests in the docks as her way to rebel against them and leave the city. In this chapter, she does the same: the Qartheen gown was used to flatter the slavers, but her "horsehair pants and painted leather vests" are her preferred option, signaling her choice of war and "honesty" and equality:

Today she rode her silver, clad in horsehair pants and painted leather vest, a bronze medallion belt about her waist and two more crossed between her breasts. Irri and Jhiqui had braided her hair and hung it with a tiny silver bell whose chime sang of the Undying of Qarth, burned in their Palace of Dust. (ASOS Daenerys III)

I don't think it's a coincidence that, in ADWD, Dany wears a tokar (which bears similar functions to those of the Qartheen gown; both are associated with adulation and falsehood and are villainized partly for being feminine-coded) while trying to find common ground with the slavers and then meets with the Dothraki at the end of the book when she decides to reject the peace. Both ACOK and ASOS already had Dany using Dothraki clothing for the purpose of revolting against socially established practices. It's also fitting because Dany's experiences with the Dothraki inform both her sense of equality and her leadership style.

To hammer home the parallels between Dany's choices of outfits in ACOK and ASOS, GRRM mentions the "Undying of Qarth" and also compares the Astapori with the Qartheen:

They are not so different from Qartheen after all, she thought. They want a glimpse of dragons to tell their children of, and their children’s children. It made her wonder how many of them would ever have children. (ASOS Daenerys III)

This passage also highlights a few things: by now, Dany knows that people are awed by her dragons and will try to look at them or even possess them if they can. It also foreshadows that her actions, righteous as they might be, will inevitably result in violence, for she doesn't know which of them will come out alive to have children.

Unlike the day before, now Dany is bringing her entire retinue. She organizes them in a conscious attempt to make them look more imposing than they really are:

She put the oldest and weakest on the inside of the column, with the nursing women and those with child, and the little girls, and the boys too young to braid their hair. The rest—her warriors, such as they were—rode outside and moved their dismal herd along, the hundred-odd gaunt horses that had survived both red waste and black salt sea. (ASOS Daenerys III)

Karmically speaking, Dany's rebellion begins in the most appropriate spot. The Plaza of Punishment, which was where slaves once suffered for trying to fight for their dignity, is now where a successful anti-slavery rebellion against the masters takes place:

The Plaza of Pride with its great bronze harpy was too small to hold all the Unsullied she had bought. Instead they had been assembled in the Plaza of Punishment, fronting on Astapor’s main gate, so they might be marched directly from the city once Daenerys had taken them in hand. There were no bronze statues here; only a wooden platform where rebellious slaves were racked, and flayed, and hanged. “The Good Masters place them so they will be the first thing a new slave sees upon entering the city,” Missandei told her as they came to the plaza.

At first glimpse, Dany thought their skin was striped like the zorses of the Jogos Nhai. Then she rode her silver nearer and saw the raw red flesh beneath the crawling black stripes. Flies. Flies and maggots. The rebellious slaves had been peeled like a man might peel an apple, in a long curling strip. One man had an arm black with flies from fingers to elbow, and red and white beneath. Dany reined in beneath him. “What did this one do?”

“He raised a hand against his owner.” (ASOS Daenerys III)

All the trade goods are brought forward to be exchanged for the Unsullied and Kraznys makes another nasty advice on how best to use them. Finally, Dany hands the end of Drogon's chain to Kraznys, who gives her the whip in turn. With the knowledge she extracted from Missandei and Kraznys, Dany is aware that she needs to be acknowledged as the Unsullied's owner if she wants them to fight for her. She makes questions to guarantee that the deal is done and makes it plain to the Unsullied that they are now hers:

“Is it done, then? Do they belong to me?”

“It is done,” he agreed, giving the chain a sharp pull to bring Drogon down from the litter. (ASOS Daenerys III)

She stood in her stirrups and raised the harpy’s fingers above her head for all the Unsullied to see. “IT IS DONE!” she cried at the top of her lungs. “YOU ARE MINE!” She gave the mare her heels and galloped along the first rank, holding the fingers high. “YOU ARE THE DRAGON’S NOW! YOU’RE BOUGHT AND PAID FOR! IT IS DONE! IT IS DONE!” (ASOS Daenerys III)

She prepared the ground very well. Now she is ready to atack. The slavers are unable to control Drogon, and Dany explains why:

“He will not come,” Kraznys said.

“There is a reason. A dragon is no slave.” And Dany swept the lash down as hard as she could across the slaver’s face. Kraznys screamed and staggered back, the blood running red down his cheeks into his perfumed beard. The harpy’s fingers had torn his features half to pieces with one slash, but she did not pause to contemplate the ruin. “Drogon,” she sang out loudly, sweetly, all her fear forgotten. “Dracarys.”

The black dragon spread his wings and roared. (ASOS Daenerys III)

Chaos ensues, the other two dragons are unchained, the Good Masters can only shove one another aside in panic and the Astapori demon-horned warriors are swiftly defeated by Dany's khalasar. Old Grazdan, the Good Master with the highest level of authority, tries in vain to order the Unsullied to attack Dany. The Mother of Dragons's leap of faith pays off and the Unsullied side with her instead:

The Unsullied did not so much as look down to watch him die. Rank on rank on rank, they stood.

And did not move. The gods have heard my prayer.

“Unsullied!” Dany galloped before them, her silver-gold braid flying behind her, her bell chiming with every stride. “Slay the Good Masters, slay the soldiers, slay every man who wears a tokar or holds a whip, but harm no child under twelve, and strike the chains off every slave you see.” She raised the harpy’s fingers in the air ... and then she flung the scourge aside. “Freedom!” she sang out. “Dracarys! Dracarys!”

“Dracarys!” they shouted back, the sweetest word she’d ever heard. “Dracarys! Dracarys!” And all around them slavers ran and sobbed and begged and died, and the dusty air was filled with spears and fire. (ASOS Daenerys III)

And the chapter ends triumphally. Dany is finally confident enough to throw the whip aside as the narrative links her draconic force to freedom.

#daenerys targaryen #asoiaf meta #dany and her choices #valyrianscrolls #a storm of swords

72 notes · View notes

elvispater · 3 years

Text

Wyman Manderly laughed, but half a dozen of his knights were on their feet at once.

I came back dreaming of doing something outrageous, something that everyone thought was impossible. Wyman Manderly laughed, but half a dozen of his knights were on their feet at once. “You flatter me.” Illyrio waggled his hand. Dowell's spokesman said she wouldn't answer questions on the yard: "We're focusing her time on other things now," Kevin Lampe said.. He had to forget that for a little while, though. Small Business Business Models Organizational Structure Organizations catalog cercei aur turcia Five Components of an Organization's External Environment by George N. The Whites at the Broken Spoke are letting us use their place free. Their true names were too long for human tongues, said Leaf. And . Mike Miller Jr. Every seventh year was to be at his own disposal.—Lev. He sounded a hundred years old. The winter months can be chilly and gray not exactly the kind of weather that inspires outdoor workouts. Detroit Pistons' Chauncey Billups (1) and Ben Wallace (3) are shown against the Boston Celtics in their NBA basketball game Monday, Jan. Mosquitoes are expected to come out en force. Discount prom dresses jackets,,, vest,discount outlet, moncler polo raflorene polot shirt Men Women Children Hats. At full phase in spring, the path tilts steeply southward, delaying successive moonrises by over an hour. The Danish prince is enraged when his mother, Gertrude, marries his uncle, Claudius, soon after the death of his father the king. “To her. Is a distinction between individual incentives and collective incentives, says Jagmohan Singh Raju, a professor of marketing at Wharton. It took some time to find you.” The rider vaulted duci alkalmi ruha from his j s authentic vans tibetan red true white saddle, pulled back his hood, and bowed. He was extremely anxious to tell his story. At the last party, he managed to throw our iPod, slam our stereo to the ground, pick up and throw another child and terrorize a gentle dog. A sort of irritable vexation, the result of illness and fatigue, surged up within me. Clarke: I've done the best I can. In 2000, Caldwell and three other climbers went to the former Soviet republic of Kyrgyzstan to scale the towering rock walls of its southern mountains. I know it will be more refreshing than the 4th.. This month we'll return to a patch of invasive knotweed near the middle parking lot off Cutter Street. Pat Foley led the Bloomfield (1 0) defense with eight tackles and two assists.. The annual Giants in the Faith event honors individuals who have shown acts of faith in the community. When he finally put the quill down, the room was dim and chilly, and he could feel its walls closing in. He did not want them. He thus describes the day of judgment (Sermon 15, p. " I am very excited to be announcing the signing of these five very talented ballplayers that will helping us in 2007 at a variety of positions", said Ervin Bryson, Greyhounds Head Coach. It's a Dan Marino Miami Dolphins jersey he hopes to get signed. But grandfather was English, but he was just like a Russian too. To feed pantofi sport tip soseta dama them, he would need to bring carts and wagons, and draft animals to haul them—horses, oxen, dogs. Those who love to cook will surely delight in the gourmet geci de fas dama scurte kitchen, which, among other features, includes top of the line, stainless steel appliances, granite counters and plenty of custom cabinetry. “And I am sure cizme vara cu tocyou will recall the Lady Arya. I think our society, under those circumstances, needs to help. The meat was spiced and fragrant,

sandisk mp3 mode d emploi

charred outside and red and juicy within. He has hands like two white spiders.. "It behooves local officials to step forward and do the same.". Also, GOP lawmakers warned Democrats ought not to assume cazadora vaquera tommy hilfiger they would always be the party in power at the end of a decade. “As you wish.” He beckoned to Kezmya and had her fetch the priestess a goblet of lemon juice, sweetened with honey. Well, here I am, free for the taking. The research promised to be grim at best slave narratives and histories of the time." Butler was born in Pasadena in 1947. “The sow I ride is actually my sister.. NHRA presents 23 national events featuring the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series, NHRA Lucas papuci de casa din pasla Oil Drag Racing Series and NHRA J Service Pro Mod Drag Racing Series. I did a quick fix and removed the side panel which lowered the temp to 74C max under load and the crashing didn't occur under that temperature. The Long Lances, they name themselves. That makes it safe for me to let you know that you'll NEVER catch on . That's more than a percentage point lower than the growth in each of the past two years, and the smallest increase since 2009, when sales were nearly flat.Matthew Shay, president and CEO of the National Retail Federation, said retailers can be encouraged by the first weekend of the holiday shopping season."Retailers and consumers both won this weekend, especially on Thanksgiving," he said.Here were the trends that emerged over the weekend: Online wave: According to comScore, which tracks online spending, online sales rose 26 percent to $1.04 billion on Black Friday compared with a year ago.

1 note · View note

popculturebuffet · 4 years

Text

Scooby Doo (2002) Review: The Most Punchable Fred Jones of All Time

It’s one last hurrah for Halloween as I take a look at the often derided 2002 Scooby Doo Movie! See what happens when you combine future superstar director James Gunn with .. the guy who thought directing the Smurf’s movie and Big’s Mama’s House were good ideas. Oh and with a splash of the guy who wrote the loveable family film Cheaper by the Dozen and the utterly loathed Percy Jackson film. It’s as messy as you’d expect with that.. but is it BAD? good, so bad it’s good, just sorta okay? Come with me as I try to find out under the cut with a full review.

I’ve always loved Scooby Doo. I grew up with the guy, watching reruns of the non-scrappy classic series from Where Are You to the Scooby Doo Movies, the three Superstar 10 movies (Boo Brothers, Ghoul School and Reluctant Werewolf), or the at the time brand new What’s New Scooby Doo. And later in life i’d absolutely adore Mystery Incorporated.. minus the whole Shaggy, Scooby Velma love triangle, but i’ll likely cover that at some point or sooner, you can comission reviews from me for 5 bucks each, 5 dollars off group orders if you really want to make me suffer through that that bad. But getting off self promotion point is I loved and still love the franchise. While I”ve yet to see “Scooby Doo and Guess Who”, though given there’s Weird Al, Kristan Schaal and Urkel episodes you can be sure i’m going to eventually, and Scoob was VERY ehhh even if Dick Dastardly was awesome. But despite my history with the great dane much like with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, despite my rich history with the franchise I haven’t dove in yet and with a friend who could use a nice halloween suprise and loves scooby doo, I figured now was the time to take a look at it. And since i’d been wanting to take a look at it again anyway, and decided going big wasn’t a bad way to start, i’m taking a look at the 2002 Scooby Doo movie. I saw this flim first run in a drive in, and saw the sequel the same way and loved it as a kid, and fondly remember checking out the Sountrack Preview page back before youtube existed to make checking out soundtracks easier. It was a simplier time. And even rewatching it later with my nieces, I found myself liking it. And the thing was almost every time this film comes up it’s with a turned up nose. The CGI, the confused audience, the deciding to cast Freddy Prinze Junior.. all terrible decisions that overshadow the film, when it’s not that bad. It’s not GREAT, but it’s not TERRIBLE either. So what is it then? Well i’ll tells ya. Let’s start with

PRODUCTION: Wait James Gunn Wrote This?

At the turn of the millneium Scooby Doo was back on top. After waning popularity during the Scrappy era, the advent of the warner affilated Cartoon Network meant a whole new generation of kids (raises hand) got to experince Scooby Doo for the first time. This new audeince lead to Scooby Doo on Zombie Island, the first of the franchises 80 or so DTV movies that will continue on long after the earth dies, and brought back the franchise after it’s long slumber. Scooby Doo went from dead to as popular as he was in his hey day again. Naturally Warner wanted to cash in and thus this movie was born. Originally the film was supposed to be a more adult project, a send up of the franchise with more sex jokes and what not than made the final cut according to writer James Gunn. Yes, the same James Gunn who wrote and directed the Guardians of the Galaxy movie and whose currently saving the suicide squad. It was one of Gunn’s earlier films but just from when he’s talked about it, you can tell he genuinely cared about the project. Along for the ride with our future Guardian was his co-writer, Craig Titely, who i’m convinced only came in to do punch ups as the guy has only written three other movies. One of them was being one of MANY writers on Cheaper by the Dozen and thus likely not doing much of note with that, and the other.. is being the only writer on Percy Jackson: The Lightning Thief’s movie adaptation.. aka the movie the fanbase and general audiences rejected in droves yet SOMEHOW got a sequel. Which is somehow still worse than his other film, one that asks “was the moon landing a hoax?” Spoilers, it wasn’t. Point is this isn’t a resume that screams co creator and more screams “Guy brought in to kid freindly this up”. More on that in a minute. The director is another less than reassuring face: Raja Gosnell, whose credits BEFORE this film were Home Alone 3, Never Been Kissed and Big Momma’s house.. so already he dosen’t have the best track record but somehow got worse because AFTER this film and it’s sequel he directed both live action Smurfs Movies and the universally hated Show Dogs, aka the film that thought dog rape was funny. The fact this film isn’t out and out terrible is a miracle.

Even more so because naturally, as Studios tend to do they interfered: The film was supposed to be more adult, cracking jokes about common things fans of the series growing up thought like Velma is Gay or Shaggy’s a stoner, and having both be fully true. But wanting to appeal to kids, Warner gradually lightned it, hence Craig, and Raja clearly having no shame gladly took it instead of you know.. standing his ground. So Velma has a love intrest thrown in and her kiss with Daphne is gone, while Shaggy’s toke smoking was lowered to subtext.. because either of those things is bad apparently? I dunno the 2000′s were fucked.

Point is THAT’S why these films are so tonally confused and why I don’t hold it agains the film now I know: It wasn’t James Gunn or even, as dumb as he is, Raja Gosnell’s fault that the film had some tones clashing when the studio was demanding it, instead of you know, thinking this through at all and realizing more kids cared about Scooby Doo than they would’ve josie and the pussy cats instead of bringing it up DURING production, when most of the adult stuff was in there. It’s also why the sequel has no real adult stuff, though it’s STILL damn good, but i’ll get to that some other day.

The film was also shot at an actual theme park in australia. Neat.

So yeah the film’s humor kind of ping pongs between knowing adult winks and kids stuff. We get Scooby dressing like a grandma in the same film shaggy enhales his demon possed love intrests breath like weed. The jokes themselves on average are pretty good: Some of my faviorites include the grandma scene, everything rowan atkinson does, Velma getting drunk off her ass, and the instructional video bit which is easily my favorite bit of the episode and one of my faviorite scooby doo jokes period:

youtube

This is even FUNNIER to me on rewatch, as we now know this is an instructional video for demons.. and that Scrappy clearly had enough problems with his demon horde to have to pay for this thing. It tis glorious. However there also are also a few that HAVE NOT aged well, are very creepy at best and disgusting sexual assault at worst with Daphne getting her ass grabbed by the Luna Ghost at the start being treated as a joke and Fred oggling Daphne’s body when he’s in it being treated as a ha ha and not...

So yeah the humor’s USUALLY good, but the slipups are noticable and do bring things down a bit when they come by. So the humor is decent if mixed and the production’s a nightmare, how’s the plot? The Plot: Scoob, We’re Getting the Band Back Together!

I won’t be as through as usual because this is a 90 minute movie, I’m running behind as is and it’s 20 years old,

We start with your standard mystery inc case with the Luna Goose, aka Old Man Incel who resented Pamela Anderson for not boning him. But Fred hogging the glory during the resulting News Cast leads the gang to start fighting over lingering tensions: Velma is tired of Fred hogging all the credit when she does most of the legwork solving things, Daphne is tired of being kidnapped and being mistreated by Velma and Freddy who laugh at the idea of her doing more, and Fred..

We’ll get to him later. Shaggy is the only one wanting to stick together, but no one’s having it and the group breaks apart and Matthew LIllard REALLY sells Shaggy’s heartbreak over his friends all abandoning him well.

Two years later though, with Shaggy and Scooby naturally getting stoned and eating large quantities of food on the beach, have made peace with retirement, and have apparently had to duck tons of people coming to them to solve mysteries since they aren’t about that. The latest in that line is a man representing Emile Mondovarius, the owner of Spooky Island, a vast island resort and theme park. Naturally since it has spooky in the name the boys want nothing but Mondovarius does what honestly every previous guy coming to them should’ve done: offers them an all you can eat buffet. Since they’ve done more traumatizing for Dog Treats, they agree and it soon turns out the entire gang was invited, though none of them but Shaggy and Scooby are happy to see each other. I will say one of my complaints about the film is it never tackles the emotions behind the breakup: while the teams slowly repairs there are never any outright apologizes or scenes of them recociling or scenes of Shaggy chewing them out for abandoning him due to their spat. It just skips over the emotional bits to either wave a joke for the kiddies around or scream

Really the jokes aren’t bad, the film just has trouble with actual emotion or depth that could’ve been there and tries for it once in a while, but dosen’t really do anything with it. The gang splitting up’s a good concept, and at this point on Scooby Doo on Zombie Island had really used it, and that was one where they were clearly still close friends and were still in touch they just quit mystery solving for a while till Zombie Island happened. Mystery Incorpreated would finally give this story justice later: Instead of over a petty ego squabble, the gang broke up over underlying tensions: The revelations about Fred’s dad caused him to go try and find himself, Velma alienated herself by hiding things from them, and Shaggy was shipped off to Military School and Scooby doggy prison camp... thankfully the last two didn’t last and Scooby rescued Shaggy with a tank but the tension DIDN’T go away: While the gang mostly reunited, Velma took time to forgive them and also tried bringing in the friend/girlfriend she’d made in the meantime only for her friends to isolate her and throw her out while Daphne took her time to return due to being hurt by fred. It’s complex and good stuff versus here where it’s just “WE’RE APART BECAUSE WE HATES EACH OTHER. And now we’re NOT”. It’s just a waste of a good concept and i’ m glad the franchise got around to doing it right.

But my gripes aside our heroes head to the resort and meet Mondevarious, who admits outright to having tricked then and with confronted with the gang being broken up, makes it clear he knews. “That’s the thing about broken things.. you can put them back together.”

And so he did. He needs the Gang’s help as he’s worried about the island and something going wrong there: The teens are leaving polite, well behaved. and clearly not themselves as one reacts to an old friend by neck lifting him and tossing him aside. Something’s deeply wrong here and the gang’s intrest is piqued enough to stay though everyone but Shaggy is determined to solve it themselves out of ego. Mondvarius is played by Rowan Atkinson and while I watched the bean movie as a kid this is where I fell in love with the guy, with later watches of Blackadder confirming that in my college years. Rowan just brings a fun dorky energy to the character and a nice earnestness too but when he later takes a turn for the bad, he does that well too. Atkinson is HIGHLY underated in my opinon and easily the MVP of this film’s supporting cast. So the investigation begins, and we get our supsects: The first we met on the plane, Mary Jane, a kind blonde played by Isla Fisher who got the job becasue Gosnel, in a rare good decision, saw how talented she was and while still picking Sara Michele Gellar for Daphne, made sure she had a part. She’s a nice sweet girl who Shaggy falls for and Scooby’s annoyed by it.. though unlike earlier the film beats mystery inc easily here as it’s a more understandable conflict and dosen’t act like Dog Issues is a thing people says. Again i’ll get to that clusterfuck of an arc some day. The other two are N’Goo Tuna, a shady worker at the park who spouts off the legends of the island. In a nice twist, he’s NOT the vilian, as is obvious but is his right hand man. He also has his own right hand and muscle in Zarkos a cool looking Luchador and N’Goo’s muscle. Also N’Goo may be one of the worst names in Scooby Doo History, and that includes Dabba Doo. But the legend claims the island was once owned by demons who want revenge since the resort took the island from him.

The other is probably my faviorite non Rowan Atkinson character, Voodoo Maestro, played by Miguel Nunez. He’s basically just a guy who lives on the fringes of the island and also hates the resort and tries using voodoo curses. He’s honestly a delight from his attempt to sacrifice a chicken (An already dead one at that), to his general hammy and annoyed at dealing with these teenagers demeanor. NAturally he has nothing to do with this but he’s still a fun addition and I wish he was in more scnenes than the two he gets. But with what they’ve gathered the gang all end up at a spooky castle attraction, with Scooby and Shaggy of course being bribed by daphne while Velma and Fred show up indpeendntly and end up finding the weird training video from earlier but all get caught when the traps are activiated> There’s also a farting contest which.. eh not funny to me but i’ve seen so much worse i’m not even remotely upset. But then the traps trigger though during the chaos Fred and Velma are forced to work together and finally start doing so, and Daphne finds a clue: A mysterious pyramid known as the damon righus and finally gets some, if not nearly enough, credit. So the gang is back together.. even if it’s a tenative peace, the high from solving this and relay to their boss the suspects, including him, though Fred assures Mondovarius it’s just because he’s spooky and rowan’s character’s delight over that is fucking glorious. So the gang enjoys some down time at the local bar, with Fred and Daphne doing their own look ins, Scooby and Shaggy eating and encountring mary again and Velma getting hit on by a dude while looking over the ritus, revealing it’s some sort of soul sucking aparatus, and going into their history... which is really just an excuse to bring Scrappy in who in this universe, is a horny egotistical little shit whose abandoned as a result. ANd before anyone boos he’s not a puppy here, he’s got.. dog dwarfisim.. which while .. how does that even work... means he’s a grown ass man and deserved this. We also get drunk velma and Linda Caredenlli is a delight

The night gets interupted by terrible cgi monsters, the aformentioned emon who soul suck most of the college kids present and also get fred and velma who both find out these are very much real. We also get the best song on the soundtrack, man with a hex. It slaps. But it makes good chase music as with Mondvarious, Fred and Velma captured, the rest of the gang and mary escape. The next morning we get a surreal as hell scene as everyone’s partying, Fred’s talking in slang and Velma with clevage, thank you, is chatting up.. Sugar Ray? For those younger of you they were a band at the time. They were a big thing. Not half bad but faded away. They looked as 2000′s as hell though. WHy Smash Mouth gets all the memes and not them is beyond me. Look at lead singer Mark McGrath!It’s like the early 2000′s gained sentience and took a human form. But the gang is quickly forced to run from sugar ray, though they get Daphne in a deleted scene. Why it was deleted I dunno. Point is Shaggy, Scooby and Mary are all alone.. oh and Mary’s possessed. Shaggy and Scooby argue over it because Shaggy just thinks Scooby is jealous and while he is .. why would he lie about this? He’s as cowardly as you are. But Scooby falls through the floor, and Shaggy is now going solo but luckily finds his friends souls, and eveyrone elses in a massive cool looking vat and frees them all. Velma, when the demon leaves her and confronts her, finds out sunlight kills the demons and saves Daphne from hers... only to find Fred in her body. Daphne is naturally horrified and we do get a great bodyswapping scene.

Our heroes reconvince on the beach where htey find the Maestro who explains what’s going on to a point, with the gang’s clues filling in the blanks: The ritus, which they stole back earlier, is used for a ritual that will allow the Demons to rule over the earth for “a thousand years of darkness” but it requires a pure soul to work. Cue our big bad talking Scooby into being their willing sacrifice since Scooby dooes not understand what a sacrifice is. Shaggy naturally rallies the group to go save him after their understandably worried since they usually dealt with weirdos in costumes and not the apocalypse.. well okay Velma and Fred aren’t, Daphne dealt with this kind of thing once a week back in Sunnydale. So they set up a plan to destroy all the demons at once by unleashing the soul bath, setting them all loose and then using a spooky disco ball from one of the attractions rigged up over the ritual area to shine the light in. It’s classic scooby doo.

Things naturally go wrong as while Shaggy goes to rescue scooby and makes up with him, he’s caught, so are fred and velma and they have to scramble, while Daphne looses a fight with the luchador up top while trying to let the light in to finish the trap. Meanwhile Shaggy saves Scooby’s soul just as Mondovarious sucks it out by shoving the guy.. revealing him to be a robot! DUN DUN DUN. And inside is Scrappy.. which you all probably knew already but try to act suprise who wanted to conquer the world as revenge for the gang abandoning him and because again, in this universe he’s kind of an asshole. He absorbs the souls gathered so far and merges with the damon ritus, because we’re operating on video game rules now apparently, so final boss time. But we get a great climax as Scrappy chases scooby, Daphne goes buffy on Zarkos ass , and as a result he shatters the glass and lets the light in releasing the disco ball the kill the demons.. man I love that I get to type things like that. Scooby removes the ritus and defeats his nephew and the day is saved. Velma hooks up with random guy, Daphne and Fred get together, I die inside a little and Shaggy and Mary Jane bond. At the press Fred does his good deed for the movie by letting Velma explain things and get the spotlight and the group have firmly reunited. THE END. Overall it’s a solid plot, that works well, comes together in the end and was well put together, it’s more the filling that causes it to tilt back and forth a bit, but overlal outside of the issue I mentioned it’s a good scooby doo plot. While some have pointed out it is similar to zombie island, a case reuniting the gang, the person who brought them there wanting to sacrifice them, or just scooby here, monsters being real, it works because everything else is so different. But since there’s more to break down and it’s easier to give it it’s own section let’s look at...

THE CHARACTERS: NOT HALF BAD, FRED CAN GO FUCK HIMSELF.

So we’re down to character.. and since there’s a blonde, preeening, selfish, arrogant, sleazy, sexist, obnoxious, loud mouthed, useless elephant in the room, let’s start with Fred. And to quote it’s always sunny....

Yeah so that fury of a thousand crashing waves (Cracks Knuckles): Fred is the worst part of this movie, the worst version of the character across the entire franchise that i’ve seen with the sincre doubt that there is ANY version worse than this. Everything I said above is true and THEN some. He is one of the most unlikable characters i’ve seen in a film that wasn’t INTENDED to be. There’s just NOTHING to like about him. Nothing. He treats his “Friends” like garbage, all four of them: He basically ignores shaggy and scooby at best and treats them as if they were nothing. For Velma he’s your classic power abusing douche who pushes her to the side and often steals the credit for things she did. He’s still a good mystery solver, but he acts like he does all the work to the press and takes all the credit when Velma works as hard as he does if not harder. And worst of all is Daphne, who he basically either treats like some moron who gets kidnapped due to incompetence and not because creepy old dudes want to feel her up, which given the intro is VERY likely the reason she’s the resident victim of the group, and not like a person, or like a pair of boobs and legs he wants to bang or feel up creepily while he’s in her body. For fuck’s sake his reaction to finding out he’s in her body is a creepy and smug “I can see myself naaaakeddd” If that dosen’t make you want to smack him get off my blog. And they get together in the end!

Who who wanted that. I genuinely want the presumibly original ending where Daphne and Velma hook up and Fred falls off a pier and is never seen again. The acting does not help. While the other four gang members are expertly cast Fred was given to Freddy Prinze Junior, who made a career out of playing arrogant dicks who are somehow the main character so I can’t fault the casting but I can fault that he can’t delver any line without that smug air of trying to be cool douche and it’s at it’s worst with Fred since Fred’s already written as the biggest creepiest douche in the world and Freddy somehow makes it WORSE. He also has zero chemstiry with Daphne, which would be weird given he and Sarah Michelle Gellar had dated for 2 years at this point and as of this writing have been together for 20 overall and have two wonderful kids together... but given how badly written Fred is here, I can’t blame either of them. And i’m sure FPJ is a swell guy, loves his kids loves his wife seems like a really plesant guy, nothing against him as a person, but at least at this point in his career he wasn’t very good. And I am actually planning on trying to seek out one of his later works in his career to see if he’s gotten better in recent years, and willing to give him the benifit of a doubt that he probably has. I just don’t like him here, and while the script does most of the work he only makes it worse.And works before this (Pup Named Scooby Doo) and after this (Mystery Incorperated) would prove you can give fred a personality that’s not dick tip, so fuck this character, fuck the writing.. and I hope Freddy is having a happy halloween with his loving wife and children, seriously I meant it I have nothing against him as a person. A terrible actor can still be a WONDERFUL guy.

Now that’s thankfully put to bed, let’s pivot over to Shaggy, whose easily the best of the cast. Matthew Lillard looks the part pefectly, has the right combination of heart and goofus and has some great comedic timing. Granted Scream had already proven the guy’s got genuine talent, but still he’s great here and is currently playing Shaggy in most films and productions, except Scoob which.. was far from it’s only mistake but easily the biggest. There’s not much else to say: the guy IS Shaggy and is the only person whose taken up the roll to equal Kasey Casem in it. As for how he’s written.. he’s basically the same and apart from one line of him wanting to leave everyone to their deaths, which feels like it was added later, he’s written really well and is easily the most likeable of the group.

Scooby is alright. Not the best version but funny and charming enough when he needs to be and while I hated the CGI at one point.. it’s honestly not that bad. It’s not GREAT, but time has actually been very good to it both in how it’s held up and in the fact we’ve gotten SO MUCH WORSE with so much better techlogies. I mean.. Cats exists.. Marmaduke Exists.. the Bill Murray Garfield exists. This was offputting at the time but now it’s just okay. But character wise he’s good and again not much diffrent.

Velma is the second best casting of the movie. Played by Linda Cardenelli, who i’ve harbored a crush on for a good few decades now and admire mostly for her talent and charm, Linda kills the roll and easily slips into it as easily as Matt did, and while not picking it up full time like he did, still did it a few times afterword and played hot dog water in mystery incorperated, so she did finally get to play a Lesbian Velma it just took a while. And while Velma being gay is kind of sterotyping, it would’ve been nice to have been kept in instead of edited out for bullshit reasons. But overal her character is decent: While she ALSO bullies and belittles daphne like fred, unlike fred it comes less from just being a douche and more from insecurity. As her scene at the bar makes clear she feels undervalued like the other, like the nerd who the cool kids LET hang out with them instead of part of the team. While it dosen’t make her treatment of Daphne OKAY, it makes Velma understandable. We also get Velma Clevage which.. okay not sure if the world needed that but whatever. Point is it’s throughly likeable portryal that I wish got some character growth. Finally out of the main 5 there’s Daphne, whose alright. Not as good as the other two, as it feels they lean a bit too heavily on her having taken self defense and wanting ot be tougher, but Sarah Michelle Gellar gives her a ton of charm and likeablity that her husband’s character sadly lacks. There’s just a fun, adorable energy to daph that ends up coupling with her buffy style badassery at the end and Sarah plays both beautifully. The script didn’t give her a ton to work with, though that’s the same for all four of htem, but Sarah really made the character work and made her somewhat memorable despite not being as good as Linda or Matthew. Basically not the best, but still a comfortable third ahead of scooby doo and jackass jones.

As for the rest of the cast, Rowan Attkinson i’ve covered and is utterly fantastic as is the Voodoo Maestro, and both should get hteir own hbo max spinoff together. The minons.. stupid name and luchadoor are decent enough, nothign special but they have presence and do the job of goon well. And Mary Jane is alright.. the joke is WAY too on the nose to be funny and she’s mostly just there to be sweet, but she’s harmless. Not good but not bad. So finally we have our big bad, Scrappy. And i’m.. mixed about this. On one hand, Scott Innes, who it turns out is also from Missouri good on you dude!, does a terrific job and I couldn’t tell it wasn’t don messick as Scrappy and he plays him as evil great. On the other.. it’s just kinda goofy. Out of all the tips of hte hat to scooby stuff this feels the most over the top. Scrappy was hated, including by james gunn.. so he’s the bad guy. It’s just a bit on the nose, and the twist is pretty easily teligraphed since Scrappy suspciously is mentioned in one scene so him showing up at all is pretty easy to see coming. It’s not terible but it’s not great. His demon minons also just suck.. the designs are wonky and their cgi, unlike scooby and scrappy’s, is just REALLY bad and dated, and even as a kid I never liked them.

FINAL THOUGHTS: Scooby Doo is a decent but messy movie. The clashing tones, dated humor and godawful version of fred drag it down at times, and it’s very clear this had a lot of hands in the pot. But.. I still enjoy it. It’s not the best scooby ever, tha’ts mystery incorpeated, but it has great atmosphere, some good ideas, an utterly spectacular with one exception cast, and some really funny jokes. I genuinely feel the film is overhated when it’s a unique, weird and wonderful slice of Scooby. For better or worse there’s no other Scooby doo property quite like it, and that’s what makes it so fun. And it has enough good performances and jokes to smooth out the edges. It’s not the best, it’s a mess.. but sometimes a mess is fun and I like this flim for being a fun mess I can enjoy with my nieces and talk about to all of you. And sometimes that’s all you need. Thank you for reading this. If you like this you can comission your own review: 5 bucks for a tv episode, 15 for a movie, 10 for an hour long special, and 5 dollars off when you order more than one episode of a show at a time. Just send me a direct message or ask on here and we’ll get started. Until then you can check out my backlog of reviews, check this space every monday for ducktales reviews, and VOTE DAMMIT VOTE. Until we meet again it’s been a pleasure. Play us out Atomic Fireballs, it’s been a wonderful halloween.