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#I should be writing the actual plot but its too funny to me
slonechnik · 1 year
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#riemblings#pls dont rb or reply i need to rant Somewhere#rly though im trying to write it down but would it be presumptuous to ask to be burried in the same plot as my great gran#it has a pretty headstone and a little garden and theres ivy and anyway they wanted to sell it so honestly#like great gran still gets her grave visited nobody has to waste money on a new place and its a lovely cemetery anyway#i worried that cremation would be too expensive but i feel like it'll be cheaper if they buy either a tin or a wooden urn#tin would be funny bc rly the garbage association just makes it 🤌 but ik parents wouldt want to go for the cheapest#and wood would degrade eventually so#rly v ecological if you think abt it#and i feel itd save up anyway since i dont want a church mass and they always charge a stupid amt of money#i hope nobody will do smth stupid like order a mass for me im including it in the letter anyway but god knows my fam is stubborn#man oh man#i hope theyll listen to me for once and actually cheap out on me#like idk its my deathwish i think they should its probably v selfish of me to say but with the bathroom renovations this year its just#i just dont want to add unnecessary expence im already waiting a little for it to be over and to hopefully get my pay at the job#itd be theirs so they could organize the funeral with it and not waste any of their savings i hope they will do this#i hope ill manage till january#just bc i plan to die doesnt mean i dont care abt what happens after im trying to plan accordingly#i already written down instructions for most stuff internet and where to look for shit#idk i hope theyll be okay#i wish i had energy to save up to make sure theyll be alright when they retire but#i rly dont ive been putting it off for months now#most of my life if were being honest#i hate that i waited I really do i thought i finally could in september but i chickened out again#which is stupid i hate being alive#i hate it so much and yet here i am#man oh man really hope its not for much longer#im so shit at math i rly hope i got the cost down right
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python333 · 7 months
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im in love with your content omg😭 your writing style is just chefs kiss
can i req a reader with the tf141 being on a mission and hearing an enemy say something in british slang and they just go "what did they just say.." in comms? like a reader who doesnt know anything about slang like not even that bars in the uk r called pubs (if im not wrong) and just nods whenever a private talks in slang, and their brain is just trying to figure out what they just said?
its just a really silly plot with a silly reader :3
pardon? — python333
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synopsis just as the req says, you know nothing about british slang and on a mission the enemy speaks british and you dont know what theyre saying :3
relationships platonic!taskforce 141 & reader.
characters cap. price, soap, ghost, gaz.
word count 2.6k
warnings 2nd person pov [you/yours/yourself], usage of c/n [code name/call sign].
note HI YES I LOVE THIS REQ!! i take every opportunity i can to make fun of british people so this is right up my alley!! tysm for the compliments hjfhdjskf recently ive been getting more praise on my works and it makes me so happy i love yall. again, sorry if this sounds a little rushed or if any parts are incoherent, i wrote this at 12/1am and im both more productive and write more nonsense at this time + this one is wayyyy shorter than ones i usually do because i didnt know what else to write for it so i apologize for that as well! this is pure fluff and humor (i like to think im funny) so enjoy!!
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“—eah, and now we have to camp out here ‘cause he can’t be arsed to do it ‘imself, so I feel like we should have a chat with the others, see if they’re willing to leg it out of here with us,” An enemy soldier suggests to you, his British accent thick enough that you think it might be cockney.
You cross your arms to hide your shaking hands and nod in agreement, as if you understood anything he said, and put on the same shitty British accent you’d been using for the past five minutes you’d been talking to this guy.
“Yeah, yeah, totally,” You agree, clearing your throat before asking, “You know where the others are stationed?”
“You don’t?” He asks, raising an eyebrow at you suspiciously.
“Mate, all the orders I was given went in one ear and out the other,” You sigh, holding back a wince at your desperate attempt to sound more natural using British slang, “I just know I’ve got to stand out here and shoot the enemy.”
The enemy eyes you suspiciously and he takes a moment to try and read your face before he says, “I don’t think I’ve seen you before, actually. Which would be weird, if we’re in the same platoon, don’t you—” 
You sigh and quickly pull out the small switchblade you had hanging on your belt, stabbing the enemy in the neck before he can say anything else and grabbing him before he can drop to the ground, putting a hand behind his back as you half lead half drag him into a dark alleyway beside the building he was stationed outside of. 
You quickly set him down into a sitting position and take your knife out of his throat, tucking the blade back into the handle before adjusting it to latch onto your belt once again, letting out a frustrated huff as you stare at the now dead man in front of you. 
“[c/n], how copy?” Price’s voice crackles through on your ear piece. 
You push in the PTT button and lower your voice, “Copy, I fucked up a little bit. One of the guys was onto me.”
“You were there for five bloody minutes,” Gaz’s voice rings through, his tone both disbelieving and amused, “How’d he already catch onto you?” 
“The British are smarter than I thought,” You breathe out, standing up and looking around for a ladder to climb to get to higher ground before anyone spots you. You go farther into the alley and find an old, rusty ladder with rungs that look like they’d snap if someone sneezed on them too hard—perfect for climbing up.
You wrinkle your nose as your hand makes contact with one of the rungs but don’t say anything otherwise, instead wordlessly hauling yourself up onto the ladder. 
“Reminder that there’s three British people with you, currently,” Ghost’s deadpan tone crackles, his breathing heavy, as you can tell he’s whispering into his mic, “All of which are very smart.”
“I caught you reading the instructions on a box of tea bags the other day, don’t fuckin’ talk right now,” You grumble, slowly climbing up the ladder, hating the creaking noises it makes as you do. It sounds like it’s going to snap at any minute, and you try to go up as fast as you can, but one wrong move and you’ll easily slip, some of the rust that flakes off of the ladder enough to make you slip up. 
“They were circles,” Ghost says, exasperated, “I didn’t know if that made a difference.” 
“I thought British people were supposed to know everything about tea,” You roll your eyes, putting your hand on the next rusty rung up on the ladder. 
“Yeah, L.t,” Soap agrees with you teasingly, the wind hitting his mic, making it obvious that he’s running, “Thought ye Brits were s’possed to ken everything ‘bout tea.” 
You laugh quietly to yourself as you finally make it to the top of the building, the top just high enough for you to look at the few soldiers below and hear a majority of their conversations without them noticing you.
You get to the edge of the rooftop and pull the sniper rifle you’d been carrying around off of your back, glad to finally be back in your element rather than trying to get in undercover, and set it up. 
You pull the stand out and set it on the edge of the roof, and look through the scope of the rifle, lining it up so that it’s aiming directly at one of the soldier’s heads, specifically the one that was standing directly out of the entrance you originally were meant to try and get into—but doing this didn’t change much.
Regardless of if you got in or not, he would’ve died, and the others would’ve gotten in too. You getting in first was just meant to make it more efficient.
You press down on the PTT button on your earpiece as you look through the scope of your sniper rifle, keeping the aim on the soldier in front of the entrance, “The guy in front of the entrance is just standing still, so whenever you need me to, I can shoot ‘im down.” 
“I don’t think we need to get in just yet,” Price hums, “But maybe in a minute.” “M’kay,” You hum, taking your eye away from the scope, instead just looking over at the enemy soldiers. You lay on your stomach, leaning your head down a bit to try and listen in on the enemy’s conversations easier, trying your best not to make yourself too obvious.
The conversations were pretty boring and almost the same for every soldier you’d eavesdropped on, for the most part. Enemy soldiers joking around, talking about what they’ll do once they’re on leave—like they would be able to do that after you completed your assignment—and just some general team camaraderie.
The lackluster subjects of their conversations weren’t bad at all, no, in fact, you could care less what they talk about. 
It was their stupid accents you hated. 
Are you surrounded by British people everyday? Yes. Does that stop you from hating on the British everyday? No. Okay, maybe the accents aren’t stupid, but God, they had the thickest cockney accents you’d heard in your entire life, and it was making your eavesdropping so much harder, and had almost been the reason you were given away earlier.
They used slang words that you’re certain you’ve never heard before in your life, and used analogies that didn’t even make sense—you heard one of them use the words, verbatim, ‘Don’t get stroppy’. Stroppy? Stroppy? 
You narrow your eyes down at the soldiers below you, listening to a conversation they’d just started up. 
“—eah, ‘cause he can’t be arsed to do anything about it, so now we have to camp out here and wait for somethin’ to happen,” One of the soldiers scoffs, “I’m telling you, man, if I see that skull-masked bloke runnin’ ‘round out here, I’m legging it from ‘im immediately.” 
You draw your eyebrows together in confusion, but you stay silent for now. Isn’t that exactly what the other soldier said? Are they like a hive mind or something?
“You’re legging it?” The other soldier asked, sounding almost incredulous, “What happened to you chattin’ to some of the others about your loyalty and what not?” “All that’s irrelevant when the fuckin’ grim reaper rolls around and starts murkin’ people like he’s been doing for the entirety we’ve been here, mate,” The first soldier laughs, “You think I wanna be here when he does that?” 
“Don’t act like a prat about it, man—fuckin’ talking’ like you can outrun him.” “A prat? I’m not—” You tune out the rest of their argument and instead try and figure out what they were saying.
A prat? Legging it? Can’t be arsed? What the fuck? You push the PTT button on your earpiece and as quietly as you can, you ask, “I need some help. Serious help. Life or death situation.” Immediately, Price’s voice rings through, “What? What is it? What happened?” “The soldiers are British and I can’t tell what they’re saying,” You answer, ignoring Price’s relieved sigh on his end, “I need help.” “Jesus, fuck, don’t scare me like that,” Price sighs, taking a few breaths before continuing, “Alright, what do you need help with?” 
“Figuring out what they’re saying.” This time, you hear Gaz’s voice crackle through, “Well, you’ve got three British people here—tell us what he’s saying.” 
“One of the guys was talking about ‘legging it’ if he saw Ghost heading towards him, and talked about Ghost ‘murking’ people, and then the other guy he was talking to told him he was being a ‘prat’ about it and he got all offended,” You eloquently say into the earpiece, watching as the argument gets a little more heated. You can hear an amused huff from Ghost on his end and a scoff from Soap in return. 
“They’re just saying they’re gonna run away if they see Ghost because he’s been killing a lot of their soldiers, and the other guy said he was being a prat, which I guess is like…” Gaz pauses to think of how to explain the slang term before settling on, “Someone who’s kind of full of themselves, I guess. Or ignorant. Either or.” 
“They couldn’t just say that?” You muse quietly, still staring down at the enemy soldiers. 
“I’m gonna pretend you didn’t just say that,” Price’s voice cuts through, “Go ahead and shoot the guy down. I’m ready to head in.”
“Got it,” You hum, quickly putting your eye back up to your scope and readjusting it a bit before quietly warning, “Shooting him now.” 
You pull the trigger and the enemy goes down immediately, and through your scope you can see the small twitching of his body as the other soldier starts to freak out.
You quickly aim the gun at his still-alive friend and shoot him down as well, silently congratulating yourself on your good aim and continuing to look through the scope, watching as Price runs in with Gaz and a few other soldiers. 
They struggle with the door for a moment and you sigh before pressing in the PTT button on your earpiece and quietly saying, “Price, Gaz, move away from the door for a sec.”
Wordlessly, they do as they’re told, and you take the opportunity to line up the gun’s aim with the complex electronic panel on the outside of the door and pull the trigger, shooting the most crucial part of the panel, causing it’s functions to disrupt and as a result, the doors open. 
“Thanks for that,” Gaz breathes out as Price kicks open the door, his voice cut off a bit at the end as he takes his hand off the PTT button too quickly in order to follow after Price. 
“Uh huh. Of course,” You say offhandedly, taking your eye away from the scope of your sniper rifle and listening to the loud sirens go off in the facility the others break into, and push yourself up so that you can sit up straight to properly watch it. You grunt as you sit up, stretching your arms out for a moment before letting them fall into your lap. 
“Are they in?” Soap asks, curious, his voice a little strained and breathy. There’s no loud gusts of wind coming through his mic anymore, and you look around for a moment, before your eyes catch on to him climbing up a ladder to get to the rooftop adjacent to yours.
Your lips twitch into a smile at the sight of him completely clueless to your presence and you press your PTT button to talk. 
“Yeah, they’re in,” You say, watching as he finally gets to the rooftop, “Didn’t you hear the sirens?” 
You can see Soap’s eyebrows furrowed together in confusion for a moment, and he looks around for a moment before finally seeing you on the rooftop directly next to his, and he looks surprised for a moment before a grin splits across his face. You see him press the PTT button on his mic as well. 
“I did, yeah, just wanted tae be sure,” He says into his mic, looking right at you as he does, “It’s a surprise seeing you here.” 
“Imagine how I feel,” You muse, almost to yourself, before looking away from Soap and speaking up, “Ghost, you don’t wanna join us on the rooftops?” 
“Absolutely not,” He replies almost immediately, making you huff out a small laugh and Soap’s grin grow, “I’m perfectly fine on the ground.” 
“Where are you?” You ask, scanning the area around you for Ghost, “I feel like I haven’t seen you this whole time.” 
“I’m just behind the facility,” Ghost hums, voice still a low whisper, “I’m gonna be heading in once Gaz and Price make it to the second floor to clean up the first, in case there’s anyone left.” 
“You’ve been behind the facility this whole time?” Soap’s voice cuts through, surprised by the fact. 
“Mhm,” Ghost hums. 
“It’s a bit boring back there, innit?” Gaz’s voice crackles through, his voice a little breathy, “You can sweep the first floor, by the way. Should be nobody left, though. Pretty sure all the soldiers were just faffing around, not doing much.” 
“Fucking faffing around?” You ask incredulously to yourself, though apparently your voice is loud enough to make Soap chuckle. 
As if he can read your mind, Price’s voice comes through, “Faffing around is just doing nothing or doing nothing particularly productive, [c/n].” 
You sigh and push your PTT button this time, talking into your mic, “You couldn’t just say that, Gaz? You had to say something silly like faffing around?” 
“It’s not silly,” Gaz says, his frown audible, “They were faffing around.” 
“Jesus, fuck,” You breathe out, laughing lightly, “It’s totally silly.”
“No, it’s not.”
“Yeah it is.”
“No it’s—” 
“I just want one day where you two don’t start up stupid arguments like this,” Price’s tired sigh comes through, “Just one day, I beg of you both.” 
“Aw, Captain, we were just faffing around,” You whine playfully, the misuse of the slang making Soap cover his mouth with his hand to muffle his laughter and you hear Ghost groan into his mic. 
“That is absolutely not how you use that,” Gaz says, though you can hear some laughter in his voice—from your very non-British accent saying British phrases, you presume, a small grin gracing your lips at the thought. 
“It sounded natural to me,” You lie straight through your teeth, shrugging even though only Soap can see you. 
“You’re insufferable,” Gaz groans, making you laugh quietly, “Never use British slang again, please.” 
“What if I get a British accent? Will that fix it?”
“Nothing can fix what you’ve said today, [c/n].”
“Well that’s dramatic,” You scoff, “I’ll learn British just for you guys.” 
“Holy shit, please stop talking,” Price’s exasperated voice interrupts the both of you, “You’re both insufferable. Drop it.” 
“… I don’t think I will,” You say defiantly, making all three British people in the same voice channel as you groan in unison, the sound sounding like some sort of middle school choir trying to sing in harmony, “I’ll use Duolingo or something to learn it.” 
“British isn’t a language you learn, you muppet,” Price grumbles, making you snort. 
“Muppet?” 
“It’s someone who’s dumb and clueless and can’t take a hint, like you,” Ghost defines, “And Soap, most of the time.” 
“Daen’t go draggin’ mae into this,” Soap’s voice quickly cuts through, “I haven’t said onything.” 
“Uh, yes you absolutely did, earlier, remember?” Gaz argues, ignoring Price’s protests for him to stop arguing, “About Ghost being stupid with the tea thing?” 
“Oh, I’ll have you all know—” 
“Ghost, don’t start—” 
You listen as the once casual, teasing conversation turns into an argument and chuckle quietly to yourself, knowing that they’d be arguing about this until you all finished your assignment.
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oneatlatime · 3 months
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The Guru
Happy 2024 everyone and welcome to the first time I managed to type 2024 without first typing 2023! Oh and also a write up of The Guru. That too.
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Me too Iroh. Me too.
So Zuko is riding high on that post-crisis 'time to get my life together' buzz that, similar to 3 am life plans, should absolutely not be listened to. Wonder how long before he crashes and burns? There's literally 2 episodes left, so I'm guessing one and a half?
Poor Sokka. My boy's got anxiety.
I don't know if it's a monk thing, an airbender thing, an Avatar thing, or an Aang thing, but I envy his complete lack of nerves.
How is Appa ok with them splitting up for a week after JUST getting them back?
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I paused in a funny place. Have bonk-eyed Appa.
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I love them comparing heights. What do you want to bet that that guy on the right was one of the youngest allowed to go fight, and Sokka made a big deal about how they're almost the same age and surely that means he can go too, right?
A lot of these Southern Water Tribe people have dreads or braids. That's neat.
Bato's arm is still messed up. That's some good continuity.
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I've found the source of Katara's cheek bones. I guess Sokka takes after his mum.
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Ok I know this is a really emotional moment (and it is! Sokka's spent two seasons earning this!) but my brain fixated on the furs and briefly thought they were sky bison pelts.
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"It's been a difficult week for me." This guy thinks the Kyoshi Warriors are there to provide him therapy. Someone please just crown the bear instead.
He just gave away literally every relevant plot point AND outlined how to make sure all these plot points don't succeed. Crown. The. Bear.
Maybe if these generals spent less time playing with their giant model Earth Kingdom and more time general-ing, the war wouldn't suck so much?
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Pretty.
I LOVE LOVE LOVE the designs, the colour palette, the music, the sound design of this air temple. I love everything about it. If I had the chance to live anywhere in the Avatar universe, it would be here. Even in its ruined state it's such a refreshing contrast to the claustrophobia of Ba Sing Se. I can feel the freshness of the breeze through the screen.
"A spiritual brother of your people" an adult perspective on a near extinct culture! What a resource!
"and a personal friend of Monk Gyatso" an old as balls perspective. He's got to be at least 130.
Anthropology cul de sac time: this guy is so valuable as a resource on the Air Nomads. There's probably parts of Air Nomad culture that Aang can't ever accurately talk about, because he was a kid when he left, and there was almost certainly stuff that the adults kept to themselves, or only shared with the older Air Nomads. This Guru doesn't seem to be an Air Nomad himself, but there's a good chance that there is knowledge that he has, that Aang doesn't. Aang should be nerding out more about this. I'll do the nerding out for him.
Aang just breezes right by that Gyatso name drop like it's nothing. Huh.
Oh hey Toph. I'd forgotten she was in a box. Tweedle dum and Tweedle dumber really are quite the pair. What's their plan for keeping her fed and watered? Actually, these guys apparently don't know that maps exist, so it's probably never occurred to them that humans need sustenance. They'll rock up to the Bei Fong estate with corpse Toph and wonder why they aren't getting the reward money.
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Mai gets called out in-universe for shopping at Hot Topic.
Ty Lee's buttering up of Azula is getting less and less subtle as the season progresses. It's a testament to Azula's lack of awareness that she's hasn't noticed that, and that Ty Lee can get away with it.
Azula's right that it's an extraordinary opportunity. The King gave them quite literally every piece of info required to overthrow his kingdom in a 25 second conversation. I can't blame her for taking advantage of such an easy win.
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That's a very effective unimpressed face. And a very impressive beard.
It's funny to see a spiritual concept from the real world pop up in a show that includes things like bending and giant fish possession. The mention of Chakras kind of sticks out. They couldn't invent a Avatar universe version?
"Once you begin this process, you cannot stop until all seven are open." Well that doesn't feel like foreshadowing at all.
This episode should be called "Aang's self-care Journey." It's about time the kid had a me day that wasn't avoidance-based.
Fear: Losing Katara - makes sense. Losing control of his powers via fish possession - makes sense. The Fire Lord - makes sense. But the Blue Spirit? He helped. Doesn't make sense.
Guilt: Running away - makes sense, although I thought he'd worked through that with Katara in the storm. Nuking that idiot General's base - makes sense, but boy did he quite literally ask for it.
This guru is saying some wonderfully accurate, and realistic, things. I love that he's not taking the Katara route of denying anything is wrong. He's going for the acknowledge, then heal route. And yes, it's unfair of me to compare the emotional maturity of Katara to a century+ old spiritual expert.
I'm going to ruin the immersion here and point out that Sokka's dad's voice actor voiced a bunch of characters in season 1. He's doing an excellent job, but couldn't they get a unique voice for a character that's so important (albeit offscreen) to Sokka?
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That's an incredibly roundabout way of avoiding pointing out that the Southern Water Tribe are active participants in a bloody war. Sure, we can show multiple characters with visible scarring from horrific burns, but heaven forbid we imply that the Southern Water Tribe sinks ships. The parameters for what is and isn't appropriate on this show sometimes make no sense.
"Aren't you listening? I said the rest of you men get ready for battle." He hasn't seen his boy in two years, but fifteen minutes in his company and he knows exactly what needs to be said and how. That's some top tier parenting. Dad of the year. Dad of the century. Only decent Dad in this show that isn't technically an uncle.
"Follow your passion Zuko, and life will reward you." Great advice for your eight year old audience. Also a great way to end up unemployed.
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Positive Sokka creeped me out a few episodes ago. Now positive Zuko is freaking me out too.
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Pretty.
Back to Chakras! Shame: Burning Katara - makes sense. But that's it? To have the inner peace of mind of a twelve year old who's somehow only ever done one thing that he's ashamed of.
Is there anyone in the earth kingdom who isn't stupid? Once again wondering at the network's standards. Visible burn injuries are fine, but Mai can't say 'Shut up." It's got to be Shush up. Although I do seem to recall of brief time in the early 2000s when Shut Up was treated as a curse on par with Shit or Fuck. Maybe that was just at my school.
Chakras again! Even for a show that often has an A, B, and C plot, this narrative is ping ponging around a bit much.
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Grief: nothing major, just a whole nation. Makes a horrific amount of sense. but I don't buy that he can get over grieving the whole world as he knew it by thinking about his crush. That's way too high a pedestal for Katara to be placed on.
Lies: Not accepting he's the Avatar. Interesting that not accepting that he's the Avatar and not accepting that he's a firebender are two different problems.
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I see you reusing the opening credits footage. Your blue filters can't fool me.
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PRETTY
Illusion: So we're relearning what we learned in The Swamp. Aang's probably the person currently alive least likely to believe in the rigid separation of the nations anyway. This doesn't feel like an illusion he's subject to?
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The way this episode dances between its narrative threads is so great. It's all woven in so beautifully. And this makes perfect sense! Toph's spent her life secretly doing things excellently that everyone says are completely beyond her capabilities. Life has taught her that the statement "you are not able to" doesn't apply. Of course immutable laws of bending physics are treated with the same respect as an adult telling the champion of the Earth Rumble that she's can't earthbend beyond breathing exercises. If you told her that humans can't fly, she'd figure out how within the week.
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Plot collision incoming.
Interesting that Katara initially recognises Zuko by his voice rather than his scar.
I'm pretty sure that Zuko and Iroh don't know about the whole brainwashing thing, but wouldn't it be hilarious if Zuko introduced himself to Katara as Joo Dee, and his uncle Joo Dee, welcome to the Jasmine Dragon, can I take your order? That would throw Katara into one hell of a moral quandary.
Katara being framed as the solution for Chakra number four comes back to bite Aang, as she's the problem in Chakra number seven. I knew that pedestal was too high.
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I've changed my mind. This episode should actually be called "Half a dozen reasons why everyone should just learn to keep their goddamn mouths shut already."
So is anyone going to let Zuko and Iroh know that they're now in immediate danger and need to leave, like, yesterday?
I think the Guru is going for the whole 'if you love them, let them go, and they'll come back to you' thing. Don't cling, in other words. But for the sake of the plot he's suddenly lost his ability to explain Chakras in a way that makes them seem like the logical thing to do. The only clunky bit of this episode so far.
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May I introduce you to our Lord and Saviour Toph?
"I am the greatest earthbender in the world." Yes. Yep. Yeah. That's now a quantifiable fact, and it's correct. Look on ye mighty and despair. She's even got Bumi beat.
Earth Tongue Running is a bit wonky looking but it covers a crazy amount of distance.
What's the range on Toph's earth sense? Can she sense what direction Ba Sing Se is?
I hope those two idiots' horse bird is ok.
"You don't know how much this means to me dad." He does. Very much so.
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Every word out of this guy's mouth is precision engineered to make Sokka feel like a million bucks and I for one think it's about time someone built him up. Also, seeing this makes me realise how few good parents there are in this show. It's a trope of kids' adventure shows that the parents fundamentally can't be there, but I also think it's a commentary on yet another thing that this war has messed up.
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Hey look! Being a man is knowing where you're needed the most, and right now that's in Ba Sing Se, protecting your sister! I love narratives that tie their themes up with a pretty bow on top.
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This is Azula laying a trap, right? Which means that Katara squealed to someone about the exact location of Iroh and Zuko's tea shop. Don't like the implications of that.
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Photos taken seconds before disaster.
Final Thoughts
This episode was a lot! I mean that in a good way! But I felt a bit like the Maxell Blown Away Guy, the way I kept getting assaulted by yet another plot thread. Don't get me wrong, this isn't a criticism. I think the switching between plot threads and the amount of info in this episode worked 99% of the time. But I'm kind of in awe at the balancing act the writers pulled off and I'm sort of sitting here blinking a bit trying to fit all this stuff in my head. I'm probably going to forget half the stuff I wanted to talk about in this write up, so here goes nothing.
Given the Azula reveal in at the end of last episode, I thought that this would be the episode where the shit hits the fan. I was wrong. I'm glad I was wrong. An episode of set up is required and is nice breathing room, even an episode as busy as this. And I got to leave Ba Sing Se! But this does mean that next episode is going to be calamity after calamity.
Aang and his Chakras: I'm fascinated by this guru. I hope he comes back. That brings the total number of people who were alive before the war started up to three: Aang, Bumi, Guru Patik.
I'm impressed that the run through of the Chakras rarely felt like an info dump. The onion and banana juice thing didn't work for me, but I'm sure it worked for people in the target age bracket. Kids love burp jokes.
So many shows sprinkle in tragic backstories for flavour and then never have them influence the character in the present. It was a nice contrast to see a show take a whole episode to tell Aang "yeah all that sucked. It's ok to feel down about it. Here's how you move forward."
Sokka and his dad: Love it. Love it so much. I love seeing Sokka built up, and he definitely deserves it, but I wonder if this is the reward for a character arc well done, or the set up for a character arc that's about to start? Is his dad's praise his prize for crossing the finish line, or is it so he's built up with farther to fall?
I loved seeing more of the Southern Water Tribe. I loved the fashion. There's a lot of variety in accessories and variations on a few basic elements like those knee guard things. I loved their hairstyles. I loved how cozy and communal that command tent felt. I loved their ships. I wonder how often these guys work out, that they can make loading ramps that are presumably deployed and stashed out of the way frequently, out of whole logs rather than planks. I have a bone to pick with the child-friendly sea mine. But it provides a good set up for a dad joke, so I'll let it slide.
Zuko and Iroh: Of course the one time Zuko is allowed to be in a good place, it's so that he and Iroh both have farther to fall when the inevitable happens. Poor guy just can't catch a break. I'd be mad at Azula for the party crashing that I'm assuming she'll do next episode, but it's been established that Zuko has all nice things taken away from him as soon as he gets them, and I can't blame Azula for being a tool of the universe.
Azula & Long Feng: Azula's acting in Long Feng's prison cell was miles ahead of what Long Feng was doing in front of the Earth King, so I'm wondering if Long Feng has bitten off more than he can chew. Also: conspiring with the enemy to bring down your own city just so you can reinstall yourself as the power behind the throne that will presumably cease to exist as soon as the Fire Nation takes control? That is both treasonous beyond description and an incredible case of shooting yourself in the foot. What's Long Feng's plan here?
Toph and the Dunderheads: it says something about the consistency of Toph's characterisation from her introduction onwards that she breaks the universe this episode and my reaction was "that's neat." It's obviously a huge moment, but of course Toph can do that. Toph can do anything. More importantly, Toph knows that Toph can do anything, so Toph routinely does do anything, especially things she shouldn't be able to do. If you had asked me a few episodes back which character would be most likely to fundamentally redefine bending, I would have said Toph, since she's already fundamentally redefined bending with her earth sense sonar vision.
Also Toph just breaks stuff. Things that come into contact with her cease to function as intended and instead function as Toph requires. Look at the two idiots: both successful business owners, one also a successful hoodwinker of the richest family around. But they come into contact with Toph and their brains take an extended vacation.
Katara & the Generals: this plot was more like an extension of Azula's plot than its own standalone thing. You can't blame her for spilling the news about Zuko and Iroh to someone she honestly thought was Suki. Not much else to say about it, although it's cute that she asks for a table for two at the tea shop. Momo gets a chair!
I like that there's a theme this episode of things going wrong despite the best intentions. No one's acting maliciously here apart from the Antagonists. The Earth King is having an honest chat with people he thought were friends. Sokka vouched for people he honestly thought were the Kyoshi Warriors. Katara shares information about a presumed threat with people she honestly thought were her allies. You can quibble with the wisdom of some of these decisions, but there were all done with good intentions. The best laid plans of mice and men oft go awry and all that. It brings to mind that Star Trek quote about how you can do everything right and still lose. And this set up is going to hit harder when whatever goes wrong next episode happens. And something will go wrong. A few months ago I figured that the Season 2 finale would be a triumph, but all signs are pointing towards a tragedy instead.
This episode was visually stunning, the soundtrack in the Air Temple sections especially was very evocative, and I applaud the minds that could juggle that many plot threads at once without dropping any. This one is definitely going on my rewatch list.
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leverage-ot3 · 23 days
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time for the obligatory post about what episodes I want to see in the upcoming leverage season(s)
(for reference, I made this similar post in 2020 after the reboot was announced. I'm pasting some from that post bc I still want them to happen lol)
new ideas:
I mentioned a date night episode in the last post (apollo really did bless me with foresight for the date night job on that one) but for considerment: ot3 date night. possibly their first date night after they all get together. breanna and sophie know it's happening (harry is, like, peripherally aware) and some crime hijinks are going down and the three of them are frantically trying to stop bad things from happening that are going to interfere with the date. I want to see them going through it behind the metaphorical curtain. I want to see breanna fighting for her life trying to out-hack the hacker that is going to ruin their ten-part itineraried date. harry has to get in a fistfight and eliot is so proud about it when he finds out after everything is over
tree law episode. harry has been frothing at the mouth about it since it was made. his life has been moving him towards this penultimate moment. breanna thinks it's HILARIOUS and cheers him on 100% of the way. she is VERY enthusiastic about this con
I'm not going to mention certain things because I've seen jrogers posting on bluesky social and I know he might be already writing some of those plots
con that the food trucks have plot-relevance. like, one of his food truck stations is being harassed /victimized by, like, a local gang or something that takes advantage of food truck/cart workers and the team steps in. the actual (veteran) food truck workers get involved in the con. leverage international might just have gained a few retainer members
quinn should come back for an episode. I know the actor is friends with ckane. they should make it happen because it would be iconic and I said so
on a similar note, ckane is friends with jensen ackles and. guys. wouldn't it- wouldn't it be extremely funny if a flame from eliot's past named sean sylvester who is a rugged drifter with a questionable past
episode where tara or maggie (or BOTH, can you imagine how powerful that would be???) come back and there is slight flirting with sophie possibly??? that or very obvious chemistry from a past tryst. sophie has slept with both of them, I know it in my heart of hearts. bonus points if tara and maggie fall in love (I think it would be funny. maggie's taste in men is canonically atrocious, I think she deserves someone like tara at this point)
I just want a lot of side characters to come back, okay? sue me I miss them
gonna put the rest under the cut since this post has become obscenely long
not episode-specific, but I want more mentions of the korean leverage team. and all the other teams too! we know that in canon there is the south korean one, the nigerian one, and one in london (I think that's it for mentions so far, but correct me if I'm wrong!)
episodes addressing issues with american imperialism and its effects on minorities and marginalized communities, specifically within this country (there aren't a lot of episodes where they are actively out of country)
dear fucking god take a more abolitionist stance on policing I'm begging. would it KILL you to not be weird about cops? pls just punch some more cops. take down white supremacist cops, I'm sure you can scrounge something up bffrrn
women's rights episodes. I know it's kind of recent, but episodes about accessibility of stuff like birth control, abortion access, etc. y'all are capable of making excellent episodes on that I know it
more climate crisis-related episodes. god knows you're feeling it in the deep south
taking down a corrupt megachurch pastor (although lbr, there is no ethical megachurch anything and you can fight me on this)
something to do with ace rights bc I think it would be really cool to see the team advocate for that stuff, especially since breanna is canon ace
helping a polycule that is being victimized by X organization/entity (maybe a housing association or medical or something???). breanna is bombastic side-eyeing the ot3 the entire time. it is making hardison sweat. sophie thinks it's hilarious
taking down 'writers' that use ai and self-publish AND/OR people that take original/fan works off of like ao3 and wattpad and publish them for personal profits without the author's consent. breanna would have a field day with this (god herself could try to convince me that girl does not read/write fanfic and I wouldn't believe it)
episode about underfunded public schools. we saw corrupt private schools in the fairy godparents job but I want an episode that would make abbot elementary writers proud
episode addressing native/indigenous. eliot is from oklahoma, I'm sure he is well aware of the health/job/economic/etc disparities on reservations. I will email jrogers about it myself if I have to- it anyone can get people going about native rights through a tv show it would be leverage.
I sent an ask to wil wheaton once asking if he was open to returning to leverage and I think he said he would be down for it. but chaos either has to be a reluctant ally to leverage international and is being handled by quinn as a hitter OR he is just. in jail. bc he sucks.
bpas and/or pfas episode. breanna has mentioned microplastics before but I want more
the team tears the shit out of conversion therapy camp owners and plants the seeds for legislation that will punish parents that try to send their kids to those hellscapes
while we're at it, I'd love to see an ep where they tackle the trans bathroom issue. god knows the news doesn't talk about it nearly enough
something to do with foster care. they end up starting some sort of foster care network that past clients/allies can take part in. maybe a mentorship program for kids that want to do what they do one day (they are very reluctant to encourage kids to participate in crime BUT if that is the avenue that they are going to inevitably go towards, they guide them in the right direction). nana makes an appearance (*insert 'everybody liked that' meme*)
prison industrial complex episode. I KNOW we had the jailhouse job BUT we really need this in our year of 2024
another episode on corrupt influencers. maybe influencer parents? dear god pls take them down a notch
ep where there is an underlying message that tells you how to avoid becoming victim to scams or something, or like is a tutorial for how to identify scams you might fall victim to (sorry, I just have to say this after two separate people tried to pig butcher me in less than two (2) weeks))
not to say I want them to do an ep calling out cop city, but it would feel really good to watch the leverage team rip that concept to SHREDS
the minimum wage job. need I say more? we deserve the catharsis
pls go after goodwill execs, esp the ones in the pnw that have their sector as for-profit and have become millionaires+ because of it while paying their staff (especially disabled staff) fucking pennies
while we're on the topic, pls call out salvation army (the corporation)
I can probably go on for like five hours so I'll stop here
ep that we get to see harry and his daughter bond :)
job where they get to lower the price of insulin (and other drugs)
actually, you know what? an episode where the crew annihilates big pharma and terrible insurance companies
I think that breanna should be able to go off about mass/over consumption as a treat. I 100% believe she has Thoughts about it. like, she will absolutely call out the corporations that are responsible for these trends, but also she should be allowed to mention our tendency for overconsumption as a society. obviously there are a few corporations that are doing most of the world's pollution/ecological damage, but we should be doing our part too and I KNOW it would be in-character for her to go off on it
I bet she has a LOT to say about influencers, tbh. obviously not all influencers are bad, but there are sooooo many problematic ones and problems within the influencer industry
sizing discrimination in the modeling/clothing industry. let eliot talk about how there are no perfect bodies. also while I'm on the subject, can we PLS have more body-diverse background actors on the show? I know this is nitpicky but I'd really love to see some more people that look like me, even if they are just in the background
a thinly veiled writers' rights episode (I'm looking at you media execs and the stupid amount of time it took for you to comply to the WGA demands)
something to do with media companies making entire movies/tv shows and then fucking cancelling them/not releasing them and using them as tax write-offs. every time it happens it baffles me. that is cartoonishly stupid villain shit. I can't imagine lovingly working on a project for a year plus and then the company just going, nah, we aren't going to release it because you suck and it's a good business move
ai art and ai in general. please. let it BURN
okay now I'm done
ideas from the previous post that I still want:
comicon job. I said it before and I will say it again- we deserve it!!! come on, it's the age of the geek after all!!! (in the last post I also said a ren faire ep, but I will let the card game job count for that)
summer camp ep? I saw a tumblr fic about it and I think it could be cute. it could kinda be like the fairy godparents job- eliot in charge of some type of sports (archery, fencing, etc), hardison would be in charge of arts and crafts (this boy might be a genius with tech and in general tbh, but the show did such a good job of showing that he’s also very talented with the arts- sculpting the statue for the miracle job, forging the old diary in the king george job, etc), parker would LOVE to be in charge of a high ropes course. breanna would totally be down for some sort of nerdy kid robotics or simple, traditional camp games (can't go wrong with the classics. everyone loves making bracelets!) I feel like it's too stereotypical to have sophie have kids put on a play but we all know that's exactly what she would do. idk for harry? I think he has the same traditional camp activities vibe as breanna. he's in it for the nostalgia. OR something to do with videogames
please, please, please, please, please make an episode where they take down a cult, im begging. that would be such a good episode. definitely a mindfuck episode like the experimental job (4x11). I’ve seen a few posts about a job dealing with a cult (here’s one) and I think it would be really interesting 
MORE STERLING being DONE with leverage shenanigans!!! give me feral!sterling like in the frame-up job (5x10)!!! give me sterling that protests every step of the way but conveniently looks away and “whoops, the team just disappeared, I have no idea how that happened!!! diddly dang darn it, they got away again!!! sorry guys!!!” bonus points if mcsweeten is there too and also participates in intervening hijinks
the team takes down a circus that is still using and abusing wild animals!!! because first I’d LOVE to see acrobat!parker swinging up in the air like a pro and being in her element, but also because those places are the fucking worst and need to Go Down. give me eliot having to pose as an animal trainer with deep sympathy for the animals being abused, quietly talking soothing words to them when he thinks no one is around (correction: hardison is, in fact, around, and filming his boyfriend’s softness to save for later). give me charismatic hardison playing the role of ringmaster, running and flaunting about and being passive-aggressive to the circus master. give me eliot freeing the animals from their chains when they are finally able to shut the place down and relocate the animals to sanctuaries (his hands shaking just a little as twists the key in the lock, because he too was once an abused, caged animal in his own right and he knows how liberating it is to finally be free). 
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bread-tab · 8 months
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okay random 4am rant time, don't take it too seriously, but: people need to recognize there's a difference between "bad worldbuilding" and "worldbuilding styles you personally don't like."
bad worldbuilding is, for example: internally inconsistent, bigoted, or something else that messes up the plot or characterization of the story itself. sloppy. careless.
things that are *not* bad worldbuilding:
minimalism.
i've been thinking about this in the first place because i saw a post about the Murderbot Diaries a while back (don't know who made it, don't care; this ain't personal) saying the worldbuilding in those books is bad and lazy. to me, as an avid sci-fi reader and writer, that is clearly not true. but i understood why they thought this. the series uses extremely minimalist worldbuilding which intentionally withholds a lot of detail, in a way that is consistent with the (nonhuman, robot, depressed robot) first-person POV. this could also be a feature of the author's writing style in general—i haven't read her other works—but i wouldn't bet too much on it.
the signature of intentional minimalism is that there *are* details about the speculative setting—they're just doled out very thoughtfully and sparingly. the intent is to leave you a little hungry for more. it's to make you think very carefully about the details you do have. this is best suited to stories that already have elements of psychological and/or mystery plot types. the worldbuilding you do see should still be believable, internally consistent, and have interesting implications if you think about it a bit. but you are for sure going to have to think harder to get it.
if you're not in the mood, i will concede, a minimalist style definitely comes off as a bit dry. if you are in the mood, it's relaxing.
whimsy.
this is a big one for sci-fi fans in particular. see: the constant debate about whether any particular story is "hard" or "soft" sci-fi, and whether soft sci-fi is bad, etc etc. but worldbuilding doesn't have to be realistic to be good. you're allowed to have Jedi and humanoid aliens and time travel in your sci-fi. you're allowed to have historical anachronisms and astrology and po-ta-toes in your fantasy. whether or not they're silly isn't the deciding factor on how "good" these worldbuilding elements really are.
the key thing is tonal consistency. you've got a serious high-fantasy setting with its own strict, un-Earth-like theology and magic system, and you throw Santa Claus in there? yeah, that's not gonna land well. but C.S. Lewis can get away with that in Narnia just fine. why? because the Chronicles of Narnia are whimsical children's stories with a strong Christian/Western mythological influence already, and their central conceit is a crossover between the mundane world and the magical world. of course Santa can cross over too. it's whimsical, but it's not actually random. (and if you ventured into straight-up comedy, you could get away with random too. as long as it's funny.)
the unreliable narrator.
i don't have a good example for this off the top of my head (maybe Murderbot again? idk, i'm sleepy, fill in your own) but i'll tell you how to recognize when this is done well.
by definition, an unreliable narrator has some key misconceptions about their own world. so how do you tell what's going on as a reader? how do you know the writer isn't equally confused?
you connect the dots. solve the puzzle. in practice this is similar to reading a minimalist setting—but instead of just sparse clues, you also have a boatload of red herrings. you can catch some of these misleading details by comparing them to your real-world knowledge and saying "wait, this doesn't add up." other times, the false clues intentionally trick you by subverting those real world expectations.
the trick is in the consequences. regardless of what the narrator says, their actions should still have logical consequences. there should be things going on that the POV character doesn't know about. the character will be forced to learn and adapt their narrative because of these shifting circumstances. you can catch them in a lie. the inconsistencies themselves tell a story.
...
i'm gonna stop myself there because this post is long and i oughtta be sleeping. just. this is a distinction worth making. is it really bad worldbuilding, or is it simply not the genre you're craving today? learn the difference for your own sake. you'll have an easier time realizing if a story is something you'll find enjoyable to read, regardless of its actual quality.
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kingdomoftyto · 8 months
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I've started and deleted three drafts now trying to get my thoughts into a coherent recommendation, but there's just so much.
Let's start with the basics: You should read the graphic novel if you're a fan of the original show. You just should. It's new content of your old faves, and I'm telling you now that the art and writing are great and that you should give it a shot based on that alone.
But as for exactly why I'm losing my mind over it this much...?
It... feels like watching the show. But a version of the show unafraid to explore its own worldbuilding. A version of the show where continuity and character growth matter. A version of the show without jokes written by people far too old to understand mid-2000s teens.
And it is actually, honest-to-goodness funny. I went in fully braced for a badly shoehorned "fruit loop" one-liner, and instead I got incredible deadpan asides like this:
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The art, too, manages to perfectly ride the line of looking enough like the original style to be convincing, but improving on the expressiveness of the characters' faces and actions to elevate it to something arguably better than the show:
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(Like, I'm being so serious when I say the fight scenes are among the best I have ever seen in comic form. I'm the kind of person who tends to go for anime over manga because the fights are harder for me to follow in little sequential snapshots, but I can tell exactly what's happening in these battles AND they still look super cinematic and cool.)
And the story. Man, the STORY.
I won't spoil any of the plot here, but it's... really good. A little winding and goofy toward the beginning, but once things get serious, it really grabs you and refuses to let go til it's done. (Much like the best episodes of the show! Funny how that works.) It has a satisfying conclusion, but it also leaves a massive door open to continue telling more stories in the setting.
And I want more stories in this universe. The threads being dangled here might be even more enticing than those left by the original show. There is potential here for an INCREDIBLE series of comics.
We just have to prove how badly we want it.
If you can't buy the book yourself right now (it's relatively cheap for a graphic novel--I think it was about $15 even with tax from my Barnes & Noble), then please at least let other fans know it exists (I wouldn't have had any idea if not for tumblr) and keep the hype going on social media. I'm stoked to see that DP is trending on tumblr, at least, and I hope the same is true elsewhere. It's a small thing, but it's something corporate decision-makers take note of.
Fingers crossed we get to see more someday. This is one series that deserves to come back from the dead.
But, whether or not we get that continuation: welcome back, Phandom. Congrats and happy release day. 💚
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seangelfish · 8 months
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"Are you sure you don’t like me back?"
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Ritsu Sakuma x Reader
Genres: Angst to fluff.
Word count: 2,562
Plot/summary: Ritsu has had a crush on you for the longest time. He doesn't even try to hide it. However, you believe that you don't share the same feelings for him...
A/N: Oh, I just know how sweet a boyfriend Ritsu would be. He's adorable and I love him so much. I'll be writing more fics of him, so please keep a look out!!
UPDATE: I decided to proofread this a second time, so to any returning readers, a bit has changed to some parts of the dialogue.
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Koga was explaining to Anzu that Ritsu needed to rest before tonight's concert, and to do that he needed her help to convince Ritsu to take a nap in the music room where Rei had already prepared a bed for him.
"We don't get along well, but he will listen to you," Koga said. "Sorry, I would've asked (Y/N) to do it, knowing how much Richie likes her, but she's busy with her own rehearsals... although I did tell her that she should rest too."
So, Anzu agreed to accompany Koga to get Ritsu to go to sleep. When they finally found him, he was pushing a pile of boxes on a trolley.
"What do you want, Corgi?" asked Ritsu, slightly annoyed. "You even dragged Anzu with you."
"Who you calling 'Corgi'?!" Koga yelled.
Ritsu ignored him. "Perfect timing, actually. The people in charge of food asked me to make a lot of desserts." He took one of the lids off the boxes to present them a dozen of neatly decorated cupcakes. "I get half of the profit. Easy money~" he sang happily.
Koga berated the younger Sakuma sibling on why he was wasting his energy on things unrelated to being an idol, but Ritsu ignored him again.
"People didn't really like these ones," he continued. "I even offered one to (Y/N), and even though she tried to be nice about it, I could tell she just wanted to spit it out. So, I tried a new recipe."
"Aren't you preforming later?" cried Koga. "Get some rest!"
Ritsu stared at him hazily for a second before smiling. "Okay, I'll rest... only if you try out my new recipe to see if it's okay. I would've asked (Y/N) again, but I don't want to disturb her when she's practising."
Koga was right, Anzu thought. He really does like (Y/N).
Ritsu opened up another box, and the sight was shockingly horrifying. In the box laid another dozen of cupcakes, but these looked like it came from some toxic wasteland. The cupcakes were even emitting its own purple aura.
Anzu and Koga gawked at the cupcakes nervously. It's a good thing you weren't here to witness this catastrophe.
"These are definitely not safe for humans to eat," commented Koga who grimaced at the sight of them.
Ritsu was offended by his comment and insisted that he should still try it – well, he forced Koga to try it. As Koga's screams were heard throughout the hall, Ritsu asked Anzu if she could try one too. She hesitated for a moment, but in order to get Ritsu to go sleep, she needed to take the risk.
Her eyes lit up. "These are actually good…!” she exclaimed.
Ritsu smiled. "I'm glad. Thanks for being my first taste testers, Anzu, Corgi."
Koga was on the floor trying to wipe away the sugary sweetness off his tongue. Ritsu couldn't help but smirk at this. He knew very well that Koga didn't like sweets, but he knew that it would be funny if he gave him some.
"As promised, I'll go rest," Ritsu said. "Corgi, could you transport the cakes..."
Anzu lead Ritsu through the hallways to the music room. She looked around the room for the bed Rei had prepared for him, but it didn't seem like there was one. Ritsu, on the other hand, was distracted by the piano.
"I often come here to play the piano," he said, describing his fond memories of being scolded by Mr. Kunugi, receiving lessons from him after, and how Arashi got mad at him because of the fact he was receiving those lessons. Then Ritsu continued, "And (Y/N) would listen to me play too."
"(Y/N)... you really like her, huh?" asked Anzu curiously.
"Yep..." he replied nonchalantly. "I like her a lot, but I know she doesn't like me in the same way I like her. ...I bet you were wondering why I don't keep this crush a secret, right?"
Anzu nodded, she did wonder why Ritsu was so open about liking you. She knew that you two were close, and she knew a little bit of his feelings for you, but what she didn't know was how you felt about the overall situation. Did you know that Ritsu likes you or were you just painfully oblivious?
"(Y/N)'s not an idiot," he began. "She can read the room, and she knows of my feelings towards her... it's just... she hasn't answered my feelings properly, but I want her to. So, at one point, I couldn't keep it a secret anymore."
Ritsu pointed at something from across the room, changing the subject completely. "By the way, what's that?"
Anzu turned around. In front of her laid a long, rectangular vessel that was covered in a thin sheet. That must be the bed Rei prepared for him!
She ripped off the sheet and lo and behold, a coffin appeared. Her jaw dropped at the creepy sight of it.
"Eh...? If I sleep here, I'll be like my brother," he stated, disgusted. "I don't want that–"
"I designed it!" Anzu said quickly. "I thought that because you were a vampire too, you'd like it this way!"
Ritsu wasn't buying it, but he was tired, so he plopped himself inside the coffin and drifted off to sleep. Anzu was relieved that he ‘believed’ her.
She got up and left the music room, closing the door behind her.
A few minutes passed, and the door clicked open again. This time it was you who had arrived at the music room.
The only reason you were here was because Koga kept yelling at you to go rest before the concert. Though, you knew he was just looking out for you especially when you also had to perform for said concert too. And anyways, you were pretty sleepy.
But because of your frantic footsteps, Ritsu woke up. He wasn’t a light sleeper, so this surprised him too.
"Ritsu?" you questioned. "I'm sorry, I didn't know this room was occupied."
Koga didn't tell me Ritsu was sleeping here! This is so awkward! you thought to yourself.
Ritsu couldn't help but smile. You, the person he has loved for so long, was here with him. Although he saw you earlier today, he was still happy to see you again.
"Did you come here to sleep too?" he asked you.
"Yeah, Koga told me to rest here," you replied, picking up the thin sheet that was used to cover the coffin. "I'll be performing before you after all~”
You walked over to the corner of the room and made yourself at home.
"(Y/N), you can take my place if you want. It's comfier here than over there," he said.
"No, it's fine. Rei probably prepared that coffin for you anyway."
Ritsu sighed, but then said, "At least sleep closer to me..."
You looked at him from across the room. He gestured for you to come closer. You giggled at this, it’s not like you could refuse his cute tactics.
You got up and laid yourself by his coffin, but you spared a safe distance between you two.
"(Y/N), seriously, you can take my place," he repeated, worried that you'd get yourself even more dirty. "Let me sleep on the floor; I sleep on the floor all the time."
You shook your head. "Nope, not happening!" You turned away from him as you wrapped the sheet around you.
"(Y/N), I don't want to see the girl I like sleeping on the floor whilst I sleep on an actual bed."
You winced at this. You knew that Ritsu liked you since he never kept his crush on you a secret, but you just didn't share those feelings that he had for you. You believed that you didn't anyway. You avoided all romantic feelings since you were an idol at Yumenosaki too. Of course, you liked being with Ritsu. It was fun being around him all the time. You couldn’t see yourself without him, but you believed that those feelings were just platonic.
"Ritsu, I–"
"I'm sorry," he interrupted. "This will be my last time."
Huh?
You couldn't see his expression as you were turned away from him, but you could make out the hurt in his voice.
"You know that I like you, right?" he began. "I've liked you for years... ever since I met you, but because you've never answered my feelings properly, I feel like I didn't deserve to like you. I can’t keep pestering you about my feelings, so this will be my last confession, I promise."
Wait.
"I love you, (Y/N)… so much... Will you please give me a proper answer now?"
You were silent, and that silence to him was unbearable.
"I'm sorry..." you said finally. "I just... can't accept your feelings."
Once you bared those words, you immediately regretted it, but before you could say anything else, Ritsu forced out a chuckle.
“Okay... thank you for your answer," he croaked out. He expected this, but your answer still hurt him. He was hoping that by time, your feelings could change, that you two would be able to share the same feelings for each other. But he got his hopes up, and for what?
You felt incredibly guilty for the answer you gave him, but you just couldn’t correct yourself. Your tongue was tied, and for some reason, it was getting harder to breathe. No one said a word, and the atmosphere in the room was suffocating.
You knew he was upset, you could feel it, and now you felt awful. All he ever was to you was sweet, the loveliest boy you have ever met. He had always helped you in your time of need; even when he was constantly tired and needed a nap, he would do his best to stay awake for you. He loved you that much, and all you’ve been doing is avoid his feelings.
Why did I do that? you thought to yourself, berating yourself for being so awful. However, you still didn’t understand your feelings for him. You always believed you didn’t have romantic feelings for him, but now you’re questioning that.
Finally, you turned around to look at him. He was staring at the ground, eyebrows narrowed and lips pursed as if he was trying to hold his tears back. In the past, whenever you’d turn his advances down, he’d usually laugh it off, so this wasn’t like him at all. This really was his last confession.
You didn’t want that. You couldn’t bare seeing him like that. You regretted everything.
He glanced up at you, noticing your worried expression on your face. Instantly, he smiled at you. He didn’t want to make you feel bad for him. You weren’t entitled to like him back after all. But seeing him smile at you so sweetly like that, knowing that his heart was broken, made you feel even more horrible.
"Could you at least give me a kiss before I give up on you for good?" he joked.
You couldn’t take it anymore. You sat up and scooted over to him. He giggled at the joke he had just made, but out of the blue, he felt your lips crash onto his.
He was taken aback by your action, but he couldn’t help but melt into it. His lips were soft, kissing them felt like heaven. You wanted more of him, you didn’t want to let him go, but he was the one to break off the kiss in the end.
"I... was joking... but thank you," he laughed.
His face was red, he could feel how hot it was. He was glad that the room was dark so you couldn’t see it. Your cheeks were heating up too.
"Alright, I'm going back to sleep," he said. "Corgi might get mad at me if I don't rest well–"
"Wait!” you cried. "...Can I have another one?"
Ritsu was confused. "What?" he asked.
"Another kiss..."
Even though he couldn't see you that well in the dark, he could still make out how desperate you looked. Were you really being serious? You turned him down, didn't you?
But he obliged. This time, he was the one who went in for the kiss. The way he kissed you made you feel happy. You wanted more, you wanted to touch him, and you wanted him to touch you. You didn’t understand why you were doing this, you always felt like these feelings were platonic, so why were you enjoying this so much?
“Satisfied?” he teased. "This is weird... why did you want another kiss? Are you sure you don't like me back?"
You were gripping onto his blazer.
"Ritsu, I don't understand this..." you said slowly. "I always thought I didn’t like you the way you like me, but when you said this was going to be your last confession, I felt sad..."
Ritsu looked at you wide-eyed.
"I don't want you to move on," you admitted. "I don't want you to leave me."
"H-Hey, I won't leave you–"
“I-I think my feelings for you aren’t platonic after all. Ritsu, I think I really do l-like you the way you like me…!” you stuttered. “But I don’t want to ruin our friendship… if we were to date, things would change, wouldn’t they? I like the way you treat me now, I like the way we are right now, I don’t want that to change…”
Ah. So that’s why. He understood you clearly now. Maybe you were an idiot after all. If Ritsu saw Anzu again, he would take all his words he said about you back.
"(Y/N), things won't change between us if we got together," he told you, cupping your face gently. "I'm still going to treat you the way I've always treated you, and I promise to treat you even better. The only things that will change is the new ways I'm going to show you my love."
Your heart ached, you were feeling incredibly emotional now. You really thought you had lost him.
"I'll give you another chance, okay?" he said. "I'll give you as many confessions as you want. Just answer them truthfully this time."
You nodded.
"(Y/N), I love you so so much... Will you let me be your boyfriend?”
You nodded again and again, sniffling. "Yes, I would like that," you whispered.
He chuckled. "Ah, don't cry, silly. I promise to not leave you... Come here..."
You crawled into the coffin with him as he made room for you to lay down. He held you close to him and your arms naturally made their way around his body.
The two of you looked into each other's eyes longingly. Ritsu couldn't stop himself from smiling.
"Ahh, I'm so happy..." he said, caressing your cheek. "You really do like me back..."
"I'm sorry for being stupid..." you murmured. "I love being with you… so much…”
"I'll love you even when you're stupid," he replied. "I'll always love you, (Y/N)."
He nuzzled your nose with his which made you giggle.
“I want another one," you said.
"Ehhh, you want another kiss?"
You were slightly embarrassed. You've only kissed him twice, but you were already addicted.
"Yes, you'll give me another one, won't you?" you asked sweetly, tugging on his shirt.
He sighed happily.
"I'll give you as many kisses as you want."
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Intro page | Ensemble Stars masterlist | Rules
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valkyrayn · 1 year
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Pairing: Marius von Hagen x afab!reader
Words: 3,724
Tags: mild dubcon, angst and porn, jealousy, unprotected sex, dirty talk, creampie, loud sex, rough sex, oral sex, porn with plot (with plot you say? and the crowd cheers)
A/N: i think there are a few from the prompt requests here. writing this was a sport lmao anyway, sorry for the long hiatus. gotta thank Marius for consistently being the horny mascot and reawakening the horny in me with his new card releases. also i’d like to hear your thoughts if i should continue this(?)
also posted on ao3 if you wanna leave comments! 💜
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Betrayal is one way to put it.
But god you can’t seem to stop. You can’t seem to get enough of this—of him .
No, it’s not betrayal. As long as they don’t find out…
…that you’re fucking the enemy. Not even in the ‘I’ll destroy his life’ kind of way but literal, actual, fucking. And it’s obscene too—just pure unadulterated passion, the kind that leaves you both in a sweaty mess of entangled limbs and reeking of guilt by the end of it. Although it’s mostly you who deals with the guilt, never him. 
And by god you know how bad this is, to sleep with him of all people. 
Because he is no longer part of the NXX. 
Marius von Hagen had blindsided the whole team, to say the least. 
See, the funny thing is, you only started having sex with him after finding out that he has betrayed the group. Maybe it’s the thrill of sleeping with the enemy. Maybe because the sex is so good that the mere sight of his smirk makes your cunt throb. Maybe it’s simply because it’s him.
It was difficult to ignore the growing tension, sexual tension, much to your dismay, between the two of you ever since your first encounter. And it was left brewing for way too long—to a point where it can no longer be contained. 
And when it finally happened, it was spilling all over the edges.
And as much as you despise him, you still find yourself at his beck and call. And you hate the grip that he has on you, especially when he calls you his ‘good little slut’ as he pushes your head down on his cock.
But tonight, you’re on a mission. The voice inside your head reminding you like a broken record ‘to not get distracted. This is an in and out mission.’ Swipe the file and exit the building. Simple. Right?
You spoke too soon.
Marius is here. Fuck. 
You meet his dark violet eyes from across the room—he’s just entered the room and is immediately surrounded by the directors and VIPs like moths to a flame. Your eyes lock briefly and he stares at you with a bored expression, seemingly unbothered with your presence. 
A lady in a sequined dress is now standing by his side, looping her arm over his, her other hand reaching over to fix his collar—there isn’t even a need to, she just needed an excuse to touch him. That bitch has appeared in more than one tabloid news involving Marius. 
‘Youngest von Hagen heir’s future wife?’  
‘PAX CEO new beau?’
‘Hot affair: International Runway Model & Stellis Sexiest Eligible Bachelor’
Vom’. Your grip around the champagne glass tightens at the sight. Fortunately, you catch yourself almost immediately before it shatters all over your hand. The last thing you want to do is make a scene. 
Is this jealousy? No. She just looks annoying as hell. 
So you turn away and make your way out of the ballroom, slipping out of the doors just as the master of ceremony starts speaking over the microphone. 
—----------
The second the file transfer icon disappears from the screen, you unplug the drive from its port and turn off the computer—with still a lot more time to spare. You can rejoin the banquet and even mingle with the men just to spite Marius. With that thought in mind, you smile to yourself as you slip the thumb drive inside the tiny designated pocket in your brassiere.  
“I knew I’d find you in here, jiejie.”
The familiar voice startles you but you remain in your spot, turned away from him. You can feel his eyes on you making the hair stand on the back of your neck. And it’s when you hear the click of the lock that you finally turn to look at him—his back is leaned against the closed door, arms crossed with that sly smirk playing on his lips.
“Give me the drive. I know you have it on you…” He says finally, breaking the brief silence as he pushes himself off the door and starts walking towards you. How naive of you for thinking he wouldn’t have followed you here. He’s not stupid. He’s always five steps ahead of you.
Marius closes in the distance between you, trapping your body against the desk—his tall frame looming over you, his familiar scent clouding your senses. “Or should I...take it from you…” his words turn into a whisper as he leans down and kisses the side of your neck. “…but I won’t be gentle.”
He’s mocking you. You hear your thoughts screaming at you, to refuse him. 
You push him away, willing yourself to not fall into his trap again this time. Your team is counting on you , you can’t let him take away the drive. Not this time…not…
” —ah Marius …what are you…” 
His hand has found its way under your dress, long slender fingers now playing with the hem of your panties. Despite your earlier protest, you feel your resolve slowly crumbling against his touch. 
“Hmm…did you hide it here...” His breath is hot against your ear and your body falls limp against his as it gradually gives in to his touch. He chuckles. “You didn’t put it inside you, did you…?” He slots his leg between you, forcing your thighs apart and starts grinding his knee against your clothed pussy. A moan escapes you at the sudden friction, your hand lands on his chest, gripping onto his shirt in a weak attempt to push him away—but who are you kidding, you’re barely putting any force.
“Fuck you…I’m not giving it to you…” You’re surprised at your retort but he laughs at this. Honestly, you’d laugh at yourself too. Both of you know too well that this is going to end up with you giving him the drive after letting him fuck you senseless. 
“Mmm fuck you too…” His low growl makes your cunt throb and before you have a chance to speak once again, he grabs onto the back of your neck and pulls you into a searing kiss. Your teeth clash, his tongue messily entwining with yours until you finally give in, reciprocating just as hungrily as you swallow his every breath and moan. 
Your resolve is weak against the drug that is Marius von Hagen and it only takes one kiss to completely tear it down. You hate him, you hate this but it feels so good...too good to stop. His kiss is deep and passionate with lust and hatred, but never love. Why would it be anyway?
He pulls your head back by the hair, releasing you from the kiss and reminding you to breathe. For a brief moment, you both just stand there, eyes locked, hearing nothing but the sound of your labored breathing. You press both your palms against his chest, using him as a support as you push yourself off the desk, your eyes locked on his own the entire time. 
There’s a glint in his eye, almost as if he’s willing to let you go if you wish to. Your grip tighten against his shirt and all he does is watch you as you wage the war inside your head. The consequences, the guilt that you’ll have to deal with will be immense. 
And even with all things considered, you sigh—and slide your hands down his body and stop right at his belt before looking back up at him. 
“I fucking hate you.” 
Without warning, Marius turns your body around and bends you over—your ass in the air and your feet and palms flat on the floor, presented to him like a prized whore. He’s bent and fucked you in numerous positions before, taking advantage of your flexibility. “…there’s only so many places where you can hide it.” 
You feel him push the skirt of your dress up your body, bunching it around your waist before gripping onto it to keep you steady. He wastes no time in pulling your panties down, exposing your embarrassingly soaking cunt to him, leaving no room for you to deny that you want him. 
You hear him curse under his breath at the sight and it takes all of him not to immediately shove his cock into your wet heat. He prefers to savor you first.
He plunges his fingers inside your cunt, before leaning in to suck onto your clit—earning him a strangled moan from you. His tongue is hot against your folds, lapping and suckling onto it hungrily, determined to make you cum in his mouth. He loves the way your legs tremble just from the way he’s eating you out. 
“Mmmph…you taste so goo–” He moans against your pussy, the vibration shooting electric up your spine, cutting your words off with a gasp. Your cunt starts clenching wildly around his tongue, desperately needing him deeper. He hooks his fingers inside you and hits you at the exact spot where you want him to, instantly making you gush around him. He laps onto your dripping pussy, swallowing your essence as he starts working on unbuckling his belt. 
He winces as he pulls out his cock from his pants, hard and erected, balls heavy, aching to unload deep inside your womb. He continues to make you cum with his mouth several more times before finally pulling you off the floor and placing you back onto the cold surface of the desk. You look at him through half lidded eyes, mind still dazed from the orgasms he’s put your body through. 
“You’re beautiful…” he says it so casually that you almost missed it. His large hands presses against your inner thighs, spreading your legs open for him to finally fuck you. And just as he lines up his tip against your entrance, you press your palm on his chest, lightly pushing him away. 
“Is that what you say to her as well?” 
Marius freezes in his spot for a second, as if trying to process what you had just asked. When the realization sinks in, you see his lips curl into a smirk. 
“Don’t you think she is?”
You raise your eyebrow. “Think she’s what ?”
“Beautiful?”
You can’t help but let out a scoff. You push him against the chest with both your hands now, ready to leave. This shouldn’t bother you the way it does, but it stings regardless if you have feelings for him or not. 
“If you think she is, then why are you here?”
Just as you’re about to push yourself off the desk, he grabs onto your shoulders and pins you flat against the surface, knocking the breath out of you. “Get off me! You—“
And then he’s kissing you again, his mouth swallowing the curses leaving your lips intended for him, his body heavy and pinning you down with nowhere to move. And when he finally pulls away, his eyes bore into you—your death stare mirroring his and if looks could kill, you’d both be dead by now.
“I shouldn’t have let you fuck me..” you manage to say through gritted teeth, that familiar anger returning to your senses. He looks unfazed, used to hearing you say that every time and yet you come right back to him. So instead, he smiles, tucking a strand of your hair behind your ear as he leans in to whisper next to it.
“Then why did you?”
Before you could spit back, you’re both interrupted by the voice of the woman in question—just right outside the door.
“Marius? Love? Are you in there? ” Her sing songy voice makes you roll your eyes. Marius seems unbothered, his eyes never leaving you even as you break eye contact. A small whimper escapes your lips when you suddenly feel his cock pressing against you once again due to the proximity. Realizing this, he immediately makes a move to push himself off of you only to be stopped with your legs wrapping around his waist. 
Make up your damn mind, woman—the voice in your head is all but done with you. But this is your chance, to claim what’s yours.
“Fuck me. Fuck me right now..” You can’t believe what you just said but your mouth and body are now acting against your will. “Use me, Marius. Please, ruin me..” 
Though confused and simultaneously aroused, Marius was more than happy to oblige. He wastes no time, lining the tip of his cock once again on your entrance before sheathing himself fully inside, making you both moan in unison. “Oh my god..yes you feel so good inside me!” You moan a little bit louder than necessary, causing him to raise an eyebrow at you. 
“Umm…Marius? Are you in there..?” The woman asks, her voice muffled by the door—thin enough that the noise from inside the room can still bleed into the hallways, which is perfect. You want her to hear you.
Still unbothered by her inquiries, Marius pulls down the front of your dress to expose your tits to him, freeing them from their confines so they can bounce wildly in rhythm to his hard pounding. He leans in to suck on a nipple, making your body jerk against him.
Small fingers threading through his hair, you pull him closer, needing to feel his entire body against you, to feel his sweat on your skin. He grabs onto your ass, adjusting you to an angle that allows him to push deeper inside you. 
“Nngh...you’re still so tight…I just fucked you two days ago…” Your walls clench at his words, pulling out a strangled moan from him. It feels like heaven, impaled on his cock like this, your body shaking at every push and pull. You’re high just from the sound, the smell, the sensation—and for a second you even convince yourself that what you have between you is more than just lust and hate. 
The door knob rattles, pulling you out of your ludicrous thoughts, hitting you with the realization that the woman is still out there. Too used in keeping it down, since you both are always fucking in secret, you forgot the real reason why you were doing this in the first place. 
“Deeper.. harder Marius!” His eyes widen at your command, but he pulls back and pushes your knees to your chest allowing him to slam his hips harder against you. 
“Mmm jiejie..you’re so loud.”
“Isn’t that what you wanted?”
He laughs, his cock bumping against your cervix and your body instinctively pushes him away only for him to grab your ass and roughly pull you back against him. The scream that came out of you then is not on purpose—and you’re sure as hell everyone in the building could hear that. 
“Mmph—fuck! Marius, too deep!”
“Isn’t that what you wanted?” he smirks, a little too proud of himself for using your own words against you.
The desk starts moving beneath you from the force of his pounding—he fucks you like he hates you (which makes it easy for him because you assume he does), with your entire body in the mercy of his hands. His eyes are fixated on where you’re connected, reveling at the sight of your cunt creaming around his cock as he pushes in and out—changing his pace to hit you at the right spot every time. 
“Marius..Mariu—I’m cumming..” 
He suddenly pulls out of you and turns your body around before pushing you back onto the desk—the cold surface of the wood against your erect nipples making you shiver. He grabs onto the dress bunched around your waist for leverage as he sinks his huge cock back inside your dripping pussy—cursing into the ceiling at the way your cunt stretches to accommodate him. “Shit…fuck!”
“Nnnghh…please Marius..let me cum! I want to...feel…want you...inside...” you’re mumbling, mind reduced to incoherence. He grabs a fist of your hair and pulls you back, arching your back towards him until you’re close enough for him to lean in and lick the side of your neck. 
“Mmm..you can’t keep your pretty mouth shut, can you?” He shoves two of his fingers inside your mouth, making you drool on him as you run your tongue along his digits. “You want the people outside to hear you?” His other hand now on your heaving chest, grabbing onto your breast to play with your sensitive nipple, coating it with your saliva.
“Mmphh… please… ”
“Please what?”
“Please make me cum…”
“Louder.”
“Please I want to…I wanna…”
“She can’t hear you.”
Something snaps in you then. You reach your arm behind you to grab onto his hair and tug him down, forcing him to release his own grip from your hair. 
“Marius please fucking make me cum, you asshole!” 
“That’s my good girl…” 
He pulls away and presses onto the side of your head, planting your cheek against the desk with one hand grabbing onto your ass, spreading you open so he can watch his cock sink into you. “Mmph…fuck baby. Your pussy is so greedy for my cock swallowing me full like this…” The obscene squelching noise of him fucking your soaking cunt is sending him closer to the edge. But he wants this to last longer, wants you to cum for him before he’ll even allow himself to. 
His hips slam repeatedly against your ass, the next one harder than before. The feet of the desk screeches against the tiled floor as it gets pushed further towards the wall. Your nails sink into the edge of the desk, holding onto it for dear life, willing your body to him as he fucks you until you’re braindead. You’ve given up on words, the only noise leaving your mouth are strangled moans and screams of his name until you finally cum around him, squirting uncontrollably as he keeps fucking into your hole with punishing thrusts. 
“I love how hard you can take it…such a good fucking girl…keep cumming for me…just like that…” His fingers are now circling your clit, stimulating you even further as if your body isn’t still sensitive enough from the explosive orgasm. You thrash beneath him as his pace slows down but now he’s pushing even deeper, ridge and veins brushing against your insides.  
The rattling of the door knob becomes more aggressive, now accompanied by loud knocks on the door. But you can’t hear her voice anymore, drowned out completely by Marius’ heavy breathing next to your ear. He pulls you up and tilts your head towards him, his eyes boring into yours, dark amethyst eyes filled with lust. 
“Just keep your eyes on me.”
You feel your heart clench—it’s a fleeting moment but for a second, it feels different.  
He presses his lips against yours and you melt instantly into the kiss, both your eyes fluttering close as you feel him spill inside you. The warmth of his seed filling your womb triggers another orgasm, the kind that sends your eyes rolling to the back of your skull. You both moan into each other's mouths at the release, your cunt clenching tightly around his twitching cock as he continues to shoot his semen inside your walls. 
He pulls out and brushes the tip of his cock against your thigh, pumping out the last few drops of his cum and smearing it on your skin, as if to mark you with his scent. 
Your body falls weakly onto the desk and he steps back to admire your ruined appearance. Tousled hair, dress disheveled, panties on one side of your ankle and cunt dripping with his cum. 
Guilt. 
He always feels guilty by the end of it, but his face will never show it. And to further cover it up, he steps back towards you and turns you around only to sheathe his cock back inside you. You make no effort to protest, you’re the one who told him to use your body as he pleases. Your breathy moans fill the room as he begins to fuck you again. No words spoken this time; just mewls and grunts and lewd sounds that your bodies make. 
This goes on until the noise outside the door finally stops. She’s probably given up; good.
And when you’re both finally satiated, he finally steps away from you. Standing quietly, a few feet apart from each other as you both tidy yourselves up. Although you opt to not wipe the combined fluids in between your thighs, to serve as a reminder that you’ve once again slept with the enemy.
He leaves the room first, standing tall and unashamedly confident as if he hadn’t just spent the past hour fucking you to oblivion—you, a woman he’s not betrothed to. You watch as the door closes behind him before letting out the biggest sigh. Your heart hurts. So much for thinking that you’re numb to these emotions but as you leave the room and see the woman next to him, you know you were far from being numb. 
She catches you staring and rolls her eyes before running her fingers through his hair to fix it, acting all unbothered, as if she hadn’t just heard your screams of pleasure from behind the door caused by the very man she claims as hers. But a side piece like you doesn't phase her; she’s on a mission of her own and that is to make Marius hers.
Your mission? 
Not to become attached to him. Failed. 
To obtain the info and bring the drive. Fail—
You feel an object poking at you through the hidden slit of your dress. Strange. You pull it out and inspect it—it’s the drive. 
You lean against the wall behind you as you clutch onto the small object against your chest, mind reeling. You saw him take it from you; saw him putting it inside his pocket so then why—
The vibrating sound of your phone startles you. It’s a text from an unknown (but familiar) number.
“take the W. but i won’t go easy on you next time.”
You scoff. This was far from over. 
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murderbutterfly · 5 months
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this is so random but Danger Days has had a chokehold on me lately and i just gotta talk about Destroya or else i WILL explode so yea
ok i don’t normally talk about things like musical composition or instrumentation or anything like that bc i’m dumb as a brick and don’t know anything about that stuff but the intro is actually amazing and never ever fails to floor me every time i hear it. the way it starts off so simple and gradually builds on itself??? the way the guitar kicks in like a kick to the face and asks you if you’re gonna lie down like a dog or FIGHT for all you love??? immaculate.
i’m going to skip over the “check, check” part bc i kinda think its just Gerard being silly
the beginning lyrics r so powerful too, esp with the context of the album as a whole. “don’t believe what they say, we’re dead flies in the summertime.” the interpretation I’m going with is that the album is kinda following the emotional state of the Killjoys as they slowly realize that they’re actually powerless and that they can’t have their cake and eat it too (i.e. keep their loved ones safe and take on BLI). songs like Nanana and Bulletproof Heart at the beginning of the album symbolize their initial optimism and confidence in their endeavor, their acknowledgement of the danger but not full acceptance of its consequences, etc., etc., while songs that come later in the album have a significantly darker tone. take Save Yourself and I’ll Hold Them Back and S/C/A/R/E/C/R/O/W for example. with this in mind, we can place Destroya a little after the initial despair, when they are accepting the risks of going against BLI, not by brushing them off and claiming that they just “won’t lose,” they accept the possibility of death and take it in stride, and it really shows in the lyrics of this song how very much they believe in the cause, as i will touch on later.
the beginning lyrics r so powerful too, esp with the context of the album as a whole. “don’t believe what they say, we’re dead flies in the summertime.” i cannot stress enough how hyped these lyrics make me. the sentiment of “people in power will tell you that you are special as long as they can profit off of it, we’re meaningless in their eyes so let’s make them finally see us” is just so dystopian yet so real that i almost can’t believe that it was written in 2013.
“they leave us all behind with duck-tape scars on my honey” this lyric is referring to The Girl being kidnapped bc I Said So.
“they don’t like who you are, you won’t like where we’ll go, brother protect me now, with the blood they wash in the money” love love love the idea of any of the Killjoys referring to another as “brother.”
“you don’t believe in God, i don’t believe in luck, they don’t believe in us, but i believe we’re the enemy!” this lyric makes me insane ngl. atp the Killjoys are so done with their lives but refuse to stop fighting simply because of spite and sunk costs. they no longer care for the glamour of saving the world, they’re jaded and no longer as shallow and ignorant as they were. this lyric signifies the death of innocence.
“King rat on the streets in another life, they laugh we don’t think it’s funny” the mighty WILL fall. the light implication of hope should feel out of place, but it ends up fitting well with the aggression of the song. “they laugh now but our legacy will last longer than us and as long as that’s alive so are we.” UGH THIS SONGGGG
“If what you are is just what you own, what will you become when they take from you?” this lyric speaks for itself but i’m going to run my mouth anyways. the way it has little to do with the plot of the album but still manages to feel relevant because of its shared sentiment of anti-materialism 👌 top 10 lyrics that make Thom York feel insecure about his writing
this part. the titular part. the almost religious chant: “Destroya, Destroya, Destroya, Destroya, Destroya, Destroya, against the sun, we’re the enemy.” i think we’ve all seen that one super awesome post about how they’re trying to summon Destroya by saying its name as a last resort, begging for some higher being to save them, so i’ll leave that as is. what i will say that this part genuinely makes me want to rebel against something. i’ll listen to this song and become the most annoying person on the planet for the next hour in the name of rebellion, and that mostly comes from this part. “we’re weak and fleeting, it’s in our nature as human, but WE get to choose WHEN and HOW we die, and we choose to go down swinging”
the bridge. lyrics aside it’s the best sensory experience i’ve ever experienced from a song.
and the outro of course makes me want to punch things and scream until i’ve ruptured the eardrums of every human on the planet. <3
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hezuart · 4 months
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Btw have you seen Disney’s wish and if so what’s your review on it? And how would you Rewrite the story? To me it had interesting contact about your Wishes being a part of yourselves and without it you feel hollow but too bad it was written poorly. The “Villain” Magnifico kind of had the point of not all of the wishes are supposed to be granted Example “My Wish is to get a Rocket Launcher to aim that Talking Goat and the rest of This Freaking Kingdom!” With that said next is Asha! There is no reason for her to be “Adorkable” or “Quirky” we already have Princesses and Characters like that! let them have their own Personality Already!! One problem with Asha is she should have been Magnifico’s Apprentice for a long time in the start but instead of selecting her to Be His “Apprentice” throughout the Movie 🤦🏻‍♀️ and have you seen the Concept Arts?👀 Spoilers! King and Queen are supposed to be Evil Together! and The “Star” is supposed to be like a person or it? That comes from the stars? it would’ve been cool to named it “Stardust” instead of “star” the concept art looks so Amazing than the one we have now and Also No Comedy in this movie it’s to Boring and so as the Songs 😴 we’ve been ROBBED! (The Animation is Nice but I wouldn’t compare it to Spiderverse or TMNT or Puss in boots or The Bad Guys🤔) Anyways what do you think? I want to know your opinion, see you!🙋🏻‍♀️
I might write a review if I have time, but omygod Disney's Wish is SOOOOooooo bad. SO bad. The characters are flat, its nothing but forced in references to other Disney movies, the plot is boring, the songs have all this bravado and make them not catchy- the setting is supposed to be in the Mediterranean but all the animals are from the USA implying they are all invasive species brought over from the settlers of other countries- the comic relief characters aren't funny- the goat himself should be deleted he is so annoying- The star is like, ultimate magic. He made animals sentient, he can make things fly- he can change the size of things like a giant chicken- but he can't open a fcking roof? He can't grant people's wishes? He sort of implies he left that power to Asha, but she sucks at magic. She's the worst person to be handling it. The entire marketing campaign for this movie was about how the villain is "classic Disney". He's NOT???? He's just a narcissistic traumatized(?) control freak King. But then he touches a dark book of magic and now suddenly he's 100% evil and there's no going back for him. Even his wife implies that the book changed him, that the dark magic corrupted her husband beyond repair. The dark magic influenced his personality to make him darker, but he wasn't a legitimate true villain. Classic Disney villains have always been full of themselves. They always manipulated and abused people. They aren't afraid to hurt and kill people. They relish other people's suffering. This King is not like them. They were trying to make him sympathetic from the beginning with actual real reasons to control the kingdom as he does. They do a 180 on his personality. Dude fled from his previous homeland ravaged by war, and has been serving his kingdom for years, he's basically customer service and people can be demanding and needy. Asha herself takes the opportunity to try and weasel in her grandfather's wish through her apprenticeship application and the King is like "Yep. Here we go again."
But the way they show those reasons make his entire operation look stupid. They're like "Look how evil he is for not granting wishes because his judgment is slightly skewed. Look at how evil he is for not returning the wishes because he's------- idk, a control freak? Due to his trauma?" The concept art is definitely better than the final product. I feel like it would have been a decent movie with the original concept. But what annoys me the most is that Disney thinks this is a celebration of 100 years of Disney. It's not! They're only really celebrating the last decade of quirky flat characters, mostly 3D animation, and poor storytelling. The thing that makes me the most angry out of the whole movie? The wishes. The entire concept is nonsense. The bad guy claims that Asha's grandfather's wish is too dangerous to grant. The wish? He's singing to people. fcking WHAT. "I want to be an exclusive tailor." "I want to be a sailor!" "I want to sing to kids and inspire them-" THE PEOPLE OF ROSAS ARE SO STUPID.??????? THEY CAN ACHIEVE THOSE CAREERS ON THEIR OWN. THE KING OF ROSAS. IS A SORCERER.
We have TWO wishes that are actually physically impossible and magical. "I want to talk to birds!" "I want to fly!" ARE YOU TELLING ME. THAT NO ONE WANTS TO BECOME A FIRE-BREATHING DRAGON AT WILL? HAVE TELEKINESIS? BE A STRONG BODYBUILDER WHO CAN LIFT BUILDINGS? READ MINDS? SEE THE FUTURE? OWN A GIANT CHICKEN THAT GIVES GOLDEN EGGS? WISH TO BE A FAIRY TO CHANGE THEIR SIZE AT WILL?
THOSE. ARE ACTUAL DANGEROUS, UNACHIEVABLE WISHES WHY ON EARTH WOULD YOU HAVE A WISH OF WANTING A CAREER AS A FARMER WHEN YOU COULD WISH TO HAVE TOTAL CONTROL OVER PLANT LIFE AT WILL? THE PEOPLE OF ROSAS ARE SO DUMB I CANT WITH THIS IM SORRY IM SO MAD AT THIS MOVIE And the wishes themselves like- people don't have the same wish forever. Someone in the crowd even asked, "Can we change our wish?" It's implied maybe they can even have more than one. They also straight up forget their wish when they give it up to the King? This whole thing feels like a weird metaphor for real life in a magical setting. It doesn't make sense to me.
One of my friends said they heard a theory that this entire movie is secretly a jab at Corporate Monopoly Disney, how they won't let anyone else be magical (monopoly), how they only choose 12 wishes a year to grant (Internships), and how the wishes they choose to grant are useless to the kingdom because anything else more creative or inspiring is a threat (regurgitated sequels, uninspired stories, boring formula) and how the ending is about defeating the "villain" (Disney) and moving on to try and achieve your dreams yourself (Form a Union, start your own businesses, take back animated media) and viewing the movie through THAT lens is actually incredibly metaphorically genius and made the movie less terrible for me, intentional or not But yeah anyway, Wish is bad. I keep telling people. Disney is so dumb. THIS is what people want for a Disney celebration: CROSSOVER. DISNEY CINEMATIC UNIVERSE. Disney will probably do it badly but I'm telling you, people have been wanting this for YEARS.
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They did it with House of Mouse, they can do it again.
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This is reviews and ratings for the narrative/ fiction podcasts I have/ am listening to. This is mostly for me but if you want to use this as a recommendation go for it but be warned I'm not talking about plot or giving a description, there's no mentions of potentially triggering material so do your own research first if that's something your concerned about.
Welcome to Night Vale
-Night Vale owns my entire ass, no one does it better. I've been listening since the beginning and while I do think the quality has dipped a bit in the last few years its still really good. 9/10
The Magnus Archives
-Nearly perfect. Holds up and even improves with subsequent listens. The final season drags a bit imo but worth it in the end. 9/10
Old Gods of Appalachia
-really good story, gives you a lot to keep track of character wise but is written well enough that its not too hard and you can still follow the story if you forget some. 8/10
Moonbase Theta Out
-I can't wait for this to be over. Unfortunately, the storyline has a chokehold on me, and i need to know how it ends. Otherwise, i wouldn't be listening anymore. While there are several pretty good voice actors, there's enough bad ones that it's hard to listen to. Took the idea that characters should be flawed a little too far and made nearly every character completely insufferable. Nearly everytime a character is being given critical and emotional information it cuts away, in what I assume is an attempt to save the audience from listening to the same information over and over again, but instead it deprives the audience that look at how the character reacts to the information, which could go a long way in making them seem more fleshed out, instead you only see them emote in angry outbursts or melodramatic soliloquies (which is not helped by the subpar acting). 2/10
Death By Dying
-pretty funny but I don't think there's been enough episodes to make a educated review or rating
Hello from the Hallowoods
- very good overall. Good story, heartfelt and well written. Percy's story hits close to home for me, which sometimes makes me mad because he comes across as very weak and insecure and it gets on my nerves. But honestly that's less of a problem with the Percy or the writing and more of a problem of him being one of the very very few trans masc characters in existence so its extra disappointing when i find him irritating. Polly owns my ass, I would die for him. 8/10
Where the Stars Fell
-I binge listened up to the current season which I feel wasn't the way to go but it's still pretty enjoyable. 6/10
Midnight Burger
-Very funny. I love the characters and their dynamic and just the idea of a time a space traveling diner, it's beautiful. The beginning of this new arc confused me a bit but it's starting to come together. 7/10
We Fix Space Junk
- Very funny but with the underlying terror of what's going on with automnicon. Looking forward to new episodes. 6/10
The Sheridan Tapes
-started really strong but has been spending too much time on the characters agnst and not enough time actually progressing the story. At this point I'm just looking forward to a conclusion. 4/10
Camp Here and There
- it was pretty good, nothing exceptional but not bad but then I took a single glance at what was going on in the fandom and it was so obnoxious that it immediately ruined it for me. I feel bad lowering the rating due to the fandom but like, yikes. 2/10
SCP Readings
-very entertaining, easy to follow even if you don't have any prior knowledge about scp, which I do not. 7/10
The Amelia Project
-I think I'm to early in this one to make a solid judgement but I enjoy it so far. Venerio haunts me.
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abstractelysium · 5 months
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okay okay okay okay okay okay okay -
An Alternate Timeline Headcanon for the Last Three Episodes of Only Friends
or; The Pieces Might Fit Better In Different Places: Plotting Out The Fix-It Fic In Which Boeing Approaches Sand First
or; I'VE BEEN THINKING ABOUT THIS TOO MUCH AND I GOTTA WRITE IT OUT OR I WILL START BITING
... *ahem*. Anyway.
Disclaimer: I'm not touching BostonNick with this headcanon. I don't really know how to fix that, and I'd rather not try right now. This is about Boeing, SandRay, and TopMew.
Relevant pieces that still definitely happen before the timeline deviates:
RayMew still happens
the disastrous Halloween party still happens, and all its mess
the fallout from the party still happens, where Ray tries to be with both Mew and Sand, and both get annoyed with him
Ray and Mew still start to figure out they're not actually romantically/sexually compatible
Ray still winds up crashing Sand's Loser Getaway Camper, their important conversations still happen, including both Sand's line "If someone better comes along, I won't wait for you" and the beautiful love scene later that evening
Ray and Mew still break up amicably, recognizing that they work better as friends.
BUT HERE'S WHERE THINGS START TO DIFFER. Hear me out:
Top and Mew have been meeting occasionally but it's always a fight. Top doesn't know that Mew and Ray broke up and he's holding onto the video of Ray and Sand kissing. Top hates that he has it and doesn't want to use it but he can't bring himself to delete it either.
Mew continues to struggle with the fact that he still has feelings for a man who cheated on him. Maybe they have to collaborate about something for the hostel and Mew can't help but stare at Top when Top is looking away, even though he gets annoyed when Top mentions it, stalking off wordlessly.
Top is not sleeping well/much at all but he hasn't called Boeing yet. He's holding out. (We also DEFINITELY get to see his cut-for-time Pathetic Wet Loser moment in which he picks up a rando at a bar, can't actually go through with the casual sex that should follow, and the rando leaves, leaving Top once again sleepless and probably crying over Mew.)
Sand goes to YOLO bar one night for his gig and guess who's there? Enter Boeing. Boeing is actually a flight attendant, and he happened to be in town and wanted to visit an old haunt for the nostalgia. What luck, Sand is still working there! Isn't that funny. He and Sand catch up a little, and Boeing mentions feeling bad about the way things ended. Can they be friends again, maybe? "Just friends is okay," says Sand, conflicted.
Meanwhile, Ray is in his home, and he finds a bottle of something alcoholic that has gone off. It's soured wine, or spoiled whiskey - something. He takes a sip, makes a face, and without thinking too much about it, pours the contents down the nearest drain. Then he realizes what he just did, and, much more deliberately, collects a few other bottles and puts them in the trash (not down the drain this time, but it's the first serious step we see him take toward choosing sobriety.) His face brightens; he did something good, something Sand wants. Time to go find Sand and brag about it.
Top shows up at Mew's again, and Mew lays into him, again, but this time Top brings up the whole 'maybe we should just stop this and move on' thing. Suddenly, the fire alarm goes off! (YES. THIS IS HOW THE FIRE SCENE SHOULD HAVE GONE AND WHERE IT BELONGS.) Mew and Top help each other escape, and Mew gets to clock Top's trauma and anxiety. Just like in the canon version, it turns out to be a very minor thing, quickly put out, no injuries - but Top is still clearly distressed. Top is going to leave, but Mew takes pity on him and offers to let him stay. It's not sex, obviously, and they're not back together, but Mew is willing to let Top hold him until he falls asleep, so Top can calm down and get rest. We get to see their tender but awkward bedtime routine, Top's hesitant gratitude, Mew's dismissive kindness, while both of their faces speak to the mess of feelings going on below the surface.
Somewhere else, Sand and Boeing are catching up and Boeing starts getting serious and putting the moves on him - I missed you and I screwed up when I left you and maybe we should try again, all classic Boeing. Sand is torn, because he's smart enough to know Boeing isn't really good for him, and he has deep (albeit uncertain) feelings for Ray, and he *did* say he'd move on if he got the chance but this is very unexpected, really this whole thing is just kind of a mess and whoops, here comes Boeing with a sweet kiss that Sand is not turning down.
Ray found out from Nick that Sand ran into his ex, and where Sand was headed. So... you probably all guessed, but yes. This is when Ray finds Sand. And sees the kiss. And remembers what Sand said. And realizes that he's too late. But rather than awakening his jealousy, this hits Ray in that 'I'm worthless' place and he just folds immediately. And leaves.
After Top leaves the next morning, Mew needs some space to figure out where his head is at, so he goes to visit his moms back home. They welcome him and he confesses that he missed them; it's all sweet and cozy and the shop looks so cute, would Mew help them decorate for the holidays? Of course he will.
Ray has given up on Mew, lost Sand, can't face his other friends and his dad is gone as usual. Guess what he's doing? Yep, time for a bad night. Like, bad. Ray doesn't go full suicidal but he is being reckless - laughing, crying, screaming, losing it. (Maybe he finds a bottle of Sand's plum wine, just for the extra angst.) He calls Sand, who doesn't pick up (PARALLELS TO THE SCENE IN EP 3 WHERE RAY PICKS UP MEW'S CALL BC SAND IS KISSING BOEING RN), so Ray leaves Sand a voicemail in which he thanks him and kind of says goodbye. And that's where we end the ep.
The next episode picks up with A FULL FLASHBACK about SandBoeing. How they met. Some of the fun times. Dreams they had. The way things started to sour. Boeing being noticed by Top. And then the day he left, and Sand, alone. (THIS IS SO IMPORTANT BECAUSE IT GIVES BOEING A CHANCE TO BE MORE REAL. LET HIM HAVE SYMPATHETIC MOTIVATIONS, LET HIM BE CUTE AND CHARMING, LET HIM LAUGH AND LOVE AND MAKE HIS CHOICES AND MAKE HIS MISTAKES AND LEAVE. HE WAS TOO ONE-DIMENSIONAL IN CANON AND I JUST okay I'm done)
Back to Mew at his moms' place, helping them decorate. They all are sharing a meal, and Mew asks his moms to retell the story of their relationship, about his dad, why his biomom chose to leave him to be with his other mom, etc. They can impart Important and Topical Life Lessons to Mew about how love is messy but worth it, about trusting your partner, about trusting your heart, about forgiving mistakes, etc.
Elsewhere, Sand comes up for air with Boeing and wants some time to consider everything, this is moving too fast. Boeing makes his mistake here, either getting a little too mean when he teases, or getting a little pushy in a way Sand doesn't like, or just bringing something up that we saw hurt Sand in the past. Any way it happens, Sand decides actually fuck this and there's a reason we fell apart and I'm better off without you (and good for him! Sand deserves this moment of clarity and closure with Boeing since we've seen how much baggage he's been carrying). He kicks Boeing out, and notices his missed calls from Ray. The horror sinks in as he listens to the voicemail, and now Sand has to get to Ray immediately.
Top has reached his breaking point, and he calls Boeing to ask him to stay over and help him sleep. We see Boeing, hurt by his recent rejection from Sand, experience a new form of rejection from Top, and decide to get smooth and nasty about it, the way we saw in canon. He's too pleasant agreeing to go over to see Top, smirking to himself. Boeing still has beef in this timeline, and he was *gonna* be the bigger person and stay away, but when he's been invited back oh-so-nicely? Ooooh here comes the drama.
Sand finds Ray in time. I'm not sure exactly where he is or how this happens, but either Ray is passed out or doesn't believe Sand is actually there before he fully passes out. No car accident this time, and no pills scattered by the bathtub, but it's still clear that Ray survived by luck and good timing. Sand cleans him up and gets him to bed, staying by his side.
Mew comes back from his moms' place, ready to have an honest conversation with Top about where they are and how to start over... but oops. Boeing is there. Uh-oh. Mew's back to suspicion and jealousy and unwillingness to believe that they're just friends.
From here, Sand and Ray reconcile, and can move into basically the canon rehab storyline, with its structural beats more or less intact. Ray's initial unwillingness to take it seriously, Sand finding his biodad at the music bar at Ray's insistence, the two of them being cute outside the addiction counselor's office and at Ray's probation, Ray finding out about his dad paying Sand, the big fight, Ray's breakdown with the addiction counselor and imaginary Sand (my beloved), and them tearfully reuniting and apologizing, promising to be better. Give them fluff, dreams together, and a soft ending, after all the pain.
Meanwhile, from here, Top and Mew can move into the Top-Mew-Boeing storyline from canon, also mostly beat-for-beat - but with a couple notable changes:
First, maybe this time we can see a little about TopBoeing from the past, and why Boeing resents him in the present (giving more depth to our romantic villain along with additional sympathetic motivation!)
And second - THIS TIME THE THREESOME HAPPENS. Boeing still pursues Mew and manipulates him to seek revenge on Top; Mew is still a little taken with Boeing's charm and a little flattered to be an object of desire for both; and Top is still trying to win Mew back but completely thrown off by how to do it given the circumstances. But this time, the tension reaches its breaking point and when the threesome option is out there, Top just asks Mew "is this really what you want? are you sure?" and Mew, loathe to admit he's gone too far, spiteful and petty, says yes.
So they all sleep together. And it's a necessary vent to all the tension that has been building, all the old wounds and flames reigniting and exploding, but more than that, it leads to an important moment of clarity for Mew. In the aftermath, Mew can be a little horrified about what he did out of spite, out of hurt, and can reckon with the fact that he isn't really equipped to handle what it all meant. Was this cheating? He agreed to it. Did it feel good? Yes and no. Did it make Top happy or upset? Both. Did it make him more or less sure about Top? Neither. Wow, looks like some things are beyond Mew's limited comprehension, especially about promiscuity and desire and the morality of sex. Time for his perspective to expand.
AND THAT INCLUDES TOP AND BOSTON. In the aftermath of a messy threesome, I would love to see Mew recognizing, finally, that he owes Top (AND Boston) some grace and forgiveness. Maybe the hurt and the betrayal is still there, but he's not really better than them. And it's not even really about being better. It's about trust, and it's about growth, and it's about navigating these things together. In my ideal ending for TopMew, they do inevitably leave Boeing behind, to be together, but I don't think they bear him genuine ill will when they let him go. They have an honest conversation about trust and how to start over together and how to fight and how to communicate and all of that important stuff they need to actually make it on equal footing. And, just maybe, Mew can even forgive Boston in this version of events. Life and love are messy, and Mew shouldn't judge him for his lifestyle just because it doesn't match his own.
Anyway. There's that.
I really enjoyed canon Only Friends overall, but I started imagining picking up some of these structural plot beats and some of the missed opportunity scenes and rearranging them and suddenly I had this whole alternate sequence of events that I liked a little more. Part of it was figuring out why I was so into the idea of one version of a Boeing threesome and so against the other (which was unfortunately the one we almost got 😕)
This was a monster to write out but I hope you enjoyed reading it! If you got all the way to the end, thank you so much 😊 Feel free to tell me what you think or add your own headcanons, I encourage it!
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professorhayforbreath · 3 months
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so episode 5. all my thoughts
we picked up where the last one left off, good start
annabeth saying she knows percy isn't dead... how. to annabeth and grover there should have been no way percy was alive and finding out he was should've been so emotional but instead she was like dw i know he's not dead lol. it's kind of... lazy writing? like how are you gonna write a scene as gut wrenching as percy trapping himself with a monster and telling his friends to complete the quest without him because he's actively dying and has no reason to believe he'll survive, and then make the fallout of that so... nonchalant? idk if it's a time limit thing but that was so underwhelming to me
annabeth being the one to see the fates... no
fugitive percy enjoyers at least we won!!!!
the trio peeking over the road barrier at ares was cute goofy silly i liked that :)
gabe on the news shit talking percy i'm hooting and hollering!! "i really-- WE really loved that car" and "i'm gonna kill him". excellent. now put percy on the news fake crying about his "loving" stepfather i believe in you
i did want them to acknowledge annabeth's lack of experience with the world outside camp but having her say "i've never seen any kind of movie" has gotta be one of the weirdest ways they could've done that
the turnstile scene was cool i guess but as we go on i'm more and more conscious of how many episodes are left and how much plot there is to get through and idk i feel like this scene could've hit the cutting room floor and we wouldn't have lost anything
i do love the ambience of the park though. maybe i'm easy to impress because the aesthetic of an abandoned amusement park is just fantastic on its own but the set was very cool. wish it wasn't so dark so i could've actually seen it ❤️
percy and annabeth having a serious conversation with 'what is love' blaring in the background is sending me
first ever seaweed brain dropped! i liked the way they did it, it felt natural
actually back to the "i've never seen a movie" thing. you're telling me that in this version of the story, in which frederick chase was apparently a great dad who treated annabeth like a gift, he never took her to the movies? or she never watched one on tv? she had a whole seven years of life in the real world before going to camp and she's never seen a movie
annabeth isn't allowed to have fears she's too smart for that apparently
i think the scene with the chair was overall well executed with some great lines and fantastic acting but... idk. they really scrapped the original scene just to do what they already did last episode. i miss the spiders i miss hephaestus tv. it felt redundant to have percy sacrifice himself again. percy this is the second time today you've been like "no dw i'll just die" do you need to talk to someone
annabeth disillusionment arc complete already? calm down guys this is season one
ZOO TRUCK ZOO TRUCK ZOO TR
so it's confirmed the reason they go into the lotus casino is BECAUSE hermes is there :/ they said these literal children cannot fall for tricks and traps it's too unrealistic
not much to say about the grover and ares scenes bc i don't know what to make of them. i didn't mind them. ares had some funny lines. i guess my only complaint is that the grover i know would not have been so calm talking to the god of war. i'm curious to see where that cliffhanger leads
is it just me or did the pacing improve a little bit this episode?
despite how negative i sound i enjoyed episode 5 a lot more than episode 4. there are still so many weird changes, additions, and omissions though. honestly i think a big part of the reason i enjoyed this one is because i'm not expecting anything anymore. i'm not getting my hopes up about them adapting the book normally i'm just intrigued by this thing like a scientist observing an experiment. like hmm what are they doing now? fascinating *takes notes*
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wifegideonnav · 27 days
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should i read homestuck. like i feel it would be interesting so i could see what yall are talking about in regards to tlt but is homestuck actually good
"is homestuck good" - the greatest thread in the history of forums, locked by a moderator after 8129 pages of heated debate,
no but seriously, it highkey depends on 1. your definition of good and 2. your tolerance for stupid bullshit. as someone who read tlt and then hs, i'd say that being a fan of the chaotic aspect of tlt is a good predictor of being able to hang in with homestuck.
readmore because this. um. got long. the tl;dr is: i like homestuck a lot and i am glad i read it. i can't tell you if you should read it bc idk your tastes, but there is a lot to like and enjoy about it.
the official pitch for homestuck is something like "4 kids play a game and then a bunch of other shit happens." here's my pitch based on what the core of the story is to me:
several groups of characters across time, space, and reality are brought together in order to succeed at creating a new universe after their own are destroyed. this takes the form of a game, which is called sburb (by the humans) and sgrub (by the trolls). the characters must contend with an eternal battle against good and evil in which they are the deciding factor, and level up while following personalized quests. at its heart, homestuck is about relationships of every sort and how they shape us, growing up and the associated grief and loss, coming into ones identity and choosing who to be, predestination and fate, and stories themselves. it gets very meta at times, and the characters are semi to fully aware that they're characters, and attempt to subvert or escape that. it's got hordes of fleshed out, compelling characters, one of which will almost certainly glom onto you for the rest of your life, real emotion, extremely funny jokes, smart and exciting plotting, and some very cool moments. it more or less invented an entire new genre/medium, and plays with medium in a very cool way.
it is also clunky, hard to get into, and way too convoluted. you will never fully understand what's happening. there are tons of characters whose stories you will follow whom you simply do not care about. there are too many characters. it was written by an edgelord in 2009 so there's some unsavory humor and character writing. it's so fucking long. the ending kinda sucks because the fandom was so toxic that hussie simply wanted it over with. the fandom still kinda sucks tbh. so many people have wrong opinions about it. it requires a very specific lens to approach and understand it. i still dont understand what happened with that fucking puppet someone explain it to me.
overall, i'd say that if you think you want to read it, give it a shot. i have a complicated relationship with it but at the end of the day, i genuinely love the story and the characters and i know they will be with me forever. it certainly enhanced my understanding of tlt, and getting to read more of tamsyn's writing was such a bonus (even though her taste in pairings is. not the same as my own). and like honestly. it's just fun. even when you're going "wait what the fuck just happened" you're having fun. it's really goddamn funny too. it WILL change the way you speak and also think about romance forever.
the best way to read it is to have an experienced reader guide you, but if you or other people don't know anyone like that, here are my basic tips:
i think most people know this already, but download the unofficial homestuck collection. just do it. it's like 4 gigs and it's infinitely better than trying to read on the broken website, and it's even ad free. it can also be modded - for instance ik there's a slur replacer mod (lmao) if you don't want to read those
act 1 sucks to read. you're like what the fuck is this, THIS is homestuck?? the beginning is radically different from how it ends up, so just hang in there. for me, it really picked up somewhere in act 3. just focus on the silly fun the characters are having and you'll be good
things you should actually try to follow in the early acts: the concept of a sylladex existing (the various fetch modi are only there for jokes and eventually just kinda stop being a thing), where all the copies of the game are, what each kid's relationship with their guardian is like, the mechanics of the game and the lore behind it, including classpects and quests
things you do not have to waste brain space on: anything about how the totems work, what the various machines are, what the levels are, basically any of the jokes that would be funny to hussie's original intended audience of software engineers and rpg gamers. oh and the intermission with the midnight crew and the felt, just know that those are guys that exist and you'll be good.
and the biggest tip i have is just. go with it. suspend your disbelief. a lot of the worldbuilding doesn't really make sense, but it would be a worse story if it did. when the time shit and ectobiology come into play, literally just go ok got it and keep going, don't think too hard.
so yeah i don't even know if any of this is useful but i hope it helps you decide. and if you or anyone else have follow up questions send em!
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EPISODE 6 (just realised no one is asking me to do this too bad) spoilers for series up ahead
ITS NOT A MUSICAL EPISODE 😭
Disney was too broke to show us the animals in the zoo truck WHYY
why am i so happy for the second seaweed brain, man the things being a pjo fan does to you
The way you could see luke’s smile drop when they say that they found the lightning thief (:) —> :/)
The way luke didn’t even let them finish he was like “CLARISSE YES CLARISSE SHE MUST BE THE ROBBER”
No one’s talking about “Chiron should arrest her” Not the mental image of chiron holding a gun saying “ANY WORD CAN AND WILL BE USED AGAINST YOU IN COURT” while clarisse is pushed into a police car lollll
Old married couple im falling out of my chair plsssss if luke did something right in his life it was this
i love annabeth’s face like she knew this was coming the older brother-sister dynamic is POPPING
Disney really needed a way to show that grover liked animals and had convos with them without actually showing them lol
cue the “omg animals are so elegant” speech which served nothing at all
WHATS THE POINT OF ZEBRA TO VEGAS IF THERE AIN’T NO ZEBRA MR HOUSE OF MOUSE????
Idk but i kind of miss the trio action so far this show has only been percabeth + grover instead of percy + annabeth + grover you can tell they’re focusing more on fan service and developing percabeth than developing the more important dynamics which are the three of them having fun
oh HELLO RANDOM CAMEL WHO ISNT EVEN A ZEBRA BUT WHATEVER
“You are two seconds ahead of meeee” the simp eyes the simp eyes
The lotus casino from the outside is so COOL
LEVITATING BY DUA LIPA (some of yall still stuck in poker face era so im leaving it at that)
WISE GIRL I REPEAT WE GOT WISE GIRL (i was honestly expecting it to sound super corny on screen but walker pulled it off like he always does)
look im so mad about the fact that there’s no montage of them being silly little kids and having fun at arcade games. It hits so hard since percy has never afforded to visit fun places, annabeth has never left camp so is absolutely thriving with her architect games, grover is hunting down humans which was so funny and cool and they decided to make it more serious and plot centred
”ill take percy this way” WHY CAN’T GROVER TAKE PERCY THAT WAY HUH ANNABETH? 🤨 (girl just say you want to spend time with him)(and disney say you just wanna write more percabeth scenes)
I love the ‘if you dont know, i dont know either 😄’ mentality that percy has, he knows annabeth wants to be in charge now so he’s just feeding into the hubris
The augustus plot was so weird ngl but it was a great way to introduce the pan stuff
“Biaannncaaaaa biancaaaaaa” NICCOOOOOOO
He sounds so little and innocent and cute 🥺 im so sad now
GROVERRRRRR REMEMBERRRRRR
i gotta say, i guess that i was taken away by the people making fun of lin manuel miranda, but his acting was really really good
We got some may castellan exposition early
Percy thinking that the only thing he could do to sally was hurting her 🥹
i really hope they talk about that later on, you know we love some angst around here (especially with the dreams of the headmaster which was from the books!!! I was thinking that they’d cut it! But they didnt!! But it speaks volumes about percy that he has nightmares of headmasters)
I WANT ANNABETH FLASHBACK ANGST
annabeth pickpocketing the god of thieves will forever be her girlbossiest moment
”Im multitalented” percy: 😍💙🥰🥹 🤩(walker’s acting be that amazing is it not obvious by now that percy likes annabeth)
“Who’s grover ☺️?” “Wait, i know grover 😅!” Walker is cementing himself in the percy throne every single episode
”wow grover got really old😃”
“you lose sight of what’s important when you’re alone” “we weren’t alone 🥰” poor grover
The eons long wait to see how percy was hugging while falling the way down is finally over
The way that you can see percy’s empathy shining through his eyes as grover talked about pan>>>> (honestly tho, hug!)
the way they focused on percy’s reaction, i know this is going to be something he brings up as a reason for him to sacrifice himself for hades
Percy and annabeth looking at grover like “ ok mr. 24 DRIVE US”
Percy trying to drive a car will forever be cinema and comedy peak
The road rage this child has its so funny BEEP BEEP
annabeth: 😁 percy: 🥹 *cutely crashes car and almost kills her* PERCY IS TRULY GIVING A LOSER BOY WHO HAS NEVER HAD A GIRL LOOK AT HIM AND THATS SO PERCY OF HIM
the heartbreak in percy’s eyes alexa play the moment i knew by taylor swift
Four pearls?? *cue that one meme where that girl is calculating*
the way my smile faded when i saw annabeth hanging over the cliff TOO SOON RICK TOO SOON
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blaze5681 · 3 months
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ATLAS PARADOX RAMBLING
dude this book. i need to talk. about it. im going insane.
everyone who hasn't read it, PLEASE DO!!! it's a dark academia book about a bunch of gay silly magic people that join a society and try to kill each other. there's time travel, a big ass polycule, aesthetic scenes, the prettiest writing style in the world, science, philosophy, and fucked family. (opposite of found family).
(extremely chaotic unorganized long rant below, with spoilers. click at your own risk)
FIRST OF ALL WHY WAS THIS SO MUCH BETTER THAN THE FIRST ONE?!!?!?
i had to power through the first one, it felt long, and unnecessary and like trekking through a JUNGLE with the thickest and most intricate ecosystem that i had to peel back and unravel for hours and hours. only to like move the plot by an inch.
BUT THIS. olivie blake found her footing because this was so good. i am aware the reviews hate on this book and some people don't like it, but personally i adore it and it's really well written.
CHARACTERS
bro they all had such wonderful voices, like they were distinct and unique from each other but not drastically, noticeably different I NEED TO LEARN FROM THIS. six of crows and the atlas six do multi povs so well <3 its like this book was made for me, each character was perfect and incredible and gay and silly and-
reina. love of my life. i look forward to all her povs because the plants are so silly and she's the best character. i said it. she's canon asexual now too YEES. i needed more of her because she was barely in the first one, and they DELIVERED. the juicy plot with her 'god complex' (ily callum) and her feelings getting hurt and learning she actually is lonely and wants friends? she's so wanda maximoff. next book better have her opening up and learning to love people or i riot (and also her killing people and being the badass she is)
parisa always my fave too, i do wish her character wasn't always talking about sex or romance, there were some great moments in this book where she showed off her telepathy powers (the prince in the tower!!) it was awesome. i'm glad they acknowledged that side of her with reina, (oh my god i ship them so much wait till i rant about them-) but dude i still HATE DALTON. SO MUCH. OH MY GOD. every time it's her pov i dread seeing dalton, i wish she could give that up. generic white men should die.
CALLUM. whatever turned him from complex, daunting, and a psychopath last book to janus from sanders sides this book- beautiful choice. he's literally the one sassy wine-sipping gay aunt that feels nothing and everything at once, also extremely mentally ill and depressed. he's SO FUNNY. his povs are fucking hilarious to read, and he quickly became one of my faves bc of how complex he is. i'm not smart enough to decipher and psychoanalyze him but god i LOVE CHARACTERS LIKE THIS.
i don't know what happened but nico is literally one of my faves now too, he's so silly and sweet and kind and i loved his relationships with everyone this book. like him trying to murder tristan in multiple different ways oml. he's my bbg. tristan was hit or miss for me, i did find him interesting but he's not my favourite. doesn't mean i hate him, he's so very british, i feel it radiating off the page. libby my queen my icon, her dream povs were so trippy i loved it- so so realistic to a real dream, that was the most surprising and unique part. also my bisexual queen seducing belen??
i did not like ezra and atlas was a little iffy here and there but tbh the cast was so well rounded and interesting and unique but paralleled each other so well?? THE RELATIONSHIPS. I DONT THINK ANY BOOK HAS THIS INTRICATE WEB-LIKE RELATIONSHIPS WITH EACH OTHER. they're one big polycule.
RELATIONSHIPS
nico and libby <3 i love them so much as siblings/queerplatonic partners. i don't ship them romantically, because i LOVE how they subverted the eye-rolling predictable ' YA academic rivals enemies to lovers' trope. when i started TAS, i immediately thought they were gonna get together and assumed the worst. but no, they still had the banter and importance in their relationship but without the romance? instead both of them were gay af. it's beautiful. i love subverting tropes so much. they're each other's 'other half' and they're hilarious together.
NICO AND TRISTAN. they were such a highlight this book, it was unexpected but so funny. nico trying to murder tristan and their little talks because 'they're not friends...just coworkers' yeah right, the best friendships start with creatively murdering each other. tristan being droll and chill af, and then nico bouncing off the walls my adhd king.
reina and nico broke me?? like that one chapter where they sparred and caught up with each other and reina was guarding her hurt feelings. DUDE THAT KILLED ME. made me stare at the ceiling for a good minute. their friendship is everything to me, they contrast each other so well. she deserves to be treated better- when they had that projection chapter and she saw that nico downplayed her skills...like she was good, but not good enough for him to care about her. AGGHGH.
REINA AND PARISA. NOW THIS. THIS HOOKED ME INTO THE BOOK. i ship them so bad guys. they parallel each other and are both hot and enemies to lovers and wlw slow burn and- look. reina is asexual, therefore the only person to truly see and understand parisa for who she is, and not be influenced by her body. like that one projection. she can help parisa understand HERSELF and who she is past her sexual desirability. how to love someone again. romantically. then, on the flip side, parisa can help reina see and understand OTHERS. reina only sees people as one trait, cut and dry- without any of the complex feelings. parisa is a telepath, she knows how to read others. THEY CAN BOTH HELP EACH OTHER AND LOVE EACH OTHER IN WAYS THEY NEVER COULD HAVE OMFDADJFLSKJADFL- also reina pinned her against a wall and they want to kill each other and every time they interact i scream into my pillow-
-
'You can't love anyone right?"
"I've met very few people worth loving."
-
*throws myself off a building*
now we just gotta play the familiar game "IS IT DELUSION OR IS IT JUST SLOW BURN" and find out whether their insane chemistry pays off in book 3.
the nico parisa scene was actually sweet ngl, even though i don't ship them. the whole callum and tristan thing was so bitter exes situationship coded and i ate every second up. especially that last conversation. AND OFC. GIDEON AND NICO?!!! AAAAA THEY WERE SO CUTE THEY'RE ENDGAME I SCREAMED WHEN THEY KISSED DUDE THEYRE SO-
PLOT
now for the actual plot. this book has so many interesting subjects and philosophies and debates i'm not smart enough for this. but past all the aesthetic glamour, it's science, time travel, dreams, multiverses, fate, reality, and the complexities of the human mind. and my god it's fascinating as fuck.
do i have any idea what they do in this society?? NO. am i entertained? YES. especially that whole explosion paradox to bring libby back to the future. the whole powering the connections via aurora borealis? the whole debate about being gods? i love it. i love it.
alright im so sorry for that rant, i gotta go now but DUDE I LOVE THIS BOOK NO MATTER HOW WEIRD IT WAS
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