#Just not obsessed w them at the moment and that is the real tragedy | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

tuiyla · 1 year

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when first watching yellowjackets i was expecting jackie to be on the receiving end of some sort of cool twist. she ends up actually becoming antler queen, she’s still alive in the present day and is actually the one who sent the postcards, whatever. but the way she actually went made so much more sense tbh. they fought, they were both too stubborn to go talk to one another after. what happened afterwards so easily could have been prevented. on any other night out there in the woods jackie would have made it through the night and probably made amends w shauna eventually. neither her nor shauna had any idea it was going to snow 😭 i’m honestly so glad they went that route instead of something else because i think it makes shauna’s character and her relationship w jackie so much more devastating.

I couldn't wait to learn more about Jackie's fate but I always hoped it would end up being... banal, almost. But that's exactly why it feels fresh and novel because it's not some noble sacrifice or grandiose moment and like you I think it makes way more sense.

Because, if you're Shauna, how do you get over that? Even before we consider what later seasons will explore regarding other things that happened in the wilderness. And that's just it because if you're Shauna you don't get over that. You're forever haunted by a stupid argument that deffo did have stakes even outside of typical teen drama because don't get me wrong, that convo was raw as fuck and they threw very real things at each other. But, at the end of the day, even the stakes of that argument paled in comparison to their brutal situation. Because you can't act like you would at home, deciding to stay mad at your best friend even though you're stranded and it's Northern Ontario and Jackie doesn't even have the basic survival skills like making fire. And so she freezes even though she didn't have to, even though there was shelter right there. But nature doesn't give a fuck that the girlies are fighting or that both are too proud to resolve this conflict that same evening. That's the harsh reality of the Yellowjackets and of course Jackie would be the first to go this way. The first to die simply because they refused to adapt to that harsh reality.

I'm obsessed with how Jackie represents their old life, both while in the wilderness and of course 25 years later. Jackie is their team captain but she can't hold them together when she's out of her element. Everyone else finds their Thing but Jackie just can't exist in this new world. Looked at another way, she also represents the good side of what they left behind. I was surprised to see how many people wrote Jackie off as the stereotypical Queen Bee and mean girl when she isn't that archetype at all for me. Maybe a bit, yeah, by nature of being the popular girl and team captain but I'm used to the Santana Lopezes of the world (jk there's only one Her) so Jackie was just a normal teenage girl to me. That's the beauty and tragedy of it, because she is the normal teen girl who refuses to let go of real world norms and give in to nature. She's annoying when that manifests in not doing the chores and getting her hands dirty, sure, but she's pretty much the only sane one when the madness starts and she clings to these societal norms. (Natalie is the other sane one but that's another discussion.)

When Jackie dies, it's much more powerful than any twist could have been. Much more powerful than her living or becoming a driving force in the cult stuff. It's simple. It's nature, it's death. It's the first fall of snow and it's the death of the old world order. It's infuriatingly evitable. But, at the same time, it had to happen because of what it symbolizes. Yeah the girls, any of the girls actually could have just realized that Jackie sleeping outside was stupid af and that nature doesn't care about the girlies fighting it will kill anyone who's unprepared. And Jackie was the embodiment of being unprepared. But that's the rawness and sickness and brilliance of it, that no one did go out for Jackie. And Jackie didn't go in because she still lived in New Jersey and for that, she had to die. For Shauna, her last convo with Jackie will never not be that. The fact that she so easily could have saved Jackie will never not hang over her. She lives in the shell of Jackie Taylor's life and refuses to not do that because Jackie will never not be a part of her - or rather, idk if Shauna will ever view herself as not a part of Jackie.

I'm just obsessed with girls who haunt the narrative, ask anyone who's heard me go on about Twin Peaks or Life Is Strange (Before the Storm). Jackie is such a cool character and her and Shauna's bond so messed up and so delicious. I'm just rambling about all these random thoughts I have om Yellowjackets but basically YES I love how this show just makes so much sense thematically and that should really be a given in storytelling but damn does it feel good to actually have it.

#this is not cohesive but i feel like i don't have to be about this show #i just think it's neat #something i can just enjoy but it also makes me THINK #with the things they do and not with what they don't ya know #and that's good #anon #yellowjackets #yellowjackets asks #people who don't stan jackie don't get it #jackie taylor #shauna shipman

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messermouser · 5 months

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My Incredibly Long List of Tropes/Characters/Themes I Like

When I obsess over something in the media I consume I write it here, and I forget how much inspiration I get from reading it so here you go. Any good recommendations with most of these or additions to the list are always appreciated. Also I have so many more of these that I've never written down I can do more IF YOU MAKE ME. IF I HAVE TO. IF YOU FORCE ME TO DO IT I GUESS I'LL DO IT. If not then sick.

Childhood friends

Rivals. Academic? Siblings? One has an advantage? They help each other? take your pick any rivalry works.

Going to each other for comfort because nobody else understands

Two leads are groups leaders- one very apparently in charge the other their supporter

Lead who falls off the tracks “What happened to you?” “I gave up, and if you knew what’s best for you… you’d give up too”

Head and the Heart

FOREHEAD KISS

One adorable but cold, the other stern but soft

Good and Evil in love because who is which depends on who you ask

Comedic relief kills someone and then apologizes

NOW OR NEVER KISS

Mmm almost kiss

“Fuck you bitch” “Uh nobody has ever talked to me like that because they’re too afraid to, I’m really into it?”

“You show me colors you know I can’t see with anyone else”

“You rely on wit and people die on it”

“You’re as beautiful as the day I lost you”

A Fast “yes?” after someone answers yes to a question the character was afraid to ask

REUNION AHHHH wit a hug :(((

“Oh god. Fuck. Oh god he’s dead. No.”

Anything compared thematically to dogs

Religious trauma as daddy issues

Dead birds/Butterflies/deer/animals compared to specific characters foreshadowing their death or danger

Anything Icarus coded

Cain and Able type siblings

FAMILY and devotion

Family as a cult

Tragedy just when the characters think they won

Manipulation changing a characters internal monologue

Including deaths that change everything

Including deaths that change nothing

Obsessive Love from a trauma-bond that makes characters worse

Obsessive Love from a trauma-bond that keeps characters alive

Eyes as a horror element

Love/Life/Death compared to any of the cosmos

The intimacy of having a moment only two people know about

Love as servitude and worship

Doomed from the start characters who realize it and die by choice

Fatal Flaws actually being Fatal (So Icarus tea)

Characters literally being killed by the one thing they wanted

Royalty/Power as a curse

Flowers as life and innocence

Off Topic but Characters that acknowledge that what’s happening to them isn’t fair but fight anyways

Emotional pain as physical sickness

Characters without a choice being blamed for the things they do to survive

Characters seeing the thing they’re fighting against in themselves or their allies and how they deal w/ it

Multiple traumas in quick succession and how each character copes

Human characters in stressful situations reverting to animal instincts, almost savage, and learn what they’re capable of

Pressure to uphold an image as their reflection in the mirror the character doesn’t trust to be real. Flaws magnified

Hyper-sexuality as a form of control

Physical items with emotional significance that they’d die to protect

Love as just another power the character can’t control

Ok fine cannibalism as love

The past a character can never escape from

Humanizing everything as a symptom of being human (empathy)

Characters going against their ethics/beliefs for love

Characters who are alone realizing they’ve found a family

Sexuality as a curse

Sexuality as a blessing

Doubt as an infection

Characters treating animals like people vs treating people like animals

Character’s definition of what it is to be worthy is proven insignificant

The loss of purpose that is either never found again or found in spite/honor of the things they lost

Sleep as the trust characters have in the environment they’re in

Love as addiction

Pain as addiction

Anything addiction coded (IF the author has experience with addiction or loving an addict. Otherwise it doesn’t hit)

The only thing a character ever controlling being their death

Young characters having realistic and incredibly varied reactions to trauma

When they act out of character sporadically until it suddenly becomes who they are now

Character torn between being controlled but with nothing at risk vs Being free and constantly losing what they value most

Characters with healthy coping mechanisms or hobbies they’re embarrassed to find comfort in. Their loved ones immediately accepting them without question

Marriage without romance vs marriage that’s filled with love. Guess which one loses their partner? I’ll give you a hint it’s the one who has already sworn to die for their lover

Rule-following characters that serve as a narrative antagonist finally being pragmatic as character growth

Fate as something characters can never escape from

The ocean as life/death

Worshipping the earth when it provides then taking its resources selfishly without hesitation (“Giving Tree” Style kinda)

Characters who finally understand the danger only after the one who was warning them dies

Secret injury or illness ;)

How characters interact w/ plants/animals being their ability to nurture

Generational Trauma is always at fault at the end of the day fr

Characters returning home and realizing that coming home shouldn't ache like it does

Characters forced to play a role vs Characters who see right through them

The way time flows changing based on the weight of the moment (ie. One full chapter is a single hour - One paragraph is three months)

Sense memory (Touch, taste, smell, sound, sight) vividly taking the character back to something they had forgotten

Hurt/Comfort >>>>

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kob131 · 11 months

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What’s your thoughts on Arslan’s arc in Fixing RWBY?:

https://www.reddit.com/r/RWBYcritics/comments/13lzuwb/fixing_rwby_v6_ep_19/jlehbke/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf&utm_content=1&utm_term=15&context=3

Well, normally I wouldn't even bother because I am not wasting my time on Celtic's 'Fixing' but I see that he's the one referenced here. So sure.

To defend my own writing choice there, this was what I planned to be Arslan's fate back when I retrofitted her character back during Volume 3.

Sorry Celtic, didn't you hear? Defending your writing choices is attacking your critics and rejecting criticism.

So be a good little creator, take it up the ass and ask for seconds.

It was only after that in which she appeared in.... Before the Dawn, I want to say? She may have gotten a mention in After the Fall, but that was mostly away from Shade as a locale. When I learned she was in the book I was initially irritated, because I like the arc I did for her, but if they did something with her I would be willing to detour. Unfortunately, they... really didn't do anything with her. She, along with 90% of the remaining cast in that book, was completely wasted, so I felt no anxiety in detouring.

Maybe because we have these things in the real world called 'limitations' and 'restrictions'. I know you like to pretend you could just write an outline, get some shitty sketches and pretend it's an actual product but actual creators have to deal with limitations while producing an actual product.

Considering I've already deviated by killing some characters, maiming others, and having a handful survive when they weren't supposed to, this change wasn't too big to me.

Keep this in mind. It's going to bite him in the ass soon.

As to why I did what I did with her, while the episode's story is squarely on Cinder, this is the conclusion of Arslan's arc... or should I say, her failure to arc.

... No. He didn't do that, did he?

Her life up until Vytal was defined by trying to one-up Pyrrha and earn the respect of those around her as a competent combatant. Her defeat at the tournament (and subsequent fall of Beacon) should have been the moment she self-reflected and found something else to value in her life, but what ended up happening was emotional stagnation. While she became more jaded and tired, as seen in Fixing Volume 5, she still held onto her world view back when she was trying to upstage Pyrrha. Her desire to seek revenge on Cinder may have seemed noble at first glance (partially because Cinder was also involved in Lionheart's death, at least to her knowledge), but in reality it was her way of trying to find closure to her spat with Pyrrha. She wanted to beat the person that killed Pyrrha because by transitive property, she'd be superior to Pyrrha. Unfortunately for her, Pyrrha was markedly outclassed by Cinder, so Arslan had little-to-no-hope of beating her. She let her obsession overtake her and she made several critical flaws that led to her dying as a result. Arslan should be looked at a dark tragedy.

... He did. He fucking did.

Hey Celtic, where did you get such an idea huh? Maybe from, I dunno...

A doctor breaking down a power hungry bitch?

Raymond McNeil.

You didn't GIVE Arslan her own arc. You copy/pasted CINDER'S arc then cut out half of it.

The whole idea of 'I am obsessed and I died because I failed to move on' is what CINDER is going through. That was the whole point of Watts' tearing into Cinder- to get it through her thick skull that she hadn't proven herself worthy of shit. That she was stagnating and stuck repeating her mistakes. And to cement that even if she got better as a villain- she was still a VILLAIN at the end of the day.

And it works with Cinder because this same inability to move on is shared with other villains like Adam and Salem. All of them are stuck in the past, in their own pain, while the heroes move past that and keep fighting. It's a called a 'theme', Raymond. Try analyzing it sometime.

Here, what is the point of Arslan going through this arc? Does it reinforce a theme or idea? Does it set the tone going forward? Is there any kind of parallel between her and her killer?

Going off of what you deemed important enough to mention- No. None of that is the point. Going off what you say later-

As to my overall process, Fixing RWBY is a lot more wholistic in approach than just making nips and tucks, even if I try not to stray too far from things (a solid example is the upping of the number of episodes that I've stuck too since Volume 1). I make changes to characters, lore building, world building and plot structure all the time because I feel like there's more to be squeezed out of those elements than the show even attempted to show (looking forward to actually working on Penny in Volume 7, we have almost too many ideas where to go with her).

Also gotta love the fact that Celtic is claiming he's changing things for the sake of the series while dedicating time to a character that adds nothing and indicates her arc has no real reason to exist. If it connected to the themes of the series- why didn't he mention it? Unless he doesn't think about themes in a heavily THEMATIC show.

There's also the unfortunate factor that as I move along, making even small changes will cause a ripple effect, meaning we have to account for more and more as time progresses. It's just the nature of the beast. I fully expect by the end of the series the two stories will only vaguely resemble each other. Hell, Volume 6 so far has had to account for so much that it already feels insanely different to the original, even while doing our best to keep specific plot points extant. What started as "Let's put some tournament drama in this tournament to put pressure on Pyrrha" evolved into "Arslan can't let go and this leads to her unfortunate demise."

Then you failed Raymond. Because according to you-

Really the heart of it is trying to figure out the story/stories that Miles, Kerry, Monty, (and later) Eddie and Kiersi want to tell with what they present us and then reverse engineering it to get the most mileage possible

You are writing their story.

And here's the thing- you didn't NEED to bring in Arslan. You try to just this by saying that Cinder killing mooks doesn't sell her threat-

That.... was a lot more than I intended to write, but I hope that ramble helps you understand where I'm coming from with the choice made about Arslan. As to your suggestion, I don't feel a simple mook from the Spiders would have served a purpose, plot or character-wise. Cinder is a serious threat, even at her lowest, and this is the moment that affirms that when she's in play, people's lives are on the table (looking at you, V8).

-but your own words imply Arslan has been living in Pyrrha's shadow for years. Hell,your own words about Arslan's death imply as much. If Pyrrha was better than Arslan but lost to Cinder- no shit Arslan was gonna die.

Could have gone the mook route and avoided all this shit with Arslan. But when you're more concerned with getting your dick sucked- guess basic writing skills need to go.

P.S. I find it funny that Raymond tries to take a potshots at V8 for not portraying Cinder as a serious threat when the finale absolutely did...while still emphasizing that she's stil alittle girl looking for control.

Maybe try boxing on your own level next time. I hear first time self insert harem fanfics could use a spell checker.

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stewyonmolly · 10 months

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what makes you think stewy has a significantly deeper capacity for love than the roys? in the context of them all being part of the same parasitic landscape it kinda feels like comparing a guy who's 85% soulless to the guys who are 96% soulless which ig is still a difference but not rly a meaningful one

no yeah that’s a valid perspective! i think that (a small part of) stewy is in denial over how much he cares, which makes him “fit” w the roys and the professionals that surround him more seamlessly (always a performer); he knows how to act to get what he wants (something the roys do not know how to do all the time). he shows his love with varying degrees of “social normalcy” (physical touch vs for example the trojan horse) just as the roys do (any of the times they kiss each other upon meeting up vs hug of death to put roman down in the finale). a lot of this comes down to performance vs honesty. the siblings’ love for each other, for all their other neuroses, tends to be honest. we don’t know enough about stewy to absolutely say the same.

we could dissect every second of screen time to determine the ways kendall roman and shiv are able versus unable to “perform” or “exhibit” love per social standards and structures and we still wouldn’t have clear answers—**and it really doesn’t fucking matter how they show the love because the love is undeniably there!!!!** the tit-for-tat would be endless: stewy does show his love in socially typical ways (which is up to interpretation as well!! you could think he’s being primarily manipulative when he touches ken on screen. i just don’t think that personally); the roys MATCH HIM in that sense—a hug after daddy dies, holding hands to tell their brother the news: the tragedy of losing someone who they needed MORE THAN ANYONE ELSE to love them is the inciting action for them falling onto the next most similar form of love: their siblings. thus the development of the sibs’ relationships through s4, clinging then pushing away, kissing and biting, their father’s children all the way through. we don’t get to see stewy with anyone other than the roys, sandies, the old guard, hired staff, and briefly & from a distance josh. so there’s not much in the source material to prove he has a greater capacity for love! which is why i totally understand where you’re coming from!

i really don’t want this to seem like i think all the roys are is monstrous. if you’ve spent 2 seconds on my blog you know i don’t think that so i am assuming you’re asking this in good faith!!!!

to pivot slightly, when i write about kenstewy’s love specifically, i’m not saying stewy’s love is “better” or “worth more” or “realer” than the roys’, but i think STEWY feels like it means that—specifically he thinks he loves kendall better than anyone else does. since i write so much from stewy’s perspective i bet it seems like i’m saying that all the time lol, and when i write from kendall’s perspective i write him in a way where he’s obsessed w how much he loves stewy & stewy loves him, because to his father/family it WAS quantifiable. ratable. whatever

**for the sake of this discussion, i will say again that i don’t think for a moment such a thing as love/an amount of love can be literally numerically quantified!! & to be super clear i also strongly believe it has NO relation to one’s morality.** so i’m not saying stewy is a better person. everything i’ve said on this topic is meant to support the thesis that the enormous amount of love the roys invest in their father impacts the way they are able to show love to all other characters. i think stewy loves the shit out of his family; i also think kendall is the most important person in his life. i think kendall loves the shit out of stewy; i also think his family are the most important people in his life.

i don’t have super concrete views on the topic, as i think this answer demonstrates!

tl;dr the real reason i feel this way is because of the soul arian instills into the performance. it’s less what’s on paper and more what he brought in his dark lambent eyes

#soent a full hour trying to word this while in a meeting i’m so sorry if it doesn’t make sense. it feels redundant but i can’t stare at it #anymore #succession #kenstewy

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m0tel6mxzzy · 2 years

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Thoughts on Kim K?

hmm i think she’s a beautiful woman and seems like a sweet mom. she seems to care abt her kids and despite not following the kardashians very much, i find those little snippets of kylie and stormy and kim and north just so adorable. however i’m not like, obsessed w kim or a super fan of some sort.

altho i just felt it really disrespectful to marilyn monroe’s memory when she tried on the dress that was made specifically for marilyn for the met gala??? even if the real dress was only worn temporarily for promo and the replica the rest of the night. because the concept sounded great, but kim could’ve easily paid a brand top dollar for them to make a custom dress inspired by marilyn’s that kim wouldn’t have had to heavily diet to fit into. literally all these rich and professional stylists and fashion celebs associated w kim and none of them were innovative enough to think of that????

i will forever bitch and moan abt that dress tho bc as the years go on i think late celebs and victims of tragedies are becoming exploited so hollywood can make money and exposure off their memory in one way or another. i feel like there’s being inspired by someone, then obsessively trying to be them to the point of disregarding boundaries they are no longer here for u to be able give permission for.

i don’t think kim intends to be a malicious person but i think it’s in the weird vein of assuming u can speak for the dead or disregard them to fit your wants and desires, and the cast and crew of blonde also did so when they claimed marilyn “gave their blessing” to do that weird scene speculating abt an abortion that may never have even occurred.

i don’t like the idea of kim being able to just buy a dead person’s things when none of her loved ones are even alive to be able to consent to it and money is the only objection. it appears like she treats marilyn’s memory as a costume she can easily buy rather than a person. idk but i just would not feel comfortable wearing the clothes of a late person who never knew me or my loved ones personally. i think most uber rich celebs in a sense are incredibly out of touch so i don’t necessarily worship any of them

it could’ve been a moment of innovation along with more respect for marilyn’s memory and contributions to fashion, yk??? i think in general hollywood exploits marilyn and sees her as more of a caricature than a person who went through hardship but came out successful and warm in the end. i also blame ripely for renting it to her, but in general i just found it all very bizarre.

#nutellastains #asks

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multiplefandomsblog · 3 years

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Kazuichi, Byakuya, Gundham, Rantaro, Gonta, Leon, and Toko with an ultimate Broadway actress s/o

Desc; headcanons of kazuichi, byakuya, gundham, rantaro, gonta, leon, toko with an ultimate broadway actress s/o

Warnings; i tried to make this spoiler free, fem!reader, reader uses female pronouns, i guess this takes place at hope’s peak academy? pre-tragedy?? i dont really know about the v3 boys, haven’t finished the game lmao-

Gundham:

◊ He already knows a bunch about Musicals; especially the darker ones.

◊ He thinks your Ultimate is amazing, he loves all your plays.

◊ Neither of you know which between the two of you is more dramatic.

◊ Your dramatic personalities often intertwined, merging the two of you and making you both into one huge drama queen.

◊ It gives everyone a headache as you both scream, “My toe hurts!-” “My king’s toe hurts! Someone bring an ambulance, stat!”

◊ “Someone get the fucking chlorofoam-” “Hiyoko no-”

◊ This is a bad example, but you get my point-

◊ He enjoys Shakespeare and dark love story plays/musicals.

◊ So he would definitely enjoy acting one with you on stage, if you let him.

◊ He’ll somehow incorporate his Dark Devas into the play just for an excuse to bring them with him on-stage.

◊ Once he was playing Romeo and abandoned Juliet to save Cham-P after he ran offstage to eat a sunflower seed someone dropped on the floor.

◊ Fuck Juliet, mans knows his priorities.

◊ He’s kind of a musical theatre nerd, he enjoys discussing the message behind musicals you’ve played.

◊ Throwing in some compliments about how well you perceived the character, and how pretty you looked.

◊ He is always extremely proud and amazed at your ability to sing, dance and act so well all at the same time.

◊ He believes you don’t get enough credit for doing what you do, so he makes sure you know how proud he is of you.

◊ He sometimes quotes Shakespeare or some other dark musical while you two hung out, it was kinda cute seeing him geek out like that.

◊ “As said in ‘The Merry Wives of Windsor’, Better three hours too soon than a minute too late." Gundham quoted, pride laced in his words as he was proud of remembering that. “Gundham... it’s literally 5 am in the morning, the party starts at 12 pm. Go back to sleep.” Gundham blinks and nearly falls asleep where he stood. “Mmkay.”

◊ If he saw you dress up as the witch in Wicked, he would be whipped.

◊ His evil queen? In an evil costume? A dream come true!

◊ He thinks you look absolutely fabulous and praises you a bunch after the show, telling you how pretty you looked while you acted.

Kazuichi

◊ He wouldn’t know much about musical theatre, since he’s more into machines.

◊ But when you told him to come to a play you were going to star in, he jumped at the offer.

◊ 90 minutes of you? He must be the luckiest guy in the world!(Nagito would be proud)

◊ After watching his first play, he decides he is obsessed with musical theatre now, going to all your shows.

◊ He loves all the romance based musicals, he’s a sucker for romance what can he say?

◊ He’d obsess over all your plays, going into a lot of detail about his favourtite parts.

◊ He’s kinda like, your #1 fan.

◊ He has posters of musicals you’ve starred posted around his dorm room, just a bunch of merch of you and all the musicals you starred in.

◊ When you tell him he has a backstage pass because he’s your boyfriend, he is overjoyed.

◊ He actually trained a bit to be one of the backstage crew members.

◊ He learned how to fix your make up during intermissions, fix a loose stitch on your costume, all that good stuff.

◊ Though every time he sees your face up close for make up, he goes speechless.

◊ He wonders every time, how the hell did he get someone like you?

◊ Though his hands are shaking from how nervous he was, he still managed to make you look absolutely amazing.

◊ He’d blast a bunch of musical soundtracks while he works on his machines, screwing on and unscrewing things with a bop.

◊ I can imagine Kazuichi jamming with you in the car. The car moving violently as you two bounced to the rhythm like mad men.

◊ I think he’d get pretty insecure if he saw you with a love interest, he would think that when you two shared a staged kiss or scene, that it was actually full of love and not fake

◊ But when you cheer him up and tell him how much you love him, he realizes he was being silly over nothing.

◊ After watching many many romance musicals, you notice he gets more romantic; most likely mimicking the love interests.

◊ He is still a bit insecure, but if he does more romantic things, you’ll love him right?

◊ You enjoy the silly grand gestures of love, but you try and assure him constantly that you don’t need any of it.

◊ You only need him <3

Rantaro:

◊ w o a h

◊ He’d love the fact that you’re an actress

◊ He thinks it’s so cool like-

◊ constant fanboying after shows

◊ He’s always bringing you flowers once you’re off the stage, showering you with praises and affections

◊ He’s literally so proud of you wtf??

◊ i think he’d be the type to show you off a lot

◊ “Hey you!” He points at a naked passerby(this is an inside joke, i am so sorry), “Guess what? My girlfriend’s a Broadway actress!” “Rantaro stop, people are staring-” “Are they? hEY YOU! YEAH, YOU STARING!! MY GIR-”

◊ if you ever started spitting out hamilton raps, he’d be the one beatboxing in the back ground for you.

◊ “Pshh, packow, psshh psshh, packow!” “How does a bastard, orphan, son of a-”

◊ you two would jam out to musical soundtracks in your dorm, dancing dramatically as you did.

◊ you two kinda become like a duo of musical theatre kids.

◊ if you stood on a table and started belting lyrics, he would hop on and join you

◊ unless it was a solo, he would never steal your thunder.

◊ if you ever felt a bit nervous before a big show, he would assure you that’d you’d do great and tell you how much he believed in you until you felt better.

◊ he’s your charger before and after a big show.

◊ if you felt exhausted from acting and dancing around the stage, he’s always there to give you what you need most.

◊ whether it’s water, food, flowers, or just him and his cuddles, he always has it ready for you.

◊ the most recent musical soundtrack that you’ve played will be stuck in his head.

◊ For example, if you recently played in Hairspray, ‘Mama, I’m a big girl now!’ will be stuck in his head until the next play he watches.

◊ you’d catch him humming it during everything he does,

◊ and it’s actually so fricking adorable.

◊ if you heard him sing a familiar tune, you would hum along with him.

◊ “Hmm, mmwhen I was, just a kid ♪”

◊ Your ears perked up at the familiar tune, slowly you turned around to face him.

◊ “♪....You never let me do just what the older kids did…♪” You joined in quietly, Rantaro whipped his head towards you, a rising smile on his face.

◊ “♪ But lose that laundry list of what you won't allow ♪,” His voice rose slowly in excitement, pointing at you with a big grin across his face.

◊ And at the same time, you both sang obnoxiously loud, as if it was rehearsed, “♪ 'Cause mama, I'm a big girl now! ♪” Running to each other with excitement,

◊ You let out a fit of giggles as Rantaro picked you up, “MY WIFE, PLEASE BE MY WIFE!”

◊ This is how you two met and you can’t tell me otherwise-

Gonta:

◊ Gonta wouldn’t know much about Broadway musicals- which to you, a broadway actress, was unacceptable!

◊ so you made it your mission to get him to watch as many musicals as he possibly can.

◊ You’d tell him to come to all your plays, him excitedly agreeing despite not knowing what a play is.

◊ You’d do extra good knowing that Gonta was in the crowd watching you, wanting to give him the best first experience with musicals.

◊ He’d applaud at the end of every scene, trying to show his support the best he can.

◊ for his first play he watches, he ends up clapping a bit too early.

◊ he cheered and applauded super loud when he saw you on stage, but stopped when he realized everyone was staring at him.

◊ Though it was a bit embarrassing for both you and him, you felt your heart flutter at how his first instinct was to clap for you when you walked in stage.

◊ You’d introduce him to various musicals, beauty and the beast being his favourite.

◊ He definitely starts to obsess over the more ‘gentlemanly’ characters.

◊ his first impressions of the beast were bad; Denying that old lady shelter? How ungentlemanly!!

◊ so when the dude got cursed, he cheered lmao

◊ but as he kept watching, he could see the beast wasn’t too bad.

◊ The beast had some flaws, but he obviously cared for belle, he thought.

◊ Oh but he hated Gaston, he really really hated him.

◊ If you acted with someone who played Gaston(and you as belle), he would have to hold back and not rip his face off every time Gaston said something idiotic or sexist.

◊ He had to keep reminding himself that, that Gaston wasn’t real(and thank god for that, real gaston would’ve been torn to shreds.)

◊ the dancing scene was his favourite part for sure.

◊ He’s sad he doesn’t get to play beast with you, but he still enjoys the scene nonetheless.

◊ something cute I can imagine him doing is surprising you by dressing up in a prince costume from the musical and asking you for a dance.

◊ It’s the cutest thing ever oml-

◊ It’s such a beautiful moment, you two just dancing together in a random room with no care in the world.

◊ Your arms wrapped his extravagant costume and his arms wrapped around your pj’s.

◊ He’s a bit shy to be so close to you, but he tries his best to be confident and as princely as he could so he pushes his anxiety aside.

◊ As his stomach fills with butterflies, he becomes slightly confused and concerned, ‘Did Gonta eat butterflies??’ He slightly panics-

◊ ‘Those poor butterflies!!’

◊ He’d watch a lot of videos on how to ballroom dance in advance for this moment.

◊ He’s actually not that bad!

◊ Well- as long as you dance with your feet on his, so he doesn’t crush your toes.

◊ If you ever did some beauty and the beast scenes for him, he would be so happy.

◊ He’d be even happier if you let him play the beast with you.

◊ He’d be smiling the entire time during a fight/sad/serious practice scene.

◊ *almost gets stabbed* “Haha oh no!”

◊ When you sing during one of the scenes, he kinda just-

◊ becomes a puddle of a gentleman.

◊ his heart melts and disintegrates(haha what) of love for you.

◊ he absolutely loves your voice, and would beg for you to sing him one of the soundtracks from beauty and the beast before bed.

◊ He’s really proud of all your plays, and is extremely happy that you–of all people–are his girlfriend.

Byakuya Togami

◊ In all honesty, he thinks your ultimate isn’t all that great.

◊ But as he watches one of your plays, his mind ultimately(see what i did there?) changes.

◊ He becomes impressed and dazzled from how passionate you look when you act, not noticing how you had him sitting on the edge of his seat.

◊ After watching you act, he literally cannot watch another play unless you are in it, finding it unworthy of his time and money.

◊^^this is before you two got together,

◊ you two got together after you found him in your crowd, applauding like the rest of them with the same bewildered expression on his face.

◊ You confronted him and he attempted to compliment your acting, but he accidentally let his feelings for you slip out instead, “I find you truly captivating- Wait no, I-I meant your plays. Your plays, they are truly captivating.” You watched in amusement as he stumbled with his words, eventually interrupting him with an, “Are you available right now?”

◊ So yeah, eventually you two get together, and good for Togami! Because now he doesn’t have to secretly applaud you as a fan, he can applaud you whenever and as your lover.

◊ After shows, he’d give you a single rose as a congrats or applause (so romantic!)

◊ If you ever decided to be chaotic and start belting out lyrics, he would just sigh and let you finish.

◊ Very rarely, you would catch him humming a small tune of a musical song you sang.

◊ But very very rarely. If you ever catch him and confront him about it, he will deny it completely.

◊ I think he’d probably like the more serious plays, he enjoys the meanings and emotions of them more than the sillier and playful ones.

◊ If he ever watched Mean Girls, he would start to slightly mimic Regina George.

◊ “Byakuya wha-” “Get in peasant, we’re going shopping.”

◊ It’d be lowkey hot when you hear him sass you like Regina George tho-

◊ He’d have more big dick energy after watching Mean Girls, emitting his dominance to everyone.

◊ Makoto during a class trial: “So we know that she was at the scene of the crime, right?” “Shut up.” Byakuya flipped his imaginary long hair as Makoto stares at him in confusion, silence filling the room. “Shut up!” “I didn’t even say anything-”

◊ “The new motive is going to be-!” “Whatever, I’m getting cheese fries a book.” Byakuya sighed, turning on his heels and catwalking away.

◊ ...

◊ “IT’S PUNISHMENT TIME-!” “MONOKUMA WAIT NO-”

Leon

◊ Would go to every one of your shows.

◊ Would act like an absolute mom in the crowd.

◊*holding a video camera* You’re doing great sweetie!.

◊”That’s my girl!”

◊ You’d get embarrassed every time he does that.

◊ Hypes you up when you get nervous before going on stage.

◊ In back stage, he’d praise you and give you a bouquet of flowers.

◊ Where did they come from? When did he have time to get flowers when he was yelling in the crowed??

◊ Helps you rehearse lines even if he has no idea what they’re about.

◊ Will fight anyone that makes mean comments towards you.

◊ Even if it’s just constructive criticism, he will take it as an insult.

◊ “Hey s/o! You did great! Maybe next time you could-”

◊ Leon: “WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY PUNK!? DO YOU KNOW WHO SHE IS?! I HAVE FRICKING ARMS OF STEEL, I WILL-”

◊ Will take every chance to pick you up and call you a queen.

◊ When you guys watch other plays together, he always says how you’d play a better role or that you’d do so much better.

◊ He is pretty jealous of your talent, he has always wanted to be a singer instead of a baseball star, but his ultimate wouldn’t allow that.

◊ So if you let him sing some musical song duets with you, his heart will be so full.

◊ You make him so happy, he almost breaks into cries.

◊ You two of weekly karoake nights, always singing some Heather’s duet together.

◊ One time, you, Sayaka and Leon sang the Candy Store song, Leon being Heather Chandler, Sayaka as Heather Duke, and you as Heather McNamara.

◊ It was... amazing.

◊ Everyone was cheering, clapping and it praising all of you.

◊ You made Leon feel alive, and he really, really loves you for that.

Toko

◊ She loves your ultimate, and fangirls over you a bunch.

◊ She’s amazed at your confidence to go up in stage, knowing she could never do that.

◊ She thinks your confidence is kinda hot, and decides she is in love.

◊ Likes to add a character in her books that are a lot like you, maybe making them a broadway actress-

◊ She thinks about you a lot, sometimes accidentally blurting out how pretty you were in your last performance in front of everybody.

◊ You confronted her for it, and she almost passed out.

◊ “W-w-why d-do you think t-t-that? D-d-do you th-think you’re b-better than m-me or so-something?”

◊ You already know her and her inferiority complex, so you don’t take offence to what she said, simply replying with, “I think you’re really cute.”

◊ Toko goes silent, except for a few “!??!??” noises that came out of her.

◊ “... U-uh, a-are you j-joking, be-because that isn’t f-funny!” She flushes, denying that you complimented her.

◊ “I’m not joking, here’s my number! Call me, kay?” You grinned before turning on your heel.

◊ She’s kinda dumbfounded, did her crush just ask her out??

◊ She denies it hard at first, not believing that you asked her out.

◊ Thus, not calling you.

◊ Well, I mean, she kinda did.

◊ She dialed your number one day, feeling a bit lonely.

◊ But as she heard your morning voice, she squeaked and hung up quickly.

◊ She felt her face turn into a fireball, her thoughts going into overdrive from how attractive your voice sounded.

◊ Your voice, she was attracted to your voice.

◊ The next day, when you ask her about what that call was about, she denies it and calls you stupid.

◊ Sprinting away while she screamed, “I-i-idiot!!”

◊ Acts like an absolute tsundere around you.

◊ You constantly flirt with her, trying to get her to accept a date with you.

◊ Being the dramatic hoe you are, you try and give her a declaration of your love.

◊ Knowing she is the Ultimate Writer, and into poems, you write one for her.

◊ You declared your love during one of your plays, knowing she sat in the crowd somewhere.

◊ You interrupted a scene and jumped off stage, “Toko Fukawa!”

◊ Her head perked up in surprise, eyes widening as she saw you on one knee for her.

◊ “W-what are you d-doing!?” She yelped, moving her legs away from you.

◊ “I am in love with you. Completely and utterly in love with you, everyday when I see you so immersed in writing a book, I believe I am looking at an angel.”

◊ The crowd stared at the both of you, gasps and aws filling the air.

◊ Toko flushed, you watched her while she wrote?

◊ “For every time you’ve told me I was a fool, an idiot, you weren’t wrong. Because I am a fool, a fool in love with you.” You had one had on your chest, looking into her eyes sincerely.

◊ Her eyes glossed over so slightly you couldn’t see, looking around at the crowd before uttering out, “Y-y-you r-really love m-me, h-huh?” Her face contorting into a lopsided smirk, watching as you giggled.

◊ You laughed out, “Absolutely.”

◊ WHY DID THIS TURN INTO A ONESHOT WHAT WHY WHAT WHYYY

note; thank you so much for reading and sorry for the wait!! we tried our best to finish these together, thank you so much for your patience.

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unproduciblesmackdown · 3 years

Note

I just want to say I am absolutely obsessed w all your sincerely me posts. You do such a good job breaking them down and identifying all the little details that go into that scene as well as analyzing what they mean about Jared and Evan separately and ofc their relationship as a whole. Wonderful stuff! Also the compilation of Will doing The Laugh added 10 years to my life so thank u

oh thank you lmao i always enjoy people enjoying those posts, and there’s always so much to dig into with that scene, but i think plenty of times i think people can just sort of let the scene wash over as a “oh, the point of this is just that it’s fun” sort of surface level, very straightforward element of the show, and part of the point surely is that it Is fun, but everything about this song is about evan and jared’s interaction / dynamic / relationship here, and the levity and humor doesn’t mean there’s nothing here to Take Seriously, which is certainly true re: jared in general, rather than him being Jokes Boy with no real feelings or anything (i know i’m already preaching to the choir here with all this “here’s what sincerely me is Really About / what deserves more appreciation re: jared” lmao but the ted talks just Occur)

like, here’s the high point of the whole show for jared, and this moment with evan which is so enjoyable and satisfying that he’s going to keep hanging on to evan’s runaway train in the hopes of getting more of this, particularly in act 2 where that’s truly like 100% of his motivation (vs that in act 1 he’s at least also having some degree of an earnest response to the idea behind tcp along with evan and alana, even if it’s still plenty about doing this With Evan) and like, it’s especially a tragedy re: the album where you Only get jared’s vocals, & have less of his dialogue, so it’s easier to forget he’s there or what his part in this is and that, you know, this wouldn’t be a song if it wasn’t about His And Evan’s relationship, and it’s like 98% the case that “connor” in this song just Is jared

and that yeah like we’ve been recently posting lol how there’s actually really just these endless Layers to this material, a mille feuille of Relationship Analysis that’s getting folded over again and again, where it’s jared and evan for real, but pretending to be other people, and making things up, but trying to make it seem Real, and both taking the other’s feedback into their own writing / working off of the other’s contributions, and evan could be seeing “connor” through the lens of what little he knows about actual connor, or projecting himself onto someone he realizes was similar to him in ways, or being informed about Friendship via his own relationship with / perception of jared, who’s in a similar position here re: what’s behind his Inspiration or Interpretation, which roles are Him, or Evan, or ostensibly connor, and what all projection or wish fulfillment or Interpreting is going on around here, not to mention that these two Real People’s Real Dynamic is unfolding right in front of us and is very directly what’s going Into these created emails (which do, apparently, seem like the record of an amazing friendship according to cynthia and then like, a bunch of other people) because this whole writing session is this collaborative back and forth which wouldn’t be happening in the first place if evan didn’t turn to jared for input/help with anything and if jared didn’t want to be involved in evan’s life and be someone evan Wants to seek out like this and you know, how delighted jared is to have evan’s attention, even if as he starts giving evan what he’s actually after here, evan’s attention seemingly shifts over to “connor,” even though that’s jared.....still not a direct Win for jared there, see: him in the reprise, trying to put a “jared” into the story as well, since evan’s invented relationship with jared!connor isn’t actually translating into evan being closer / more interested in actual jared....what about jared!jared......now i’m even thinking about jared getting that highest note harmony at the end of sincerely me.....pay attention to Him

thinking allllllways about how jared completely invents the chorus himself, expecting evan to approve, and with no input from evan, just that Approval, and it comes on the heels of also-approved writing for connor about Trying To Be More....Nice.....i’ll turn it around, wait and see...........just about to lie down about the fact that this, on top of what evan’s already made up in for forever, is about trying to make this Hopeful story, because that’s what evan wants for himself, and what he thinks cynthia would find comforting re: connor, and here’s jared like, okay, so your Supposed relationship didn’t look that warm & amazing from the outside, but how about if it just had a lot of Potential, like, HMM!!! lots to consider there!! but then Oof at the fact inevitably the story falls apart and so does jared’s hopes for his relationship with evan, even though like, connor died & never had that friendship with evan, & jared is probably still alive & Did have a connection with him & is presumably still out there, able to be talked to, maybe try reinventing and giving things attention, you know

just that Yeah lmao the tl;dr here is people mostly going like wow lol what a fun song, &/or a gay song, & it’s like, well sure but for one thing, all of that is completely due to Jared & his and evan’s dynamic & relationship, but that once you realize that that’s what the song is actually about, there’s just so much to consider and analyze in what might otherwise be overlooked as a song that has nothing to to say besides what’s most straightforwardly there, even though, you know, these are characters who have so much trouble saying what they mean or feel or want, but who are able to Reveal more about themselves in that way through this pretense/artifice which is sort of displacing their usual defense mechanisms. been Thinking About It many times and i’m still pondering aspects of it afresh / having new Insights, and anyone else can be too lmao, lots going on here & lots to say based on what anyone’s experienced / taken note of.....wtaw is of course v different as a song, more outright dramatic & desperate, whereas sincerely me is presented as more comedic & light, and it Is these two friends having some fun here rather than the protagonist having this crisis before homeroom at the start of the show, but here sincerely me is as another song about Trying and Wanting and some hopefulness that has to remain ultimately inconclusive, because connor still died.....lots going on, of course the tone is different b/c jared is a part of it, but people also completely overlook Other moments as jared you know, not having as genuine or deep or real Feelings as evan b/c jared’s front involves acting unbothered and being clever and funny, but obviously that doesn’t mean his feelings aren’t there and there aren’t stakes to them, and just because this song involving jared just seems lighthearted and unserious doesn’t mean that again, things aren’t Real and Important for jared.....augh

and yes lmfao the laugh is very good, i’m glad to compile it for our health

#bemoresochill #deh #kleinsen

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pluto-art · 4 years

Text

Delicates

Type: Fan fiction Length: 2,060 words Genre: Tragedy/Drama Rating: PG Summary: “By now the water was up to their chests, rising steadily second by second. Brain simply stood there, head hanging, one paw pressed against the door window in a vain attempt to connect to the outside world, to let someone know he still existed....”

Musical inspiration: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2vfGTmNznzk

It was 4:15 PM on Whipple Street.

In a corner house, decorated in lace of weeping vines and five-year old Christmas lights, two boys were entrenched in an argument over who’s toy soldier was more courageous. Perhaps their mother would have minded had she not been so preoccupied with a pie left far too long in the oven.

Two blocks down, old Mr. Peterson was at it again -- down on his hands and knees, plucking out weed after weed... in his neighbor’s yard. His neighbor couldn’t stand his obsessive tendencies. Mr. Peterson couldn’t stand the weeds.

Next door, “Mrs. Destiny”, as everyone called her, waited on the curb for a ride that would never come, desperately trying to ignore her husband’s expletives as he yelled at Mr. Peterson to keep the &%@*+ out of his garden.

And across the street, in an unassuming, little yellow abode, a young, auburn-locked girl was playing dolly dress up in her bedroom. It was awfully delightful, pretending that she was the red-haired doll, going on a date with a handsomely dressed male doll named ‘Rudy’.

She sighed. Maybe one day the real Rudy would go out with her. He always made jokes at her expense, but she wasn’t fooled. She knew that, deep down, he really found her irresistible. That’s what made playing pretend so wicked fun -- you could make people do what you really wanted them to do, what you knew they really wanted to say, even if it wasn’t real.

Forcing the dolls into a passionate kiss (perhaps a little more roughly than would be... normal... for a child at play), the girl laughed maniacally. Oh, how it tickled her so! She didn’t even hear the sing-song beeping in the background, signaling the end of the wash cycle....

Not but an hour ago, while everyone else was living their lives on the broken isle of Whipple Street, two little hearts were beating anxiously in a laundry room -- abandoned; forgotten. Said room happened to be in the same yellow house of the auburn-haired girl, in fact, the hearts nestled most uncomfortably in a white washing machine. There were no clothes with them in the wash, of course. It was their bath time, after all, and you didn’t need any clothes with you or on you when you were soaking up. That would just be silly.

Two little hearts. They raced dramatically inside the bodies of their owners -- a couple of lab mice, to be exact. One of them pawed in vain at the machine door, banging on it, slamming on it, desperate to get out. The other was singing. Singing and dancing. What fun it was to have your own private pool, and one that was going to spin around and around soon at that! His heart was not racing from anxiety, but from anticipation. Already he’d started “swimming” around in the little puddle of water forming at the base. He wanted his doggie paddle arms to be ready for when he and his best friend played Marco Polo.

“Look at me, Brain! I’m Shamu!” the taller of the two mice yelled out as he splashed around the bottom of the large, damp basin, spouting out water from his mouth to complete the affect.

“Pinky, would you stop that?!” the other yelled. He was shorter, stubbier, and a bit more... temperamental. The frown he threw angrily towards the cheerful mouse was telling. This was no laughing matter. “We’re going to die if we don’t get out of here! Now, help me find a way out!”

“Oh, Brain. Always so dramatic! You never used to be this huffy....”

“I have every right to be “huffy”, as you so sarcastically put it!” the one called Brain retorted. “That great oaf’s unscrupulous shenanigans may very well have landed us in the butcher’s house this time.”

He circled the basin for what must have been the thousandth time, testing every area, prodding every nook and cranny for a possible way out, but to no avail. The simple thing would have been to push open the door, but, alas, he was too small, too weak, to do so.

Pinky sniffed around at Brain’s last comment, as if hoping to catch a whiff of something succulent. Nothing caught his fancy, however, and his brows creased in response.

“But I don’t smell any meat, Brain....”

“Oh, forget it. Just... help me push open the door.”

“But we already tried that, Brain.”

“I know we did! Let’s just... try it again! Maybe we’ll be able to budge it.”

And so they tried again... and again... and again. Pinky resorted to hurling himself full on at the see-through door, his head banging against the plastic so hard that his entire head reverberated, something he found incredibly funny.

Brain wouldn’t dare succumb to an act so embarrassingly low, especially when he knew it would do absolutely no good whatsoever. But he did bang his fists upon the door, willing someone, anyone, to hear them, even though the obvious was staring him right in his languid face.

It was hopeless. Utterly so. This is how it was going to end. After all the beatings, bruises, and badgering they had endured, he, intelligent future-world-leader that he was, was going to perish in a washing machine. A miser’s death. It was downright mortifying.

“Woooooo! Brain! The whole washer is spinning around and around like a carousel! Ha-ha-ha!”

“That’s just your head, Pinky. Would you stop fooling around and help me get this open?”

Pinky actually stopped for a moment, pausing in his inane antics to sit waist-deep in the slowly rising water. It was cold, but he didn’t mind it. Pools were supposed to be cold.

“But... but, Brain...”

“No buts, Pinky!”

The lankier of the two desperately tried to hold in a snort, albeit not very well.

“Butts.... Ha-ha!!”

“This is no laughing matter, Pinky!! We’re going to die. Can you not understand that?!”

“Well, only if you don’t hold your breath, Brain. You can always swim to the top if you don’t want to stay under the water.”

“There IS no top, Pinky. The entire machine is going to fill up with water and us with it! By the time the water hits the ceiling... that’ll be it.”

“But... it’ll drain, right, Brain?”

“Yes... after half an hour.”

“Oh! Well, that’s not so bad then is it?”

“We won’t last half an hour, Pinky. We can’t hold our breath that long.”

“Oh....”

Pinky’s ears drooped. Suddenly, swimming in a giant, circular, whirly-go-round pool didn’t seem so much fun.

“Well...,” he piped up, ears lifting a little. “What if we took a deeeeeeep breath, and held it for a looooooooong ti-”

“WE CAN’T HOLD OUR BREATH THAT LONG, YOU IMBECILE!! DON’T YOU UNDERSTAND?!? We’re going to DIE!! Zip. That’s it. The end! No more “fun fun silly willy”! And all because I couldn’t take over the world!”

His associate didn’t respond this time. He simply sat there, watching forlornly as the supposed brains of the operation crumbled to pieces.

The little megalomaniac shuffled up to the door, looking out at the opposite wall of the laundry room; at seemingly nothing at all.

“If I’d taken over the world we wouldn’t be here to begin with. Running for our lives. Tortured day in and day out.... We would have been happy.”

“Weren’t you already happy, Brain? Back at the lab?”

“Of course not, Pinky. We were the subject of man’s insatiable desire to belittle those lesser than him and experiment in areas he knew next to nothing about. Always trying to prove our worth; never taken seriously. How can anyone be happy in a situation like that?”

“I was happy, Brain....”

Brain sighed.

“Yes, I know you were, Pinky.”

By now the water was up to their chests, rising steadily second by second. Brain simply stood there, head hanging, one paw pressed against the door window in a vain attempt to connect to the outside world, to let someone know he still existed.

“I just... wanted to make a difference....”

His body lifted a little as he said it. He’d been so engrossed in his conversation he hadn’t even noticed that the buoyancy of the water had already lifted him up off his feet. He and Pinky were slowly, steadily, rising to the top... and the water with them.

The finality of it all.... It frightened him. Wide pink eyes flashed with uncertainty, their gaze trained almost subconsciously on the lanky, floating mouse in front of him. Despite his saccharine tendencies, despite his unfailing proclivity to drive Brain up the wall, there was something about Pinky that spelled... comfort. Warmth. Familiarity.

“Pinky...”

It wasn’t a question. It wasn’t a command. It was a plea. The words escaped his mouth before he could stop them, reaching out, grasping for some sort of... embrace. He didn’t have the guts to stretch forth his hands, and so he did so with his words, in his inflection.

Pinky took hold of them immediately, swimming forward to float next to Brain and encompass him about in a gentle, sincere hug. In one of those rare instances, Brain didn’t push away, or bop him on the head, or tell him to mind his own business. No. He hugged him back.

“It’s all right, Brain. W-We’ll get you your world,” Pinky uttered quietly, petting Brain on the head as he held him close. Brain could only sigh, his face half-buried in Pinky’s chest.

“Pinky.... I never.... I-I wanted to tell you, but I never... said anything before....”

“Wh-.. Said what, Brain?”

“You... you’ve helped me a lot, Pinky.”

“You mean on your plan thingies, Brain?”

“Yes...,” he mumbled, a note of hesitation in his voice. “But... more than just that, my friend.”

Funny, how he could call him a friend in address, yet couldn’t actually muster the strength to say he’d been a friend.

“Pinky... I...”

A slight gasp escaped his lips as a shiver ran up his spine.

“Are you all right, Brain?” asked his cage mate, tightening his grip a little.

Brain buried his face completely in Pinky’s chest, the better to hide his embarrassment.

“I’m scared, Pinky...”

Pinky swallowed... hard. His friend always had a solution for everything; always knew just what to do. If Brain was scared it must be bad, and yet... he himself couldn’t find much reason to quiver.

Ironic. The one who supposedly had all the answers, who always tried to keep himself so composed, was visibly more frightened than his emotional partner. To Pinky, seeing Brain scared was more unsettling than the actual thought of death. Their impending doom troubled him, certainly, but the fact that he could only offer light consolation to someone much more disturbed than he was what truly made him start to fidget. He shivered a little from the cold, and from the agitation that he couldn’t do anything about their precarious situation. In response, to at least have some greater sense of security, he held Brain closer to his chest, and Brain responded in kind.

Only now did Pinky become aware that the washer was two-thirds of the way full. He looked down at his feet, or, rather, where his feet would have been. It was so dark beneath the water he couldn’t see his toes, much less the bottom of the basin. That did scare him a little. What did one do when they were scared?

Brain looked up. He looked up... for Pinky had started whistling.

“Pinky, what are you doing?”

“Whistling, Brain. They say when you whistle you’re not so afraid anymore. Remember, Brain?”

He said it because he’d heard it in a movie once. Brain did not remember the quote, but he did know the tune, for Pinky had sung it. Many times. Had made it up himself, in fact. It was a silly little tune, entirely too positive and nonsensical for Brain’s taste, and yet, despite it all, he found himself whistling along.

And so it was that they spent their last moments together, in the dark confines of a washing machine, whistling. The water continued to rise, the basin started to churn, but if anyone had walked in at that moment and listened very carefully, they might have heard over the more prominent sounds... two little voices in harmony, singing to the tune of “Just Say Narf”....

The End

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Author’s Note: The amount of abuse that went on inside Elmyra’s house was positively despicable, yet it also lends itself to a number of angst prompts. What other torturous shenanigans might have gone on in her abode that we did not see? In one particular episode that was absolutely rife with instances of persecution and humiliation for both mice, she throws them in the washer, albeit for only a brief spell. My response to this was, “Well, what if she left them in there...?”.

Side Notes/Fun Facts:

• The title, “Delicates”, is indicative of what setting Elmyra put the machine on after throwing them in there. Whether she turned it to that herself or it was already on that setting is left unanswered. I just wanted it to be ironic.

• Whipple St. is a street in Burbank, California near Warner Bros. Studios.

• I firmly believe that, even if he was on the verge of death, Brain would still have a difficult time telling Pinky “I love you”.

• The movie Pinky was thinking of is the 1956 film, The King and I (which is my favorite musical).

• The music that goes with this story should actually be properly timed with the length it takes to read it.

#pinky and the brain #fan fiction #I'm so terrible...#tw: major character death #tw: death #ha-ha-ha #murphy...#we both uploaded a one-shot on the same day XD

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wordssometimesfail · 4 years

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An Extremely Belated and Unasked-For Dissection of the HIMYM Finale

So, I recently hung out with a teenage cousin of mine. He told me that he had just discovered How I Met Your Mother on Netflix, and was a couple of episodes away from the series finale. Since the show’s been finished for a while and the internet fallout was so prolific, I asked him if he’d been spoiled for the ending. He said no, but then began insisting that I tell him what happens. 10-15 minutes of begging later, I finally relented and gave him a bullet-point summary of the finale.

He burst out laughing, said I was a bad liar, and asked for the real ending.

Instead of digging in my heels, I shrugged and told him he’d just have to watch it, so, y’know, that’ll be hilarious. But it got me thinking.

I, like everyone else, felt so fucking betrayed by the ending of HIMYM. Because it affected me so much, in fact, I became a bit obsessed with it. I went back to the show not long after the finale aired, just to watch old episodes again. This was partially because it had been a “comfort watch” for me for so long, and partially because I felt a deep-seated need to dissect the show as a whole.

And the thing is, if you rewatch the show with the ending in mind, it is very easy to see that they kept the ending in their heads the entire time. It’s decently, if subtly, foreshadowed. While the characters’ behaviour in the finale is frustrating, it is actually fairly consistent with their established personalities. And the misogynistic subtext of the finale was, unfortunately, a mainstay of the show long before that point. We gave C&C a lot of shit at the time for the ending coming out of nowhere, but outside of a few minor timeline/continuity issues, honestly? It didn’t. The groundwork was laid, and the clues were there all along.

So... why did it feel unearned? Why did almost no one see it coming, even avid, weekly watchers? Why does it sound so much like a bad lie?

I think the main problem came in when the showrunners realized that they were likely not going to be cancelled until the story was done. If you look at the first 4 seasons, you can see where they left themselves lifelines to complete Ted’s story if the plug were preemptively pulled:

Cancelled in Season 1 - Victoria becomes the Mother. Robin and Ted have feelings for one another, but because of timing and circumstance, they never pull the trigger. The audience was (presumably) rooting for them all season, so seeing them end up together years after Victoria’s death is satisfying, and feels like the resolution of years-long tension. You CAN love again after losing a beloved partner! (In hindsight, considering the ending they went with, I kinda wish the series had ended here.)

Cancelled in Season 2 - Robin and Ted break up earlier than they do in-show. Ted meets the Mother at Marshall and Lily’s wedding, which also happens earlier than it does in-show. While in this timeline the audience HAS seen Robin & Ted as a couple and there is less UST to resolve, the toxicity of their relationship has not yet been explored, so seeing them get back together has more of a ��they’re finally ready for each other” feel.

Cancelled in Season 3 or 4 - Stella becomes the Mother. The “Shelter Island” wedding ends in a reception and a honeymoon, and the pacing is drastically altered. Again, Robin & Ted have not really relapsed in this timeline - they broke up and are both miserable about it, regretting what they did but both being too proud to admit as much, until it’s too late and Ted has fallen for someone else. The Barney/Robin hookup in S3 makes this a bit messier, but basically works. The rift caused by their hookup (+ Robin begging Ted not to marry Stella before the ceremony) kicks off the dissolution of the gang, and either...

Barney doesn’t catch feelings in this timeline and that’s the end of it.

Barney doesn’t catch feelings, but they continue a FWB relationship that eventually implodes as Robin realizes she wants what she had with Ted again, she can’t do casual anymore.

Barney does catch feelings, but upon accepting that Robin will always be pining for someone else, “relapses” and goes for the Perfect Month. (This one works whether they do the FWB thing or not.)

Ultimately, the tragedy of poor timing strikes again, and there is still some narrative satisfaction to the Ted/Robin endgame.

Barney’s finale plotline (unplanned daughter changing his life) would’ve worked if the show had ended at any of these points, since Barney’s secret desire for romance & family wasn’t really explicitly explored until later. Marshall & Lily’s finale plotline (ascent into picket-fence bliss at the expense of their beloved status quo) works no matter what, mainly because that was their overarching plotline for the entire show.

While the original ending concept was showing its wear as we approached the end of the actual S4, there was still some time to salvage it after this. The death knell came, not when Barney expressed romantic interest in Robin, but when Robin returned that interest.

And this isn’t about to turn into a screed about how Swarkles should’ve been endgame! Upon rewatching the show, I actually like Swarkles a lot more in theory than I do in practice - the showrunners went out of their way to make the pairing seem great, but act toxic. They have FANTASTIC moments, but those moments are strung together by poor communication, self-destruction, and Robin at her most insufferable (her desperate attempts at getting Barney to like her again in the first half of S8 were... *shudders*). They, much the same as Ted and Robin, are clearly shown to Not Work.

Even so, from the S4 finale onward, the show began to build toward Barney and Robin’s wedding, and that killed the planned ending. I say this began at the end of S4 because, as I said before, it isn’t until Robin explicitly returns Barney’s feelings that Swarkles becomes a threat to Ted/Robin - or, at least, a threat as perceived by the audience. Beyond the fact that this inadvertently turned Swarkles into a fan-favourite pairing, and was a large part of why the ending was poorly-received, it effectively changes the story.

Before canon Robin/Barney, no one other than Ted was really presented as a viable romantic option for Robin. She wasn’t interested in getting serious with anyone else, she didn’t have that electric connection with anyone else. In S1′s “Zip, Zip, Zip”, Robin turns Barney down (despite him offering the casual, fun fling she purports to want) because she’s hung up on Ted. In S3, Robin sleeps with Barney but is uninterested in doing so again, and her attentions are quickly back on Ted (though at this point it’s more unspoken). No matter who Robin hooked up with, even when it was another principal character in the ensemble cast, the primary tension was always between her and Ted. But as soon as she develops real, romantic feelings for Barney, that tension is gone.

And it... never really came back in the same way.

Other than their FWB arrangement in S4′s “Benefits” and a couple of near-misses later, Robin and Ted are not involved again until the end of the series. In fact, in “Benefits”, neither Ted nor Robin are interested in taking their relapse further - they only want casual sex, and are so romantically disinterested in one another that Ted ends the arrangement for Barney’s sake in the same goddamn episode. Though Ted does express that he still has feelings for Robin as early as S5, at no point does she reciprocate in any meaningful way. All of the romantic tension between them after the fact is one-sided. Robin is no longer romantically interested in Ted by approximately the midpoint of Season 4, her attentions are firmly on Barney (and later, other serious romantic interests) by the end of Season 4, and she isn’t interested in Ted again until the final episodes of the show.

The problem here isn’t that Robin had other serious romantic relationships, but that Ted was no longer a serious option in her mind for so much of the show’s run. Starting in S6, the wedding build starts in earnest, meaning that for four whole seasons (S6, S7, S8, and S9), the audience knows that someone is getting married. We’re told that Ted meets the Mother at the wedding, so there’s Zero chance of any of his relationships working out during that 4-season period - the tension is gone from his love-life, because we know that we’re waiting and we know what we’re waiting for. Suddenly, Robin and Barney are the center of the romantic tension of the show, and... Robin hasn’t been interested in Ted for a year. She and Barney are involved in a love quadrangle plot of which Ted is only an observer. By the time it’s confirmed, it’s painfully obvious that Robin is the bride at the foretold wedding, even with Barney’s red-herring girlfriends tossed in the mix. We spend all of Season 8 building up to the wedding. We spend all of Season 9 on the wedding weekend. Barney and Robin actually address the more toxic aspects of their relationship, and resolve to work on them (something Ted and Robin never actually did). We meet the Mother, and spend a season gleefully building up to the Mother meeting Ted.

Remind me... why are we supposed to want Ted and Robin to get together in the end?

There are other issues with the finale that bother me, but are not the focus of this rant as I don’t think they’re the Biggest Problem:

The gang was always going to drift apart, but they seem to stay in frequent contact with one another in flash-forwards that we see earlier in the show. This is... not super supported by the finale. (Ex. If [roughly] kindergarten-age Luke and Penny drew pictures of times they hung out with Aunt Robin, why does the finale imply they barely got to know her until after their mother passed?)

We knew for several seasons that Barney DID want a wife & kids, he was just afraid to admit it or pursue it because he thought he was too far gone. Yet we’re supposed to believe that his “relapse” after his breakup with Robin was him going back to the “real Barney”, and that despite having had 3 meaningful, serious romantic relationships throughout the series, one of which led to a marriage, he could not be arsed to so much as learn the name of the mother of his child. Despite getting 4 seasons of significant character development re: vulnerability, love, and relationships, he is supposed to have learned nothing, and changed not a whit. (NPH’s stance on this, that you may “want” Barney to change but some people don’t change, is... lame, imho, since we didn’t just want Barney to change, we were told and shown that he was actively changing, even if he wasn’t fully there yet.)

On that same note, the fact that Barney didn’t “really” change until his daughter was born implies that things might’ve worked out with Robin if she’d been able to bear him children. Also, implies that his speech to his mom about how Robin means more to him than the possibility of having children was insincere or at least misguided. Gross.

We all know about the Mother = Uterus shit, and while I don’t necessarily dislike the idea of the Mother having been dead all along, the idea that Ted and Robin couldn’t be happy together either until some other woman bore Ted’s children is also gross.

In general, super sexist, and it’s not a twist when you directly contradict what you have told/shown your audience. It’s bad writing.

But with all that said, if the show had ended somewhere between Seasons 1-4 (with minor to major tweaks - *reluctantly salutes*), the planned ending would have been fine. At least, it would’ve been fine with regard to Ted/Robin (and Barney’s character). The tension between them was still there, they still had audience support, and it made sense that, after all that buildup, Ted’s kids would be hoping for some closure to his tumultuous relationship with their Aunt. The problem is that, in the show as written... Ted and Robin do get closure. Ted, just like Tracy, is able to let go of the love that has consumed him and arrested his romantic development for so long, and that is what finally opens him up to meeting the love of his life. His relationship with Robin, even the unrequited mess it became later, not only led him to the Mother, it made him ready for the Mother. When he shuts Robin down in the penultimate episode of the show, Ted closes the door on that chapter of his life. That’s the closure. That’s the resolution of the Ted/Robin tension.

And that’s a huge part of why the ending feels flaccid. They attempt to resurrect a dynamic that no longer holds any narrative weight - Robin pining after Ted in a happy relationship, lamenting what she’s lost, is not only something that we’ve seen before, it’s something we’ve seen Robin get over before. She didn’t realize “too late” what she had with Ted, or what she could have had. She had it, lost it, mourned it... then decided she didn’t want or need it again, and found something new with someone else. They wanted to throw the audience off the scent, but by killing all the tension between their endgame couple, and spending literal years building up relationships between other characters, they destroyed any momentum that that storyline had in the first place. They told a will-they/won’t-they story, and while there were moments where they subtly hinted that “they will”, more than half their text was dedicated to showing their audience, “no they won’t”.

In the Season 2 episode “Something Blue”, Barney hears that Ted and Robin have something to tell everyone. When he begs them to tell him, they give him a story piece by piece detailing what happened. With each part of the story he gets, Barney guesses how it ends. Every time he guesses, Ted smiles wryly and tells him, “the story’s not over”. This implies to Barney and the audience that each of Barney’s guesses is wrong, because he doesn’t have all the information yet.

Except... Barney does correctly guess the end of the story. He guesses that Ted and Robin broke up, Ted smiles wryly, says “the story’s not over”, and proceeds to continue to tell it, only for the story to, in fact, end with his and Robin’s breakup.

This plot is emblematic of the problem with the end of How I Met Your Mother. One of the biggest running themes of the show is that until a story is over, you can’t turn it into a narrative. You don’t have the full picture, you don’t know who the bad or good guy is, you don’t know what story you’re living. Barney doesn’t know what story he’s being told until it’s over - except he does. And because Ted isn’t finished telling the whole story, he implies to Barney that he’s wrong. He throws him off, so he can end the story on his own terms. That’s what the showrunners of HIMYM did, too. They wanted so badly to tell the story as they conceived it, but in order to keep that ending as a twist, they couldn’t telegraph it too obviously. This, to them, meant throwing the audience so far off the scent of their plan that they obscured their plan, that they deflated the central narrative, made it look like there was no way it would happen, because we were being made to look in another direction. No, we clearly didn’t have the whole story. But we had the story that was unfolding before us, one where Robin didn’t want Ted romantically anymore, one where Barney was trying so, so hard to be better, one where Ted needed to let go in order to be happy. And that story doesn’t feel complete when it ends the way that it does, because the ending we got is the end of the story we saw in Season 1.

The story we saw in Season 1 was of a man who hopelessly pined after a woman who loved him back, but wasn’t in a place to reciprocate the way he wanted. Years later, they reconnect and are finally able to make it work. That’s the story that HIMYM thought they were telling. But, because they never got cancelled and got free reign to tell this story for as long as they wanted, and because they didn’t want us to guess that darn twist, they gave us a whole whack of misdirections, plot threads, and character growth that ultimately gets nullified to make way for the ending of the “real” story. There is no momentum carrying us to the finale as planned, because the finale as planned was meant to be the ending to a much shorter tale.

Everything else was just filler.

#how I met your mother #himym #himym finale #himym meta #listen this essay is a rambly mess and I apologize for fucking nothing #this was meant to be my last meta of the decade but I forgot to finish it oops

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nativehueofresolution · 4 years

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i want your thoughts on doctorclara, the eleventh doctor, and i want you to rank the new who companions

doctorclara

when I started shipping it if I did: gather round the fire, lads. search back, if you will, to shortly after jlc was announced as the new companion. matt did an interview where he mentioned the relationship between the doctor and clara was different to the relationship between he and amy because the dynamic with clara was flirtatious and had some romantic tension. i had some mixed feelings about this - i was a little disappointed there was going to be another doctor/companion romance, as i felt this was played out (i’ve since changed my mind on the doctor/companion romance thing quite a bit, as i think it’s really more of a fandom thing than an actual problem with the series but it was how i felt at the time and i digress). however, i was also rather tired of the doctor/river romance as i thought it was poorly handled in s6, and i was intrigued by the idea of seeing eleven in a new romance... but i really didn’t want there to be a love triangle as well. so with all those mixed up thoughts, i went into the snowmen. (asylum of the daleks din’t really make an impression on me until after i watched it again with the context of the clara echoes.) i thought they were pretty cute, but my reluctance to have another doctor/companion romance was still a thing. plus, i began to become more suspicious of how the doctor was treating clara like a mystery to be solved instead of a person, which seems rather manic pixie dream girl to me (it should be said, i don’t think it’s bad writing or marketing i felt this way... i don’t think you should be required to broadcast ahead of time you’re planning to subvert a trope when it appears you’re playing it straight initially. it does make me really sad that apparently a lot of people didn’t stick with enough to see the glorious payoff of the subversion though ). so i continued into the start of 7b with similar feelings of ‘cute but i’m not going to ship it because of x, y, z...’, but with each passing episode it became harder and harder to deny i was reeeeally into their dynamic (in hindsight, it feels so goofy how i made it a Thing i wasn’t going to ship another doctor/companion romance and actively fought against liking it, but whatever, i was in high school and even more pretentious than i am now). the breaking point for me was ‘hide’. dear reader, i MELTED at ‘this isn’t a ghost story, it’s a love story’ (my otp tag for a reason!). it was a full-blown crisis. i knew i was here to stay. with each passing episode, matters escalated. it was the series 7 finale that made me realize i was watching one of the greatest love stories ever. i cannot stress enough how formative clara diving into the doctor’s timesteam was for me. the poetry, the tragedy, the romance. it was a revelation. it was only the tip of the iceberg for what was to come, as we now know, but those are the big turning points in my shipper journey w/ them.

my thoughts: the most epic love story we have ever seen in our mortal lives. somehow got better with every episode. i’m supposed to like other ships after seeing how romance can be done on this level? what a joke. two and a half billion years, y’all. two and a half billion years...

What makes me happy about them: the obvious cute stuff - the lack of personal space, the doctor acting like a schoolboy, clara playing it cool but really being just bad, the fake dating, the banter. from both of their point of view, the other was the one who pursued the relationship; eleven had clara coming onto his cloud, clara had eleven standing outside her window. that is seriously adorable. but then, the deeper stuff like how clara knows him on a fundamental level no one else does. she knew the war doctor hadn’t used the moment yet when ten and eleven didn’t because she can just see him. the doctor makes himself vulnerable to her willingly, even with all the barriers he puts up every day of his life. he cries in front of her, he takes her hand, he shows her unconditional love even when she acts cruelly. she’s so afraid to lose control but when she does in the worst way, he lets her know that could never make a difference. she’s shaped his life in so many ways from being a voice his head to always being just out of sight watching his back. he listens to her and she changes his world, she saves his world. they are fundamental equals despite being so different.

What makes me sad about them: two and a half BILLION years. you look at me and you can’t see me. twelve strumming his guitar while clara goes into her tardis. clara whispering please don’t change and trying to take his hand. but he never sees me... almost never. will you come away with me. if you love me in any way, you’ll come back. she might meet someone she can’t bear to lose. clara, my clara. we’ve already had enough bad timing. stay with me... nah. let me save you. secrets keep us safe--we aren’t SAFE. people like you and me, we should say things to one another. listen, i could go all night.

things done in fanfic that annoys me: i don’t know there’s a specific pattern that jumps out? there are definitely times i’m like this is a mess but i don’t know there’s a clear trend that jumps out. back when s12 started there were fics that made the doctor more dark and dominant than he was, but thankfully those died out as his character developed more. i would definitely say denying or undercutting danny’s significance to clara is an issue, although unfortunately it isn’t limited to whouffle fic. but clara would not be who she is if she didn’t know and love danny pink, and that is important.

things I look for in fanfic: it can vary quite a bit depending on my mood. they are the entire spectrum of my romance likes lol. i love the angst of clara’s echoes and the possible implications of that, series 7b attraction/mistrust, series 8 pining, and all that good old fashioned memory erasing fallout. i also love domestic fluff and fix its where they end up together again or the doctor finds out about clara being the voice from his youth. i love seeing different doctors w clara, i love post episode fics where they just react to everything they went through with one another. i’m versatile!

Who I’d be comfortable them ending up with, if not each other: to me, they are like the definition of soulmates. i can and do ship them with other people, but for me it will always be the doctor for clara and clara for the doctor at the end. ‘ending up with’ is sort of a loose concept given they’re both close to immortal. i think they will both live and love with other people, just as they loved other people before they properly met. but their love saved worlds, lasted billions of years, and was so universe altering the time lords had a prophecy about them ages upon ages ago. that is some some last of the real ones, ‘ultra kind of love you never walk away from’ right there.

My happily ever after for them: in my head, the doctor and clara meet again properly after a few centuries apart and probably a regeneration or two. their distance and new perspective only causes them to reaffirm their love and travel the universe together - sometimes splitting up when there’s a need but always ‘together’ - until they both eventually face their ravens.

who is the big spoon/little spoon: usually the doctor is the big spoon and clara is the little spoon, but sometimes they will change it up if it is a specific time clara is trying to help the doctor feel comforted and secure.

what is their favorite non-sexual activity: not to state the obvious, but traveling in space and time

eleven

How I feel about this character: he is my favorite doctor. more than any of the other doctors, i truly believe that he is ancient and operates on a different morality plane than a typical human would understand. he has so many layers to him that i find interesting: the contrast of his childish behavior and being older than we can conceive. the silver of ice in his heart - i love that; ten and nine ran hot, but eleven ran cold and i found that darkness that allowed him to lock out old amy or sneer that humans weren’t capable of playing games with him to be much scarier and much more fascinating. i love that he keenly feels the weight of his name, his promise. i love his obsession with goofy things like fezzes and his flappy hands. i love how selfish and selfless he is. he is THE doctor to me and i love him.

All the people I ship romantically with this character: see ABOVE. there are a couple other characters i ship the doctor as a whole with, but speaking specifically of eleven, i do have a soft spot for eleven/rose - moreso than almost any other doctor/rose combination for some strange reason. i also feel like the eleven/amy relationship sort of goes beyond labels, but it is one of my very favorite relationships and there is certainly a sense in which it is romantic.

My non-romantic OTP for this character: the doctor and amy are one of my very favorite relationship, and even with my caveat above, i would ultimately think of them not as a couple, so i think they go here. i literally have a 20 page word doc in my computer that’s just me doing second rate analysis of their relationship episode by episode. that potent mixture of idealization/devotion/disillusionment/codependence/hope/not being able to let go yet being unable to move on... it gets me.

My unpopular opinion about this character: who knows what popular opinions are in the who fandom anymore, but back when eleven’s era was airing there was a common criticism that he lost the moral compass nine/ten had, especially w/ the no killing thing. i find this to be a phenomenally stupid reading and one with a selective memory. in fact, while eleven does break his own rules and kill people, just like nine and ten do, i feel he’s certainly held far more accountable for when he does than they ever were.

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon: i wish his manipulative behavior towards the people he loves would have been dealt with more. to a certain degree, i think that trait will always be present in the doctor and is kind of necessary for the show as a whole so i understand not fully resolving it, but i feel like he lies and manipulates as much in his last episode as much as his first without any real growth. when you look at how this was handled with twelve, where he really got called out on it and started to grow... it’s kind of unsatisfying how eleven just stayed static in that regard

my OTP: take a wild guess

my cross over ship: none i can immediately think of....

a headcanon fact: while he needs less sleep than a human, the doctor likes to pretend he doesn’t need to sleep at all which often leads to him finally dozing off in bizarre places/times (doing a tardis repair he insists he needs to be upside down for). rory is very concerned but doesn’t know enough about time lord biology to confront him.

ranking nuwho companions (s1-s10, as i’m not caught up and don’t want to reflect on the newest companions until i’ve seen all that’s available, and only doing the major hitters)

clara oswald, who i must shockingly reveal is one of my favorite characters ever in anything.

martha jones, who we never deserved.

amy pond, who means the world to me because of our shared mental health issues.

bill potts, who is so full of kindness, wonder, and joy.

donna noble, who is bursting with life and humor and had a horrible, horrible ending.

rose tyler, who would be higher on this list if i were just looking at series one but whose character arc i felt got significantly derailed the longer she stayed on the show.

#ta #you know what you were unleashing #long posts for ts #dumbledorably #still doing these if anyone likes to ask

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dalekofchaos · 5 years

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Biggest wasted potential in Naruto

Killing off Zabuza and Haku. Like come on. Zabuza could’ve either went on to become a Jonin at Konoha and fought against Kisame, or if Haku were alive. Zabuza and Haku would’ve eventually become powerful enough to pull a successful coup and otherthrow Obito’s puppet and Zabuza would become Mizukage with Haku by his side. Naruto could’ve inspired to turn the Hidden Mist into being better, Naruto did get to Zabuza’s heart so it is possible, it worked for Gaara and it damn well could’ve worked with Zabuza. And we could have Zabuza and Haku taking on the entire Swordsmen of the hidden Mist. We could’ve also gotten Haku finding out more about his clan and becoming more powerful in his abilities. We could’ve seen feats in his powers far more powerful than the demon ice mirrors.

The Hyuga Clan. Building up the Hyuga Clan as one of the strongest clans in the first half and barely using them to the point where they are underdeveloped and barely acknowledge the Byakugan. Remember when the Byakugan was supposed to be more powerful than the sharingan (and the sharingan was originally derived from the byakugan)? Such a powerful blood trait that the main branch of the clan would enslave the side branches to keep it safe? Yeah that went out the window pretty quickly.

The White Fang. Kakashi's father who is even more famous and powerfull than Kakashi. Who is at least famous as The Sannin. The White Fang of Konoha. There are no games, no Gaiden, movie or anything about him. We could’ve seen The White Fang brought back to fight against Kakashi and Kakashi could’ve been brought closure. It’s a damn shame.

Shino. Shino Aburame was the strongest Genin and he was the most myterious one and one the coolest among all Genins. He was as smart as Shikimaru, skilled as Sasuke and resilient as Neji. He is from one of the noble clans of Konohagakure and Clan Leader's son. After shippuden he completely ignored and only seeing in filler episodes. Even Akamaru and Tonton has more screen time than Shino. And making Shino a Chunnin as Class Teacher at the end? Shino should be a wanderer, a researcher, a S-Class Jonin as sensor or a duty at central intelligence.

The fact that we never learn anything about Konohamaru’s parents. Could they have just been Jonin or Anbu or Ninjas who died in the Kyuubi attack? We will never know.

Kurenai. Youngest of the 4 Leader Jonin of Konoha. Even at her young age she is stated as roughly equal to other senseis’ such as Gai, Kakashi and Asuma. Her genjutsu was so powerful, she was good enough to stunt instantly a guy like Kisame with her fundamental genjutsu and also she was good at breaking Itachi's genjutsu by her own. Where would this go from here? Who from the Akatsuki will she face? What role will she play in the war? And she’s reduced to Asuma’s love interest and made pregnant for the rest of the series. We don’t even see if she was replaced and see if Team 8 even got a new Sensei. We don’t even see Kurenai interact with Hinata, Kiba or Shino. Literally no interaction between any of her students. Kurenai deserved so much better.

Tenten. Tenten was the only one not interested in boys. Tenten is the only girl who has a big ideal goal. And that is "Becoming a great kunoichi just like her role model Great Sannin Tsunade" Compared to Sakura, Ino, Temari and Karin, Tenten was the only Kunoichi who got the least amount of screen time. And why is that? Kishimoto didn't wanna write any self-reliant teenage girl.

Uzumaki Clan. Not having Naruto use his clan’s powerful sealing abilities in the war. Hell, we REALLY could’ve learned more about the Uzumaki Clan from Karin. Karin would have been a great opportunity to be the one who lets us know what the clan was really like. This could’ve made Sasukarin work cause both clans being restored really would’ve worked. Like we have both Nagato and Karin and we never learn anything about the Clan from either of them. How do you not use your main character’s clan??? Hell, Naruto could’ve used what he inherited from Kushina to seal away Madara before Madara could possess Obito to bring him back.

Hinata. If there was a picture in front of the definition of wasted—Hinata would be there. Hinata started to become one of my favorites during her fight with Neji. Kishimoto never really utilized Hinata Hyuga in any real manner. The only times she stood out was when the plot needed advancement. Usually, during a high intense, emotional situation. Hinata outside of extreme life or death moments…is static and seemingly inconsequential. Her existance never affected anything, whether she was living or dead…it wouldn’t of changed a thing. Hinata’s popularity rose, because of her love and obsession w/ the main character. She became a “underdog” in theory, because here’s this shy girl, disowned by her clan, and basically kicked to the curb like yesterdays garbage. The cousin that was raised to protect her—HATED—her and she was cute, pathetic, and terribly shy. Quite a few fans gravitated towards this character, because of these events. The terrible tragedy that was Hinata Hyuga evoked pity, the fulfillment of her dreams, and fans who in some cases sympathized or viewed shades of themselves in this shy gal. Unfortunately, as a by-product…most fans simultaneously used the tragic backdrop and her position of birth right in order to create this image of a “Tragic Princess”. Hinata was elevated not because of merit or depth, but for representing a figure that could be shaped into something that resembled very little of her original form. Hinata lost any potential real development or sovereignty to become one half of a pair, a princess, and a damsal in distress. She became a caricature. It’s rare to see fan art portraying her as the Hyuga head, a keen leader in her own right or as a mature woman, NOT infantilized or glorified for being somebodies or Naruto’s waifu. Most of this characters identity is tied and overshadowed by her love interest. Hinata is a dreamy character that looses tremendous glamour when gazed at objectively. To be truthful, Hinata never really had an identity, nor was she allowed to naturally build up one on her own. Kishimoto undercut her severely in that department. Hinata could’ve been something fantastic! She could’ve grown to be discarded by her clan and viewed as the lesser child, to growing to improving herself and become equals with Neji and grow to move past her crush/obsession with Naruto to both Neji and Hinata becoming the heads of their respective branches and changing the Hyuga Clan together. Hinata, in my opinion was never a strong character physically. Sure she could fight to defend herself, and she had the Byakugan. Yet despite that…she’s just one of many Hyuga. Hinata isn’t nor was she ever a spectacular fighter in her own right. Quite often she was overwhelmed and fatigued easily. In battle she failed, but if given a real voice. She could’ve been influential and endearing in a completely different way. This girl is the odd one out in her family, weak and soft, but despite all of that….Hinata has heart. The traits she expressed, while rarely separated from “N-Naruto-kun” is that of hesitancy, shyness, ineptitude, a rare softness that could easily be kind, but also bloom into complete indifference, selfishness and a one track mind. Hinata is caring until she goes cold. Specific traits like her indifference, selfishness, and complete apathy to another’s situation seem to stem from general Hyuga decorum and behavior. To be apart of such a clan…these traits would be needed to endure the cruelty, tragedies, and fear that hide behind the poshly royal exterior. The Hyuga are about saving face and Hinata is a pro at hiding her own. I think, Kishimoto could’ve shown Hinata at war w/ herself, her clan and the life expected of her in general. She’d be someone w/ an active inner life, but pretty much a dead fish on the outside. The fans would’ve seen a shy female stalking a boy in order to relieve herself of her woes and worries. To forget for a while. Naruto w/o ever knowing it could’ve been a catalyst for a far stronger transformation w/ future implications. We should’ve seen her gradually change shyness into reserve, hesitancy into patience, unprotected softness into emotional strength, and her indifference into engagement. This character could’ve been a nice counter-balance to the constant might makes right scenarios. Hinata shown doing anything other than stalking, obsessing, and worrying over Naruto would’ve been amazing. I’d rather see her slowly, but surely altering the views of the clan by maturely engaging w/ them in a holistic way. By showing having a heart and being aware of others in a intimate nature was not weakness. She’d develop tenacity, a spine and voice her concerns gradually. Linking and working w/ Neji who serves as a teacher in more ways than one, but who also becomes a student, because Hinata in her peculiar way teaches him a thing or two. To see them both mingle and wind themselves through the complexities of the Hyuga clan. Working to attempt change. To simply see Hinata become a better sister. One who shows Hanabi through self sacrifice and unconditional love a different way. Hanabi may detest Hinata’s weakness, because she’s been brought up the traditional Hyuga way. Or even flashbacks of Hinata’s mother…who I feel she’d miss dearly and would’ve had a closer relationship to. Someone which whom she truly felt safe and cherished by. To portray generational cycles through a feminine scope. One of submission, bondage and freedom. “The Hyuga women are like water…we take the shape of whatever container we’re put into.” —Quote from Lady Hyuga, Hinata’s mother Lastly, in fanfiction, Hinata is actually portrayed in ways she should’ve been. For those writers who truly cared for THE CHARACTER and not the waifu…I give props. They present a slow to smile, pearly-lilac eyed women who’s reserved, a wallflower and damn impressive. Hinata always seems to carry a hint of bittersweetness. People ruined all of her wonderful possibilities by keeping her static and a princess. Hinata thrives in difficult times. She blooms when rough roads are ahead and she’s sacrificial….even to her own detriment. In order for her to move on…to become something golden…Hinata has to give up on certain things. This is often true in well written stories concerning her. The obsession for Naruto is only meant to last to a point. Just enough to begin to reveal who Hinata Hyuga really is. To stay pass it’s welcome—means she’ll be forgotten once again…even if the dream unfolded and she got her wish…as canon portrays. Little Hinata Hyuga will be ignored, unknown, and relegated to washing dishes and dusting shelves; as someone else lives out their dreams at her expense.

Lee and Neji being shafted and Neji being killed to justify a ship. The fact we never got to see Sasuke and Neji fight in either the Chunin Exams or in Shippuden is downright insulting. Rock Lee is one of the greatest characters in Naruto, period. He has a great origin story, great setting, very emotional and passionate bonds with others. He had the best fights against Gaara and Kimmimaru and kicked Sasuke’s sorry ass. Then, Kishimoto decided not to develop anyone who didn’t have a Sharingan, not on Team 7 or Formation Ino–Shika–Chō. We never able to see Rock Lee's development his rough journey to fullfil his ninja way. We don’t even get to see a friendly match between Lee and Neji to show that Lee has FINALLY surpassed his rival or even show Lee fight Sasuke. Such a shame that a fan favorite was wasted. And, no I am not done bitching about Neji. Neji was a perfect candidate for who is gonna build up new Konoha Village and Shibobi System with Naruto as the head of Hyuga Clan. Cuz this is the deal between that promised by 'em long way ago. Neji is the only prodigy type character who died so easily. He has a great history and origin story and has a great bond with Naruto. Naruto once said "when ım gonna become hokage ım gonna chance Hyuga and ım gonna get rid off from family branches and you will be the leader of hyuga" That was the promise of the series. Neji stated even better prodigy than Sasuke. Neji was the most potentially skilled person and Neji had a real bond and story with protagonist. And we never able to saw his development. He never faced with Akatsuki....seriously? His dad came back, but didn’t have any scene with his son???? We could’ve even had Neji and Lee teaming up against Sasuke. Lee and Neji deserved so much better.

Dosu. He was so damn cool and it was such a waste that he was killed off so soon. He could’ve been by Orochimaru and Kabuto’s side. You could’ve even had Dosu become so damn powerful enough that Dosu replaces Kimmimaru as part of the Sound 5. Hell, just keep Team Dosu alive. Dosu, Zaku and Kin should have lived and become apart of Team Hebi/Taka with Sasuke, Karin, and Jugo(in the case of Zabuza living, Suigetsu is not needed) Zaku could’ve gotten past his ego and learn to use his abilities better. Kin could have been developed more and improve her abilities and Dosu could’ve been an untapped powder keg. Team Dosu could’ve been Sasuke’s strongest allies.

Orochimaru. Orochimaru was built up as the big bad of the series. He betrayed his village and friends for knowledge of all jutsu and immortality. He killed Sarutobi and Gaara’s father and finally he had Sasuke. And Shippuden retconned him into a punching bag for Sasuke. He never reached to his potential or never able to show how much he developed in terms of jutsus and power after killing Sarutobi, I honestly would’ve preferred if Orochimaru was successful in taking Sasuke’s body. It could work. if Sasuke was not strong enough to over power the ritual. what would have happened is Orochimaru would've granted Sasuke his one wish to kill Itachi and Sasuke's strong intentions and desires would have remained as part of Orochimaru's subconscious while he was in control of his body. Plus Sasuke was willing to do this if he was able to see Itachi die. Orochimaru already was a pretty powerful ninja and having the Sharingan definitely would have helped. To unlock Mangekyo he might have had to kill Kabuto which I don't have a problem with. And Kabuto would have no problem with since he wanted his master to succeed. Orochimaru would have mastered Sage Mode(snake sage mode would look awesome tbh), and probably unlocked the Rinnegan (he had enough DNA of the First Hokage to Edo Tensei him after all) The Akatsuki view this news very problematic. Orochimaru was already a problem but with confirmation that he succeeded makes him as much as priority as capturing the tailed beasts. Naruto would have asked Tsunade to order a team to hunt Orochimaru down for him to pay for pretty much killing Sasuke and knowing Jiriya wanting to keep a close eye on Orochimaru and wanting to stop him, he would put investigating Pein on hold and join Naruto. Eventually I think Naruto and Itachi would form an alliance and together fight Orochimaru. I believe Itachi knows that if he could get Orochimaru's chakara low enough, he could force his brother out and use Susano to seal Orochimaru. Then Sasuke would kill his brother.

#Naruto #Momochi Zabuza #Yuki Haku #Hyuga Clan #Hyuga Neji #Hyuga Hinata #Rock Lee #Uzumaki Naruto #Uzumaki Clan #Tenten #Yuhi Kurenai #Konohamaru #Aburame Shino #Hatake Sakumo #Orochimaru #Kinuta Dosu #Dosu Kinuta

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shrikeofficial · 4 years

Note

📌✨🏳️‍🌈🎥💎

📌 how did you find your hyperfixation?

TUC: I actually found out about tuc after finishing the hunger games trilogy when I was about 10 or 11. I loved that trilogy so I was just HUNGRY for more good books and I really hoped the author had written other series that could hook me. Of course I saw tuc was ~for kids~ and had giant talking animals so I almost didn’t give it a chance but um. IM SO FUCKING GLAD I DID. Bc this series is damn BRILLIANT. Wouldn’t unread it for anything!!! I love it so so much.

Hanako: just found it recently actually!!! Right after episode 1 aired. I saw the anime’s art style and was immediately enraptured. Decided I would watch it even if the story ended up sucking bc the art was so gorgeous (and hanako’s seiyuu is megumi ogata). TURNS OUT I love aidairo’s art style even more than the anime’s (but they’re both amazing don’t get me wrong) also the story is SSOOO GREAT AND THE CHARACTERS ARE AWESOME SO I WAS IN FOR SUCH A TREAT. I’m so lucky....

✨ what draws you towards your hyperfixation? what is interesting about it?

TUC: there are honestly so many things I love about TUC. The characters are so lovable and dynamic. The plot is engaging and paced well. The story integrates lots of dark, important and deep themes while also being innocent enough to be marketed as a children’s book. You WILL be shocked at how dark it gets, I will just let u know. It’s so memorable and really leaves a unique feeling in your mind. The ending is one that I can never quite forget. But I think it really ended perfectly for the point it was trying to get across. (As painful as it is.) I could go on and on. I love the blurred line between “good” and “evil” and the very ambiguous characters on each side. Who is the REAL villain of TUc? Well I have my own theories, but you’ll just have to read it and find out for yourself. (Also, I love the progression of Gregor and Luxa’s relationship. It is so sweet and soft and pure and very comforting for me, and has been since I read the books when I was 10. ;W; ❤️)

Hanako: (I was first drawn to this series by the art, so I gotta just say that I am OBSESSED with aidairo’s art style.)

But I stayed for characters I absolutely adore, (all of the main four are my kids and I would do anything for them), and a really fun plot full of wacky hijinks, some time travel, fun comedy. And of course, (my favorite), an overlying plot of darkness, murder, and tragedy. I love the mystery of hanako and his past. The way they tease u with little hints and set up foreshadowing of future chapters and revelations is just //chef’s kiss// I love the way comedy is integrated through the story, so while it gets progressively darker, you can still have brief moments of reprieve and humor. Overall I find myself tearing up in one way or another almost every chapter. It really hits hard, honestly.

🎥 do you have any favorite scenes from your hyperfixation?

God I’ve got so many favorites I don’t even know how to choose. Also a lot of them are spoilers. So I’ll just try to pick moments from early on (like book 1 of tuc) to minimize that

TUC: Luxa’s entrance scene. Including getting out-smarted by a 2 year old.

When Luxa drinks the root beer “weapon”

Every instance of Gregor taunting Henry and Luxa. (I love him so much? He’s so realistic. I love that he has such a gentle heart but he WILL NOT let u mess with his friends and family. He can and will snark at u with deadly precision)

Honestly like every scene with Luxa in it. Luxa and Gregor slowly learning more about each other and coming to an understanding of each other’s differences? I.... love them so much ;;;

Speaking of, the scene where Luxa opens up about her trauma and Gregor thinks “he forgave her for everything in that moment. He even forgot why he needed to forgive her.” Why is he such a good boy? Anyway I’d do anything for them,

Hanako: hhdndndndmndhd like every moment? Uhhhh I love all of the moments when Hanako opens up about himself/his feelings. We need more of them.

Can’t say that one bc spoilers.... OR THAT ONE.... OKAY I GIVE UP JUST READ THE MANGA PLEASE

Also I love... hananene so like all their interactions make me tear up.

🏳‍🌈 do you have any headcanons (lgbt, race, neuro, etc) that are important to you?

TUC: I have SO MANY headcanons. But I’ll stick to a few. I love African American Gregor. I’ve also seen mixed race hcs for Gregor which are great too. Also Luxa has ADHD. I’m certain of this but I forgot what made me so certain. Just trust me on this tho

Hanako: My autistic Hanako hc is so important to me omg.... like I would go down with this hc

I have LOTS of headcanons ttho. About random things like Gregor’s amateur family band, Luxa’s hatred of airplanes, all Gregor’s overland friends infuriating Luxa with Rick rolls, and more

💎 are there any fun facts or trivia that you would like to share?

A lot of the ones I can think of have spoilers so I might skip out DJDNDNNDNCJC BUT

TUC: Luxa’s name comes from the word “lux” meaning “light” which is so coincidental bc she’s the light of my life. (Yeah I’ve made this joke like 20 times but it still hits for real)

Bats run into each other a lot, also, so u can just imagine Gregor and friends constantly crashing into other bats.

I lowkey wanted to call Chillie (stray cat I’m feeding) “ripred” but Chillie doesn’t have a very ripred-like personality tbh. I one day wanna have cats named Ripred and Twitchtip

Hanako: I can’t really think of any off the top of my head that aren’t spoilers IM SORRY. But my friend and I did come up with a whole warrior cats AU for hanako-kun so there’s a fun fact for u. Yeah we’re the most valid tbh

#spoilers #just in case!!!!#shrike shrieks #ask shrikey #ask games #thank u udonnn this saved me while i was on the plane

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lookbluesoup · 5 years

Note

Since you said so in your kiss prompt list... how about 47 and make it NSFW?

Nora Ronan/Some Poor Fool …out of spite

Fic under the cut! This one ended up being more angst than steamy blush fuel, but I hope you like it! ;w; I really enjoyed the opportunity to explore how Nora would cope with losing Nate if their roles were reversed 😎

“So uh, you must be new around here. I’ve never seen y’before.”

Nora gave him a blossoming smile that didn’t reach her eyes. He failed to notice the falsity of it as she lied, “That’s right. New in town.”

In truth Nora had seen more of this damn ballpark than she ever needed or wanted to on behalf Nate. She could probably traverse it blind. His obsession with the sport, particularly as the Sox clawed their way into the lead of a World Series race, could not be understated. But of course, all this had been very different, then. A real dugout instead of a (not) cleverly named moonshine distillery.

“Yeah, that’s what I figured.” The other patron - Ed, or something - gave a rather pathetic looking smolder, “I woulda remembered someone with, well, your kinda figure.”

“Mmhmmm.” Nora sipped vodka from her glass, half-lidded eyes fixated on her conversation partner. He didn’t have the look of a man who knew too much about women. That was alright. He was eager to please. A pliable companion could chase the loneliness away just fine. She didn’t need anything more than a night to pretend.

“What’s a dame like you doin’ here alone anyway, huh? Seems a real shame.”

Her gut twisted, prompting Nora to stop sipping and down the rest of her cup instead. Burn it out. “My man abandoned me.” She flouted back, “All alone out here, without even a goodbye. So much for promises of forever, hm?”

Ed scowled, looking a little too far south as he made his condolences, “That’s a crime, Miss. It truly is.”

She smiled again.

He was a fool, to be sure. Pretty, though. And clean. The cleanliness alone was almost enough. Nora was tired of sleeping in a cold bed with nothing but empty space to reach for in the night. If that meant picking up a stranger at a bar in some rundown shantytown, so be it. Wasn’t like she had anyone else, anymore.

“You deserve a fella who’ll treat you right.” Ed continued his visual expedition.

“That’s awful sweet of you to say, Honey.” Honey. She grimaced. It was just a word now. Didn’t have any meaning.

Ed smirked. He’d black hair and pale eyes. If she was being honest, that was probably the main reason she’d picked him out of the melancholy drunks collected in the Dugout. Only a dusty black, cut short, greying out - not at all as soft looking as Nate’s. And roving eyes without any warmth to them. Her husband’s blue-hazel always reminded her of the sea at sunrise. Ed’s were just cloudy glass.

No. He wasn’t strong or safe or brave or anything at all to be proud of. Just a prop, a plastic imitation of the man who left her behind in this godforsaken wasteland.

They bantered for a while. By his third beer her potential liaison was doing a poor job of hiding his interest, so Nora switched tactics from coy to - well, something even a sober bystander could’ve understood to mean her intentions for the night. Subtlety was a lost art on Ed. Not much of a game.

Still, she reminded herself, that wasn’t the point.

The main downside was that it gave her time to dwell on other things between their exchanges of increasingly implicative banter. Like Nate. And what a fool he’d been. And how she hated him.

You didn’t have to die. Anger flared through her, callous and indiscriminate in its fury. Growing up, she always loved the great Tragedies of Old World literature. Naive mortals who challenged Fate and were left wanting in ruin. Realizing she’d married one of them didn’t carry the same appeal.

Don’t expect me to drag on the rest of my life mourning you. Her fingers tightened around her glass. Don’t expect me to waste one more minute being lonely because you couldn’t show a shred of sense.

Stupid man. Stupid soldier. What had he thought? He’d fend Shaun’s kidnappers off all by himself? No. He hadn’t thought at all about what it would mean when she had to bury him. Always running off to the next battle.

He’d promised not to leave her. And in the end, she was alone. You liar. She was only returning the favor.

The bartender refilled her drink and Nora went to down it immediately - glad that, if nothing else, they didn’t skimp on alcohol in the apocalypse. She couldn’t say exactly what happened next. The glass never met her mouth. It slipped from her hand and shattered on the floor, contents spilling across her lap.

“Jesus.” She snapped.

“Slow it down there, Baby.” Ed chuckled, “Think you’ve had enough?”

Hardly. But she grinned playfully. Might as well make the most of the opportunity presented. “God, I’m such a clutz. Would you, ah-” Nora drifted off, batting her eyes at him implicatively, “… Maybe come out back, and help me clean up?”

Ed’s brows narrowed as her meaning dawned on him. He smirked, “Wouldn’t think to leave a lady in such dire straits.”

They barely made it out the door before Ed pressed her to the wall in a shadowed corner of the alley. He clutched at her with clumsy drunken fervor. And his fingers weren’t practiced or gentle like Nate’s had been, but it was nice to feel wanted.

Quickly Ed slithered up her skirt. Hungry. Groping. The unwelcome memory of a more nervous first touch needled at her mind. And a moonlit night. And warm summer air, full of fireflies.

With a hiss she yanked Ed’s mouth up to hers to kiss him, hard. Her teeth pried his lips, the way Nate had always loved so much. Ed let out a sloppy groan. “You like that?” She whispered, pressing up against him so he could get the full sense of her figure, once reserved for a single treacherous lover, “Show me how a real man treats a woman.”

Those wide eyes blared in her mind, and the way Nate had smiled on their wedding night. He always had the brightest smile, and God she missed it.

Pain sprouted from her chest as Ed slobbered down her neck and he stopped prying at her underclothes long enough to rip the buttons down her dress. As if falling from a great height, Nora was thrown by the sickening realization that she wasn’t enjoying a single moment of his advances.

He already had her top halfway off and more of her lay exposed in the cold than was comfortable. Any passers-by would know exactly what sort of mischief they were up to. She grasped wildly for the sense of reckless devilry that’d possessed her in the bar, for the blistering spite towards Nate that’d sustained her every motivation up to this moment.

Damn you Nathaniel Ronan. I waited for you, all those years I waited for you. And he’d left her. He was gone. He wasn’t coming back. His memory couldn’t warm her bed. It couldn’t soothe the ache in her chest. There was nothing left of their vows except broken glass. Shattered to pieces.

To hell with our vows.

“To hell with you.” The angry sob pealed out.

“Unh?” Ed’s rhythm faltered.

Tears bled down her cheeks as she recoiled, “Get off.” And when he hesitated too long, she shoved. Hard. “I said get off! Scram. We’re done.”

“Damn, alright, fine!” Ed slurred with aggravation. And then muttered less savory retorts regarding her nature under his breath as he stumbled back to the bar.

“Oh yeah? Come back and say that to my face, asshole!” she snarled, and Ed lurched quickly out of sight.

Unable to will her feet into motion, Nora sank to the dirt and wept bitterly. The last time she’d cried like this, it’d been against Nate’s shoulder, and he’d held her through the night until she no longer felt small and helpless anymore. “Damn you.” She whimpered. “Damn you…”

She hated him. And she would give anything, anything in the world, just to hold him again.

A DC guard hovered on the far end of the street. Hot frustration bubbled back up in Nora’s throat when she realized she was being oggled. “Like what you see, Umpire?,” she growled, tugging her ripped shirt against the chill of night. The tear-smeared makeup across her face itched terribly, but she refused to rub at it. “Fuck off.”

He seemed to hesitate a moment further, but took the hint and left her alone again in the narrow alley.

Alone. Alone. Alone.

God, Nate, why did you do it?

She knew, of course. Deep down. It was because he loved her. Because he loved Shaun. And because he did not love himself. She wasn’t sure which had really gotten him killed. Maybe the reason didn’t matter, anyway. He was gone, and she wasn’t, and now the night was much too dark to see.

______

(Ask for a Kiss!) | (AO3 Archive)

#nora ronan #vs #the anger stage of grief #angst #smut #write a kiss #fallout #fallout 4 #fanfic #my fanfic #grief #deacon's firefly #personal fav

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blurhawaii · 4 years

Text

Yuletide 2019

dear yuletide writer,

hello and happy yuletide! this is my fifth year taking part and my longest letter yet so i’m just going to jump right in. the suggestions are guidelines. if you’ve got a great idea, go for it. i only ask that you steer clear of my dislikes.

feel free to go through my tumblr for each of these fandoms. i should have tags for them, tho your mileage may vary. i might even have more stuff on my side blog: here. likes:

dysfunctional relationships eg. codependency, messed up father/son dynamics, enemies to lovers, power imbalances.

found family

big loyalty kink. love it when trust is earned and kept.

praise kink

vulnerability in men

open and honest communication between partners

i love ot3s. it’s the journey of them getting together and making it work that interests me the most. or how an established pair goes about bringing in a third person.

stories set in canon. or a divergence of canon.

dark/bleak fics. don’t be afraid to drag characters through the mud. happy endings are welcome but i like the struggle.

i’m fine with anything from gen to porn but would be happiest with something in the middle. i love first times.

canon typical violence is fine and to be expected from some of my choices of fandoms.

detective stories/film noir

magical realism/cosmic horror. weird hints of it in an otherwise normal universe

redemption arcs

characters and relationships are more important than plot for me

dislikes:

AUs that are completely disconnected from canon e.g. coffee shop AUs.

established relationships

crossovers

genderbending

feminisation of male characters

fics that are entirely fluff

A/B/O fics

PWP

mpreg

scat/watersports

first person fics (i have no problem with second person fics tho if you think that could work. they really wow me when done well.)

The Departed (2006) *Billy Costigan *Sean Dignam

one of my favourite films ever. i request it every year so you can't really go wrong with this as i am thirsty for anything. most of my love is for dignam and his tough love attitude towards his job and the undercovers he's responsible for. it's obvious he cares, i don't think you could do a job like that and not care, but those rare and few moments when he softens around billy --we need you, pal-- that's what i would like to see more of. i have written a couple of departed fics myself, centred around costigan/dignam, but in all honesty, i would be happy with anything involving them both. shipping is preferred but whatever you are comfortable with is fine. due to the nature of the film, i am perfectly comfortable with violence and the screwed up relationship they are bound to have. the friction born of the situation vs the fact that they need each other to get through this is what i am all about.

codependency, power imbalances and enemies to lovers tropes are abound here.

fics where billy lives are my usual go-to. the survivability of being shot in the head, that kind of stuff can be hand waved away in fic, and i'd love something that explores the angst of billy's ‘where the hell were you when i needed you’ reaction towards dignam following that ending.

or a canon divergence fic with their totally antagonistic relationship being front and centre. i just ask that there be an underlying level of affection, no matter how buried. when billy is undercover, there’s a special kind of relationship that comes with dignam and queenan being the only people he can talk to.

something i’ve never seen for this but would actually love: a time loop/groundhog day fic

Jurassic Park Original Trilogy (Movies)

*Sarah Harding *Ian Malcolm *Nick Van Owen

i originally wasn’t going to ask for this again this year (i was lucky enough to get treated with a fic a couple of years ago) but then someone other than myself nominated nick van owen which surprised and delighted me and i figured why the hell not.

my passion here is the ot3 potential. i view these three in the same way i view the trio in the first film, meaning i see them as three people who have bonded over a traumatic experience and come out of it forever linked in some way. they spend the entire film looking out for each other and keeping each other safe, and they all separately take care of ian’s daughter at one point and i am fascinated by this and how that could continue in the future. (in fact, i love stories where adults treat kids like adults, not talking down to them–see any shane black film.) i’m looking for an actual relationship between them but would be happy with anything that showcased a connection with every side of this triangle.

anything post-film with them dealing or not dealing with what happened would be amazing. there are quite a few fics based around this idea for the first film’s trio, i’d love to see something like that for these three. (i’ve always been kind of bitter about the way nick just disappears for the last act but ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ that’s what fics are for, i guess.)

i don’t like the jurassic world films but i’m fine with fics that take that future into account. a lot of the trauma for these characters comes from the idea that the parks still exist and continue to fuck people up.

Godless (TV 2017)

*Roy Goode *Bill McNue *Alice Fletcher

i’m a massive fan of westerns. the harsh way of life, the violence, the isolation, drawn out revenge plots, the murkiness of good vs evil or sheriff vs anti-hero, the importance of honour and heroism and how that differs for men and women, especially in this universe with its town full of widows. having said all that, i’m still very much a sucker for cool cowboys in a shallow female way.

as you’ve probably already gathered my favourite thing is turning every love triangle into an ot3. so i’d love a fic post canon where roy comes back after realising found family is just as important as real family despite frank’s influence. i imagine bill would try to do the gentlemanly/self depreciating thing of bowing out and letting roy and alice be together but i’d love for alice to actually get a say in this where she wasn’t allowed in the show. however you jigsaw them together my main thing is that bill doesn’t get left out.

i feel the roy/bill aspect in particular could be explored a lot more. i love that they don’t hate each on sight. they learn mutual respect and then smoothly move around each other during the gunfight at the end. (bill’s deteriorating eyesight side plot also fascinates me, how it goes with his loss of purpose -”losing his shadow”- and comes back when teaming up with roy to defend the town. maybe there’s a fic possibility where it flares up again due to his insecurity of roy coming between him and alice. either way, the hints of magical realism here and with frank’s repeated insistence that he’s seen his death and this ain’t it are great and i wouldn’t mind seeing more of that.)

the usual ideas of western masculinity get all twisted around when roy and bill are in the presence of alice and they both seem kind of subby towards her, which yes please. the way alice kisses the scar she gave roy and the fact that he simply lets her is *chef kiss* because i also love the parallel that bill got shot in the hip trying to get revenge for alice. they all have scars that tie them together.

i’m actually very okay with letting them be soft with each other after all of their tragedy.

honest communication between partners could work wonders here.

Barry (TV 2018)

*Barry Berkman *Monroe Fuches

i expected to like this show. dark comedy, depressed hitman, henry winkler, it’s a perfect combination of things. i didn’t expect to get obsessed with barry’s obvious fucked up father-figure hangups. but hey ho, i was pleasantly surprised.

pretty much every one of barry’s relationships in this show has an element of fucked-upness but the barry/fuches one is by far the worst. it’s codependent, it’s manipulative, it’s a little abusive, the power is constantly flip-flopping and most importantly there’s the father/son dynamic that could so easily tip over into something sexual. it’s everything i love. any time fuches calls barry “his boy” it kills me. and i am fascinated by the way barry can go from needy and touch starved to a rampaging killer hunting fuches down by the end and still have that dynamic going strong.

the parallels between them and the barry/gene cousineau relationship, which is fucked up too just in a very different way, are great. love the jealousy it brings and i would even be into a fic set post the season 2 ending, if you could find a way to swing that. though, while i like a little darkness, i would still rather see them fall back into old unhealthy habits than kill each other.

any kind of prequel fic would be amazing too.

and just to be clear i’m more than okay with a sexual relationship between these two but if you don’t want to write it that’s fine. I’d just like all the other aspects of their shitty relationship delved into.

L.A. Confidential (1997)

*Bud White *Ed Exley

pretty much all of my bullet pointed likes come into play here. i’ve nominated two characters but i’d be happy with almost any combination of the characters available in the tagset as long as exley is involved in some way.

ships i like: bud/exley, exley/vincennes, bud/exley/lynn

but if we matched purely on both bud and exley then:

i love the opposites attract partnership bud and exley have and i like that they both seem angry at their attraction to each other. hate-sex with reluctant feelings? always good. i'd love anything that deals with their perceived difference in intellect and/or education. bud being turned-on by exley's smarts, exley realizing how much he's underestimated bud, them being mutually impressed by each other.

if you choose to go down the ot3 route then:

i love fics where exley shows up in arizona and they fall into weird domesticity. i love seeing how three people--especially three people who aren't used to the idea of poly relationships--work their way towards realizing and accepting what they want.

and while i’m not sure what you could do with this knowledge, i’d just like to add that i’ve read the book and i’m somewhat obsessed with the existence of dream-a-dreamland in general. if you could incorporate that in any way i’d be hugely impressed.

POKEMON Detective Pikachu (2019)

*Harry Goodman *Hide Yoshida

this is totally a last minute request that i’ve edited in but is by no means less wanted than the others. i watched this film back when it came out and was honestly surprised by how much i enjoyed it. i’m a massive pokemon fan and have been since i got my pokemon red when i was seven years old and, let me tell you, getting to see all those growlithes waddling about the real world was like a childhood dream come true.

i had a good time and i moved on.

a few days ago i stumbled on a piece of art : here : and it was like the little goblin that is my brain just sat up straight. the very concept of these characters together had never crossed my mind before that but then suddenly the desire for this just casually strolled through my entire headspace, turning on every light as it went.

i love detective stories, i love cop partnerships, i love hot single dads who happen to be cops with cute little pokemon cop partners. i love that harry is kind of a shitty father but he’s now trying his best. i love that hide had nothing but praise and respect for harry when he meets with tim and that he knew things like tim wanting to be a pokemon trainer when he was younger (meaning he and harry had talked about stuff like this.) i love that hide inexplicably has a spare key to harry’s apartment in his desk drawer. i love how absolutely certain hide was in saying harry loved his son more than anything in the world.

there’s history there is what i’m saying, and i’d love to know more about it.

anything set pre-film would be cool. loose cannon harry throwing his whole being into his job to deal with the loss of his wife and his fractured relationship with his son. hide the tired lieutenant trying to rein him in, quietly talking about tim together, keeping him grounded and safe. all up until he can’t, that is. (great angst potential with hide genuinely believing harry is dead.)

anything set post-film would be even better. harry struggling to find balance between being a father and a cop. probably doing a shitty job at it in the beginning. hide trying to help. would love for tim to be an actual presence (outsider POV could be amazing here.)

may sound strange but my favourite thing that used to happen in digimon a lot is when characters would interact with each other digimon partner. i would be massively into a fic about the two of them growing closer through each other’s pokemon partner.

thank you writer and best of luck.

#yuletide #yuletide 2019

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rosalyn51 · 5 years

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I had a lot of fun writing the intro to this #ADiscoveryofWitches piece, mainly because I want everyone to understand the Palmer/Goode intrigue. (P.S., they're great together!) If you want another show to add to your overflowing queue, give this a shot:

- Philiana Ng (Entertainment Tonite) Twitter

There's a seductiveness in the way Diana and Matthew's romance unfurls that feels much more adult and refined; much of that is credited to Goode's innate, oft-overlooked ability to elicit impure thoughts just by a piercing look or a two-word answer in his deep English drawl.

Teresa Palmer on How 'A Discovery of Witches' Turned Her Into a Fan of Fantasy Romance (Exclusive)

By Philiana Ng‍, Jan 17, 2019

Teresa Palmer didn't think a forbidden love story between a witch and a vampire would captivate her imagination. Tales of fantastical romances with supernatural beings weren't exactly her taste. But that was before she came across A Discovery of Witches, the television adaptation of Deborah Harkness' best-selling All Souls trilogy.

Titled after the first book, the eight-part freshman season follows Palmer's Diana Bishop, a historian and reluctant witch, who stumbles across an enchanted manuscript in an Oxford library that unknowingly thrusts her back into the dangerous secrets-filled world of magical beings. She meets the enigmatic Matthew Clairmont (Matthew Goode, perfectly cast as a brooding vampire sophisticate), a biochemistry professor and centuries-old vampire, who offers his protection and help. Even though years of bad blood between the witches and vampires make their team-up more complicated, their alliance turns into more than just a platonic union as they fight the evils from the supernatural world.

It's easy to compare A Discovery of Witches to Twilight or True Blood. But it's not all about the threat of desire or sex, though those elements pulsate throughout. There's a seductiveness in the way Diana and Matthew's romance unfurls that feels much more adult and refined; much of that is credited to Goode's innate, oft-overlooked ability to elicit impure thoughts just by a piercing look or a two-word answer in his deep English drawl. Palmer, for her part, kept a distance from stories that fell under the fantasy romance umbrella. She couldn't quite put a finger on why. But within reading “the first five pages” of the script, she was enraptured by the seemingly innocuous world that heightens imagination and, if done well, transports you to a completely different dimension.

But A Discovery of Witches relies on the sparks between Palmer and Goode, and thankfully, they deliver -- even if the minutiae of the actual supernatural mythology at the center of the conflict leaves much to be desired. Their connection is, well, swoon-worthy. "Luckily Matthew and I got on so well, so it was very easy for us to portray two people that have this otherworldly love, pardon the pun," Palmer, 32, tells ET. "There's an innate connection between these two that's so deep and cellular. It's something that neither of them can deny."

The Australian actress, expecting her third child with actor-filmmaker husband Mark Webber, spoke to ET about being one-half of the latest TV romance, creating that rapport with Goode and why she's just as obsessed with where A Discovery of Witches is going as you are.

ET: I have to admit, I binged the entire season and found myself entranced by the show. Was it an immediate kinda connection for you too, when you first got the script?

Teresa Palmer: I feel like I was connected to this material from the first five pages. I wasn't always a fantasy romance kind of person, and so, when my agent sent me the script, I was like, "All right, I'll check it out." I got about five or six pages in and I was hooked by the world, by the setup and by the description, what this kind of environment was like. And then I fell in love with Diana. I just thought she was so brilliant and layered and she felt familiar in a way that I hadn't really felt with other characters previously. I just felt like I knew her. By the end of the first script, I was on the phone to my agents, and I said, "You guys...," because they were like, "We're not sure if you're gonna like this, 'cause it's a fantasy romance and we know that's not really your thing," and I was like, "You're wrong. I'm obsessed. I love it. I love it. I wanna do this show. This is brilliant!" And there's so much to work with. I didn't even know where the story went, so they got me the next two scripts, and then, I had already fully made up my mind. Like, "I'm doing it. I don't care if I move to Wales for six months and I have to move my entire family over there. It's just what we're doing." It was a wonderful experience.

What was it about this particular fantasy romance that really stuck with you?

It was Diana, first and foremost, because I loved how human her response is. She had tragedy in her life, and then she ran away from the thing that could potentially bring more tragedy into her life, and I thought that that felt very human and real. There have been so many times in my life where I've run away from things that felt hard. It was a response that most people tend to have, and then, the fact that she just goes deeper and deeper into this world -- even though it's scary, she's just so brave and passionate and she lets her heart drive her. I was very inspired by that. There was something really beautiful about watching her journey and how she really comes into who she authentically is in a way that's not forced. It's organic. She follows the flow of where life's going, and I really loved watching how much she evolved from the start. Even with those first three scripts, I was like, "Wow, this is a woman who's radically changing and working on herself."

What was appealing about being enveloped by this world of vampires and witches and demons?

I'm so excited by who demons are and vampires, and the vampires aren't traditional in this show at all. They're different and they're alluring and appealing in a really unique way. They're not out killing other human beings. I mean, there's a little bit of that. (Laughs.) But, they're not focused on that. They don't have fangs. Everything's just different and feels like it could be happening now. You could walk down the street and not know if they're a vampire or a demon or a witch, and I love that it was set in a contemporary world and we were just existing with humans. I thought that was a unique take on the genre.

I jumped into the show completely blindly and what struck me was how incredibly, like you said, alluring, and sexy this world is. Maybe it's the music, the way it's filmed, the performances or the whole package. I had several moments where I thought, "Oh, I want to be in this world. I want to meet a vampire or something," which is a ridiculous thought!

(Laughs.) I know. It's really sort of special and it's enticing and you're right, it's all those things. It's sexy and intriguing, but scary, and I don't think it's straightforward. You can't guess what's gonna happen next, and that's what I really love about it. It keeps you on your toes, and yeah, I find it so fascinating. And, I wanted to be in it. I wanted to be a part of the world. We have such great set designers and a crew that was very passionate about the story, that oftentimes when you're on set and you walk into these amazing sets that have been built and are so incredibly detailed, that you really feel like you are existing in that world, which is, nice. It makes your job easier as an actor to really immerse yourself into that environment.

Shows like this rest on the chemistry between the two leads, and here, between you and Matthew Goode. How did you chart Diana's initial attraction to Matthew Clairmont? Because that's the entire show. If it doesn't work, then the show doesn't work.

Like, am I screwed? (Laughs.)

Exactly.

Luckily, Matthew and I got on so well, so it was very easy for us to portray two people that have this otherworldly love, pardon the pun. But it is this otherworldly thing. There's an innate connection between these two that's so deep and cellular. It's something that neither of them can deny. They're just supposed to be together. And, I don't think either of the characters -- I know neither of these characters has ever felt like that before. Even if they wanted to fight against that feeling, and you do see Matthew have that moment in the show, they just have to be together. There's just no other way. I found that very romantic. It's wonderful to portray that and I loved that. That connection that meant that they were drawn to each other, and no one and nothing could stop them from being with one another. It's very easy to portray that with Matthew because we're both romantics and we're both married and have a bunch of kids. I've got three kids. I'm about to have my third, and I have a stepson as well. We have a lot in common and we have a lot to talk about, and it was easy. I found it really easy doing that with him.

Was there a specific moment where you were like, I can't believe I'm doing this! What am I saying? What are we doing?

There were definitely moments with some of the fantasy elements where Matthew and I wouldn't be able to keep a straight face, 'cause we were talking about time traveling. We would giggle a lot, a lot, a lot and ruin takes and have to start all over again. You take the job seriously, but you also enjoy it by having fun and having a laugh and putting good feelings and vibes into it. I think it was an easy thing for us to do, but yeah. Of course, there are moments where I was like, hang on, I'm on a wire, hanging upside down by my ankle getting pulled up and down a tiny, little shaft. And I'm screaming because a vampire has fallen in love with me, and I'm like, What? What? Is this my job? Am I actually doing this?

The show is just hitting the U.S. now, but it was recently renewed for second and third seasons in the U.K. Have you gotten any indication of what's going to happen in those two seasons?

The great thing is it's based on Deborah Harkness' incredible series, so we have a rough idea of what the seasons are going to look like because we've read the books. But I do think there are going to be some changes. We fell in love with the whole cast of people in the first season, and in the second book, it's set in Elizabethan times, but it's really just Matthew and Diana, so I'm sure the writers are going to explore ways to bring the remainder of the first cast back into the second series somehow, so we don't miss them because it would be such a bummer not to see these amazing characters we've fallen in love with, like Miriam and Marcus. I know the audience is going to really miss that if they don't get to see them in the second season, so I think there will probably be slight tweaks to it. But ultimately, we let the books guide us and we'll figure out the story from there.

So you eventually read all the books?

Yeah, I did the audiobooks. That was the only way I could get through them without being interrupted and I was [listening to it while] putting them on in the car, especially when the kids are sleeping. Some of it wasn't appropriate for a 3-year-old and a 1-year-old. I just finished the third audiobook. I've got friends who are reading them too, and I'm getting texts from my girlfriends, like, "Wait, tell me about this backstory again. What happens here?" I have amazing friends who are really passionate about the story as well, so that's really nice.

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The first season of A Discovery of Witches is streaming now on Sundance Now and Shudder.

#matthew goode #matthewgoode #matthew clairmont #teresa palmer #a discovery of witches

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