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dfdph · 3 years

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Spotlight - Prologue

Author D.

Pairing Jungkook x Reader (female)

Warnings Mentions of cyber bullying

Word count 3.5k

Summary “Her stylist had chosen a wonderful black Elie Saab Haute Couture for the occasion. The gown was long, sleek and structured, with overlaying tulle and tafta, the top was semi-transparent, with long sleeves and padded shoulders, and the whole dress was adorned with an intricate golden embroidery that highlighted her figure craftily. Her hair had been pinned neatly in a bun on top of her head, with some twists and braids that she had no way of replicating on her own. The make up artist had played with golden eyeshadow and had drawn a strong and thick black line with the eyeliner, making her gaze sharper and sexier. Y/N looked like a chic princess warrior, ready for battle. And, somehow, she really felt like it. She wasn’t anxious only about the ceremony, she had read the lineup, she had read his name. She knew there was no avoiding him this time: her first love, Jeon Jungkook.”

Award season was the period of the year Y/N hated the most. Despite being in the entertainment industry since she was a teenager - and now being in her late 20s -, she still couldn’t get used to the stress it put her through. She actually looked forward to dressing up and posing in front of dozens and dozens of photographers at the beginning of her career, but now that she had made a name for herself, now that everyone knew who she was, Y/N would gladly stay in her king sized bed watching some movie instead. Unfortunately, even if she wanted to, there was no way she could avoid attending this season’s ceremonies.

The past year had been Y/N’s most rewarding yet. She had been in fact casted by a renowned and award-winning director as the main character of his new historical movie, which turned out highly successful at the box office - earning more than $110,000,000 on its opening weekend - and highly acclaimed by the critics who had praised, not only the cinematography and the intricacy of the plot, but especially Y/N’s performance - described as raw, heartbreaking and graceful. To no one’s surprise, she was soon nominated as Best Actress in most of the award events, winning all of them despite the high competition and enriching the collection of trophies she had displayed in her home office.

When she debuted ten years ago with a minor role in an episode of a television series she only dared dreaming of reaching such a peak in her career. She could have never imagined that she would become one of the highest paid actresses in the industry, that she would afford buying her dream car and her dream house in Los Angeles, and that she would have millions of fans supporting her all over the world. Yet, there she was, getting ready for ‘the dream come true’, the award of the awards: the Oscars. And she, Y/N Y/L/N, had been chosen as the strongest contender in her category: Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role. She had already been nominated twice before, but this time was different, this time she felt she could actually win. Hence why she couldn’t stop walking anxiously back and forth in the 5 star hotel room her staff had booked for the day.

Her stylist had chosen a wonderful black Elie Saab Haute Couture for the occasion. The gown was long, sleek and structured, with overlaying tulle and tafta; the top was semi-transparent, with long sleeves and padded shoulders, and the whole dress was adorned with an intricate golden embroidery that highlighted her figure craftily. Her hair had been pinned neatly in a bun on top of her head, with some twists and braids that she had no way of replicating on her own. The make up artist had played with golden eyeshadow and had drawn a strong and thick black line with the eyeliner, making her gaze sharper and sexier.

Y/N looked like a chic princess warrior, ready for battle. And, somehow, she really felt like it. She wasn’t anxious only about the ceremony, she had read the lineup, she had read his name. She knew there was no avoiding him this time: her first love, Jeon Jungkook.

Y/N was a completely different woman from who she was back in high school.

She had grown in a very poor family. Her mother had to raise her, alongside her older brother, all on her own, working long hours as a housekeeper for a rich and snob family who mistreated her and paid her just enough so that she couldn’t resign. She was a very sweet woman who had to struggle every day to give her two children the most normal life she could afford. Y/N’s father, on the other hand, was never present: an alcoholic who couldn’t keep a job for more than a month, he regularly failed to pay child support after the divorce and never once made a call to hear from them.

Y/N understood the importance of money early on, in elementary school, when her classmates started teasing her because of her hand-me-down clothes. She was used to wear her brother’s old t-shirts every now and then and never thought too much of it. She didn’t see any difference between the rock bands pictures or the flowery prints, she didn’t realize it mattered. And when she had told her mother that those girls had laughed at her, the woman almost cried, so Y/N decided not to mention it ever again.

Y/N grew up into a very introverted and shy teenager. She wasn’t good with socializing and generally preferred being on her own. Her desire for solitude was so evident that her classmates gave up on their attempts to befriend her and she soon became the lone wolf of their high school. By junior high, she became almost invisible.

Strangely enough, Y/N’s dream was that to become an actress, a profession that required a lot of things she lacked of. Confidence, to begin with, or charisma. The only thing she believed she could do was hide inside the unused storage room on the second floor and play with the old props left by the drama club.

She met Jungkook while doing just that.

The boy was just coming back from the first meeting of the Mathematics Discussion Club - of which he was the president - when he heard someone crying from a room he never noticed before. He opened the door quietly, peeking his head inside the dim lighted room, only to find the silhouette of a girl lying on the floor in a fetal position and seemingly crying her lungs out in pain. She had her hands clutching tightly her head and she was sobbing so hard that she was on the verge of hyperventilating. On instinct, Jungkook rushed to her side, his books, pencils and calculator clattering all over the floor.

“Are you ok?!” he screamed in worry, putting his hands over her shoulders.

Y/N jumped up, her wailing stopping so abruptly that it made Jungkook jump as well. As it turned out, Y/N was doing nothing more than acting the part of a terminally ill girl who was suffering intense head pains - a part she had invented all on her own to test her ability with dramatic scenes. it was something she did quite often. Just the day before she was performing Meryl Streep’s part in “Into the Woods” to an invisible audience.

“I-I’m ok.” she mumbled, drying the fake tears from her cheeks.

“What the hell?” Jungkook murmured, looking at her in astonishment. “What was that?”

“I was ... I was just pretending.” she replied, her voice horse from all the screaming.

“Pretending?” he repeated as he sat bewildered on the dirty floor. “You were pretending to be in pain? Why?!”

Y/N felt the heat rising to her face. This was the first time she had to explain her weird little secret to anyone. “Acting.”

“Acting.” Jungkook repeated once again. “And why are you doing it in here?” he asked looking around the creepy space, with its spider webs and abandoned miscellaneous objects. “What is this place anyways?”

“It was the old storage room of the drama club.” Y/N replied. “They don’t use it anymore. There’s no space left.”

“I can see that.” he said staring at the shelf just above their heads that looked about ready to collapse. “So, I guess you’re not in the drama club?”

“No.” Y/N answered looking down at her crossed legs. She wondered if he was going to snitch on her. She really didn’t want to get in trouble. Besides, it wasn’t like she was doing something that terrible.

“I could tell.” Jungkook replied. “I saw last year’s winter play and, let me tell you, you, crying on the floor 5 minutes ago, were ten times better than that.”

Y/N looked back at him with her mouth open in surprise. She had no idea who this boy sitting crossed legged on the floor with her was, with his white button down shirt and over washed jeans, but he singlehandedly gave her the best compliment she could wish for. “Right?!” she exclaimed sitting straighter. “I thought so too! But everybody else acted as if they saw the best performance of their lives! I knew I couldn’t be the only one who taught that their interpretation of Shakespeare’s Antony and Cleopatra was nothing but underwhelming.”

“Damn right.” the boy nodded in agreement. “I actually looked forward to it because I prefer it over Romeo and Juliet, but I was so disappointed. You should have played Cleopatra!” he added in an afterthought. “Why didn’t you?”

Y/N felt herself blush once again. “I never performed in front of anyone.” she confessed. “Apart from my mother an brother, that is.”

“That’s a shame.” Jungkook murmured pensively. “You have real talent, storage room girl. Believe me, I’m an expert.”

Being friends with Jungkook was easy, falling in love with him was even easier. It came so naturally that Y/N didn’t even have the chance to fully realize it before they were officially dating.

He was everything Y/N wasn’t and everything she wanted to be. Even at 16 years old he already was a very confident boy. He was incredibly smart, funny and a little bit nerdy. He didn’t belong to the upper class of their high school social pyramid, nor the middle, but he had no care in matching those standards because he loved himself for who he was - Stark Trek t-shirts, consumed tennis shoes and all.

In the short year the two of them were together, from junior to senior year, Jungkook became the reason behind Y/N’s happiness. She wasn’t aware of how lonely she really had been while asking to be left alone. Jungkook taught her to be open towards the world, to be curious and to believe in herself and her abilities. Thanks to him and his never ending support Y/N came to realize that she wasn’t meant to hide inside the abandoned storage room on the second floor, but she deserved the chance to follow her dreams.

Together they filed their applications for college: Jungkook always wanted to become an aerospace engineer and had set the personal - and ambitious - goal to work for NASA; Y/N, on the other hand, had worked hard during her last year in high school to win a scholarship for whichever Performing Arts College was willing to take her in - it didn’t matter which one because she knew she started her acting career late. All she wanted was to study to become an actress, to perform on stage and bring to life incredible stories, to be someone one day and someone else the other.

But it was such a big dream, something so fickle and risky, that Y/N couldn’t help but being overwhelmed by fear, not only for her future but that of Jungkook’s as well, because after all, despite all the changes she had gone through, a part of her was still hiding from the world. So she did something stupid, something very cliché, that nevertheless seemed the right thing to do at that time: she broke up with him.

It’s for his own good, she had thought. He is brilliant, I don’t want to hold him back.

Jungkook fought her and for her. He was afraid something like this would happen, he was sure it wasn’t what she really wanted, he knew she was just afraid. But Y/N was a very talented actress indeed and for a moment, as she looked straight into his dark eyes and told him she didn’t love him anymore, Jungkook felt his confidence waver.

“I’m really thankful for what you’ve done for me.” she had said. “I wouldn’t be who I am today if it wasn’t for you.”

“Please don’t lie.” he had whispered, trying to stop the angry and disappointed tears from falling from his eyes. “Don’t pretend. Not with me.”

“I’m not.” Y/N replied, her voice firm. “I loved you, I really did. You’ll be my first love forever, Kook.”

And the very next day, just like in one of those cheesy television dramas her mother loved so much, she flew hundreds of miles away from him, trying to not looking back.

If she said she never regretted it over the following years, it would be a lie. As she started her new life, she never failed to think of him. She wondered how he was doing, if his dreams were coming true and if he ever thought of her as much as she did of him. As she grew up and matured, Y/N realized how stupid her choice had been and how important Jungkook’s role had been in shaping her personality and in breaking her shell. Y/N was sure of it: if he didn’t found her that day inside the storage room, she wouldn’t be who she was today.

Years after she broke up with him, Jungkook still popped up into her mind every now and then. She thought of him the first time she was casted for a walk on role in a movie; she thought of him the first time her name was credited in an episode of a TV show; she thought of him the first time she won an award.

She thought of him with regret and a little bit of melancholy. Y/N never forgot him. Not even when when became so famous she barely had the time and energy to think about herself.

The first time Y/N heard his name spoken by someone else’s mouth, three years ago, was a complete shock. She never talked of him to anyone, apart form her mother, her brother and Jimin, her best friend and manager, so he was supposed to be a nobody to everyone else but herself. As it turned out, with a very mysterious turn of events, Jungkook had left the path towards aerospace engineering and had decided to take his chance with acting. And from what Y/N gathered from the overheard conversation, he was starting to make a name for himself as well.

That night, back in her multimillion dollar villa, Y/N researched his name on the internet for the first time.

He was new to the industry and there wasn’t much about him, it was like he popped out of nowhere. But it was definitely Jungkook, Y/N recognized him from the pictures. He had grown into a beautiful man, so handsome that she did a double take and then had to stop herself from drooling. It wasn’t like he was ugly when they were together, but he was just a skinny teenager back then and this was a man, a real man who had lost all of his baby fat and now had a razor sharp jaw and a muscular body. Apparently, he was the protagonist of an ongoing TV series that was gathering a lot of success putting him in the center of the attention. ‘The new heartthrob’, that was how he was being called.

Y/N couldn’t help but wonder what happened after they lost contact with each other that made him change his career so drastically. Whenever she thought about him she imagined him working on some challenging project for NASA, never on a movie set. She remembered he was passionate about theatre and cinema, but never once he had expressed the desire to become an actor like her. Y/N didn’t know what to think.

As the years passed, Y/N watched as his acting career grew, as he starred in a success after the other and as he earned the respect of even the most strict directors and critics.

Y/N watched, yes, but from afar, never daring to contact him and secretly avoiding the chances to meet him again.

She had been successful, until now.

The drive to the Dolby Theatre went far too quick for Y/N’s taste. She could barely remember how she got from the hotel room where she had been preparing to the black luxury van. Before she knew it her stylist was taking away her favorite slippers and was putting on her dress-matching Dolce&Gabbana heels.

Y/N didn’t have the time to think. Three years of running away and finally the moment had come. Jeon Jungkook - her first love, her ‘the one that got away’, probably her biggest regret - was probably in the car behind hers.

“Y/N, two minutes.” Jimin called out, warning her to get ready. “You know the deal. Deep breath and own that red carpet as you always do. And-”

“I know.” Y/N interrupted him. “The left side is my best side.”

The man, dressed up as well in a black tux, gave her a wink. “I’ll be right behind you. You got this.” he declared, looking at her intensely. “This is the one.”

“Thanks, Chim. But from all we know I could be the next Di Caprio.” she joked, the roaring noise from the red carpet now deafening.

“On my dead body.” he smirked. “Talk to you later, princess.”

“Later.” she hugged him briefly. “Oh, can you please make sure my mom and Seokjin got in fine? I totally forgot to call them.”

“Of course. My assistant is with them, anyways.” Jimin said, putting a hand on the door handle. “Ready?”

Y/N took a deep breath, put on her best charming expression and nodded. “Ready.”

As soon as he opened the door, Y/N was immediately hit by the boisterous and echoing call of the fans. She wasn’t sure if it was only her impression but it seemed like every single one of them was screaming her name. She was, indeed, one of the biggest names of the night, there was no use in denying it, but Y/N couldn’t help but wish they stopped making her presence so obvious.

A young usher, pretending not so well to be indifferent and trying to be professional, guided her towards the beginning of the red carpet, hundreds of cellphones following her movements like magnets.

“Please, come this way, miss Y/L/N.” the usher instructed in a slightly trembling voice. “There will be someone from the staff signaling you were to stop to pose for the photographers.”

Y/N knew this already. She had attended countless of events like this, after all. Yet she didn’t say anything to the shy boy, preferring to smile at him sincerely. “Thank you very much.” she said, watching as he blushed violently.

Y/N started her walk, Jimin and her stylist following a few steps behind to make sure that everything went smoothly. The photographers went wild as soon as they saw her, the flashes of their cameras blinding her almost angrily. She was used to it now, she had mastered the trick: squinting sexily and blinking strategically.

As she walked slowly towards the entrance of the theatre, posing with confidence and channeling her best princess warrior, Y/N almost forgot the worries she had about Jungkook, until a new wave of screams echoed to her ears. She stiffened, even if imperceptibly. It was him, the line up said he would be walking right after her.

The time had finally come. Ten years had passed and she was seeing Jeon Jungkook again for the first time.

She continued to walk nonchalantly, every step confident and her chin up and proud. But once she reached the end of the red carpet and the photographers moved their attention away from her, Y/N couldn’t help but stop for a second, ignoring a fellow actress and ‘friend’ waving at her a few feet further.

She could feel him, she could feel his presence behind her back. She could either turn around and catch a glimpse of him, or resume walking and pretend he wasn’t there. It took her a couple of moments of indecisiveness, in which Jimin looked at her questioningly, before taking the umpteenth deep breath of the evening.

She turned, the hem of her $30 000 black dress brushing almost magically over the carpet, and there he was. For a moment the memory of the nerdy boy from high school overlapped the image in front of her. She was well aware of the fact that he wasn’t that teenager anymore, she had seen his pictures, watched his movies and interviews. The boy she remembered was long gone: standing tall and proud, more than twenty feet from her, was now Jeon Jungkook ‘the actor’, dressed in a perfectly tailored night blue tux that highlighted his toned body, black patent leather shoes and impeccably styled hair.

And he was staring - with his dark and deep black eyes - right back at her.

#bts #bts fanfic #purplearmynet #bangtanarmynet #thebtswritersclub #bts jeon jungkook #bts jungkook #jeon jungkook #jungkook #jungkook angst #jungkook fluff #jungkook romance #dfdph #spotlight

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abandonedcyberpunkspidermech · 3 years

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Character Bio: Otto Octavius (Doctor Octopus)

Name: Otto Octavius

Villain Alias: Doctor Octopus

Bio:

Every superhero has a nemesis, and for SP//dr, that’s Dr. Otto Octavius, otherwise known as Doctor Octopus, but the man wasn’t always the monstrous villain New York City knows and fears.

Otto Octavius was born on July 10th, 3103, in Schenectady, New York, to factory worker Torbert Octavius and doting (s)mother Mary Lavinia Octavius. Young Otto was not the most liked child in school, facing bullying for his portliness, bashfulness, and intelligence. On this, his parents quarreled. Torbert, the abusive brawler, believed he should fight back, while Mary shielded him from the drunken tirades and wanted him to use his mind to solve problems. Due to Torbert’s abuse, Otto swore never to end up like his father. This came in the form of burying himself in his schoolwork with his mother’s emotional support, which paid off with his admittance to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he graduated with a Ph. D in Robotics, but not before his father’s death. After graduation, Dr. Octavius began work on what would be his magnum opus: A set of four robotic tentacles, controlled by the human brain through a specialized neural interface. However, this wouldn’t be easy. Robotics, or, more accurately, prosthetics, faced the issue of the human brain’s not being capable of handling more than four limbs. This normally results in brain damage at best and death at worst. If Dr. Octavius could succeed in overcoming this, he would revolutionize the field of robotics. And, for a time, it looked like he would. Even with a nonexistent social life he insists is unneeded, the loss of fiancee Mary Anders to his mother’s rejection, and his mother’s death from a heart attack due to his arguing with her over her dating another man while rejecting his fiancee, he pushed onwards, working to complete his work. Except for one crippling factor.

Enter the Parker family. With Drs. Ben and May Parker as heads and Richard Parker as pilot, the SP//dr project waltzed into the government’s eye. Quickly, the government began funding the project, but such funding came at a cost. Another program would need to be shut down. Just like that, Otto’s robotic arms lost their funding. Try as he did, he failed to find any other source of the funding he needed. And so, with emotions heavy from this and other incidents, he roared at the Parkers for ruining his life’s work and swore vengeance. And then, his arms spoke to him. Filled his mind with ideas. Wonderful, awful ideas. If this project was a threat to him, to them, it needed to go, and what better way to make it go than by eliminating the one and only pilot. And so, Otto struck the SP//dr lab in his first act of villainy. Serendipitously, this proved an excellent opportunity to demonstrate SP//dr’s capabilities. That fateful battle, ending atop Oscorp Tower with a Pulitzer Prize-winning shot, marked the beginning of a long and fateful rivalry between them, with Richard taking on the hero moniker of “SP//dr” and Otto having his old nickname, “Doctor Octopus”, in the Daily Bugle’s headlines. For ten-odd years, Otto and Richard sparred across New York City, and time after time, Richard won. Until he didn’t. In early 3142, Otto won. With a well-placed explosive, he blew up SP//dr with Richard inside. Their rivalry was over at last. Except for one small problem. He had a daughter he could never reach, one who would take his place as SP//dr. But for someone like Doctor Octopus, even with nearly a decade of injuries, making a little girl run away from him screaming and crying couldn’t be easier.

Abilities:

Robotic Tentacles: Doctor Octopus fights using four robotic, neurally controlled tentacles. A specialized neural implant allows Otto to control and feel through them as though they were his own limbs, but this comes with the consequence of neural degradation. Each limb has multiple degrees of freedom, allowing them enormous dexterity. They also have artificial intelligence and a limited degree of autonomy.

Length: These tentacles can be as short as 2 meters or as long as 8 meters each.

Striking Power: Each tentacle can move at a maximum speed of 60 meters per second and strike with ten kilonewtons of force without breaking.

Strength: Even with a need to brace himself using two of his arms, Otto’s tentacles provide him a great deal of strength, with each arm being capable of lifting 15000 kilograms.

Grip Strength: The pincers on the ends of the tentacles have a gripping strength of 3 megapascals.

Intelligence: Otto Octavius is an MIT graduate who majored in robotics. Thus, the man is immensely skilled with robotics, technology, science, and engineering.

Enhancements: Over the years, to counteract his injuries from years of combat, Doctor Octopus enhanced his body to keep pace with the mech (and pilot) he considers an enemy. These include accelerated healing (although nothing like Wolverine or Deadpool), enhanced strength (nowhere near Jessica Jones, never mind Captain America), heightened durability (but nothing close to Luke Cage’s), and limited cybernetics.

Weaknesses:

Previous Injuries: Doctor Octopus’s career as a villain has meant ten years of fighting a lineup of heroes ranging from street level heroes like Jessica Jones, Daredevil, and the Punisher to Avengers such as Captain America and Iron Man, and featuring SP//dr, a cutting-edge combat mech. This translates to years of beatdowns and injuries the old doctor still feels.

Brain Damage: While Doc Ock believes his arms work perfectly, eliminating the issues associated with adding extra limbs, they do not. The arms overwork his brain with every use, warping him into the villain he is today, and will eventually kill him.

Reliance on Arms: The only reason Otto can be a villain is through his arms, as he otherwise lacks the physical ability and fighting skill to fight heroes.

Power Grid:

Intelligence: 5

Strength: 2 (5 with limbs)

Speed: 2 (3 with limbs)

Durability: 1

Energy Projection: 1

Fighting Skills: 4

Appearance/Intro Snippet:

Peni’s spider-sense was pounding at her skull, harder than it ever has.

“So, this is the new SP//dr”, came a voice, male and thick with a German accent.

The voice brought up memories from within them, but Peni couldn’t place them. And then, she could. From the spider and the mech she remembered arguing with him over projects, she remembered fighting with him for nearly a decade, she remembered how he killed…

She turned to face him, stepping back for a better look.

He was easy to see on the roof he was standing on. His eyes were obscured by a set of goggles, and his head was clean-shaven outside a shaggy mop of brown. Everything from the neck down was covered in a dandelion yellow bodysuit with neon blue accents, thick with metal armor over most of the body, but in a few spots thin enough to show the faint lines of his muscles. But more prominent were the arms. Four of them, black as night with neon blue lines like glowing veins, extended from his back like snakes, ending in four-fingered claws.

Oh God… it’s HIM

Her breath hung in her throat, the mech staggering back with uneasy steps. This was Dr. Otto Octavius, the man who killed her father, and here he was, ready to do the same to her.

“Getting rid of you will be quite easy”

The corners of his mouth perked upwards in a smirk. Two of his tentacles struck the roof, and he vaulted off it. As he fell, two claws charged forward, right at her.

Personality:

Otto Octavius is at once a monster and a tragedy. He’s arrogant, prideful to a fault, obsessive, and doesn’t care who or what he has to hurt to achieve his goals, be they scientific or villainous. But, at the same time, he’s alone. His social life is nonexistent, and the only “minds” he has in his life are other villains, who he rarely interacts with, and the arms that drove him to villainy. One might wonder if his life would turn out differently if he had just one lasting, stable relationship; maybe one good shoulder to cry on could change his fate.

Additional Trivia:

Ideal English VA: Steve Blum

Ideal Japanese Seiyuu: Takehito Koyasu

This Doc Ock is meant to be Peni’s big personal arch nemesis. This is because her father’s dead, SOMEONE had to kill him, and the comics simply IGNORE the pile of plotlines that come from this. WHO killed him, do THEY ever fight Peni, does Peni ever break the no-kill rule against him? I mean, the death of a loved one is a fairly integral part of most Spider-Man origin stories, and with how directly correlated it is to being a hero in Peni’s case, her comics just… ignore it. Nay, nay I say.

I know her last comic set up her world’s Nathaniel Essex as setting up her Sinister Six, but I have issues with how that’s presented, and I like my Doc Ock more as the main antagonist.

My design for Doc Ock is based on a blue-ringed octopus’s coloration.

I hadn’t originally planned to make him so similar to Dio Brando (From JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure), but a few leanings might be intentional.

#otto octavius #doctor octopus #doc ock #marvel #marvel comics #spiderman itsv #spider man into the spider verse #into the spider verse #spider verse #spiderman #spider man #earth-14512 #world building #worldbuilding #cyberpunk #earth 14512

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thestateofuforia · 5 years

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Xena is better than every male antihero from the past 20 years of prestige dramas and I will prove it with my extensive TV knowledge and feelings

What makes a “great” television show? We all know that there is no single definition, as people have different preferences and experiences, etc. etc. But what are the shows that critics have universally agreed are masterworks of television? The kind that sweep awards shows and influence the direction of entire industry? The kind that your professors uphold as the zenith of television’s potential?

Dark, character-driven dramas. TV’s chock-full of ‘em now, but for the sake of illustration, let’s just use The Sopranos, Breaking Bad, and Mad Men as examples of this phenomenon.

Aside from genre trappings, and writing/directing/acting quality, what do they all have in common? Why do people give so many shits, so intensely, about these shows? What could possibly be at their center?

Answer: A broody, complex antihero with a dark past/present who struggles with the moral quandaries of existence, while remaining simultaneously vulnerable and withholding to both the viewer and those around him. I use “him,” because this character is always male.

Where are all the female antiheroes? Well, there’s at least one who is constantly forgotten, probably because she hails from a wildly different kind of show. One with Greek gods, sword fights, and whooshing sound effects. But don’t let the aesthetics of this show fool you – at its heart, it’s a drama about the redemption of one of TV’s finest antiheroes.

Xena is better than Tony Soprano, Walter White, and Don Draper combined, and I’m about to show you why I can make this audacious (and extremely biased and opinionated) claim!

Let’s take a look at the competition. You’ve got:

Tony Soprano

Mob boss with Feelings™. He’s in therapy for the panic attacks he’s been having lately, because this very sensitive man is simply not cut out for the mafia. He’s killed strangers, friends, even his best friend, and he feels real bad about it. At the same time, he’s struggling to maintain the closest relationships in his life, particularly with his family. His kids are growing up, his marriage is strained, and he’s constantly trying to reconcile his brutal, immoral actions with the belief that he could be a good person. Tony wants to be good, but he knows he is destructive force to everyone around him, and the cognitive dissonance is tearing him apart. In spite of therapy, he makes very little progress towards becoming more in touch with his emotions.

Walter White

High school chemistry teacher-turned-meth-cook whose entire life falls apart. It starts as a means of paying for his cancer treatment and providing for his family after he’s gone, but when the cancer goes into remission, Walt keeps on cookin’ just because he likes it. I’m not putting words in his mouth; he actually says this. He leads a double life, and, like our boy Tony up there, wants to believe he can be a good person, a good father, a good husband, while simultaneously devolving into cruel, manipulative (sociopathic??) drug lord. Even at the end, when the jig is up and he’s off in hiding, he still wants to provide for his family as some kind of compensation for everything he’s put them through. It’s too little, too late, but we get the idea – he’s a tortured soul, yada yada. Also, Walt, like Tony, is not one for heart-to-hearts with the fam.

Don Draper

1960s ad-man with a dark past, who buries the truth about the tobacco/cancer connection in order to sell cigarettes, and schedules cheating on his wife in his day planner, all while trying to be a good father/person. The most irrepressibly charming guy on this list, Don lives a lie, after stealing the identity of his commanding officer, killed alongside him in combat (whom he may/may not have had a hand in killing). Not even his name is real (Although who wouldn’t pick “Don Draper” over “Dick Whitman?”). He starts the series living the “perfect” life with a wife he plucked from a lineup of models, who, thanks to his closed-off attitude, knows absolutely fuck-all about him. They are in the midst of raising two children before he finally tells her that his father beat him as a child. He’s a stranger to his own wife. That’s how little this guy talks about his feelings.

So why do we watch these antiheroes? They’re shitty people, right? From Tony choking a man to death while on a college tour with his daughter, to Walt watching his best friend’s girlfriend die of a heroin overdose and doing nothing to save her in order to win back complete control of his “friend,” to Don rejecting his long-lost brother who then goes on to hang himself, these guys are Not. Good.

But, they are compelling characters. We have to care about them in order to tune in every week/binge five years of television in one weekend. And as far as I can tell, we like them because they feel bad about what they do. That’s oversimplification, of course, but it touches on the premise that makes these disparate characters somewhat relatable:

We all have done bad things that we regret, and we all need to believe that, at the end of the day, we’re good people.

Enter: Xena

In terms of sheer kill count, Xena has all these tortured main men beaten by a long, bloody mile. I can’t list all of her deeds, but suffice it to say, when Xena begins her journey in the first episode of her series, she’s at Genghis Khan-levels of slaughter. The character of Xena began as a warlord on Hercules’ show, but the whole truth of her villainy is only revealed bit-by-bit throughout the next six years of her journey. She’s killed thousands, razed entire villages to the ground, betrayed those close to her, and essentially been a Really Bad Person for most of her life. It’s arguable, but many see the act of burying her armor in the pilot as a self-sacrificial suicide attempt. Undefended, in a land brimming with uncountable numbers of wronged individuals who would love to see her head on a spike, she’s a lamb waiting for the slaughter.

Enter: Gabrielle

A tiny village is under attack, and in a sudden twist of morality, Xena begins using her combat skills for good. She saves, among others, a plucky village girl who immediately starts following the warrior around like a puppy. But Xena, ever the classic brooding antihero, feels undeserving of gratitude and rejects her. Multiple times. But Gabrielle refuses to be left behind. Xena acquiesces, and the two begin their journey together. Gabrielle’s unrelenting faith in Xena pushes the ex-warlord onto a path of redemption.

Over the course of the series, Xena and Gabrielle spend most of their time walking through forests until someone Evil Xena has wronged stumbles into their path and she and Gabrielle have to face another demon from her past. But no matter how many souls she saves, how many wrongs she rights, Xena never fully accepts that she is a good person. She wants to be good, and she sees goodness in Gabrielle, but always regards it as a quality just out of reach for herself. Her past haunts her, and she doesn’t know if she can ever fully atone for what she’s done.

In addition to undergoing a transformation of purpose, Xena also changes as a person. She begins the first season as a cold, near-Vulcan warrior with an impenetrable exterior and a steely gaze that never totally softens. But with time, and through the force of her relationship with Gabrielle, she chips aways at the wall she’s built around herself until she’s (more of) an emotionally communicative person. She allows herself to be vulnerable, and shares even the darkest secrets of her past with Gabrielle. And although she always braces herself for Gabrielle to have seen too much of the darkness inside Xena and finally leave her, Gabrielle stays by her side every time, and Xena heals a little bit more.

You know what that’s called? Growth.

And it’s hella satisfying to watch.

And, in this definitely-biased lesbian’s opinion, this is what makes Xena a more compelling character than any of the aforementioned male antiheroes. Her story is unique. Tony Soprano struggles with morality, but never truly changes. Walter White gives in to the darkness and lets it consume him. Don Draper reaches for redemption but always falls short. And yes, there is something exciting and interesting about all those stories. As you could probably tell, I’m a huge fan of every show I just mentioned. Hell, I had the idea for this post in the midst of a Mad Men binge at 3am last night. And, for the record, no, I do not hate all men, or all stories about men. But I was wracking my brain for an example of a female antihero in a prestige drama, and suddenly I realized I was looking in the wrong place. And that this would be a completely insane post that could ruffle some feathers online, which meant I had to get it out there on the World Wide Web.

Finally:

You might argue that Xena’s story is so different, and the series itself is so unlike these prestige dramas, that to draw a comparison among these characters is misguided, at best, and totally freaking bananas, at worst.

But, here’s a final breakdown of what these antiheroes have in common:

1. An inner darkness that both drives and troubles them. (Check)

2. A sense of unworthiness towards those who show them love. (Check)

3. A level of charisma/general appeal that invites the audience to give a shit about them, in spite of whatever they might have done/are doing. (Check)

4. A persistent moral greyness. (Check)

5. A preternatural ability to stare into the middle distance and brood. (BIG check)

Clearly, Xena is classic antihero material. But what sets her apart is that she takes action to redeem herself. Even when she doesn’t truly believe she is good, she calls upon all her strength to do good, regardless. Instead of stewing in the darkness, pushing away her loved ones, stagnating in the nebulous state of her morality, she devotes the rest of her life to reckoning with her past and remains steadfastly fixed on redemption. She still makes mistakes. She remains flawed, conflicted, human. But she grows, whether or not she thinks she deserves to. She moves forward.

#come at me #these are my feelings and they are valid #Xena Warrior Princess #Xena: Warrior Princess #xena #xwp #xena/gabrielle #lucy lawless #television #female antihero #women in television #female television #female icons #tv icons #feminism in television #female representation #female rep #female heroes

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jinjeriffic · 4 years

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Finally got around to watching Titans Season 2 so here’s a dump of my thoughts/nitpicks.

SPOILER WARNING FOR TITANS SEASON 2

First off, THANK FUCK they got rid of the Hooker Starfire outfit. Jfc she looks like the princess we deserve now <3

Eh, I’m generally not a fan of the practice of ending a season on a cliffhanger then defeating the big bad in the first ep of the next season. ESPECIALLY if you don’t even know if you’re gonna GET another season.

Trigon’s defeat felt kinda anticlimactic? I mean Raven is the only one who got to actually have a go at him. This is an ensemble cast, dammit!

What is with the bystanders in this series? So a girl crashes through the boardroom window and they just... sit there? No screaming, diving for cover, calling security or checking if she’s still alive? Just sitting at the desk with a mildly startled look on their faces? Whatever.

One thing that really bugs me is that the heroes almost never put on their actual costumes. Yeah, it’s hard to emote in a mask, but other superhero shows manage it! Hell, even if we go with No Secret Identities (the show seems super inconsistent on this??) you’d think that when the heroes go out to face down ARMED AND DANGEROUS SUPERVILLAINS they would at least put on some bodyarmor ffs. The Titans set out to chase down Doctor Light in jeans and T-shirts and Hawk gets a fried leg for his trouble. How are they this stupid?

The Donna/Garth relationship is just... eeeehmmmmm. I mean we see that Garth is flirting with her and Donna is just suuuuper uncomfortable in his presence. Hell, she asks to be transferred back to Themyscira just to get away from him. At first I thought “Okay, it’s the classic dilemma of a woman being stuck with a coworker who keeps hitting on her, but she can’t tell him to FUCK OFF because she doesn’t want to be seen as the overdramatic, difficult to work with hysterical woman. Gotcha.” I thought they were gonna make a good point about “nice guys”. But nope. She sleeps with him, then fucks off into the sunset. Then they confess their feelings for each other but they can’t be together because Destiny Says So. Then he dies. Fucking what? This is just encouraging guys to keep hitting on women when they are visibly uncomfortable because it’s tru lurve, yo~! Bite me.

Garfield is a precious baby and Kori is a badass queen. I swear they are the only characters with a modicum of sense and compassion on this show.

So Rose gets thrown across the room and everyone immediately goes “oops she dead”, sending Raven into a panic. Dawn is the only one to think to actually check for a pulse. You’re superheroes, you should be better at triage and crisis management!

I’ll admit, Dick’s hallucination of Bruce is a fucking RIOT. Best jokes on the show go to Batman, who’d have thunk? But is it just me, or is Bruce’s accent all over the place?

Why does everyone blame Jason for trying to screw with their heads? Okay, the crucifixes could have been a tasteless prank by him, but the orange soda?? There is no reasonable way for JASON to know about a Titans in-joke from five years ago. The only people who knew about that were the OG Titans! And no one thought of this??

Conner is definitely the stand-out episode of the season. I fucking love Doctor Eve <3

I gotta wonder though - why on earth would they send out a team of goons to capture a Kryptonian hybrid that they KNOW is bullet proof and give them neither proper instructions on how to handle the situation OR kryptonite weapons just in case it goes pear-shaped? It feels like Saturday morning cartoon villainy.

Am I meant to believe that Bruce Control Freak Wayne wouldn’t immediately know when his adopted kid gets kidnapped? The other arrested? Or when the superhero HQ he built gets invaded by hostiles? I get that they didn’t want this to be the Batman and Titans show, but come ON.

Also, what is the timeline here? Does Dick get arrested, tried, and sent to prison within just a few days? You’d think this would take longer ESPECIALLY since Dick Grayson is the adopted son of a billionaire and you’d expect a MAJOR media circus to surround the whole affair.

Speaking of cartoon villainy - so Cadmus brainwashes Garfield and sets him loose in public, then they sic Conner on him in an attempt to sell the idea of supersoldiers to various governments. That is some Grade A stupid. This is a world where heroes like Superman, Wonder Woman etc. are running around. If you cause a major ruckus with rampaging metahumans IN PUBLIC, it’s a surefire way to lure in every cape within a 500 mile radius to foil your evil scheme! They could have just staged a demonstration within a secure compound and they could have gotten away with it! Also it seems like Conner is the first successful clone, so shouldn’t they hold off on selling their only working prototype until they have all the kinks worked out and the production line is reliable? Lex Luthor is supposed to be the smartest guy on the planet, why would he sign off on this??

Donna gets electrocuted and all Dick can think of is to cradle her body like a pieta. Someone should have started CPR immediately! Get Rachel to run over there and try to heal her! Even if they were gonna kill her off in the end, have the heroes do SOMETHING to try and help! Did noone receive basic first aid training in this universe??

What the hell are they going to do about the legal side of things? Conner is wanted for beating up cops. So is Kori. Ditto for Rose plus grand theft auto. Garfield (under mindcontrol) mauled a bunch of people. Dick was sentenced to prison for 7 years, aided in the escape of other felons, then escaped himself. That shit isn’t just gonna go away! Plus they are in the public eye as superheroes, someone is bound to recognize them.

I think one of the main pacing problems is that there are just SO MANY characters in the ensemble cast that there just isn’t enough runtime to properly flesh them out. It would be better if they didn’t try adding so many major characters to the series at once and instead space them out a bit. I mean in this series we find out the OG Titans were Robin I, Wondergirl, Hawk, Dove and Aqualad with Jericho as a late addition. Then the new Titans lineup added Robin II, Raven, Starfire, Garfield, Rose, Conner and Krypto, That is a LOT of people to juggle and it feels too thinly spread tbh.

For all my nitpicks I actually really like the series, but I feel like it could do BETTER. Hence the enthusiastic nitpicking :P

#titans #titans season 2 #titans 2018 #spoiler warning

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vagabond-pinky · 5 years

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Okay I didn’t want to hijack a post about the new DC Super Hero Girls show, so im just making my own.

So obviously the new show isn’t out yet and I’ve watched every single episode of the webshow, so I can’t help my bias but I will try to remain fair.

The 2019 show called DC Super Hero Girls is not the webshow. It’s not a reboot or a sequel. It’s just another DC cartoon about these characters. And that’s fine... if that’s what DC did. But it’s not. DCSHG is meant to be a t.v. show version of the webshow, even though the similarities are in name only.

Let’s compare the main two protagonists.

Webshow: Batgirl, the bat loving tech nerd, dork. TV Show: Batgirl, the hyper, fun-loving Batman-fangirl.

The webshow made it very clear that Barbara became Batgirl because of her own skills, her own drive, and her own love for bats. She relates to them, so it makes sense why she became a bat hero. There’s no Batman involved, or even mentioned! Batgirl doesn’t need a man there to make her strong. She’s already strong.

The tv show made it very clear that Barbara became Batgirl because she’s obsessed with Batman and wants to be just like him, so she based her superhero persona off of him. Not only that, she wants to prove her worth to him so she can fight alongside him. She doesn’t even like bats. Batgirl is strong, but her world revolves around Batman.

They have similarities, but the entire personality, backstory, and motivation is 100% different.

The webshow took a character who is usually just background to the men, and made her a fully rounded, developed character in charge of her own story. This is why I love DCSHG and am resistant to the new show.

Other lesser points in favor of the Webshow:

Web has new, creative designs while TV followed comics.

Web sticks to the original personalities of the girls while TV changes them all to be completely opposite.

Web!Bumblebee has unique afro hair with cornrows while the TV!BB was given the stereotypical cartoon black girl duel puffballs.

Also, Web!BB is allowed to have her hair flowing and gorgeous just like all the other girls, while TV!BB was the only one of the main girls to have her hair covered.

Web had all the girls wear pants, except Kara who wore a skort.

TV cut Katana from the main lineup and replaced her with Zatanna :(

Web!Harley was allowed to be a silly clown who loves mischief and psychology with her best girl Ivy without being a victim in another man’s story.

Other points in favor of the TV show:

Wonder Woman is a woman of color with an accent.

Jessica Cruz was added to the main lineup. <3

Harley Quinn has her animated series design.

Catwoman is a black woman!!!!! <3

TV has three main women of color as opposed to Web who only has two.

These are all nitpicks of mine. The problem with the new show isn’t the show itself, it’s with the marketing. It’s not a television show of DCSHG. It’s a cartoon about DC comics characters. They shouldn’t have said it’s the same thing, they shouldn’t have given it the same name, and they shouldn’t have smothered the youtube channel with unrelated content. The new show has more similarities to the series of shorts, Super Best Friends Forever. If they wanted to follow SuperBFF, more power to them. But SuperBFF is not interchangeable with DCSHG.

The show might be good, but it’s not the webshow. They should never have passed it off as a reboot if it isn’t going to be in same universe or with the same characterizations.

If they want to keep the name of the TV show, then at the very least they could rename the webshow to DC Super Hero High, as that’s the notable part of the show and the TV won’t have it at all.

tl;dr: And if you like the TV show more than the Webshow, that’s fine. But it’s not fair to compare them since they have virtually nothing in common. also the webshow is great

#dc super hero girls #dc superhero girls #dc super hero girls 2019 #dc #batgirl #harley quinn #bumblebee #wonder woman #super girl #jessica cruz #zatanna #layne talks

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sunaprincess7 · 6 years

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Isn’t it neat?

Hi everyone,

Another fic here - I know the James/Lily - Eric/Ariel thing has been done before but this is my take on it. Sorry if ‘you're all mermaid-ed out! Very little plot to this thing but I hope you all enjoy anyways :)

Summary: Lily Evans has been playing Ariel the mermaid at Disney World Orlando for six months. She's about to meet her new Prince Eric.

Rated T for language (also so much fluff and cheese you might perish!)

Fanfic link

AO3 link

“Does anyone have any primer?” Lily yelled to the dressing room behind her, “I’m out of my FX.”

“Here,” Mary yelled back amongst the throng of girls, chucking Lily her Smashbox version over the heads of Emmeline and Dorcas who both ducked.

“This’ll work?” Lily confirmed doubtfully, knowing that she didn’t really have any other option as she squirted the clear gel into her palm.

“Nothing is going to work in this heat, Lil,” Mary replied, now slathering her face with foundation. “But it’ll stay on for at least 6 hours. Then you might need to reapply.”

“Fuck, fuck, fuck, I hate this fucking dress,” Marlene, who was by far the most ready of any of them, moaned as she tugged the bright yellow taffeta monstrosity up around her hips.

“Hey, at least yours hasn’t got sleeves,” Dorcas retorted, from next to Lily, still in the process of pinning an auburn wig with pigtails onto her head.

“Oh please, you practically begged McGonagall to give you Anna!” Marlene replied, now pulling the dress up around her arms.

“It was winter then!” Dorcas said miserably, grabbing a matte mauve lipstick out of her makeup bag.

“Can we all just be happy that none of us is Minnie?” Mary inserted, in between violently attacking her face with a beauty blender.

The group of girls murmured in approval.

“Technically, you should be the happiest out of everyone, Lil,” Emmeline said, running a brush through her black wig as she puffed up the bun. “Sometimes they let you go out in a bikini.”

“Hey, none of you have ever worn that tail,” Lily replied, as she leaned into the mirror to draw on her eyebrows. “It’s heavy as hell. It might be worse than the dress. And they haven’t let me wear it in ages.”

“I think they figured out you were making all the dads a little too happy in that purple excuse for a bra,” Mary said lowly, causing their whole dressing room to laugh.

“Men are such trash,” Emmeline added.

“Speaking of trash, aren’t you meeting your new Eric today?” Marlene asked as she pulled white elbow gloves up over her arms.

“Later on tonight,” Lily said, “after the parade. And if he’s anything like the previous one, I think I might quit.”

Lily’s previous Eric had been the epitome of trash and was exactly who Marlene was referring to when she’d asked the question. Dave, or Prince Fuckboy as he was better known to the group, had spent his entire 6 months with the cast showing up late, being rude and, worst of all, sleeping his way through the Princess lineup.

After sleeping with Marlene, he’d made his way around Elsa, Tinkerbell and Jasmine, which was the unfortunate reason Bertha, Florence and Emma no longer sat with the rest of the girls. That drama had continued for at least a month until Prince Fuckboy realised everyone hated him and had quit.

“Apparently he’s a friend of Hook’s,” Dorcas told them.

“Hook?” Emmeline, who was the most recent addition to the cast, asked. “I don’t think I’ve met him.”

“Sirius Black,” Dorcas replied, as Lily smiled to herself, knowing that Dorcas’s usual rant about Sirius was coming. “And you don’t want to meet him. He’s totally method,” she continued, placing an unusual amount of disdain on the word method, “and speaks in a ridiculous English accent the entire time he’s here, even on breaks, and challenges everyone to duels all day. Fucking idiot.”

Lily couldn’t help but giggle. She was actually rather fond of Sirius’s approach to his work and suspected it had nothing to do with his devotion to acting but rather because he loved pretending to be a pirate all day.

“He is a fucking idiot and you know it,” Dorcas said to Lily when she saw her laughing.

“Well, at least he’s not another Prince Fuckboy,” Lily said, adding a slick of bright red lipstick before spritzing her whole face with setting spray. “And you have to admit, he’s a very good Hook.”

“As long as he hasn’t brought us another Dave to be Eric, we’ll be best friends,” Marlene smiled grimly. “How the hell am I the only one ready?” She asked forcefully, gloved hands on her hips.

“Because you don’t have to colour in your eyebrows to match your wig,” Lily replied, grabbing her long, curly ginger hair and twisting it onto her head.

“I can’t believe they still haven’t asked you to be Merida yet,” Mary observed, now pulling on Tiana’s light green velvet dress.

“Yeah, well in the nineties mermaids existed but not actual ginger people, apparently,” Lily said as she positioned the long red wig onto her head with ease. “That mermaid must’ve had some amazing hair dye down in Atlantis.”

“Hey, black people didn’t exist until 2010 apparently,” Mary added, fixing her own wig on. “And now there’s one black princess, there’ll obviously never be another one ever again.”

“Obviously,” Emmeline agreed, rolling her eyes. “Right, time to tie on this fucking awful sash,” she said before standing and moving to the costume rail, leaving Dorcas and Lily sitting at the mirrors.

“I’m still waiting on the animated world to admit lesbians exist,” Dorcas said to Lily with a wry shrug. “And don’t tell the boss, but I play everyday like I’m in love with Emma,” she winked, referring to their cast mate who played Jasmine.

“Amazing,” Lily laughed, looking around the dressing table for her aqua headpiece. “Does Emma know this?”

“Oh, she knows I think she’s hot as hell.”

Finished with her makeup and hair, Lily stood up to go and find her human dress, which was an unsightly aquamarine colour to match her headpiece.

“Are they ever going to let you back in the tail?” Dorcas asked, moving with Lily to grab her purple cape.

“They’re still working on the Grotto since the break-in,” Lily said, shuffling into her dress. “I think it’ll be open again in a few weeks.”

When she had first started at Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Lily’s main role had been to sit in Ariel’s grotto and do meet and greets. She had her own float in the daily parade and occasionally appeared as a human walking around the park (when she was told to) or at Cinderella’s restaurant, but for the most part, wearing the tail in the grotto was her main duty. Then, around a month ago, some boys had broken in to the park, and wrecked her grotto, as well as a number of other attractions. Lily had been in human form ever since, which was killing her, because Ariel’s human dress was puffy, heavy and sweltering in the Orlando heat.

Not that she complained too much. She loved being Ariel and was delighted to be cast as her when she’d first started six months ago. A small part of Lily lived in perpetual fear of being recast. Which was ridiculous because it would definitely happen at some point and they were all warned not to get too attached to any particular character.

Lily had done her best to adhere to this warning but she’d adored Ariel as a child and as she’d gotten older, Ariel had remained her favourite Disney princess. And judging by the response she got from the little kids who came to the park, Ariel was still a very popular princess, even eighteen years after she’d first appeared in animated form.

In truth, Lily had loved every minute of working at Disney. The only bad time had been the appearance of Dave.

“I know I hate this dress,” Lily said quietly to Dorcas, “but I can live with it. I’m not sure I could live with another Dave.”

“Look, I know Black is an idiot, but I doubt he’s friends with jerks,” Dorcas reassured her pragmatically, checking her appearance in the mirror. “Are you nervous about meeting him? Don’t be nervous.”

“Well you spend a lot of time with your prince,” Lily observed, fixing the wig down over her dress. “And the kids freak out when they see you together so obviously McGonagall is always sending you out together. It’d be nice to be paired with someone you can stand. I mean, you get on with Dirk, right?”

“Yeah,” Dorcas responded, “I don’t think he knows I’m gay cause he’s always flirting with me, but we get on fine.”

“Poor Dirk.”

“I’ve seen his sister on Facebook, she’s cute” Dorcas said with a grin. “Maybe he’ll introduce us.”

“Girls!” They heard McGonagall call from the hallway, “it’s 8.55”

“Coming!” Lily called back, jumping up and down a few times to settle her skirt.

“Right,” Dorcas said with a swish of her cloak, “Time to be asked if I want to build a snowman ten thousand times.”

Letting her voice drift higher and adding in her signature Ariel warble, Lily followed Dorcas out of the dressing room, “you’re such a guppy, Anna,” she replied, saying goodbye to Lily Evans as she transformed into the little mermaid just as she reached the bright sunshine of the park.

---------------------------

“I am fucking exhausted,” Marlene breathed, stripping off her gloves as they all trailed into the dressing room at 10pm that night. “And I hate teenaged boys.”

“Yeah, I saw some guys bothering you,” Mary replied, throwing herself down into her dressing room chair.

“Trying to get me to break character. Assholes. They were trying to film the whole thing and put it on Instagram,” Marlene spat.

“What were they doing?”

“Oh, the usual shit. Calling me a furry lover. I ignored them.”

“Good for you,” Lily said, inwardly wondering how soon she could get the metric tonne of foundation she had on off her face.

“At least you didn’t get dole whip spilled all over you,” Emmeline moaned, already taking off Mulan’s dress. “Costume are going to kill me. This is the fourth time in two weeks I’ve needed a new dress.”

“Ariel!” Sounded McGonagall’s voice from outside.

“I think she means me,” Lily whispered to them all with a wink as she slipped off her chair. Wincing as her weary feet touched the floor, Lily made her way to the hall.

When she entered the hallway, Lily saw McGonagall standing with her cherished clipboard and right beside her, a man who was undoubtedly Prince Eric.

All of the guys who played Princes at the park were good looking but Lily felt her stomach clench as she took in her new work husband. She could see why they had cast him as Eric. His black hair was thick and windswept and curled in at the edges of his lightly tanned skin. There was no way he’d be wearing a wig. As his eyes fell on her, he greeted her with a show stopping smile, and Lily couldn’t help but notice his strong jaw and gorgeous hazel eyes.

“James, this is Lily, or Ariel to you,” McGonagall said to the boy, now scribbling on the board. James opened his mouth to say something but their boss got there first, “you can smile, dance, hold hands whilst still and give her a two second hug,” she continued, briskly ticking the board as she listed each item, “but no kissing. At all. Ever.”

“Okay,” James nodded steadily, looking at McGonagall with slight apprehension.

“Make sure he doesn’t get lost,” she said to Lily abruptly before striding away.

“Is she always that scary?” He whispered, leaning into Lily as they both watched Minerva leave.

“I’m afraid so,” Lily told him with a weak smile, “she’s in charge of rules and makes sure we all follow them.”

“And we’re married, right?”

“Yes,” Lily nodded, trying not to stare at him too much.

“Wow. Can’t even kiss my wife. What a bummer,” James said with a deep sigh, causing Lily to laugh.

“Disney is strictly a PG place,” she said, “but waltzing is good fun. The kids love it.”

“They showed me during training,” James replied. “It took me a while to get it but I don’t think I’ll embarrass you.”

Lily laughed again as she leaned against the wall, “I’m a walking, talking fish woman. I doubt you are going to be what embarrasses me,” she smiled, trying not to blush when his eyes did a quick sweep of her outfit. “So, did McGonagall show you around?”

“I came down for the parade,” he responded, pushing his hands into his jeans as Lily noticed his sinewy tanned arms. He was going to look good in Eric’s white shirt. “It was great. You were great.”

“Thanks,” she said, “it’s pretty easy without Eric to be honest. I just sit there and smile and wave.”

“And with Eric?”

“Well, that’s when the hugging and the dancing and the hand-holding comes in,” Lily continued, giving him a little grin. “But it’s a 30 minute parade so trying to keep that going is difficult.”

“Especially when you hate your Eric, right?”

Lily blanched a little as James smiled guilty at her, “Sirius told me about the guy I’m replacing.”

“Yeah, well, he was a jackass,” Lily admitted, swishing her dress about a little. “And what’s worse, he made it really awkward for everyone here. We were all glad when he left.”

“Okay, well I promise to be absolutely nothing like him and then you won’t mind dancing with me for half an hour,” he suggested, his eyes twinkling as Lily’s stomach jumped again.

“Deal,” she agreed, hoping to sound as normal as possible. “So, when do you start?”

“Next week,” James told her happily, “they’re just sorting my contacts and then I’m good to go.”

“Cool,” Lily said, “well, it was really nice meeting you. I’m going to go take off this powder puff before I faint,” she closed, giving him another smile before she turned towards the dressing room door.

“Wait,” James called, stalling her in her step.

“Yeah?”

“You’re my Princess, right?” Lily laughed lightly as James blushed and corrected himself, “I mean, you’re who I’ll be working with? Going forward?”

“Yeah,” She replied, hearing a little shyness creep into her voice, “as long as I don’t get recast, I’m your Princess.”

-----------------------------

James, as it turned out, was an absolute dream to work with.

On Monday morning, he was there waiting for her as soon as she stepped out of the dressing room. In his white flowing shirt, red cumber-band, turned up trousers, boots and blue contacts, he looked both exactly like Eric and unreasonably hot.

They spent the whole day together and as predicted, all the kids adored both of them together. They both signed hundreds of autographs and took hundreds of photos and selfies, and when the parade started at nine o’clock, they had their first dance.

It wasn’t without a hitch, as they both stepped on each other’s toes several times but as long as their smiles stayed on, no one in the audience noticed.

“So, how’d I do?” James asked her, as they moved backstage and walked towards her dressing room.

“Really good,” Lily said a little breathlessly, noticing that they were still walking arm in arm, as though they were out in public.

“Sorry about the feet,” he whispered into her ear as they passed a stream of characters all hurrying to their dressing rooms.

“That’s okay,” she giggled, giving his arm a squeeze, “I stepped on your toes too.”

“Yeah but I’m a lot heavier than you are!”

“We’ll get better with practice,” Lily told him. “Oh and one other thing, next time a kid asks you about Sebastian or Flounder, technically you never met them, so next time just say they’re ‘friends of Ariel’.”

“Right,” James nodded, “and Sebastian is the lobster, yeah?”

Lily stopped walking and her hand fell away from his arm, “crab,” she corrected bluntly. “Sebastian is a crab.”

“Sure,” he smiled uneasily, letting his hands fall to his side. “A crab.”

Feeling very suspicious, Lily eyed James closely.

“They did teach you about Sebastian during training?”

“Yeah, they did, it’s just…”

“It’s just what?” She asked, feeling her eyes narrow.

“Well, it’s kind of hard to remember when…” he trailed off, not really looking at her.

“When?” Lily prompted.

“When you haven’t really seen what he looks like,” James finally said lowly, rubbing at the back of his neck.

“What?” She yelped, so loudly that Donald Duck and Goofy stopped to eye the two of them before moving on. “You haven’t seen The Little Mermaid? James, that’s like day one!”

“It was day five,” he disagreed weakly, obviously nervous due to her reaction. “I was ill so they said I could just watch it at home.”

“And?”

“And…I sort of…never did,” he admitted with a small shrug as Lily cursed him for being so attractive. It would be so much easier to be annoyed with him if she could stop staring at his gorgeous face.

“James, if McGonagall finds out you’ve never seen it, she will lose it!” Lily warned him, not wanting to picture the monumental explosion that would occur if that happened. What was worse: he’d probably get fired and then they’d need another new Eric and Lily couldn’t take the suspense of waiting to meet another new Prince. Plus, she was sort of growing fond of this one.

“Yeah, I got that impression when I met her.”

“I mean, you don’t even know how we met!” She persisted, shoving his shoulder lightly.

“I’m guessing in the sea?” He joked feebly, as Lily rolled her eyes.

“Unacceptable,” Lily said, folding her arms. “I am not letting you get fired over this.”

“Would you miss me, Princess?” James grinned, eyes sparkling.

“If you get fired they might bring Dave back,” Lily observed grimly, ignoring the flutter in her stomach that appeared when he obviously flirted with her, “and then I’d have to quit.”

“Okay, I will watch the movie…” James appeased her, shaking his head.

“Oh, you will watch that movie,” Lily ground out, stepping closer to him. “My number is on the staff call sheet. Text me your address. Next Sunday, I’m coming over and by the end of the day you will know the names, hair and fin colours of all my six sisters!”

------------------------

Of course, Lily hadn’t expected the teasing she ended up receiving from her fellow Princesses when she told them her weekend plans, which was probably quite naïve.

“You’re dating your Prince,” Marlene had giggled, Friday evening as they all de-wigged.

“I am not,” Lily protested ignoring their sceptical smirks. “I’m saving his job. And my sanity. Also, McGonagall changed the rules after Dave. No dating Princes! Remember?”

“Please,” Emmeline interjected dryly, “as if you haven’t noticed how hot he is.”

“Everyone has,” Mary said, saving Lily the trouble of dodging the question. “Did you see Bertha all over him in the canteen this afternoon?” She asked the group, as Lily felt her stomach twist unpleasantly. She hadn’t noticed that, being too preoccupied with the book she usually read at lunch.

“Yup,” Dorcas stated blithely, pulling off her wig to reveal flowing blonde hair with a fuchsia streak through it. “If he’s not careful, this is going to turn out to be another Prince Fuckboy sitch.”

“James is not Dave,” Lily inserted forcefully, taking off Ariel’s necklace and throwing it onto the counter. “He’s not going to behave like that.”

Embarrassed as she saw the girls exchanging knowing looks due to her outburst, Lily fixed an unconvincing smile onto her face. “He knows all about Dave and the drama and he’s aware of how horrible that all was,” she said calmly, “I doubt he’ll put us all through that again.”

Sensing an end to the conversation, Lily continued to unpin her wig, enjoying the wonderful feeling of removing the pins from her head. She undressed quickly and changed into her street uniform, before making her way to the door, saying goodbye to them all as she went.

“Well, we’re all here arguing over him,” she heard Emmeline say lowly to Marlene as she exited, “it sure feels like another Fuckboy situation.”

--------------------------------

Emmeline’s words from Friday night were still ringing in her ears as she walked to James’s apartment on Sunday afternoon. And of course, now she knew about Bertha, she had watched her all day Saturday doing the best she could to get James’s attention.

It shouldn’t have annoyed Lily and it was ridiculous that she felt in any way possessive of James. But watching Bertha flirt, smile and laugh her way through lunch with him stoked an ugly feeling in Lily that she soon recognised as jealousy.

Knowing that she needed to quell this before she herself was the instigator of drama, Lily resolved not to admire James anymore. In fact, as she crossed the street to the grey wooded building that she thought was where he lived, Lily decided that she would not in any way fancy James and Bertha could have him if she liked.

Climbing the stairs and ringing the bell, Lily was happy in her determination…until James opened the door.

He was wearing glasses.

Fuck.

He had never worn glasses before. A bit like every other piece of clothing he decided to wear, the glasses looked unfairly good on him. She didn’t know what it was about them, but they finished his face beautifully – just in the way that she could picture taking them off to get a better look at his eyes. Maybe during a time when they were standing closer together. With as much energy as she could muster, Lily pushed this thought out of her head. She wasn’t allowed to date her cast mate.

Lily was about to apologise for standing awkwardly in silence in his doorway when she noticed that James seemed to be experiencing the same vocal block too, his eyes fixed on her.

“What?” She asked nervously, knowing that this wasn’t the most polite or graceful way to break the silence but she was desperate so it would have to do.

James swallowed, “oh, um…it’s nothing…it’s just…”

“Just?”

“Eh, your hair…and your, um…eyes,” he proceeded brokenly, his right hand slipping into his hair as Lily wondered what it would be like to run her fingers through it, “I’ve never seen you without…”

He trailed off again, his eyes doing another sweep of her face as Lily reminded herself to breathe.

“I can’t believe they make you wear a wig and contacts,” he finally managed after another swallow.

“Well, you know,” Lily shrugged, feeling her cheeks turn red, “I have to look like her,” she said, holding up the DVD box with Ariel on the front. “Ready for your homework?”

With a jerky smile, James brought her into his flat, closing the door after her.

“You know, I had to borrow a DVD player from my mom,” James said as he followed her into the living room.

“Well that’s your fault for getting rid of an essential piece of technology,” Lily scolded him, dropping her bag beside the couch before sitting down.

“Pfft,” James snorted, taking the DVD off her, “we definitely could’ve just streamed it.”

“My fair merlady,” Lily heard a booming voice echo from behind her, “welcome to our most humble abode.”

“Sirius,” Lily grinned, hoping off the couch and running around to greet him, as Sirius performed a deep bow before grabbing her hand and kissing the back of it.

“Captain Hook, Princess,” Sirius corrected politely in his flawless English accent.

“We spent an hour deciding if he could speak to you normally,” James said from behind them, not sounding impressed.

“You should not complain,” Sirius responded with an edge to his voice, “remember, it was I who provided the popped corn.”

“Are you joining us, Captain?” Lily asked.

“Alas, no,” Sirius replied, as James let out a ‘thank god’ over their shoulders. “I am expecting a duel with that wretched boy Pan this week and so must practice my fencing.”

“He’s going to the gym,” James translated as Lily heard the opening tones of the movie echo from the tv.

“Adieu, my dear,” Sirius called as he strode out of the apartment, gym bag in hand.

“I couldn’t live without him, but if I could, I would’ve killed him by now,” James said without prompting as Lily joined him on the couch.

“Shhhhh,” Lily hissed, poking him in the elbow, as the Disney castle appeared on the screen. “I can promise you there will be a quiz after this.”

James surprised Lily by being fairly quiet throughout the opening scenes of the movie, save for the occasional comment: “her father’s a dick,”… “he definitely looks like a lobster,” and various other observations which made her laugh.

“He’s a crab and you best remember that,” she warned.

“As if it matters…”

“Shhhh,” she quieted him again, knowing what was coming as Ariel swam towards the surface and fireworks exploded from the ship. “Oh my god,” she breathed as Eric came into view, his dog Max bounding around the deck. “This is the best part of the movie.”

“You think he’s attractive?” James asked, sounding unimpressed and she could tell he was watching her.

“Eh…yeah, I’m not blind,” Lily answered emphatically

“I suppose he’s alright…for a cartoon,” James retorted and she couldn’t help but smile at his miffed tone.

“Disney have a really random record of drawing ridiculously hot people,” she told him, still enjoying the view of Eric. “Besides, you should take it as a compliment,” she added thoughtlessly, cringing when she realised what she had said.

“Oh, so, because you think he’s hot that must mean you think I am?” James replied, sounding remarkably happier as he turned his whole body to her.

Trying to regain her composure, Lily shrugged, “Eric is generally regarded as one of the better looking Disney Princes…by everyone.”

With a brief grin, James felt silent and turned back to the movie.

“He’s clearly a shit sailor if his ship is sinking.”

“He’s a Prince and there was a storm…what do you want him to do?”

They watched in silence until the moment when Ariel had rescued Eric and was trying to revive him on the shore. As she sang to him, Lily unconsciously started to sing along quietly, as she had been doing ever since she had first watched the movie.

To her left, she heard a soft noise which broke her out of her daydream.

“Sorry,” she said, looking over to James to see him watching her again. “Old habit.”

“Don’t be,” he replied kindly, a crooked smile about his mouth, “you can sing.”

“Thanks,” she said awkwardly, not really knowing what to say.

“Why don’t you sing at work?”

“We’re not allowed,” Lily advised, “we’re specifically told not to sing. Did you pay attention at all during training?”

With a guilty shrug, James replied, “I still don’t get why you can’t sing.”

“I guess they want the kids to hear the songs the way they remember them,” she went on, “which I understand. I know I play her but Jodi Benson will always be Ariel to me.”

“Oh, she’s going to do something stupid to be with the stupid hot Prince, isn’t she?” James winced now watching the movie again.

“Can you blame her?”

The movie continued and James revelled in his correct prediction, yelling loudly at Ariel not to sign Ursula’s contract much to Lily’s amusement.

“There is no way in hell that would be legally binding!”

Now feeling a bit bolder, Lily sang her way through the rest of the songs with James laughing along until they both fell quiet at ‘Kiss the Girl”.

“Noooooo!” James howled when Flotsam and Jetsam overturned the boat Eric and Ariel were sitting in. “Fuck those eels!”

Nearly crying with laughter, Lily patted him on the arm, “I hate those things,” she consoled.

“I have never been so annoyed,” he announced, glaring at the television screen. “Why didn’t they just kiss?!”

“We’re only just half way through the movie, they couldn’t kiss now.”

James sat and pouted unhappily as the movie went on, only making another noise when Vanessa – Ursula’s human alter ego – appeared, “hello,” he let out lowly, his eyebrows dancing, as she slinked onto the screen.

“Hey!” Lily cried, feeling an unwarranted level of outrage. “Don’t you ‘hello’ her! She’s evil! She’s trying to distract you from Ariel. You can’t find her attractive!”

“Oh, so you can think cartoon Eric is hot but I can’t think evil Ariel is?”

“Eric is hot but he’s not evil! If Eric had an evil twin, I wouldn’t be ‘hello-ing’ all over him!”

“Look, you can’t deny she’s good looking,” James placated her, gesturing to Vanessa on the screen as Lily harrumphed, “but will it make you feel better if I say she’s not a patch on Ariel?”

“All I am asking is that you show a little loyalty to your wife,” Lily said evenly. “That witch has her voice!”

“I cannot believe we are arguing over which cartoon is hotter.”

“Well, you work at Disney now, Potter. Get used to it.”

Again, they fell silent as the movie played on and they watched as Ursula was discovered, defeated and Eric and Ariel married in their happily ever after.

“You know, you’re right. I didn’t like Vanessa so much by the end,” James conceded lowly, stretching out now that the film was over.

“Told you,” Lily gloated. “And at least now, if McGonagall asks, you can honestly say you’ve watched it.”

“Very true,” he agreed, “and I now also know the names of all assorted sentient fish and crustaceans. Thanks for taking the time to make sure I don’t get fired,” he smiled earnestly.

“You’re welcome,” she replied, hoping to sound normal as her heart started to thud against her chest.

“Did you do this with Dave?” He asked, fixing her with a look that wasn’t helping Lily at all.

Lily laughed, “no,” she breathed. “But I’m sure Dave watched the movie during training.”

“Bad luck, Dave.”

Her stomach now tingling, Lily knew she had to remove herself from his couch before she found herself in a tricky position.

“I should go,” she smiled tightly, getting to her feet to remove the DVD.

“Okay,” James said, moving after her. “I’ll see you tomorrow morning?”

“Yeah,” she said, walking towards the door. “As long as you can recognise me.”

“As if I’d forget you, Princess,” he winked, making Lily curse herself for flirting with him when she had promised she wouldn’t. “Unless, Vanessa is there, of course.”

She had just enough time to yelp in outrage before he closed the door cackling.

------------------

Working with James was easy. Working with James whilst trying not to fancy him was not so easy.

“Even with the blue contacts in he looks good,” she overheard Mary observe.

“His real eyes are nicer though,” Emmeline replied and all the girls in their dressing room agreed.

“You’re being awfully quiet, Evans,” Marlene cut in, sweeping past Lily’s dressing space whilst Lily was unbuttoning her gown.

“I’m not being quiet, I’m trying to get out of this stupid dress so I can go home!” Lily stressed, inwardly knowing that the reason she was dying to go home was so she wouldn’t have to hear them talk about James.

“Oh, don’t be in such a huff!” Marlene retorted, turning Lily around to do her buttons for her. “No one here actually fancies him. Except you. And Bertha, of course.”

“I do not fancy him,” Lily replied, despising how childish and ridiculous she sounded. “I agree he has nice eyes, but he’s my cast mate and that’s all.”

“Poor James,” Marlene said, giggling along with the rest of the girls, “he’ll be devastated to hear that.”

“Oh, would you stop?” Lily hissed. “You’re just talking nonsense now!”

“You can’t see the way he looks at you up on that float, I can!”

“I don’t know if you’re aware, but being a good actor is one of the requirements to work here. As is keeping your mitts off your fellow employees!”

“Sorry to interrupt what is clearly an important conversation,” Dorcas cut in dryly, “but has McGonagall spoken to you all about this Buzzfeed thing?”

“Yes,” Mary replied as the rest of the group all echoed her. “It’s this Sunday, we’re bringing our own costumes but there’ll be hair and makeup there.”

“And why are we doing this again?”

“More advertising apparently,” Mary told her as she hung up her costume. “Buzzfeed are obsessed with the Princesses so they want some shoot to show us all off to their readers.”

“Sounds wonderful,” Dorcas droned, rolling her eyes. “All I needed was an excuse to spend another day dressed for the alpines.”

“Are the guys coming?” Emmeline asked, now styling her own hair.

“Yes, we are,” a voice sounded from outset the dressing room as they all jumped, “also, can I come in? I need to speak to Lily.”

Eyes widening when she realised it was James, Lily yelled back, “just a minute,” as she started to undress quickly. “If he heard what any of you said, I will put fairy dust in all of your wig caps,” she hissed quietly, eyeballing them all before pulling on her shorts and t-shirt.

“Drama queen,” Marlene shot back, striding to the dressing room door and pulling it open once Lily was dressed. “Enter at your own peril, Potter,” she greeted James, “everyone is feeling very Princessey today.

Ignoring Marlene, Lily walked towards James. “What?” She asked very abruptly, seizing up inwardly at her rudeness but she could feel the eyes of the rest of the group on them.

James watched her a bit uncertainly before beginning, “so, one day, I will manage this dance without injuring you,” he half-laughed, folding him arms, presumably from her forced coldness.

“It’s fine, James,” she sighed, not at him, but because of the total silence in the dressing room as they talked.

“Maybe you guys should practice,” Emmeline put in cheerfully and Marlene exchanged a grin with her.

Lily shot her a look.

“Actually, that was what I was going to suggest,” James replied awkwardly, hand in his hair. “Unless, you have somewhere to be?”

“She has nowhere to be,” Marlene smiled, walking back to her own table. “I know because we have big plans to go home and watch Queer Eye at mine.”

Knowing that she wasn’t getting out of this without a serious amount of effort and really not wanting to offend James anymore than she probably already had, Lily didn’t bother to object. And they did need to practice.

“Great,” James smiled, still sounding a little uncertain.

Walking towards him, Lily let her hands drift upwards, one to his shoulder and the other into his waiting hand.

“We don’t have to…here,” he said to her quietly, as his arm came around her waist.

“It’s fine,” Lily reassured again, giving him a tight smile. At least this way, her cast mates could see there wasn’t anything there.

But as he pulled her a little closer and their chests met, Lily felt her heart start to beat rapidly. Did he always hold her this closely?

“You move forward first,” she said lowly, stealing herself with the hand on his shoulder.

“Yeah,” he confirmed, equally quiet.

After a short pause, Lily counted them in, her eyes on their feet.

They managed the first set of four…and then the second. And then the third. But then James stopped.

“You can do it fine in here,” she observed, giving him a small smile.

“Well, it’s not exactly parade conditions,” Dorcas pointed out.

“Would you…” James started, before stopping.

“What?”

“I need you to look at me,” he told her with a reluctant smile, “I think I’ve worked out that’s where the problem is.”

Lily felt, rather than saw, their audience exchange looks.

“Okay,” she agreed after a deep breath. And as she counted them in, she raised her eyes to lock on his.

After two moves, James stood on her left foot.

“Try again,” Lily said immediately, not wanting to give anyone a chance to comment.

She counted once more and they moved back, side, forward, side…She raised her eyes to his and immediately, James tripped.

“Shit, sorry,” he breathed, eyes and arms dropping away from her as his face coloured red.

“It’s okay,” Lily said kindly, unable to stop the butterflies swarming in her stomach.

“Evans is known for her amazing eyes,” Dorcas interjected pleasantly, “I wouldn’t beat yourself up, Potter.”

“Then how come it still happens when you’ve got contacts in?” James asked lightly, quietly enough that only he and Lily could hear. And then he gave her one of those smiles that made her all her limbs feel weak.

“I don’t have to look at you,” Lily offered as a solution.

James shook his head, “no, we’re in love,” he replied quickly before realisation crept onto his face and he laughed steadily amongst the titters in the room, “Eric and Ariel are in love,” he clarified modestly, not really looking at her. “When you’re in love, you look at each other.”

Their eyes met again.

“Exactly like that,” Marlene cut through and though Lily kept her eyes on James, she could tell her friend was grinning. “You guys are such great actors.”

Between that remark and the thudding of her heart, Lily had to move away.

“Maybe we can practice at lunch tomorrow,” she suggested, walking away from him.

“Yeah,” he agreed, “that sounds good. I won’t take up more of your time now.”

“Bye James,” Emmeline called and Lily heard the dressing room door close over her shoulder.

“Wow, Lil’,” Marlene started, “practice at lunchtime tomorrow. What a great way to stop Bertha from getting anywhere near him.”

Lily chucked her beauty blender at her.

-----------------------------

As it turned out, Lily did not see James at lunchtime the next day.

She had awoken in the middle of the night with a fever which, at the time she had related to the rather interesting dream he had been having about James. But, by the next morning, she had a permanent lump stuck in her throat, found it hard to swallow and felt weak and cold all over.

After she called in sick to McGonagall, she just about made it to the doctors without fainting. Upon hearing the hoarseness in her voice, it took the doctor all of three minutes to diagnose her with laryngitis.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if your voice goes completely,” was her final word as Lily traipsed out of the office. “Should be over in two weeks. Plenty of bed rest, lots of water and no talking, okay?”

It occurred to Lily as she made her way home that she probably still could go into work if she wanted. That’s what Sirius would do. If she was method, that’s what she’d do too.

Unfortunately, her fever and dizziness overtook her before she was able to even progress that thought and Lily was again lucky to make it to her bed in time to pass out for the rest of the day.

When she woke up again on Tuesday night, she found several messages on her phone from Marlene and Dorcas objecting to her sick day and demanding that she return to work tomorrow. Lily let them know she was ill and probably wouldn’t be in for the rest of the week before promptly falling asleep again.

It wasn’t until Sunday morning, when she had progressed to being able to make herself soup and toast, that Lily was reminded of the Buzzfeed article.

She was busy peering over the toaster wondering when it would pop, when her phone rang.

Answering it before remembering that she couldn’t talk, Lily jumped to hear James’s voice at the end of the line.

“Hello?” His voice echoed down the telephone, “hello? Lily? I’m not sure if this is a voicemail…”

Lily was contemplating hanging up and sending him a text to explain when James continued to talk.

“Marlene said you were sick…I’m sorry for ringing you when you’re not well but…well, we’re down at this Buzzfeed thing and McGonagall has assigned Bertha to be Ariel…”

Lily nearly dropped the phone.

“…and well…this is stupid…but it sort of feels like Vanessa is here instead of Ariel. And I remembered what you said about loyalty to my wife so…so I just wanted to say that. And to say it feels weird doing this without you.”

She held onto the counter, nearly breathless to hear what he would say next.

“Anyway, if you can get here…I know you’re sick so don’t if you can’t…but if you can, we could do the shoot with the real Ariel. So yeah. That’s all I wanted to say. Bye.”

By the time the toast had popped, Lily had brushed her hair, teeth and was downstairs waiting on her uber.

---------------------------------

“I thought you were sick!”

Marlene was the first to greet her after she had made it into the photo shoot.

She’d already had to use her phone to type out her issue for the security guard and doorman and so she just handed it to Marlene, note already open.

“You’ve lost your voice?’’

Lily nodded.

“Brilliant!” Marlene laughed, “do you need me to explain forks too?”

Lily glared at her until Marlene relented and took her by the arm.

“They were going to let Bertha do Ariel – of course she was dying to – but now you’re here, there’s no way they’ll go to the bother of changing her from Elsa to Ariel,” Marlene chatted as she guided Lily through the studio.

As they walked Lily observed Dorcas and Dirk, arm in arm in the setting of a snowy mountain.

“I’ll sort this with McGonagall,” Marlene continued as they walked to the make-up and hair area, “you just get ready. They’re doing you and James after B&B so you still have a while to go.”

Marlene brought her up to a man who was in the middle of styling Mary’s hair.

“This is Lily, Fabian,” she announced.

“Lily!” Mary greeted, sounding a bit giddy.

“She’s Ariel. She’s lost her voice,” Marlene said loudly, as Fabian and Mary regarded her with amazement.

“Oh my God,” Fabian said, his hands falling away from Mary’s hair. “Really?”

Lily nodded exaggeratedly, struggling not to roll her eyes.

“You’re not contagious are you?” Mary asked uncertainty, after her smile had faded.

“Benjy!” Fabian yelled, saving Lily the trouble of telling Mary she might be but she wasn’t going to let an infectious disease stop her from saving Ariel from Bertha. “Get over here!”

A skinny blond man in glasses sauntered over to the group, leaving behind the photographer he had been speaking with.

“Yeah?”

“This is Ariel,” Fabian informed him excitedly, clapping Lily on the shoulder.

“Nice to meet you,” Benjy said pleasantly, holding out his hand. “I’m Buzzfeed’s social editor.”

“Ben, she can’t answer you.”

“Oh yeah?”

“She’s lost her voice,” Fabian managed, practically buzzing with the news.

Suddenly Benji’s whole face changed, from slightly stressed young reporter to the same fevered astounded expression that Fabian was wearing.

“No shit,” he breathed, “really?”

Lily nodded.

“You can’t talk at all?”

Lily shook her head, feeling more and more sympathy with Ariel with each passing minute.

“Fucking brilliant,” Benji celebrated, grabbing her shoulders.

“You should film this,” Fabian announced, moving back to Mary and beginning to work on her hair again. “That would be amazing.”

“Yes, yes, yes,” Benji agreed, “would you mind?”

“You should probably check with McGonagall first,” Marlene suggested, pointing at their manager who was giving directions to the photographer whilst Dorcas fanned herself.

“Sure, sure,” the journalist noted, not sounding too concerned, “will someone get her into her costume,” he called, as he strode back across the room. “I want to do this asap.”

Thinking that she might hurry the process along by putting on her own wig, Lily erased the note on her phone and simply typed out ‘wig?’ before showing it to Marlene.

“What does she want?” Fabian asked absentmindedly.

“She wants to know where her wig is,” Marlene answered, causing Fabian to swivel away from Mary again in outrage.

“They make you wear a wig?!”

After Fabian had recovered from realising Lily wasn’t allowed to have her natural hair, he decided to take matters into his own hands.

“I’m in charge of the shoot styling, and I say, you’re using your own hair.”

Not really in a position to argue, Lily had watched as they transformed her hair from a curly, frizzy nightmare to long, flowing and bouncing waves that fell perfectly around her face and over her shoulders. She’d never seen her hair look so good. And sure, it wasn’t Ariel’s colour, but it was close.

Whilst her hair was being transformed, another stylist had appeared to apply her make up. Lily was used to wearing Ariel’s make up but she wasn’t used to having it tweaked to suit her own eye colour. It was the smallest of changes to the eyeshadow but suddenly, the make up fit her perfectly. As she watched herself in the mirror, it was as though she was somewhere halfway between herself and her cartoon counterpart.

“You look amazing,” Fabian appraised, still playing with the ends of her hair. “I can’t wait to see you in the tail.”

Not having heard this news before, Lily’s whole face lit up – her eyebrows jumping into her hairline.

“She gets the wear the tail?” Dorcas yelped, appearing out of nowhere and into Lily’s mirror.

“Of course!” Fabian said, causing Dorcas to clap. “We’re doing the scene after Ariel rescues Eric and brings him to the beach. You can’t be a mermaid without your tail!”

Finally pleased with her hair, Fabian moved away to Emma with one final squeeze of Lily’s shoulders.

“James Potter is about to lose his damn mind,” Dorcas whispered into Lily’s ear as they both grinned.

With this thought ringing in her ears, Lily made her way to the costume section to look for her tail. Finding Ariel’s costume wasn’t hard and she found putting on the bra and top part of her tail like slipping into an old pair of pyjamas.

“Ariel! We’re ready for you.”

Hearing the photographer calling her, Lily managed to signal to Dorcas (now in her civilian clothes) and hand her the fin.

“Here, I’ll walk with you,” she said, taking Lily’s elbow to help her balance.

They moved slowly and steadily towards the main stage and in the distance, Lily saw James, in full costume, lying down on the set, eyes towards the ceiling.

Her heart gave a quick thump.

“You really like him,” Dorcas observed quietly, squeezing Lily’s arm. “Your whole breathing changed when you saw him,” she explained, after Lily gave her a questioning look.

Ignoring that, and not really caring that Dorcas was right, Lily continued to wiggle her way to the set.

“Ariel has arrived,” Dorcas announced to the room, shocking Lily and causing all the heads in the room to snap to her.

And just as James lifted his head to see her, suddenly Dorcas was nowhere to be found.

“Wow,” she heard him breathe as their eyes met and she saw the look of pure attraction come onto his face.

“She looks good, right Potter?” Dorcas called teasingly, and Lily quickly became aware that not only were they being watched, but Benji was currently filming with a handheld camera.

“I can’t believe I’m getting paid to do this,” James responded softly, his eyes never moving from hers as the room laughed.

“Oh my god, they’re not together, are they?”she heard Benji say to Dorcas.

“Okay, Ariel, if you could just lie down beside Eric,” the photographer cut in.

Feeling a little ridiculous as she wobbled over to James, Lily just about managed to get to her knees when James’s arms came up to her elbows to steady her. With effort, she placed her body in between his arm and his elbow, head hanging over his. “Hi,” he said lowly to her, in his own sweet tone and Lily could only smile. “Marlene tells me you’ve lost your voice?”

She nodded earnestly and he smiled in response, causing her to blush when he pushed one side of her hair over her shoulder.

“So…was that you on the phone earlier or...?”

Again, Lily nodded.

“Right,” James coughed, “sorry for calling. I just…”

Managing to interrupt him by shaking her head, Lily gave his forearm a quick squeeze.

“Anna, can you attach her tail?” The photographer asked Dorcas.

“I’m on it!”

“Right, so everyone knows the scene. Eric is passed out, Ariel, you’ve just saved him from death. He’s the most beautiful human you’ve ever seen and this is where you decide you’ll do whatever it takes to be with him.”

Lily nodded to acknowledge she’d heard as she held up her feet for Dorcas.

“Just smile, play with his hair…you know – the usual.”

With one final look, James let his head fall backwards and his eyes close.

“Music!” The photographer called and Lily heard the refrain of ‘Part of Your World’ sweep around the room.

Deciding that the only way to do this without her heart beating out of her chest was to be completely method, Lily did her best to pretend that no one else was in the room as her hands moved to James’s hair. The quirk of the left side of his mouth was the only sign on James’s face that she had touched him.

Smiling down at him, Lily flipped her tail and moved her fingers down past his eyebrow, over his cheekbone and down to his jaw, suppressing a full grin when James inhaled deeply.

In the distance, she could hear the sound of the camera clicking furiously.

“Okay, Eric, we’re going to try a few with you awake, so open your eyes.”

Lily’s breathing skipped when her eyes met James’s hazel ones and she almost forgot she was supposed to be acting.

“Heh,” the odd sound he made before swallowing thickly.

Lily looked at him quizzically.

“I’ve just remembered how we get your voice back,” he explained, eyes pouring into hers as the music swelled and his hand drifted into her hair.

She probably should have stopped him, given that they were surrounded by all of their work colleagues, but with absolutely no desire to, Lily’s eyes fluttered closed as their lips met.

He kissed her tenderly and so softly that Lily, wanting more of him, pressed herself down against him as James’s left arm encircled her waist. She revelled in the feeling of his lips against hers, her hair falling down around them and shading them from the eyes of the rest of the room.

It was only after silence rang out around them as the music stopped that they broke apart, eyes meeting each other again. Lily couldn’t help the small smile that crept onto her face when she saw the look James was giving her.

He had just swept her hair behind her ear, when a loud wolf-whistle echoed around the set.

“Well, did it work?” Marlene shrieked, removing her hands from her mouth.

With a quick glance at James, Lily tried to speak…and what came out was a garbled, hoarse cough and the most horrid sound she had ever made.

The entire room exploded in laughter, except for James who was still smiling up at her.

“Oh well,” he said quietly, nudging her nose with his, “guess we’ll just have to keep trying.”

And then Lily remembered that McGonagall was in the room. And oh fuck, James had just kissed her in front of her boss.

Gesturing for someone to come and take the tail and help her up, Lily tried to look everywhere but James whilst also avoiding McGonagall as well.

“I got you,” she heard Marlene say from behind her and soon after her feet were free. “Dressing room?” She asked urgently, as she helped Lily to her feet. “That was the hottest fucking kiss I have ever seen,” Marlene told her quietly, as they stumbled towards the back.

Lily had so many questions running through her head – mainly did McGonagall look like she was going to eat them alive – that she wasn’t able to focus on how great the kiss had been.

When they reached the backstage area, she lowered herself into her seat and tried not to panic.

“Look, don’t freak out,” Marlene reassured her, catching sight of Lily’s expression, “you can say you were just acting.”

Lily was about to respond when she saw James coming after them, jogging lightly.

“On a scale of one to ten, how stupid was that?” He asked, seemingly directing the query at Marlene but looking at Lily.

“Probably a ten,” Marlene answered.

“Can I have a minute to chat with Lily, please?”

“Nope, you’ll need me to translate.”

Lily squeezed her arm and Marlene sighed.

“Okay, fine, but I want all the details later, you hear?”

As Marlene left, Lily felt her heart start to beat rapidly again. Fuck, she liked this boy way too much. Enough that she was endangering her job just to kiss him.

“Okay, it kind of sucks that you can’t talk,” James started, pulling a seat around to face her, “because I can’t tell if you’re mad or not. Are you?”

Not able to stop a smile appearing at his nervous bashfulness, Lily shook her head.

“Good,” he breathed, breaking out into a grin, “because I’ve been thinking about kissing you for three weeks and I really want to do it again.”

Feeling the butterflies swooping around her stomach, Lily’s smile widened.

“I checked the staff rules a couple of weeks ago” James continued, letting his hand come out to fall onto hers, “and apparently, I can’t ask you out.”

Again, Lily nodded.

“So, basically what I wanted to check was if it would be coming on too strong to quit and then ask you out?”

“Yes, it would be, Potter,” a voice said as they both jumped. “I would have at least suggested starting some form of clandestine relationship before resorting to quitting,” Minerva said, glaring down at them both, “or I would have before you kissed Evans in front of the entire cast.”

“Eh, yeah, sorry about that…”

“And stop looking so worried, Evans,” she continued briskly, “no one is going to quit.”

“What?” James asked, his hand still firm on top of hers.

“The rule about dating was put in place after the Dave debacle,” McGonagall explained, “to deter similar behaviour and to prevent us losing half the cast. We’re not going to fire either of you for dating each other. Particularly, when you’ve been driving the entire Park insane with your ridiculous flirting.”

“We weren’t that ridiculous,” James said quietly, looking a bit peeved.

“I’m also assured by Benji that the footage of you both this afternoon is certain to go ‘totally viral’ – it would be illogical for Disney to fire it’s two most popular cast mates.”

“Right,” he noted, his eyes meeting Lily’s. “Does that mean we can kiss in the Park?”

“Not a chance, Potter,” Minerva replied, “you’ll have to help Evans get her voice back on your own time.” And with that, and a wink, she swept away, back towards the set where Jasmine was scolding Aladdin.

“Worth a shot,” James grinned, standing up. Eyes dancing, he leant forward and pressed a quick but meaningful kiss to her lips. “Well that seems to be that sorted,” he said against her lips, pulling back a little to let his forehead fall against hers, “so, what do you think, Evans? Go out with me?”

Still reeling from the surprise kiss, and with her hand clasping his, Lily smiled up at him.

“Yes.”

#jily #jily fanfiction #jily au #Ariel!lily #eric!james #Disney #the little mermaid

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kyuwook09 · 6 years

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Upcoming otome games 2018

Since I made a trashy review of last year’s line up of localized games, I figure I’ll do one this year too XD.

Like last year, I’ve played most of the games set to be localize(I still haven’t touched my Hakuouki yet so..’most’) …Here’s a mini review and thoughts/opinion on the games ヽ(ヅ)ノ ....I’ll try to avoid spoilers..as much as I can. Thankfully unlike last year, Aksys game of choice are all great this year and here is why.

7′sCarlet

Honestly, I was first put off by 7′sCarler due to one flaw. The MC. Like she was introduced as a plain collage girl, who would be excited about that? And to make it worse...her character sprite is..well..I’m going to be blunt here...it looks weird..(´･ω･`)

^see what I mean?

Anyway, once I get pass that...obstacle, 7′sCarlet was probably one of my favorites last year. Mainly due to me being a sucker for mystery trope..murder mysteries to be exact. Also by the end of the game, Ichiko(MC) manage to be redeem by having the game really involves her.♥（ﾉ´∀`）

^little Ichiko looks so much cuter (σ≧∀≦)σ

Unlike some of the otome games, wherein MC goes to a route sees that the guy has a problem, adjusts herself so that the guy’s problem is magically solve..without her being really needed most part of the story. Here Ichiko is a crucial part of the story and she may have been a damsel in distress half of the game but there is a reason for that too. Which will be revealed little by little as the game progress on and players finishes the routes. She was actually really great in one route which made the story a lot more fun.♥（ﾉ´∀`）

Characters of the game are also lovable and the bad guy did his part well. The plot twist of the story is kinda predictable yet its not the boring kind of predictable. The true ending did go to the ‘open ending’ type but its a nice wrap up of the game overall. I did regret not having the Limited Edition of the game...if only I wasn’t so weirded out by how Ichiko’s sprite is then I could have gotten it.¯\_(ツ)_/¯

PS: BEST GUY is the ossan..or well..the eldest(ΘεΘʃƪ)

Psychedelica of the Black Butterfly

I first played Black Butterfly last 2 years ago and it left a strong impression on me. It was actually on my ‘To Buy’ list even before I bought a vita and it did not disappoint me.♡(ŐωŐ人)

What were doing in a mansion in which they cannot leave? Do they know each other? Who is the owner of the mansion? What happened to them? These were some of the question that will leave players hook in their seats and be engaged in the story. ╭( ･ㅂ･)و Character development especially for the Beniyuuri(MC) was really great, even if the whole game was so short, they managed to have each of the characters grow and have their story have its satisfying ending.

Unlike most otome games though, Psychedelica is like a manage/anime that I’m watching and little by little the truth of the character’s ‘situation’ unveil with each passing time, its more on the mystery VN rather than an otome to be honest. That said, it’s plot and romance scenes are well balanced and despite it being on the ‘tragic’ kind of game, it also have its humor and character interactions were always a delight.(ｏ'ｖ｀ｂ)ｂ

Despite my ‘Do it for Him’ banner, I equally love all the guys. But I have a reason why Kagiha is the one I choose to be the reason to play the game. But... nah who am I kidding, I love Kagiha...and he deserves so much more (┳Д┳)

I’ll end my review with this. I HOPE YOU GUYS WILL CRY AS MUCH AS I DID WHEN YOU GET TO THIER ‘GOOD/TRUE END’ ψ(｀∇´)ψ

Psychedelica of the Ashen Hawk

Ok, unlike the first game I don’t recommend this game and not because its terrible BUT IF ROMANCE IS YOUR MAIN REASON then I don’t recommend it.

The fact is, its a great game BUT if what you’re hoping for in an otome game is romancing with the guys and have some sweet scene or a great build up of romance, then Ashen Hawk might disappoint you a bit. It’s like the romance part of the game is 20-30% and on that low percent, 70% of that romance(the most satisfying romance that is) goes to this guy.＼（Ｔ∇Ｔ）／

Nevertheless, I love Ashen Hawk just like Black Butterfly, like the first game, it made me cry and really engaged in the story. The story/plot did have some holes and unanswered question more than Black Butterfly but in the end, I became attached with the characters, be it the main characters or even the ‘bad guy’ and for me, that’s what matters in an otome game.

Let’s play who has the hotter dad( ⊙‿⊙)

Here is a breakdown of what the game’s theme is (based on my play experience):

35% Story/Plot

20% Romance

25% ANGST...(YES THIS GAME MADE ME CRY...LOTS)

20% Character Development

IF YOU THINK SHIRAISHI’S ‘GOOD END’ IS SAD, WELL....WAIT TILL YOU PLAY PSYCHEDELICA...(・∀・)

Also, Jed is such an awesome MC, even Girls falls in love with her (´ε｀ )♡ heck these two are fighting over her...with her still being in male disguise...

Code: Realize ~Future Blessings~/Code: Realize ~Bouquet of Rainbows~

I don’t think it’s necessary for me to place this here since I think all of us are already waiting for March 30 to come.٩(●ᴗ●)۶

I put it here to make a slight suggestion, if you have a ps4, try getting that version instead. The gorgeous CGs of the game will be in high def and make for an instant wallpapers.

^Me the entire Sholmes route cause Watson doesn’t have a route....Also on Finis route...cause Hansel also doesn’t have a route....

That said, I hope they also localize the 2nd fan disk, Shirogane no Kiseki/Silver Miracles. It was a much better ending to the game overall.（๑✧∀✧๑）

Hakuoki: Edo Blossoms

The long awaited sequel for the first part of the Hakuoki: Kyoto Winds. This game will be the concluding part in which Chizuru will finally have her ‘happy end’ together with her man.

I keep repeating this but, as much as I love Saito and Okita I do hope this will be the last Hakuouki---as if. (；一ω一||) Don’t get me wrong, I love this game, but constantly porting and adding to it when the story is great enough on its own just seems like a desperate move for otomate/idea factory. Like they can’t let go and leave this series to its happy end already and then focus on other great project.(VARIABLE BARRICADE!!) Like with Amnesia, after Amnesia World, they let it rest and started on Collar x Malice, which btw received tons of positive reviews.

Anyway, it’s great that they decided to localize this and not keep the fans hanging due to the incomplete story of the first game. (ノ_<。)

And, I’m going on a wild guess here but...I think the chances of them localizing SSL is not so far off. Like what I said last year, it does not have any final word yet but, Aksys says they’re trying their best to get this localise. Info taken here

PS. I just noticed, aside from Code:Realize, all of the game lineup this year has one thing in common: TRAGIC STORY (・ωｰ)～☆

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renaramblesaboutcomics · 7 years

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Wednesday Roundup 8.30.2017

We have quite a varied bundle today and I’m pretty excited for a lot of these. We’re getting some interesting developments on some storylines, some beautiful conclusions to others, and we’ve got some... hm. as well. Of course, wasting just a touch of time here so lets just jump into it since I’m getting this Roundup in right on the wire ; )

Image’s Black Magick, DC’s Gotham City Garage, DC’s Harley Quinn and Batman, IDW’s Ghostbusters 101, Kodansha’s Princess Jellyfish, DC’s Wonder Woman

Image’s Black Magick (2015-present) #7 Greg Rucka, Nicola Scott

Oh my gosh do I love this book, do I love this aesthetic, do I just adore every thought and texture put into it. As much as I absolutely, positively adored Rucka and Scott working together on Wonder Woman, it’s a truly wonderful thing to have Black Magick aailable to read again. And what an issue we have.

Story: There’s obviously quite a bit going on in Black Magick at this point. Rowan’s job as a detective is getting testier since, being pulled in multiple directions has led her to be disconcerting for her partner and it’s beginning to come to a head, especially as his own personal life is getting more complicated by the minute. And it’s amazing how tense her procedural drama elements feel when the whole time one’s nerves are being wracked by whether or not she’s going to blow her cover as a real witch. At the same time she’s beginning to really embrace the heritage that she has been flippant with all this time at best, not training her magic abilities or honing her family’s passed down skills until now. And in this issue you can really see the literal fire lit within her at last now that her closest friends are being threatened by the actions of this mysterious witch hunting society.

Art: Nicola Scott’s art is positively gorgeous, of course, but what really stands out about Black Magick is the use of tones rather than colors except for important magical effects in each issue. It gives a truly other worldly feel to the comic and draws your eyes to the textures used from the leather of Rowan’s jacket to the flickering of flames which gives it such a unique experience compared even to black and white comics. I really appreciate and feel inspired by the bold choices being used here.

Characters & Dialogue: Rucka is fantastic for giving all of his characters very distinct ways of talking, so much so that I feel like without seeing who a word bubble is directed toward most times I can already hear who it’s coming from. And I felt that was probably most significant in the precinct and when Rowan and her partner were on their stakeout. I love how well he understands characters and how to really portray so much with just the right word choice for each character. It’s so fantastically appreciated.

IDW’s Ghostbuster 101 (2016-2017) #6 (of 6) Erik Burnham, Dan Schoening, Luis Antonio Delgado

I am so sad to see this amazing, hilarious crossover come to its end but the journey has been well worth it, and I’ve heard that Answer the Call’s team is going to be getting a book which means we’re bound more lovely, fun adventures with the girl team coming soon. And I have to admit, I simply love that everything came together just as well as it did. Erik Burnham and Dan Schoening have absolutely mastered this franchise in a way I don’t think anything else can truly compete with and I’m so grateful for their positive and honestly loving portrayal of the Ladybusters throughout this comic.

Story: We’re at the end, so obviously there was quite a lot to wrap up -- saving both dimensions, giving as many characters defining moments as possible, so on and so forth. And it felt just as large and bombastic as one would hope as the different styles of both sets of Ghostbusters really got to be explored, things were figured out, and we even got some hints about how the multiverse versions of different characters might have been. It’s a truly inspired effort, honestly. And I just loved the conclusion.

How the six issues as a whole have been, I have to admit this is entirely satisfying. I make it no secret that, to me, comics best length of a long story is four issues, with six always tending to have a lot of flab that we could all benefit from trimming up. But this is a rare occasion where I felt there was no fat. Even with a bit of a slow first issue, this series was pretty much defined by its shockingly large cast and paying off the years of faithful attentiveness paid by the fans of the comics through all these years. It wasn’t just an introduction for the Answer the Call Ghostbusters into the comic universe, it was a celebration of all the change the franchise has experienced for the past thirty years. And that’s just quite plainly unique and satisfying on both a story and on a meta level.

Art: Dan Schoening’s style has become so synonymous with Ghostbusters that I practically can’t imagine how they would look outside of that style. It’s so distinct and yet the charicatures feel so perfect for the characters’ portrayals within the movies. This is the height of stylized art for me. That being said, I did think it’s a bit off putting how that signature style wasn’t always in full effect for the Answer the Call cast. As cartoony and expressive as the regular Ghostbusters are, the Ladybusters did tend to have that more realistic style Schoening sometimes has for side characters in the regular Ghostbusters books. I do think that it changed as he got more comfortable with the characters over the issues, particularly with Holtzmann, but there was a lot of give and take for the first few issues. This issue though was near perfection, and I loved the distinction between the entire lineup and how you could immediately identify who everyone was by glance.

Characters & Dialogue: Like I said, Burnham just owns this franchise as far as I’m concerned and as far as my love for it all goes. He has a distinct and unique voice not just for the original cast but for every character who has ever been involved with the franchise and he carries that distinct presence with every new character added, every old character reinvented, and every new franchise add on that needs to be folded into the IDW comics. Quite frankly, I love it, and the sheer amount of love for these characters and all of their potentials is what makes me continue to read the IDW comics after years and years of following them.

DC’s Gotham City Garage (2017-present) #2 Jackson Lanzing, Collin Kelly, Brian Ching

Well, I did give the comic a good try, and I don’t necessarily think there’s all that much wrong with it. In fact I could see it becoming a fan favorite rather quickly online in the same vein as a lot of other Digital First endeavors have here on tumblr. But for me, issue #2 just comes to prove that while the components exist for what DC has seen work for them in the past there, there’s not really a clear presentation here that would give me any more confidence in the narrative than, say, Ame-Comi Girls which found too much direction after squandering around a bit to advertise the figurine line. So I don’t think I’ll be following Gotham City Garage longer. And I’d be lying if I didn’t say a good amount of that is because I cannot, for the life of me, figure out why it’s centered around Gotham. I mean. They’re in the middle of a desert. Without resources. Gotham has never since its inception not been a city with a giant harbor that gets poisoned every three minutes. The main characters outside of Selina and Harley have nothing to do with Gotham. The main villain is Lex Luthor. Why. What. Who. Whatever.

Story: I stand by the fact that the story for this comic has really fallen flat for me since the first issue. There are just a lot of gaps of logic that it feels like I’m just supposed to fill in myself or ignore until it’s addressed later. And while I’m a huge fan of starting a story with the action and world building through example and casual nuance, there is also way too much happening in far too small of a space that the medium of a short digital comic can really provide. In fact, if I hadn’t known about the statue line, the culture surrounding Mad Max the Road Warrior and Mad Max Fury Road, and the tremendous success DC has had with DC Bombshells, I don’t know for sure if I could confidently tie together everything that’s even happening right now that I do get. And the fact that the most familiar characters in the franchise are acting so outside of the characterizations most audiences would be familiar with isn’t very helpful in arguing against that analysis. If you’re not already a fan of these characters, two issues in there hasn’t been anyone really established save maybe Kara Gordon herself. And if you’re a fan of these characters, the changes in allies, the relationships on display, and just the general atmosphere is so different that you probably won’t be very engaged in figuring out why your favorite isn’t behaving the way you love them to.

Art: The art’s pretty good, but it’s running into a lot of the problems that most of these Digital First comics I’ve been reviewing have a problem with and that is the rushed feeling to the art, with this comic in particular it comes through most in the background art I feel, especially coloring.

Characters & Dialogue: Like I said before, I’m not sure who these characterizations are supposed to appeal to, but I’m fairly confident in saying that at least for these two first issues we don’t have a lot to work with because it’s just too many all at once, which isn’t learning from what made things like DC Bombshells and even, to an extent, Injustice work -- that being the slow introduction building our relationships with characters and their parts in the world before moving forward to giant team ups and so on and so forth.

DC’s Harley Quinn and Batman (2017) #2 (of 6) Ty Templeton, Rick Burchett

I am like. On a whole new plane of self consciousness and worry about this comic now that I connected the dots that this probably came about because of the direct to dvd feature cartoon Batman and Harley Quinn which recently came out and, yes, I’m aware of how pathetically obvious that loos in hindsight. But like. Just for clarification I almost used the picture for this review being one of the shots of Harley walking around in her underwear to be like “Rick Burchett doesn’t draw double ass” which I think sums up my feelings on the animated feature pretty well.

Story: While I am concerned about how much influence the animated movie is going to ultimately haveon this comic’s storyline, I have to admit that there’s a very basic love in me instilled from childhood to just have my heartstrings automatically pulled by the concentration on the relationship between Harvey and Ivy. They’re genuinely one of my favorite relationships in all the the DCAU let alone Gotham, and it’s just so full of complexity and intrigue. But most importantly, we see an abuse victim like Harley moving into a relationship -- regardless of whether or not you see it as romantic or not oo-- where her emotions are validated and received openly by a partner. Not only that, but her intellect and unique perspective is valued by Ivy unlike with the Joker, which makes this issue a complete stark comparison to the previous issue.

As for Ivy’s henchman..... I don’t know. Guess we’ll see where that goes. It’s kinda offputting for now because I’m not used to Ivy playing well with anyone but Harley, though I’m certain itl’l be a plot point.

And man do I hope that’s Ivy’s mind controlling cereal from Batman: Gotham Adventures because that callback alone would make this series immediately worth it.

Art: I mentioned with the first issue both how I’m a fan of Rick Burchett’s art and also how I try to be pretty lenient with Digital First comics because I know the time scale for these are massively shrunk from what artists in the industry have grown accustomed to.

I think those defenses fall a little flat now that it’s apparent that unlike some other series, this isn’t a weekly updated comic, and the page count is still rather short considering the medium, so my excuses sort of dry out here. There’s a lot of off model art, bland gradient backgrounds, and the such. But at the same time... $0.99 comics on the regular is something you basically can’t find from any of the other mainstream comic companies.

It’s by no means terrible, but it’s definitely ushed. And the colors are very uninspired, even tones throughout with no attention to lighting or difference that would result from lighting scene to scene.

All that said, it gets a huge positive thumbsup from me for the simple reason that Rick Burchett remembered what so many forget -- Harley and Ivy have different body types and Harley’s the taller and more lean of the two. It’s glorious to see that played out in a hug.

Characters & Dialogue: Considering my rather large apprehensions I had and still have with this series, it’s honestly rather enjoyable to see that the voices of the characters comes through so clearly -- arguably more clear than in the previous issue. Harley and Ivy really steal the show throughout the issue, but the short moments between Bruce and Dick are pretty fun too. Ty Templeton obviously has a lot of experience writing for the DCAU version of Batman at this point, but it’s always such a comfort to see my favorite version of the character handled by people who really seem to understand the things that make Batman admirable to begin with, including the occasional sense of humor like we get when Bruce needles Dick slightly by taking the opportunity from him to make a pun. I hope this consistency continues throughout!

Marvel’s Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur (2015-present) #22 Brandon Montclair, Natacha Bustos, Tamra Bonvillain

I don’t think there has been a more surprisingly lovely Marvel comic in the last few years than the always amazing, all-ages Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur. I’ve been asked plenty of times to rec comics specifically for younger kids who want to follow superheroes, and the continuing pleasure I’ve gotten from being able to answer with Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur is truly something else.

Story: We seem to be closing up on the space adventures (and out of the territory of being forced to deal with Secret Empire as a crossover so ha take that editorial) with Lunella confronting the epitome of her own loneliness and fear of alienation through the form of the Girl-Moon. At the same time, Robo-Lunella and Doombot cause havoc for poor Mr. and Mrs. Lafayette who just want to take their daughter to an eye doctor’s appointment. What’s getting more and more emphasized, mostly in Lunella’s absence, is that her parents are increasingly worried about the distance and lack of relatability they have with their own daughter which sadly is beginning to come to a head not only outside of Lunella’s periphery but while she’s completely off planet. And their concern with her genius as well as her part time shenanigans as a superhero are driving especially her mother to lose patience. Hopefully, after “one last adventure” Lunella and Devil will come home and straighten things out.

It still astounds me just how much emotional maturity and clarity this comic has while still being simple enough that a very young reader could read and enjoy it. It’s also amazing how inventive this comic is, with adventures that would come straight out of the Silver Age but without the on the nose camp sensibilities or feeling entirely out of tone with modern comics. It’s just a good comic embracing the absurdity of what only good comics can do.

Art: I’m obviously still a huge fan and just love the art style for this comic, but one thing I really want to emphasize on this issue in particular is just how amazing and awe inspiring the choices in color were throughout, especially in space. Everything was jaw droppingly gorgeous and I just wish I had a third of the talent for picking color palettes.

Characters & Dialogue: Lunella’s still a great protagonist, but I was surprised that this issue really didn’t focus on her development as much as I would have thought it could. I actually felt the characters who received the most development even with far less page time were her parents, whose frustrations and concerns were clearly demonstrated and highly sympathetic. It’s just so good to see a story from a child’s perspective understand the nuances and difficulties of a parent-child relationship without being all perfect or all awful.

Kodansha’s Princess Jellyfish (2008-2017) Chapter 84 Akiko Higashimura

All good things must come to an end, and nothing is more true to that saying this week than Akiko Higashimura’s nine year long epic about strange nerdy girls, sexual identity, and overcoming the cruelty of politics and poverty, Princess Jellyfish. I have been reading this manga for years, adored the twelve episode anime based on it, and am a little stunned and beyond words right now that we are actually at an end for what has become one of my favorite manga.

So here I go, giving my final review and a fond farewell to Princess Jellyfish.

Story: The hardest thing to explain about Princess Jellyfish has to be the story itself because, well, it’s sort of beyond explanation. Sure it’s a slice-of-life, sure it’s a Coming of Age narrative, sure it’s a story about the nuances of trauma and damage and how to overcome them all unique to the strengths of each individual character. But as structured as genre usually is in manga, at least that which gets transcribed and popularized here in the USA, I’ve never felt like any category accurately described Princess Jellyfish as a whole.

Halfway through the first arc, we watch it transition into a drama set with the fashion world as its backdrop, there’s political intrigue throughout, the question of gender gets constructed, deconstructed, and reconstructed again with this finale ultimately deciding once and for all to prove to the women of the Nunnery that their love and appreciation of Kuranosuke has no gender itself, and that people they have loved and cherished all along have been kept at arm’s length by their own stony attempts at self-preservation. Not the other way around.

Ultimately I personally have a difficult time pegging this to a genre, even romance, because at the end of the day, it’s not romantic love that really saves everyone, though there is that. By the end of this last chapter, the love that saves all of them is the love of themselves that they inspired each other to find. Kuranosuke and Tsukimi most of all have come to love all parts of themselves and each other without really putting it to words before this last issue, and that’s what makes the ending so powerful as all the threads, all the plots, everything comes colliding together for a conclusion with Kuranosuke reuniting with his mother, Tsukimi learning that her mother truly meant she had been a princess all along and she didn’t need to change, to the Amamizukan’s being themselves for a fashion show and realizing they can brave a crowd.

Everything is beautiful and lovely, and I’m so grateful for it.

Art: I think when most people imagine manga or anime, there is a very specific aesthetic that has become somewhat standard for the medium. Which is somewhat sad in a sense because it really undermines how much style and variation there actually can be, and the simple, sweet, and almost solid looking style of Princess Jellyfish is one of the first examples that really comes to my mind. It’s very distinct and very much a product of Higashimura’s work more than anything else.

These later chapters, especially this finale, have a much more vibrant use of tones than previous chapters, which do give more depth to the images and add to the art’s complexity more, but it’s still so soft and not distracting that the real star is again just that distinguishable style.

Characters & Dialogue: I want to focus on the true magic of the entire manga but especially this conclusion: Tsukimi and Kuranosuke. For as much as I find it difficult to label Princess Jellyfish as a comic, I don’t share those difficulties with how I feel about the lead characters. Tsukimi and Kuranosuke are amazing, round, complex, and deeply flawed people who tuly improved each other over the span of 84 chapters. In different ways, they needed to learn confidence and love for parts of themselves that they had never been able to love before, and as they did so, they drew strength from one another that helped a friendship and love deepen between the two of them that is so unique and so unlike almost any other kind of romance I’ve seen before. I truly believe not only that Kuranosuke loves Tsukimi, but that he truly means it when he says that he just wants to be with her, that platonically, romantically -- he needs her because she helped him learn to be a better, more confident, more caring person.

And Tsukimi, I am so proud of her. I feel like I’ve watched her actually grow into a person in ways few characters can. We conquer depression, anxiety, trauma, loss, social duress, and self-loathing in ways that I can’t say I’ve seen tackled so deftly by others before. And all the while, Tsukimi maintained her signature weirdness and enjoyability all the way.

I just love this story and love these characters. And I’m so grateful that I had the pleasure of reading Princess Jellyfish for myself.

Image’s Saga (2012-present) #46 Fiona Staples, Brian K. Vaughn

Every time a new issue of Saga is released, an angel gets its wings. Or a devil grows its horns. Really, who knows who the real faults lie with in the confusing grays of war. If you can’t tell, I adore Saga on a deeply personal level and I feel like so few comics have ever held up to its standards of imaginativity, difficult subject matter, and just all around fantastic character building. Probably none because Saga is one of a kind and it is truly just owned by Fiona Staples’ art as much as it is Brian K. Vaughn’s seemingly boundless creativity.

Story: This issue is incredibly heavy, arguably the heaviest of any issue of Saga to date and considering the kinds of things that are touched on by this comic? That’s an honest to god accomplishment. But sometimes, you’re just unexpectedly given a speech on the difficulties of being realistic about black-and-white views of the world like being pro-life vs pro-choice by a naked six titted coyote alien and it’s one of the most visceral and understanding presentations of the argument you’ve seen in media that both firmly takes a side without demonizing the viewpoint of the opposition. And that’s just the A side of the tape. B side we’ve got Robot and Petrichor wavering between saving one another, hating one another, drinking with one another, and plain and simple tapping that like there’s no tomorrow. All while talking about issues of trans gender acceptance, gender fluidity, suicidal thoughts, mourning the deaths of loved ones, and all without faltering on the facts that Robot’s a pompous ass and Petrichor is needlessly antagonistic and looking for excuses to throw down.

Art: What’s there to say. The art is the story. Fiona Staples is easily one of the greatest talents in the industry, every panel she draws breathes a whole new life into the comic, and her unique character designs and ability to make the most outlandish concepts for anatomy and just life in general are beyond compare. There is just so much attention to detail and so many little emotional choices folded into every pen stroke I just love it.

Characters & Dialogue: I cannot believe I didn’t see Robot and Petrichor’s kiss coming. I have no idea why I didn’t. But I’m not only sincerely amazed by it but I am more than ready to see where this gets them. Other... than probably dead because this is Saga after all. It’s less safe than Game of Thrones. In any case, everyone’s amazing and I especially love how Marko’s flaws are becoming more pronounced and just apparent in general in the narrative. He’s not always the voice of reason and he’s not always right and while Alana’s impulsiveness and crudeness generally makes her mistakes more pronounced, the weight of Marko’s own shortcomings and the way so much of his own will has driven them toward many of the places they’ve been throughout the plot is becoming more apparent. I think that’s important, and just as important is beginning to see how young Hazel matures and grows into the jaded worldview of narrator Hazel, as she’s already seen so much and gone through so much that she can’t even remember the eyes of her best friend anymore after his death.

Like I said, super heavy issue.

DC’s Wonder Woman (2017-present) #29 Shea Fontana, Inaki Miranda, Romulo Fajardo Jr.

We are continuing with “Heart of the Amazon” and Shea Fontana’s leading role as the new writer of Wonder Woman after Greg Rucka’s stellar run. And while there’s no doubt that we are dealing with a different beast tonally and story wise, the spirit of Wonder Woman is as strong as ever and continues to exceed my expectations for this creative team switch.

Story: Diana’s protectiveness of her friends -- her only real family off of Themyscira -- continues to be emphasized in this arc and it really highlights something that that I feel like was my main reason for always being apprehensive about too much focus on the Steve Trevor romance in previous incarnations of Wonder Woman, and that’s that too often he is focused on to the detriment to her relationships with female friends, female villains, family, goddesses, and so on. But Fontana waited to bring Steve in on this storyline for just that reason, I feel, and because of that wait, their love and romance doesn’t take away from the platonic and other relationships which mean just as much to Diana, to the point that she’s willing to walk right into what is obviously a trap for them. Fontana gets it, she really gets where Diana’s heart lies and it’s what makes me look forward to reading these issues.

That said, I am hoping that after this storyline we get some more fantastical Wondy stories from Fontana because I’m curious about her take not only on Themyscira but on Diana’s relationship with the deities in general. Especially after the conclusion of “The Lies”.

Art: I think honestly that art is going to be my biggest point of contention on this run. In all fairness, they’re following up some of the best artists in comics right now, but at the same time it feels like we’re getting a very rushed version of this artist’s work. Probably not helped by the incredibly tight schedule we have right now of a bimonthly comic release. That said, other than nitpicks from me personally, I appreciate that the artist understands how to draw Diana toned (even if a bit too thin), with a more matured face, and most importantly of all tall as heck.

Characters & Dialogue: Everyone has a distinct voice and a really honestly pretty in depth perspective on everything that’s happening right now. We are visibly seeing Diana’s opinions and concerns being morphed on the page, and likewise the reactions of Steve and Etta feel timely and consistent with the actions of the moment. I really appreciate what a solid read Fontana seems to have on everyone so far and am happy to see it keep up consistently.

Now for my picks of the week. And if you can’t tell that I’m cheating this time around and picking multiple comics... uhhh well, that’s what’s happening. Because I am just absolutely floored by so many great comics this week and it really came down on the wire for me so I decided to settle for explaining why three issues in particular this week really captured my heart and mind.

First up, Black Magick is a unique experience all on its own already and its continuation has filled me with joy for an old obsession I haven’t had since probably middle school -- that being witches and covens. I love them. From Practical Magic to Hocus Pocus I love witches, I love magic, and I love when their stories are handled intelligently, maturely, and with a really empowering view of the witches in question, which Rowan definitely is. And beyond that, it’s also a procedural drama which is also a bit of a guilty pleasure of mine given how many of those I watched and still watch. It’s just a good mixture of both in a way that only Greg Rucka could tell so captivatingly and with a distinct artistic direction only Nicola Scott could manage so convincingly.

Next, I jut can’t ignore how amazing Saga is. I feel like it’s unfair almost to put it against other comics every week it comes out because I enjoy this comic on such a visceral and complicated level that I hardly know where to begin. And it’s amazing to me just how predictive and progressive Vaughn manages to be with issues of the day, especially in as relevant of times as there is now. It’s a beautiful comic, a well told comic, and most of all it’s an important comic. And it, along with Black Magick just prove that Image lately has been absolutely firing on all cylinders, I have to say.

Finally, we had two comics I really enjoyed coming to an end this past week and while there’s no doubt I’ve poured my love for Ghostbusters 101 in many posts, it is difficult to express how happy and sad I am to have read the final chapter of Princess Jellyfish. Not only is this a bit of a nostalgic comic for me, having been something I’ve read for many years now, but it’s just such a pleasant read. I tear up for these characters, for their triumphs and their failures, for their relationships and their screw ups more than I have almost any “slice of life” manga I’ve ever read before and it’s owed entirely to how beautiful the characters are, how unique the view on the fringes of society are, and just how lovingly the story shows that all people, no matter their background no matter their issues, deserve to be princesses.

And those are my picks of the week, and just my opinions in general. Do you agree with me? Disagree? Think I missed out on picking out a new release? I would love if you let me know!

And finally, another necessary plug:

I am in a bit of a financial crunch for a multitude of reasons, not the least of which being the medical bills I’m paying for my dog, Eve, who experienced a catastrophic dog fight and underwent surgery recently.

As such, I really would appreciate if you enjoy my content or are interested in helping me out, please check out either my Patreon or PayPal. Every bit helps and I couldn’t thank you enough for enjoying and supporting my content.

You could also support me by going to my main blog, @renaroo, where I’ll soon be listing prices and more for art and writing commissions.

RenaRoo Patreon

RenaRoo PayPal

#Wednesday Spoilers #SPOILERS #Rena Roundups #Princess Jellyfish (2008 2017)#Harley Quinn and Batman (2017)#Wonder Woman (2017 )#Ghostbusters 101 (2016 2017)#Black Magick (2015 )#Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur (2015 )#Saga (2012 )#Gotham City Garage (2017 )

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recentanimenews · 4 years

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Meet KONOSUBA Season 2's Explosive English Dub Cast!

There's something special about recognizing an anime character's voice. Whether you're listening in the original Japanese or jammin' the English dub, it's fun to follow certain actors and see how their talents shape each role in different ways. That's one of the key reasons I wanted to start highlighting Crunchyroll's ever-growing lineup of dubbed anime, starting with fan-favorite KONOSUBA -God's blessing on this wonderful world!.

Following a reveal at this year's Anime Awards, this past weekend saw the arrival of the much-anticipated English dub of KONOSUBA season 2. The cast from the first season is back for more over-the-top antics, so there's no better time than now to take a look at what makes this group of voice actors perfect for this particular party.

Leading the charge is Arnie Pantoja as Kazuma Sato.

Arnie Pantoja has been adding a bunch of major notches to his belt in the anime world lately. From a variety of roles both big and small in the One-Punch Man anime—including S-Class Rank 12 pro hero Watchdog Man—to Eisaku Noguchi in March comes in like a lion and Pegasus Tenma in Saint Seiya: The Lost Canvas, Pantoja has the perfect balance of serious and absurd necessary to capture the essence of KONOSUBA's lead.

KONOSUBA wouldn't be KONOSUBA without Megumin, who is voiced by Erica Mendez in the dub.

Erica Mendez has been in a lot of anime. Seriously, if you want to talk range, just look at a résumé that includes roles such as Gon Freecss from Hunter x Hunter, Ryuko Matoi from Kill la Kill, Sailor Uranus from Sailor Moon, and even Retsuko from Aggretsuko. Whether you need a shonen hero or some after-work venting via metal karaoke, Mendez can handle it.

Who do you get when you want to voice a useless goddess like Aqua? Faye Mata may be far from useless, but she's perfect for this particular role.

Idol fans will immediately recognize Faye Mata from her work as Rin Hoshizora of Love Live! fame. Faye has a bunch of other roles to her name, though, including a recent villainous turn as Myne from The Rising of the Shield Hero. You can also find her in Kakegurui as Yumemi Yumemite, in which she happens to act alongside fellow KONOSUBA party member Erica Mendez, who voices Itsuki Sumeragi.

Rounding out the main protagonists is Cristina Vee as Darkness.

For those unfamiliar, Cristina Vee is a prolific voice actress with a bunch of credits across anime, video games, and beyond. In the case of the former, you can hear her as Sakura Matou in Fate/stay night, Killua Zoldyck in Hunter x Hunter, and Mio Akiyama in K-ON!, among many other notable roles. If you've ever played one of developer WayForward's Shantae games before, you'll also know her as the voice of our heroine's ARRRchenemy, Risky Boots!

One of the new characters in KONOSUBA season 2 is Vanir, a duke of Hell brought to life thanks to the one-of-a-kind voice of Robbie Daymond.

When the name Robbie Daymond pops up, Sailor Moon fans will no doubt immediately think of the magnificent and totally successfully disguised Tuxedo Mask, who definitely isn't Mamoru Chiba. Daymond also voices characters like Mumen Rider from One-Punch Man, Joe Kido from Digimon Adventure tri., and even Killer T Cell from the equal parts hilarious and educational Cells at Work! anime.

We're closing this out with a certain archwizard known as Yunyun, voiced here by none other than Kayli Mills.

Among Kayli Mills' many anime roles are two heavy-hitters from recent seasons. First up is what some would consider to be the Best Girl of Re:ZERO -Starting Life in Another World-. No, I'm not talking about Rem… it's Emilia, of course! Mills also provides the voice behind the impetus of the last two seasons of Sword Art Online, Alicization's Alice Zuberg. You can hear her in recent dubs as Freida in Ascendance of a Bookworm and Karin Nanase in In/Spectre, as well.

Finally, if you haven't seen it, this video never gets old:

The Konosuba dub cast is here to read UNFITTING LINES FROM MOVIES. Kazuma reading lines from the Smurfs is uh... just watch it. pic.twitter.com/qz1cvV1sXL

— Crunchyroll (@Crunchyroll) March 11, 2019

There are many other great voice cast members that help bring the English dub of KONOSUBA to life. Who are your favorites?

Let us know what you think of the dub in the comments, and be sure to check it out if you haven't already!

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Joseph Luster is the Games and Web editor at Otaku USA Magazine. You can read his webcomic, BIG DUMB FIGHTING IDIOTS at subhumanzoids. Follow him on Twitter @Moldilox.

Do you love writing? Do you love anime? If you have an idea for a features story, pitch it to Crunchyroll Features!

By: [email protected]

#Anime #News #Latest in Anime News by Crunchyroll!

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idolizerp · 5 years

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LOADING INFORMATION ON ATLAS’ MAIN VOCAL, LEAD DANCE KIM KIWON…

IDOL DETAILS

STAGENAME: N/A CURRENT AGE: 24 DEBUT AGE: 19 TRAINEE SINCE AGE: 16 COMPANY: KJH ETC: He is known for his interest in film and videography, often uploading content on the group social media

IDOL IMAGE

Kiwon is approachable. If there were a name for sexy-cutie when it came to boy group members, Kiwon would have that label plastered firmly across his forehead, from his squishy cheeks to his well defined abs. He’d like to point out to the fans that still call him mochi that years of dieting should have absolved him of that moniker, but these things tend to stick despite his best efforts. He’s a boy of contradiction, as softer features pair with a coarse Busan satoori and his gaze on stage can veer into sexual at the drop of a hat. Off stage he’s all laughter and eye smiles, because on a very real level Kiwon is a genuine person, does little to make a persona for himself that strays too far from the truth. Perceived authenticity is part of the Atlas brand, and Kiwon represents something pleasant and unthreatening, designed to attract fans with versatile but largely boy next door charms. There’s some reversal there, but not too much, not more than any other group with a stronger stage persona might suggest.

Kiwon is flirty. With the cameras, with the fans, he’s a charmer. He’s a master of skinship with his members, playing coy and forward as necessary for the moment, vacillating between the two to prompt fans to screaming hysteria and joy. Does he enjoy the commodification of perceived homosexuality? He’s sort of on the fence about it. He likes the attention, mostly, and someone has to do it. With the image of the group often hung up on being “more” than “just idols,” Kiwon unabashedly carries the idol brand with pride, or at least the perception of it. He dances, he sings, he does aegyo. He gives the canned answers they’re supposed to deliver and he panders to the cameras, keeps his head down, does cheesy commercials without blinking an eye. Being shameless is perhaps integral to his character. He’s nearly impossible to shame - embarrass, sure, but he’ll go along with just about anything in the end. He’s never been a leader, not really, and being a follower makes him an ideal idol pawn to pull in fans. They can dress him up in girls clothes or character outfits, school uniforms or headbands, and with a tasteful amount of embarrassment and self deprecating amusement he’ll soldier through filming, flirt and then pull back, playing the game that more traditional idol fans are so familiar with.

Amongst the rest of the group, noted for being rough around the edges, a bit less typical as idols, Kiwon is polished and shining and designed to appeal to a set of fans that the more “artist” types in the group could easily miss out on, especially back in the early days. He’s the fan appeal put forth with a shining falsetto and a clear vocal tone to bring something more typical but still necessary to the group. Does he sometimes feel his talents would be better utilized elsewhere? Ironically, not as much anymore, but it was a big complaint in the early days, when their hip hop image was ill fitting and hard to carry off. He’s come much more into his own after the rap line bargained for greater creative control, which is an irony he must recognize but does not appreciate, still holding some resentment for the whole thing in his heart.

IDOL HISTORY

BUSAN. JANUARY 1995.

the wind blows in off the sea and chills the little hospital room, window left open to air out the stale, stagnant hospital air. a baby boy is welcomed into the world but there isn’t much special about the whole ordeal. the whole thing is just average. he’s an average weight, neither early nor late, he’s healthy enough. he cries, as all babies do, and his mother dotes on him immediately, as all mother’s should. his father is not absent or drug addled and is instead smiling, gently, down at the little boy, his smile obscured by a beard that is not trendy in the slightest but seems to suit the man. there’s an older sister who giggles and laughs to see him, cooing sweetly at the baby, with ringlet curls that cascade around her shoulders. it’s a happy family and despite the winter chill in the air, it’s a warm picture.

BUSAN. MAY 1999.

childhood continues in much the same way. solidly middle class, they have the opportunities the two children need. they have love in their hearts for one another, and they mean well. there are spats and disagreements, and his father works too long and too late, and his mother deals with postpartum depression in a country that doesn’t look too closely at mental health, that doesn’t do a lot to notice, to suggest help, to encourage aid. and a little of the warmth drains. from his mother’s eyes, from his father’s heart. a little more gray seeps in.

kiwon would love to bring it back, for all of them. he’s four, nearing five, and precocious. he has to be, they keep him in plenty of kindergarten programs to ensure it, wanting only the best for their son. and maybe mom wants some time at home too, without he and his sister underfoot. kiwon is a perceptive child, sweet and insightful, with an emotional intelligence that far outpaces his motor skills, his language skills.

BUSAN. DECEMBER 2002.

this year, kiwon is introduced to dance. this year, kiwon begins to do taekwondo. after school hours are taken up increasingly by math, by english, by sports programs. he finds them all fun enough, dabbling in this and that accommodatingly enough. he’s eight years old and doesn’t have much of a choice, after all. he complains in class about being sleepy, about his mom only sleeping at home. she doesn’t cook or clean, he says to his teacher, she just sleeps all day long.

postpartum depression has turned, now, into regular depression, deep seated and lingering.

BUSAN. AUGUST 2008.

time has come and gone, months passing much in the same way they always have. his sister sowon remains a charming example of humanity, even at 15 and full in the throes of teenage foolishness. it’s funny. they find a common ground that detracts from constant bickering and whining. they find a passionate interest in idols, they find an affection for catchy music and bright, poppy tunes. sowon nudges him into dance lessons with her and he obliges. he hasn’t bothered with dance since he was seven, eight and it was an afterschool activity to keep him out of the house, soon traded out for taekwondo and soccer and gymnastics in cyclical rotation, as if his mother had forgotten what she had signed him up before the year before and picked at random. so they do it. they go to dance lessons. and eventually, kiwon transfers to an art school in busan. tests in for his dance, his potential.

SEOUL. APRIL 2010.

he’s fifteen when it happens. when he’s lucky enough to convince his parents it’s time to go to school in seoul. his sister outgrew the dream soon after it’s conception but kiwon dreams for this, lives for this, loves this. his mother doesn’t mind the idea. she doesn’t mind much of anything. her eyes are glazed over almost perpetually and kiwon can’t remember the last time that she left the house, but sometimes when he tells her stories, when he shows her videos of performances that she never attends, he thinks she might be smiling. might be a little happy. he wants to bring happiness to people. he’s spent his whole life trying to cheer up a family that can’t bring itself to be lighthearted anymore. his sister just wants to move out to university overseas, his father just wants to make it to retirement, and maybe his mother can’t even want anything anymore. so, kiwon wants enough for all of them.

SEOUL. JULY 2012.

his audition goes smoothly. he later realizes this is because the company has a dearth of trainees with what one would consider traditional idol talent. he should have known, that would be the way of things. perhaps because of that, it’s his personality that they find the most appealing. stage presence, charisma, charm - he has all of it. he can soften out the edges. that’s what he hears them saying, in his audition first. he doesn’t really know what that means until he meets the boys. clearly a conceptual direction had been enacted, because when he’s added to the lineup, he finds it’s full to the brim of talented rappers and dancers. there’s a lot of producing going on, songwriting, hours spent in studios working on music.

kiwon feels out of his element, wonders what he’s gotten himself into. wonders if he should have carried on with auditioning. he’d gotten a call back from msg, maybe he should have taken them up on it. but he’d taken a chance on a good gut feeling, and now he felt a little bit out of his depth. the boys are nice enough, and the smaller trainee pool feels like a family. there’s a warmth now that he’d lost in his life, something he hadn’t known had been missing until he started to dorm with the others. it feels right, it feels good. even when the heating breaks in the winter and the air conditioner breaks in the summer, he doesn’t mind. even when the concept pushes his vocals to the edge of their limit, even when they throw a rap verse at him to see if he could do it, early on (he pretty much can’t), even when they begin debut prep for a concept that skews so far into hip hop he’s not sure how he’s going to pull it off, he figures it can be okay.

SEOUL. NOVEMBER 2015.

the past few years have been hard. it’s been a lot. it’s been hip hop and pseudo swagger, oversized jerseys and a marathon of comments about the size of his cheeks or how awkward he looks, sometimes. comments about how the school uniform concept is played out, or about how they’re from a company no one has ever heard of except for that scandal one time. years are spent flying under the radar, frustrated, struggling. he grapples with a concept that doesn’t suit him, wears it like a poorly tailored stage outfit. pann posts accuse them of wearing fake designer goods because they can’t afford the real thing, and kiwon can’t even defend them, they’re probably right, and even if they weren’t, kiwon certainly can’t tell one way or another.

when they call the group in for a meeting, things are tense. he’s sure this is it. they’re disbanding. the company is too tired of being in the red. it’s over.

instead, it’s a new beginning. the rap line threatened to walk, they’re told. they’re getting more control, creatively. there’s going to be a brief period of rest before the next comebacks, because things are being restructured. they need to think about a new direction. all kiwon can think is, if they were going to be asking opinions, why didn’t anyone ask him? he’s one of the more “idol” members of the group, if they wanted to sell cds for once, they should have asked him. he’d have been the first to point out they should ditch the chains and quit cosplaying as a group they weren’t. should lean into the tracks that people liked, the mellow stuff, or the things like the satoori rap that no one else was going to be able to do.

but no one had asked him, had they? he was just a dancing monkey. a wind up toy. something pretty to set in the front of the group, to sing the (honestly pretty vocally mediocre) chorus bits and provide a helpful bridge to hand off to the rappers. to the real talent. it was clear that was what the company thought of them, anyway. he brooded over this unhelpfully thereafter.

WORLD WIDE. 2019.

the scale of the group has grown beyond what kiwon had ever thought possible. years of aggressive image management, diet control, perseverance have tailored him into someone even more appealing than might have initially been thought possible. it turned out with proper styling and the loss of baby fat, he made a better idol than he did an eighteen year old with mochi cheeks in oversized jerseys for teams he’d never heard of. their music slowly moves in a direction that embraces kpop, embraces their status as idols rather then eschewing it, and for that at least he can’t help but be grateful. there’s resentment, too, though. he’s learned that that illusion of family had only been a lie, a company construction. duress and hardship had brought them close together but in the end, they’d all made it clear to kiwon that it was every man for himself, and he’s not about to get left behind. he’s not about to pretend he’s worth less just because he doesn’t create in the same ways that they do. if kjh wants to play the favoritism game that’s fine, if they want to put a valuation on each member’s contribution, whatever. kiwon will make himself invaluable. kiwon will diversify. he won’t make the mistake of trust again, the mistake of blind loyalty, of reliance. for all their gabbing about what a family they are, about how tightnit the company is, kiwon knows the truth. in the end, it’s going to be kiwon on his own, just like it always has been.

#id.bio #id.kjh #id.atlas #id.park jimin

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karenstensgaard · 6 years

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Last weekend, I braved the mobs, so you don’t have to! I spent a full day at D.C.’s convention center standing in line and squeezed into seats. I attended what may be the biggest free to the public book festival hosted by the Library of Congress.

According to the Library of Congress, their 18th annual festival included a diverse lineup of 115 authors featuring U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor, eminent historian Doris Kearns Goodwin, acclaimed novelist Amy Tan, former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, U.S. Poet Laureate Tracy K. Smith, and two-time Newbery Medal winner Kate DiCamillo. As usual, I took another route with detours right from the start.

Entering the grand hall when the crowds were more manageable!

On my way to hear Dave Eggers, I could tell the crowd was growing and saw a panel on Spywork and John le Carré. The title sounded mysterious, and since my next novel will include some espionage, I ducked in to get a seat. John le Carré (real name: David Cornwall) wasn’t there. Authors David Ignatius (The Quantum Spy), Joseph Kanon (Defectors), and Adam Sisman (John le Carré: The Biography) with Pulitzer Prize-winning author and moderator for the panel, Kai Bird (American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer) chatted about le Carré spy stories and his influences on storytelling.

Afterward, I hustled down three escalators and over to the Fiction room to hear Jeffrey Eugenides (well-known author of The Virgin Suicides) and a new book, Fresh Complaint. After waiting over 20 minutes, we were complaining. Since he was running late, the event was canceled.

With time to kill, I slipped across the hall and heard the second half of murder mystery and spy novelist Hank Phillippi Ryan’s update on her new book, Trust Me. She encouraged fellow career changers doing this later in life. She didn’t start her writing career until she was in her 50’s. My husband asked me if Hank was a man. Her real name is Harriet, and Hank was a nickname from college. She has a definite edge since statistics say men writers sell more. Just look at J.K. Rowling: her new books are penned by Robert, not Roberta, Galbraith. A sad fact, since Joanne, of all writers, can afford to be a woman!

At the book fest, authors were grouped mainly by topic or type of book (history & biography, main stage aka big names, teens, poetry & prose, understanding our world – a catch-all mix, fiction, and genre fiction. A few I didn’t check out – two children stages, and a Library of Congress Hall. Each author or group had an hour to discuss their book with an interviewer and a few minutes for Q&A.

On the right, interviews for TV channels were conducted later:

I met my husband for a book discussion by David Ignatius for his spy thriller, The Quantum Spy, about the Chinese ruling the world via computer. David was part of my first lecture on Spywork. Besides being a novelist, he is a journalist and writes a column for the Washington Post. He might have noticed me if he’d learned from his characters. Spies supposedly watch their surroundings closely. But with the packed crowd, I blended in and was undetected. But just wait for my run-in with Security!

After another wait for lunch, I returned to the Fiction salon to hear Andrew Sean Greer talk about his novel Less. Less really means More since he won the Pulitzer Prize with his edgy modern travel love story. Congrats! And the award couldn’t go to a nicer guy. Andrew came across as laid back and friendly joking with the crowd. When he found out one of his teachers was in the crowd, he didn’t hesitate to get to the edge of the stage to hug her.

Now my plan fell apart, and I almost pitched my free book tote bag in disgust. I had hurried across what seemed like miles of convention room carpeting while dodging attendees who are either are from the UK or prefer walking on the wrong side of the hallways. I followed the signs to Room 146, but somehow, I’d left, without leaving the building, and had to ask a security guard for help.

After another delay with another security check and backtracking, I found one of the hundred plus Ask Me volunteers lingering everywhere. She pointed out the best route to the elusive Room 146. But when I arrived, many others had too, and a large line snaked around the corridor.

Here’s why. Room 146 had a captivating title: Understanding Our World. So necessary anytime, but perhaps mission critical if you live in DC. I knew I wouldn’t hear any of the Conversation: Americas Great Struggle for Racial Equality featuring Brooks D. Simpson and Isabel Wilkerson. But it was the next event that was on the top of my wishlist: Conversation: Sea Creatures.

What would the authors share with us on behalf of these creatures from the ocean and 70% of planet earth‽ (The ‽, a question-explanation mark combo called an interrobang, is official and grammatically correct. I couldn’t resist using an interrobang for the first time in such a deserving situation.)

The sea creature conversation included an interview with Sy Montgomery, the author of a book I loved: The Soul of an Octopus: A Surprising Exploration into the Wonder of Consciousness. Who knew octopi have such personalities and are as smart as a whip‽Times eight, of course. Sy has a new book: Tamed and Untamed Close Encounters of the Animal Kind. Juli Berwald’s book also sounds fascinating. Spineless: The Science of Jellyfish and the Art of Growing a Backbone.

I hate to admit with these long afternoon lines; I’d lost my can-do festive mood. Instead, I found a seat and watched the long line hover and grow resembling the long leg of you know what. My seat buddy, armed with what looked like an ordinary cane, told me about the good old days in D.C. when it was a two-day event held on the Mall under massive tents. She lamented how much easier it was to see inside and hang around outside the tents if the seats were full. And except for the possibility of rain and mud, or scorching heat and humidity, book lovers managed just fine.

Right next to us, the doors opened for the next session in Poetry & Prose with a short and manageable line. So I went high-brow listening to the panel on Literary Lives with authors Mark Eisner (Neruda: The Poet’s Calling) and Kay Redfield Jamison (Robert Lowell: Setting the River on Fire” A Study of Genius, Mania and Character). Fiona Sampson, the author of In Search of Mary Shelley: The Girl Who Wrote Frankenstein, was ill and couldn’t leave the UK. Her book was of particular interest since Mary Shelley and Frankenstein are in my second still to be published novel.

My sixth and final event was again in the Poetry & Prose room: How Writers Think and Work. So apropos since I’m a novelist. I continually compare notes with the experts. But from what I’ve learned in writing, there are no rules, and if there are, no one agrees. Some renegade writers even urge you to break any you happen to find.

This last discussion included authors Lorrie Moore, See What Can Be Done: Essays, Criticism and Commentary, and Richard Russo, probably best known for his novel and TV show, Empire Falls. His recent book, The Destiny Thief: Essays on Writing, Writers, and Life was another book I had read. Two, out of about 200 new books, isn’t too bad.

The book fest ended for me since I lacked the energy for the last few lectures scheduled elsewhere. Isn’t this blog exhausting? In the Amazon carousel below, I’ve added a link to some of the books by the authors I heard speak, including one from yours truly.

[amazon_link asins=’1521210519,0393254151,0765393077,031631613X,1451697724,1524732486′ template=’ProductCarousel’ store=’karenstensg01-20′ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’128fc14f-b47e-11e8-8899-c9d48c37cf6b’] P.S. If you were hoping to see another library blog, here is a photo of the beautiful Carnegie public library at Mt. Vernon Square across from the convention center. Since it looks like a beautiful spot, when the renovation is done, I’ll be back. And here’s a photo of me with an adorable portable library on the way to H Street behind Union Station and my favorite D.C. restaurant, Ethiopic.

Get an insider's view of Washington D.C.’s 18th Library of Congress National Book Festival. Last weekend, I braved the mobs, so you don’t have to! I spent a full day at D.C.’s convention center standing in line and squeezed into seats.

#Andrew Sean Greer #Book Fest Washington D.C.#David Ignatius #Hank Phillippi Ryan #Library of Congress #Lorrie Moore #National Book Festival #Pulitzer Prize Winner #Richard Russo #Sy Montgomery

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thejustinmarshall · 6 years

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The 80s Cruise Omnibus: The Like, OMG, Totally Awesome Recap.

This is a part of our full coverage of the 2018 80s Cruise. Read more about the floating music festival here.

Guitar picks are the holy grail for many concertgoers, but Robin Legat was able to score one recently from Lou Gramm guitarist, Michael Staertow, under the oddest of circumstances. The 43-year-old fitness trainer from Los Angeles didn’t have to scramble over chairs for the keepsake, she got it by wearing bumble bee colored spandex and gifting Staerlow something very unexpected.

The Legats (center) as Stryper.

Legat was part of a foursome dressed like the 80s Christian rock band, Stryper, as a part of “Glam Rock” night on The 80s Cruise. The 2200 passengers on board the Celebrity Summit were encouraged to wear costumes for each of the six theme nights. Legat and her husband, Michael, rarely disappointed. They were clad from head to toe in spandex and scarves and passed out little keychain bibles throughout the night.

As she tells it, during Gramm’s performance, “our entire group was sitting together in the sixth row. (Staertow) and I made eye contact, and he mouthed ‘Stryper?’ to me.” She nodded and when she ran into him later that night, gifted him one of the bibles. He gave her several of the coveted picks in return.

So goes life on board The 80s Cruise. Every year, Entertainment Cruise Productions (ECP) brings together fans from all over the world to celebrate the music and pop culture of their youth. The 2018 Cruise took place from March 17-24th and featured bands with one thing in common – their music is synonymous with the decade that blinded us with science and took our breath away.

The lineup consisted of Gramm, Loverboy, Mike + the Mechanics, The Tubes, Billy Ocean, Berlin, Thomas Dolby, Katrina (of Katrina and the Waves), Tommy Heath (of Tommy Tutone), and cruise host, Rick Springfield. This was the first time ECP has booked a big-name act to anchor various events throughout the week with Springfield playing extra shows and introducing various events.

Guests were thrilled with the concerts they saw during the week. Maryland native Dave August had a clear favorite saying, “Lou Gramm was the runaway winner. (His) voice was spectacular (and) the crowd was pumped.” Legat offered a simple explanation for Gramm’s popularity amongst guests. “90 minutes of nonstop hits and he didn’t even get to everything!”

Deane Draper wore a spot on Quay Lewd costume on the 80s Cruise. Photo by Chuck Coverly

It was hard for some people to pick one favorite show. Betsey Fellwock, from Tulsa, OK, couldn’t decide, so she listed her favorites, “Loverboy, Lou Gramm, Billy Ocean, Tommy Tutone,” Tim Kelley insisted, “I’ll give two answers” before explaining that Lou Gramm had the best overall performance, but stagemanship went to The Tubes. The Asheville office manager added, “Berlin sounds better than they did in the 80s.” Steven Sciglimpaglia of Stamford, CT liked Thomas Dolby, Berlin, and The Tubes.

Sciglimpaglia appreciated the sheer weirdness of The Tubes, but they scandalized a few passengers who weren’t sure what to make of their unconventional stage show. Most passengers only knew of them from their MTV-friendly videos, “She’s a Beauty” and “Talk to Ya Later.” It came as a surprise when, near the end of the show, lead singer Fee Waybill changed into glam rocker Quay Lewd and starting drinking from a giant bottle of what looked like scotch shoved into the crotch of his silver spandex pants. John Clark from Dallas enjoyed the spectacle saying, “The Tubes should do a comedy act! They crack me up!”

The Tubes brand of humor seemed to appeal to a certain type of music fan, but Leskanich had pretty much everyone giggling during a question and answer session with Terri Nunn of Berlin and Jenna O’Gara of Jessie’s Girl. The “Walking on Sunshine” singer infused each reply with deadpan humor, often mocking the ridiculousness of the situation. When she was performing, each show felt like individual episodes of “Storytellers.” Like Berlin in 2017, Leskanich may not have been familiar to most outside of her one big hit, but she quickly endured herself to passengers, making her one of the favorite acts of the week.

Berlin’s second stint on board proved to be as successful as the first with passengers flocking to various events hosted by the band. A wine tasting with lead singer Terri Nunn sold out well in advance of the sailing and a group Q&A was standing room only. Drummer Christopher Olivas emceed two wildly popular poolside dance parties under his alias, DJ Christopher J. Longtime fans were thrilled to have John Crawford and David Diamond, both of whom founded the band with Nunn, perform in both main stage shows.

Bryan Do as “Long Duk Dong”. Photo by TuKe Photography

For Claudine Edwards of Plano, TX, just being able to see Berlin again felt like a miracle. Edwards discovered she had stage IV breast cancer following a car accident last October. A bleak prognosis made the 2018 Cruise seem like an impossibility. When radiation treatments made her incapable of eating and her hair falling out in clumps, she turned to an old favorite to help her cope. Berlin’s “Hideaway”, from Count Three and Pray, assured her it was okay to, “cry away there’s no harm.” She said, “I cried a lot and listed a lot to that song about hiding away.”

She found out she was in remission a month before sailing. Still in pain, she and her husband, Jason, arrived in Ft. Lauderdale thrilled to see friends and excited about heading back to the 80s. Each day made her feel more like her old self and she got the chance to tell John Crawford how much his song had meant to her. She said afterwards that the Cruise made her feel better for the first time since her diagnosis. She felt that, “the 80s and all of my friends lifted me up, made me stronger!”

Edwards’ opportunity to speak to Crawford highlighted one of the many things that made the Cruise so special to guests. Being able to interact with their idols through organized events was exciting, but it was the casual conversations that happened around the ship that passengers savored most. Mina Credeur from Spring, TX. said her favorite moment was hanging out in the martini bar with the two lead singers from Mike + the Mechanics, Andrew Roachford and Tim Howar.

Mike + the Mechanics were on board as a part of a small American tour to support their latest album, Let Me Fly. The last time the band was out on tour was three years ago with no plans to tour again this year, fans were lucky to catch them. They were on board for a short time, but their 90-minute set was excellent, thanks largely to Credeur’s drinking companions.

Big name acts were the obvious draw for passengers, but there wasn’t a shortage of other talent on board. Crowds were excited to see their favorite cover bands, Jessie’s Girl and Trial by Fire, back for another year. Jessie’s Girl had their own fan club that refused to miss any shows. Trial by Fire had a bigger presence this year after a very successful debut on the 2017 sailing. The two bands complimented each other with Trial by Fire providing a more traditional rock vibe while Jessie’s Girl attacked the top 40 with style and flair.

Things got a little weird on St. Patrick’s Day. Gus and Wendy Molony on The 80s Cruise.

Jessie’s Girl’s shows featured dozens of costume changes, but they couldn’t compare with the 80s cosplay going on each night. Passengers spent all year planning what they would wear for each theme and the results were pretty incredible. The entire ship was clad in green for the St. Patrick’s Day departure with Aqua Net and lamé ruling Prom. The amount of spandex roaming around for the Glam Rock theme was almost intimidating, but the one evening that brought out the most elaborate costumes was Pop Icon night.

Passageways were quiet in the late afternoon as guests returned to the cabins to transform into a variety of different pop culture icons. Soon the hallways were filled with rock stars, movie characters, and all sorts of odd 80s references. Weird Al, ZZ Top, and David Lee Roth wandered by the martini bar while Jason Vorhees and Elvira looked through the previous day’s pictures in the Photo Gallery. King Tut had a crew that followed him around all night walking like Egyptians. There were at least two sets of Blue Brothers and more Ghostbusters than you could shake a gallon of ectoplasm at. Two human-sized Smurfs sat in the balcony while Terri Nunn sang “Highway to Hell” to a Yip Yip.

The costumes caused more than a few laugh out loud moments for the musicians on board. Mike Reno of Loverboy smiled and pointed at several clones wearing his trademark headband during one show, but Bryan Do’s “Long Duk Dong” costume forced him to stop singing to take a moment and stop laughing. Do had not only nailed the outfit from Sixteen Candles, but included a blow up “sexy American girlfriend” that he carried around all night on a set of disembodied handlebars.

Mike Reno tries to silence Jay Lewis on the 80s Cruise.

Reno had a great week on board the Summit. Not only did Loverboy put on two energetic shows on the main stage, but the singer also jumped in on several performances with other artists throughout the week. Jay Lewis from Kiawah, SC was having so much fun singing along to Loverboy’s set that Reno had to walk over and Lewis’s mouth with his hand.

Loverboy wasn’t the only act Lewis found himself singing with during the week. Rick Springfield held a microphone out to him during, “Don’t Talk to Strangers,” and was a part of a crew invited up on stage to sing with Heath. He and his friends wore t-shirts that spelled out the title of Tommy Tutone’s 1981 hit, “867-5309.” After spending so much time singing along with celebrities, Lewis joked, “If I knew they expected me to also perform I would have never quit taking those piano lessons from Sister Mary Francis when I was nine.”

Heath did several solo shows during the week in addition to jamming with Jessie’s Girl and Rick Springfield during their performances. When he wasn’t on stage, the singer spent his time socializing with guests and posing for a ton of selfies. But despite patiently standing for one picture after another, the award for “Most Selfies of the Week” went to Springfield.

Springfield was the main draw for the hundreds of passengers who booked through his fan club before the last Cruise left port. Their enthusiasm was contagious, but it could also be exhausting to other guests who struggled to get into venues. As Legat explained, it was frustrating “not being able to get remotely close at any of the Rick Springfield piano bar shows because people would hold seats for hours!”

Rick Springfield gets this a lot. Shelley Meier and Rick Springfield on the 80s Cruise.

Springfield himself was affable and engaging, despite the chaos that seemed to surround him. During the main stage shows, he leapt into the audience while performing 1983’s “Human Touch”. He climbed over chairs and stopped for selfies as he traveled up and down the center section.

The “famous-person selfie” ruled the day during Billy Ocean’s concerts as well. The singer hopped on board in Jamaica for two flawless sets during which he would routinely reach down to shake hands and take pictures. He left the cruise immediately after the second show, much to the dismay of Ziva Gottesman. The San Diego native was hoping for either a meet and greet or Q&A with Ocean lamenting, “some artists aren’t on the ship long enough to do either which is a shame.”

Question and answer sessions were popular with guests, but the most surprising turned out to be the one that featured Thomas Dolby. He was familiar as the musician behind one of the instantly recognizable “She Blinded Me With Science,” but the audience for his Q&A discovered the 1982 single was just one small accomplishments in a career that has included the creation of a groundbreaking software company, directing an award-winning documentary short, and revolutionize electronic music. As if all of that wasn’t enough, Dolby explained to the crowd that his latest job is as the head of the Music for New Media program at Johns Hopkins University.

Dolby’s two sets in the 400-seat Revelations lounge at the top of the ship were amazing, despite many guests having to miss the last two songs of each. The biggest complaint with the Cruise was the conflicts caused by poor scheduling. Fellwock hated “having to leave shows to get the 9 p.m. concert.” She wasn’t alone. Dolby and Leskanich played all of their shows in Revelations with either 7:45 or 9 p.m. start times, which always conflicted with the main stage shows. The timing meant passengers never had a chance to see a full show in Revelations.

Dave August had a whole week of David Lee Roth costumes on the 80s Cruise. Photo by Chuck Coverly

It was infuriating having to choose, particularly for Michelle Tower whose two favorite acts were Dolby and Leskanich. Like everyone else holding cards for the late show, the IT Director from Cincinnati never got to hear “Walking on Sunshine” or “She Blinded Me With Science” because those were the songs at the end of the setlists. Guests had to be in the Celebrity Theater by 9 p.m. or lose their seats and have to take whatever was available in the back of the third tier.

But despite the aggravation of having to miss shows and activities due to scheduling conflicts, just about everyone said the 80s Cruises were the best vacations they had ever taken. Some passengers cited the bands as the best part of the week, some loved the decorations and feeling like they had actually traveled back in time, but for most, it was something they could never find on another vacation.

Sometimes you should meet your heroes. John Crawford and Claudine Edwards on the 80s Cruise

The bands and costumes were what initially sold the cabins, but the what brought people back after the 2016 and 2017 sailings – and will bring even more back next year – were the people that traveled back to the 80s with them. Time and time again, people said the single best thing about the Cruise was, as Amanda Olivas put it, “All of the friends we have made in the past two years!” Texan Kathy Machacek agreed that it was “the friendliness of the other guests” that made the planning and expense worthwhile. Curtis Wayne Lanclos summed it up saying, “enjoying 80s culture together is what makes it all more enjoyable!”

Olivas, Machacek, and Lanclos will be joining Edwards on the 2019 Cruise. “Yes, I will be back,” she said. “Cancer didn’t take me in 2010 and it certainly isn’t going to take me now. I have the 80s to live out again each year with our amazing friends!”

LJ Moskowitz is a photographer and writer based out of New Jersey specializing in concert, product and fine art photography. She is a member of the National Press Photographers Association (NPPA) and Professional Photographers of America (PPA). You can find her at Shutterchick Photography, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

All photos appearing on this page are the property of LJ Moskowitz. They are protected by U.S. Copyright Laws and are not to be downloaded or reproduced in any way without the written permission of LJ Moskowitz. Copyright 2018 LJ Moskowitz. All Rights Reserved.

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