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ahyoungbe · 2 months

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QUARTZ RAP MASHUP | ( 1:55 – 2:53 )

ahyoung doesn't really have any interest in being a kpop idol. she's pretty sure any company with a shred of sense will look into who she is and decide she's way more trouble than she's worth, even if she does have enough talent to be a trainee, which is yet to be seen. she does, however, love to have fun, and being on a survival show does sound kinda fun. at the very least, it sounds like an experience that would be interesting to have, if she could even make it on. if not, just auditioning will be something new and exciting, right?

so she fills out the first form and sends it in. she can't be sure that she'll make it to the second part, but she knows she's pretty and knows her angles. she's not as confident in her looks without makeup, but she thinks her natural beauty might be able to carry her through. it's just a matter of if they try to do a background check on her or something. not that anything will come up; she's never actually gotten arrested or anything. she just got sent to boarding school hell as an alternate form of punishment.

when someone contacts her and gives her the instructions for part two, she isn't surprised. prepare a 60 second audition. okay. she can do that.

she spends most of her classes the next day thinking through what she should do instead of paying attention. she should definitely rap. she knows she's not the most talented, at least as far as traditional idol skills go, so she'll have to play up something else. she should probably do something original, right? she could write her own rap and make her own beat, and that would probably be interesting enough to at least make her memorable. she isn't really sure what kind of rap to write for a survival show audition, though. probably something clean and rated pg to make her seem palatable and like a good girl, right? eugh. boring.

she goes straight to her room when she gets home, and hops on her laptop. she rewatches the first episode of next gen just to get some ideas on what auditions got people to the next round in the first season. she's doing far too much research on this, she thinks vaguely – putting way too much effort in for something she doesn't care about that much. that's the main reason she decides to ditch the "original rap" idea. she can perform a kpop idol's rap or something. but just that sounds soooo boring, and ahyoung will not have anyone think she's boring.

she should probably do a remix, then. make her own beat, do some iconic kpop rap over it. does she want to do a girl group rap or a boy group rap? girl group, maybe. she kind of wants to play up the feminine and powerful vibe. as far as kpop goes, she thinks quartz is probably the best group in that lane right now, and their music is super recognizable.

then it just comes down to what quartz rap she wants to do, and she needs to fill 60 seconds, so...she should just combine a bunch of quartz raps over the same beat in 60 seconds. that'll work, right?

she listens to a bunch of "most iconic quartz raps" videos, makes note of the ones she likes best, and bookmarks the videos. she isn't sure whether to try to build a beat around the raps or just make a beat she likes and try to fit the raps into it. maybe she can use some of the original songs' instrumentals and incorporate it into a new beat. that should make everything fit in a little easier, right?

that's what she tries. it ultimately takes her several days of hyperfixation outside of her other responsibilities to get two options: two beats, two different combinations of raps. she just wasn't satisfied with the first one she made, so she decided she'd try starting over to see what she could do.

the first one follows a more traditional rap beat. she borrows heavily from "the baddest" by k/da, which katy of quartz features in. she likes the lyrics, but she ultimately decides that version isn't dynamic enough, and that she can show off more of her own composition skills in the instrumental.

so she settles on her second creation, which still has some of quartz's instrumentals as influence, but is largely self-composed. it starts out quite calm, then quickly ramps up into something more akin to an edm song than a rap song. she thinks it's unique, though, and it'll be more memorable.

despite ahyoung's tendency to be lazy, she actually spends a lot of time practicing. if she's going to be on tv, she wants to make sure she kills it. she doesn't care that much if she makes it to the second round, even though it would be cool; she just wants to make sure she puts the best performance out there that she can.

AUDITION DAY

all of the cameras everywhere are a little unnerving, even though she works with a camera herself basically every day. she feels like she has to behave in from of them, which is a pretty unfamiliar feeling for her. gross. she refuses to be anyone other than herself, even on this show, but maybe she can tone it down a little.

the video in the gymnasium is cool. seeing the judges on screen, "talking to them directly," really makes it set in that she's actually, probably, maybe, going to be on a huge survival show. even if she doesn't make it past this round, they'll probably show part of her audition and her flopping, right? maybe?

it doesn't really matter. what matters is the new revelations the judges lead them with: a rapid fire question portion, and a special talent section. ahyoung honestly thinks it's pretty cruel that they didn't tell them about the special talent portion in advance, because all of her special talents require a camera or computer or something. she would've brought her bass, at the very least. she just has to pull something out of her ass. she looks through her purse to see what she actually brought with her for any ideas. she has makeup, but she doesn't know how to show any of her talents with that. maybe she could borrow a staff member?

she has nail polish too. she looks down at her nails, which she already painted for the occasion, but they're just painted. they don't have any designs or anything. she could do nail art? would that work? she figures they probably won't give her more than a minute to show off whatever talent she has. makeup would probably be more interesting, right? but she can probably do nail art more quickly. her eyebrows furrow together as she thinks. she thinks so much about it that she doesn't even practice her performance anymore.

at least until they call her into the audition room. then she runs through the performance in her head over and over. she's confident, for the most part, but seeing all of the staff that will be judging the performances actually makes her a little nervous. what a weird and unfamiliar feeling.

it's her turn before she knows it. she takes to the center of the room, grins, and introduces herself with a quick well-mannered and uncharacteristic bow.

then, she focuses. she knows the lyrics to this audition are basically muscle memory now. she knew all the raps before she even merged them together for one audition. her music plays, and she launches into the rap right away. only 60 seconds – no time to waste.

she's pretty sure, from the first several seconds, that no one can anticipate where the instrumental will be going. the rap is almost mellow at first, but after 15 seconds, it starts building. she still raps along, trying to mirror the instrumental as she does: start out lowkey, build momentum, and then when the "drop" in the instrumental comes, she tries to shift into something more powerful and energetic.

her audition ends off with quartz's iconic look at you, now look at me, and ahyoung smiles. she doesn't quite do the choreo for the original song, but she vibes, and moves her body, and before she knows it it's over.

the performance is, anyway. next comes questions. right. five seconds to answer each. that's pretty dangerous for a person like her, but she decides she won't try to filter herself, aside from like...swear words.

her first question comes: "what is the most interesting place that you have been to wearing the shoes that you’re wearing now?”

ahyoung looks down at her feet, and almost laughs. she's had these shoes for a long time. "detention at marina high school in california," she says with a cheeky smile. maybe that's a little too honest. whatever. ahyoung doesn't plan on lying. she doesn't care if it makes her look bad to The Public™.

"what’s your favorite useless fact?” they ask her next, and she almost says oh shit, because she wasn't prepared for this. "i've never known anything ever," she jokes to buy herself some time, and so she at least has some kind of answer if she can't think of a fact. surely there' something in her small little brain, right? "oh! opossums can give birth to like, 25 babies at one time sometimes. and they're like, tiny as––" fuck. tiny as fuck. she manages to stop herself, and saves herself by finishing with, "bumblebees." it's true.

“why do you want to become a kpop idol?” oof. of course they'd ask her a kpop idol question. she only takes a couple seconds, and then shrugs, and answers honestly, "i just think it would be fun." that's good enough.

they tell her they have one more question for her. “what can you bring to the table that we won’t see in any other contestant?” damn. they really want her to drag her fellow contestants like that? well – no, she doesn't have to, especially because she knows plenty of these people are more traditionally talented than she is. "nobody else is park ahyoung, you know? and i'm just, super cool," she grins again.

that's the end of the question portion. next comes her special talent, and ahyoung takes a deep breath.

"i just want you guys to know i would've brought my bass if i knew you were going to do this to me," she jokes. "but i guess – can i do someone's makeup? does somebody here not have makeup on, or like, light makeup on? i can totally make one of you men look like a kpop idol too, if you want."

eventually, it is one of the men that steps forward and volunteers. "wow, you are awesome, thank you for being such a good sport," ahyoung says with a genuinely grateful smile, and then she digs the necessary makeup out of her bag.

"okay, this would be better if i had more time, but you're still going to look amazing. just not as amazing as you would if i had like, at least 15 minutes. let me speedrun this." she applies makeup to his face quickly, and comments, "you have really nice skin. your skincare routine must be amazing. you have better skin than half of the girls whose makeup i've done before, for real."

she finishes before long, and steps away to assess her job. she nods in approval. good enough for a speedrun. she steps to the side to reveal the staff member to the rest of the staff and the cameras, and motions to him like that will smith motioning to his wife meme.

"hold on, this lighting is not the best, do you guys have a different light or something?" no. she quickly takes her phone out of her bag, turns the flashight on, and then shines it from the angle that she knows will show off the makeup the best, without blinding her model. perks of being a "professional" photographer: she knows a lot about angles and lighting.

"oh, you need to see yourself too!" she exclaims, and quickly changes her phone to a frontfacing camera so the staff member can see his own makeup. he doesn't give much of a reaction. he just nods. everyone is unreadable, and it's a little unnerving. they still say, "thank you, ahyoung, that's all."

then her audition is over, and she gives another quick bow before clearing the way for the next contestant.

#be:ngs2p1 #* SOLO #* NEXT GEN #* NEXT GEN AUDITION #let's goOOOOOO #i needed to do this early bc i'm gonna be busy for like two weeks aljdksfjalksdgkl

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just-jordie-things · 3 years

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Long Days - Peter Parker

word count: 3810 warnings: swearing summary: some days are harder than others, and some missions go worse than they should. but Peter Parker is always there to lift up your spirits

___

The mission had gone terribly. In fact, it probably was the worst case scenario of how missions could have gone.

(y/n) curled herself up on the jet ride home. The others who had gone with her on the mission had tried consoling her, but had no luck. She wasn’t ready to talk about what had happened, and quite frankly, she didn’t want to talk at all.

They were supposed to infiltrate a Hydra base, where it was believed that they’d been holding Shield hostages. Steve led Sam, Natasha, Wanda, Bucky, and (y/n) on the mission. It was supposed to be a larger group for precaution, when really Steve and Sam alone could have gone with no trouble. However, the extra Avengers came in handy when the incident occurred.

Natasha had come over and draped a blanket around the girl’s shoulders, smiling softly before leaving her be. (y/n) could barely even look at her.

She felt sick to her stomach, like she could actually be sick if she thought about it any longer. Her head was light and dizzy while somehow still pounding, and her heart was as rapid as her breathing. Poor girl wished she could just pass out so she didn’t have to think about it anymore.

With her ability to control metal, fighting off the likes of Hydra agents was easy. They relied on their weapons, guns, rods, tasers, all made of metal, making it simple for (y/n) to flick her wrists and force the weapons out of their hands. She always loved the look on her enemies’ faces when she did so.

However, today, when she took the gun and cocked it, she hadn’t realized that it wasn’t a typical gun, and upon shooting it, it sent out an explosive throughout the building.

Luckily Sam was able to get Steve and Bucky out, and Wanda used her powers to retrieve (y/n) and Natasha. None of the team was injured, but half the Hydra base ended up being destroyed, and the location of the hostages was still unknown.

The flight back to the compound in New York was tense. ___

(y/n) bolted straight to the elevator as soon as they’d arrived home, not wanting to talk to or even look at anyone. Not while she was still unsure if the hostages were safe. Leaving the others behind the debrief Tony on how the mission went.

Peter Parker had been waiting with Tony for them to get back, eager to see (y/n) again and show her the addition he’d made on his suit. Since she’d joined the Avengers, the two had gotten very close. So close in fact, that there was an obvious blush on Peter’s face every time she was around.

So you can understand the surprise he felt when she marched right past him and Tony when she’d gotten back from her mission. She didn’t even look at him.

“Uh, what the hell?” Tony spoke, calling after (y/n), but she just kept on walking, paying no mind to the billionaire.

“(y/n)?” Peter called after her, about to follow her to see what was going on, but Steve called him back, and with a sign, took a seat in the common room.

“There was…” He trailed off, unsure of where to begin.

“There was what?” Tony demanded. “What happened? What’s wrong with (y/n/n)?”

“There was an accident,” Natasha said calmly. Tony’s eyes widened, and wasn’t able to find his voice. “She got their guns, but when she used them they… they were explosives, instead of bullets”

“Oh… god…” Tony sighed, sitting down a few feet away from Steve, hanging his head in his hands. “Poor kid… what’s the damage?”

“We aren’t sure yet, Sam left on his own as soon as we got here to check it out”

“Is she okay?” Peter asked, glancing back to where (y/n) had stormed off.

“She wouldn’t talk on the trip back,” Steve told him. “She’s beating herself up pretty bad right now”

“But it was an accident,” Peter frowned. “Accidents happen all the time-”

“This is (y/n) we’re talking about,” Natasha said with a weak chuckle. “She’s more ‘fight for the greater good’ than Rogers,” The two shared a look, but Steve nodded in agreement. “She’s scared about letting them down, letting us down. She hurt herself more than anything”

“Not to mention when we picked her up… the incident at the high school…” Tony muttered into his hands.

“That’s not fair!” Peter argued. “She didn’t know she’d had powers when that happened, and that guy wasn’t seriously hurt!”

“Alright Pete-”

“And maybe he should’ve thought about that before he cheated on her!” Peter went on, until Tony put his hand up to silence him and get him to calm down.

“Why don’t you take a breath kid, none of us are arguing with you,” He sighed. “Can somebody check in with Sam and see what his update is please?” He asked, and Steve volunteered, taking his phone out and stepping out of the room.

Peter sat down next to Tony, his leg bouncing up and down rapidly. He was worried about (y/n), and he was pissed that she was so upset with herself.

“Why don’t you go check on her?” Tony suggested.

“I don’t know, she probably wants some time to herself right now. I don’t think she’d want to see me” Peter mumbled.

“If anyone, you’re the only one that she’d want to see,” Natasha told him. Peter ducked his head down as his cheeks went pink. “Tony’s right, you should check on her” The ex-assassin nodded her head to assure him that it was alright if he left.

“Okay” He agreed, and scrambled to leave and head up to her room.

(y/n) lived on the top floor with the few dormitories of the people who stayed full time at the compound. Which meant her neighbors were Wanda Maximoff, Steve Rogers, Bucky Barnes, and Natasha Romanoff. There were extra rooms that the others would stay in occasionally.

Tony had his own suite on the other side of the building that he shared with Pepper.

(y/n) was currently in her own dorm, still wrapped in the blanket Natasha had given her, and wearing the protective body suit that she wore on missions. She’d curled up on her bed while she watched the news on a loop talk about the incident. And when the report was over, she’d rewind it and watch it again.

The reporters hadn’t found that the cause of the explosion was the Avengers’ youngest recruit, (y/n), but she knew it was only a matter of time before it was uncovered.

She ignored the knocks on her door, knowing it was probably Steve, or Sam, who were sent to check on her and make her talk about what happened.

When they kept on knocking, she chucked a pillow at it and yelled for them to leave her alone.

And when the knocking went on after that, she finally got up and stomped over to the door to whip it open angrily.

“What part of leave me alone don’t you-! Oh, Peter,” Her expression dropped to a softer one upon seeing him there. “I thought you were…”

“Yeah, I figured,” He smiled gently at her. “Look… I just wanted to say that you don’t have to talk about it right now, but you shouldn’t beat yourself up over it”

She blinked, unsure of what to say, so she just nodded.

Peter realized then that the news was on, reporting on the mission today.

“Have you been watching that since you got back?” He asked, and she nodded again.

“Yeah… um… I kind of couldn’t help it, it’s been on a loop,” She explained, walking back into her room and falling back to sit on the bed, rewinding the show once more, and rewatching the footage. “They don’t know it’s me yet. At least, I don’t think they do, I haven’t watched the whole report yet”

Peter walked in and stood next to her, curiously listening as the newscaster explained the situation. Half the building went down in a mysterious explosion after the Avengers infiltrate it knowing it’s a Hydra base.

“You haven’t watched it to the end?” He asked, and she shook her head, eyes still trained on the television. “How come?”

“I just…” She trailed off, embarrassed to admit that she was reliving her mistake as a form of self punishment. “I have” She shrugged lamely, knowing her answer was bullshit and Peter could see right through it.

“(y/n),” Peter sighed, and she guiltily stared down at her hands. “That’s not going to get you anywhere, or give you any new information”

He walked over to her, taking the remote and fast forwarding through the events they’d already watched, up to live tv, to see what was being reported about it now.

“The Avengers may have disappeared, but the hostages haven’t. Thankfully, their lives were spared, and they all made it out of the damage safely”

(y/n) let out a heavy sigh, tears coming to her eyes as she leaned forward and put her face in her hands.

“Thank god,” She mumbled, over and over again into her palms. Peter smiled down at her, only to see that she’d begun to cry. Immediately he was crouching in front of her and pulling her hands away from her face. “I’m sorry,” She cried weakly. “I’m so sorry, I-I feel- I feel awful”

“No, no hey…” Peter spoke softly, brows knit together in confusion and worry. “(y/n/n) why are you crying? It’s alright, everyone’s alright, you don’t have to worry anymore”

“I just- it’s just- it almost doesn’t matter that they’re safe because I still slipped up,” She told him, angrily wiping at the tears on her face. “That’s on me”

“(y/n), you know that’s not true,” Peter tried to reassure her, but she didn’t seem to really be listening to him. “Hey, really, you didn’t know about the gun-”

“They told you?” (y/n) asked, earning an awkward side to side nod.

“Uh.. yeah, well yeah,” He answered nervously. “But (y/n), you’re not listening to me, you’re okay, they’re okay,” Peter took her hands in his, so she’d actually pay attention to what he was saying. “You didn’t hurt anybody”

“There’s always an incident, Peter,” She whimpered. “Back when I was in school, when I first joined the team, now, there’s always going to be an incident. I’m always going to cause an accident and I’m so tired”

Peter’s thumbs stroked over the back of her hands as he shook his head.

“No, (y/n), come on, you can’t think of it that way. You’ve made such great progress, you’ve done so well-”

“I hurt people, everytime I get close to progress. Close to normal-”

She began to cry again, and Peter moved forward, shaking his head rapidly and hoping that she would stop crying.

“No, no no no,” He told her, taking her face and wiping her tears. “(y/n), you’ve never hurt anyone… who didn’t deserve it,” She gave him a pointed glare, and Peter just smiled back at her. “And I don’t know if you’ve looked at the rest of us… but normal is not a defining word of the Avengers”

“Peter…” (y/n) sighed, her eyes falling shut. She knew he was trying to help, and that he wasn’t great with words most- or all- of the time.

“Really. Steve and Barnes are like, a thousand years old-”

“One hundred-” She tried to correct him but he just went on.

“Wanda is an actual witch, Banner gets giant and green and mean, that Lang guy? He can shrink down real small, and get really big too. And I, for some reason, can stick to walls. And I’m also really strong”

(y/n) chuckled through her tears, smiling at him, genuinely.

She thought for a moment that maybe that was his superpower, lifting her up when she felt like she was at her worst.

“So really, you being able to do the whole magnet thing that you do isn’t all that special” He said proudly, grinning at her and dropping his hands from her face. (y/n) laughed a little more at his unorthodox way of lifting her spirits.

“Thanks, Peter,” She told him sarcastically, before leaning over and wrapping her arms around his neck in a hug. “You’re an idiot, but you’re a sweet idiot”

Peter had to bite his cheek to keep from smiling too wide when he hugged her back. They were close, but usually not this close.

“I should probably go explain to the others,” She said softly when she pulled away. “They deserve my side of it” Peter nodded in agreement as they both stood up to leave her room.

“Yeah, that’s fair, but hey, do you want to hang out in the lab later?” He asked, and she nodded back at him.

“Yeah, yeah I’ll meet you down there tonight. I actually have some great ideas for your suit. Mostly that it should be all black” She suggested playfully.

“Yeah, uh huh, still not happening but great try” He responded, as they left her dorm.

“See you around nine in the lab?” She asked, and Peter nodded eagerly before they went their separate ways. ___

Her talk with the Avengers went well, it turns out that they hadn’t put much blame on her as she’d assumed they would, and now her and Wanda were relaxing in the common room and watching tv.

“So, Peter Parker made you feel better?” The Scarlet Witch asked after a little while of comfortable silence.

“Yeah,” (y/n) smiled over at her before looking back to the television show. “It was really sweet, he helped a lot”

Wanda hummed, quirking a suggestive eyebrow that didn’t go unnoticed by (y/n).

“What?” She asked, but Wanda just shrugged and pretended not to understand. “Come on, what? What was that look for?”

“Oh, nothing,” Wanda sighed, indicating that it was definitely something. (y/n) rolled her eyes, and angled her body sideways on the couch to face Wanda completely. She impatiently waited for her to explain herself. “Just thinking, is all” Wanda shrugged again.

“Alright, thinking about what?”

“You and Peter” She answered, staring at the younger girl seriously. (y/n) forced out a laugh, but her face fell when Wanda began to smirk.

“Wait, what?”

“I mean, how much longer are you two going to dance around this?” The witch asked, propping her elbow on the top cushion of the couch, and leaning her head in her hand, watching (y/n) skeptically.

“What do you mean?” (y/n) asked softly, nervously.

“You know what I mean,” Wanda chuckled. “Come on, seriously (y/n/n)-”

“I don’t know what you mean” She mumbled, pulling her legs to her chest and setting her chin on her knees. Wanda cocked her head to the side with a smile that only grew wider as (y/n’s) cheeks got pinker.

“I can read your mind, honey,” Wanda said, and the two laughed quietly. “I know you care about him. And I don’t need to read Peter’s mind to know he cares about you too. A lot. Like it’s alarming we aren’t all making fun of him all the time for being so obvious about his feelings about you-”

“Okay, I get it,” (y/n) cut her off, lifting her head from her knees and anxiously pulling her hair back. “I just don’t- I don’t know the right thing to do here, I don’t know the right way to go from friends to more than that, and quite honestly I’m a little worried about the whole ‘dating someone on the team with powers’ thing, like how-”

“Okay, breathe,” Wanda said playfully, and moved closer to (y/n) on the couch. Here’s how you go about it, you walk up to him, you tell him how you feel, you listen to how he feels, and then you go to dinner and a movie”

(y/n) gave Wanda a blank look.

“I’m serious,” Wanda said. “It’s exactly what I said to Vision”

“That’s different. He was like- literally in love with you”

Wanda stared at (y/n) pointedly, and promptly picked up her mug of tea, and took a sip.

Nothing else needed to be said. ___

When nine o’clock rolled around, (y/n) eagerly rushed down to the lab, not surprised to see Peter was already there, coming up with a new algorithm for this suit. She guessed that he’d been down here since they’d parted earlier, and that he’d probably stay down here until early in the morning.

“Hey,” She called when she walked in, shutting the door behind her. Peter grinned up at her, finishing up some of the coding, not wanting to lose the rhythm her had going with it. “How long have you been down here?”

“Like, two hours,” Peter said with a nervous laugh. “How’d your talk go with Mr Stark and-”

“Do you like me?” She asked him abruptly, and he finally pulled himself away from the tech, staring up at her with wide eyes and flushed cheeks. “You know, like, as more than a friend?”

“Um-” Peter’s mouth opened and closed, and (y/n) giggled at how he looked like a fish. He was trying so hard to form words, or even a coherent thought, to process what she’d just asked him.

“Cause look I… I really like you, Peter,” She told him softly, easing his nerves right away. “You- you make me feel like a better person than I am. And you make me want to be that better person and…” She smiled to herself as she “And I was thinking that maybe if you liked me too then we could-”

“Yes,” Peter said rather quickly, dropping his things on the table and walking over to her. “I like you too, I like you a lot”

“You do?” She asked, and Peter nodded his head rapidly, making her laugh. “Good, because it’d be really awkward if you didn’t,” He laughed with her, nervously rubbing the back of his neck. “So… you want to go out sometime?” She asked, cheeks rosy as she bounced on the balls of her feet.

“Yeah, yeah I would,” He agreed, making her grin ear to ear. “So are you gonna show me your new ideas for my suit, or just admit that you want me to wear all black?”

(y/n) laughed as she followed him over to the work table. ___

“They’re so cute” Wanda gushed as her, Steve, Sam, Nat, and Bruce were watching (y/n) and Peter working in the lab. They couldn’t hear much of what they were saying, due to the thick (bulletproof, actually) window, but there was a lot of smiling and laughing.

“Do you think he asked her out?” Bruce asked, and the other four chuckled, shaking their heads.

“No, definitely not” Sam said as kindly as he could.

“It was definitely her,” Natasha stated. “Oh look!”

They all watched as Peter was tinkering with his suit, and (y/n) leaned over from behind him, pointing to different pieces and instructing him on what to do, until eventually she just used her powers and did it for him.

“Awww” Everyone cooed, grinning like proud parents as they watched them interact.

“It’s nice to see them finally together-” Steve started, but was quickly shushed by Wanda and Nat.

“They’re gonna kiss!” Natasha announced, everyone’s focus on the pair in the lab. He’d turned around to look at her, smiles on their faces as they seemed to be celebrating.

“I think they figured out his repairs,” Sam said. “Look at that, they’ve got heart eyes”

“He’s leaning!” Wanda announced, clapping her hands together.

“I can’t believe he’s gonna be the one to make the first move” Bruce mused.

“Second move” Wanda corrected.

(y/n’s) hand set on his shoulder as she leaned in closer to Peter, and his own hands held her at her waist, bringing her in, and just as they were about to close the gap-

BAM.

Bruce tripped, having leaned over too far, and slammed into the window, making Peter and (y/n) leap apart and whip around to see the group of Avengers spying on them. They shared a surprised and embarrassed look before looking back at the group of adults with their faces pressed to the window.

“Uh oh” Sam muttered, as the pair in the lab came rushing over to the doors.

“Thanks a lot Bruce” Natasha hissed.

“Are you guys serious?” (y/n) scolded as she whipped open the door and pointed an accusatory finger towards them. “What are you, five? Spying on us?”

“Maybe-” Bruce started, and before (y/n) could yell some more, Peter pulled her back and gave them an awkward smile.

“Hey guys, little weird that you were watching us-”

“We just thought you were cute, we didn’t mean to invade your privacy” Steve apologized like the diplomat he was.

“Still creepy” (y/n) replied.

“We just wanted to know if you were gonna go for it and kiss her, man” Sam said with a shrug of his shoulders.

“Yeah… still creepy” (y/n) repeated, while Peter ducked his head to hide his blush. (y/n) leaned a little into his side comfortingly.

“We’ll leave you be now” Natasha said, being sure to grab Bruce and pull him away before he could slip and say something creepy.

Steve and Sam followed them, leaving Wanda to grin at (y/n).

“Don’t- don’t even say anything,” (y/n) said, putting a hand up to her face. “Just give us some privacy and I’ll talk to you tomorrow”

“Alright, fine,” Wanda agreed, reaching forward and squeezing her hand lovingly. “Talk to you tomorrow. Goodnight, honey”

“Goodnight” (y/n) replied with a nod as Wanda left.

“Well,” Peter breathed out. “That was pretty weird”

“Not for them it wasn’t,” (y/n) chuckled, and looked up at him with a soft smile. “It was kinda sweet… but mostly creepy”

“Yeah it was more creepy than anything” He answered.

(y/n) grinned at him, her hand reaching up to touch his cheek gently, before she leaned up on the tips of her toes to kiss him.

It was a short kiss, but it was sweet and lovely and she tasted like sugar and strawberries.

When they parted, she grinned at him, and he couldn’t help but return the smile.

“Wanna make pancakes and prank all Tony?” She asked, almost affectionately.

“Yes!” Peter agreed excitedly, taking her hand as they raced to the kitchen. “Best first date ever!”

___

taglist: @writings-and-stuff @rofromtheashes @tomshufflepuff @steve-avengers-rogers @vibhati123 @dark-night-sky-99 @hollandhours @drakonwild @imofficiallyobsessed

xoxo ~ jordie

#Peter parker #Peter Parker x reader #Peter Parker imagine #Peter Parker scenario #Peter Parker fanfiction #spider-man #spider-man scenario #spider-man imagine #spider-man x reader #spider-man fanfiction #tom holland #tom holland x reader

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inae-dirri-man · 3 years

Text

DSMP S2 FINALE

I couldn’t sleep cuz of it so hear me out. I’m writing this while still riding the hype!

YOU BAFOONS!YOU IDIOTS! YOU THINK THIS IS OVER?! Who do you think this is they’re dealing with?! This is Dream! The literal god of the server! The puppet master the one pulling the strings! You think he doesn’t have a plan? You think he’s not 5 steps ahead of you?

-Punz and Dream had a plan where Dream specifically told him to betray him!

-Sam is the person Dream payed to build it!

-Techno still owes him a favor!

-Sapnap is Dream’s oldest friend

And don’t get me started on the hypocrisy of the people!

They put Dream in prison but Wilbur and Schlatt get to roam free? Wilbur blew up L’manburg. Schlatt exiled Tommy and Wilbur, traumatized Tubb, started a war, broke friendships and families apart...but Dream is the bad guy??? Don’t get me wrong! What he did was awful and shouldn’t have happened EVER! But EVERYONE did awful things on the server for different reasons! People just love to point fingers at Dream and say that without him there’s no conflict but that’s wrong and stupid!

PUTTING DREAM IN A PRISON WAS WRONG

Let me show how I see Dream’s perspective of this.

The server started WITH the Dream team FOR the Dream team and their friends to enjoy the game. Then Tommy shows up and starts the disk war and the fighting. Now it was all for fun no harm done they’re still friends! Dream is still SANE! Then the L’manburg war starts! Why? Because Dream said the rules and Tommy and Wil broke them. By the logic everyone who supports Dream being in a prison, they should be punished. But they weren’t! Dream TOLD them “Hey don’t do drugs, please!” and they started a fucking nation! Dream felt like he was losing his friends so he went to war to try and get them back, but he lost, even tho he got the disks he lost. From the beginning it was never about the disks for him, he was willing to give them up for Spirit (his dead horse) because he had an attachment! But somewhere along the way, probably the whole POG/SWAG war he lost the attachments, he lost his sanity! Remember the early days? Where Tommy, Tubbo and Dream fought for the disks? Where Skeppy got Spirit and Dream literally didn’t care how Tommy felt about the disks he wanted his horse back? Remember how it was all fun and games? Well it’s not anymore. Dream went INSANE! He didn’t want power when the server started, he wanted peace. But somewhere along the line his perspective changed and it’s easy to see how broken the leader of the SMP actually is. Just rewatch the scene where he yells at Tommy but LISTEN to it! Hear it! It’s not the same is it? In his mind attachments are what’s solving him down. And in a way they are, I’ll have to agree a little, but they also aren’t. Relationships are extremely complicated, because humans are too! Tommy LOVES to throw word psychopath at Dream but according to the DSM 5 he’s not... Psychopathy is a VERY COMLICATED mental illness and to normal people it’s hard to spot! They blend with the background and work from the shadows. Dream LOVES to be the center of attention so that’s one thing that is stopping people from calling him one. The other would be the simple criteria of a person with ASPD which is:

A pervasive pattern of disregard for and violation of the rights of others, since age 15 years, as indicated by three (or more) of the following:

The individual is at least age 18 years.

Evidence of conduct disorder typically with onset before age 15 years.

The occurrence of antisocial behavior is not exclusively during schizophrenia or bipolar disorder."

Failure to conform to social norms concerning lawful behaviors, such as performing acts that are grounds for arrest.

Deceitfulness, repeated lying, use of aliases, or conning others for pleasure or personal profit.

Impulsivity or failure to plan.

Irritability and aggressiveness, often with physical fights or assaults.

Reckless disregard for the safety of self or others.

Consistent irresponsibility, failure to sustain consistent work behavior, or honor monetary obligations.

Lack of remorse, being indifferent to or rationalizing having hurt, mistreated, or stolen from another person.

Now for those who don’t wanna read this or don’t understand let me put it simply Dream by the simple definition isn’t a psychopath. Tommy just throws the word around and people go along because they don’t know better. Simply putting it psychopaths are BORN, NOT MADE! Someone who is made a psychopaths is NOT a psychopaths because it can be “reversed”.

What I’m trying to say is while I am happy that Tommy and Tubbo aren’t dead I am not happy with the outcome for Dream (I love the memes tho), mostly because they just put a mentally unstable person in prison. This isn’t going end well, for anyone. It’s going to end with Dream either COMPLITELY losing it to the point where he’s going to destroy everything or destroy HIMSELF or he’s going to kill the ENITRE server. None of these options are good! Now is what he did ok? ABSOLOUTLY NOT! EVER! Should they have put him in there? NO! They could have solved the Dream problem SO much easier! For example having someone watch over him at all times but not in prison! A prison should be a place for rehabilitation, which let’s be honest....not gonna happen’! Anything other than what they did! This is EXACTLY why I love this roleplay! It’s COMPLICATED! EVERYONE is the bad guy while at the same time being the victim of government, themselves or others! There’s no good or bad, black or white, everything is SMUGED, hard to see and recognize! NOTHING is clear. It shows that real life is complicated, hard, hard to see thru! And the actors are AMAZINGLY showing every emotion and thought! I CAN’T WAIT FOR SEASON 3! And remember this is all roleplay don’t get too invested like me! (It’s not healthy!) Time to get the sleep that I missed just for this shit!

#dream smp #dsmp #technoblade #punz #tommyinnit #dream #awsomedude #tubbo #wilbur soot #jchlatt #am i doing tis right #this isn't even the quarter of the essay i wrote #i love the finale #yes #this is why i didn't upload anything do not question me mortal

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youarejesting · 4 years

Text

Temptation KTH X Reader

[Masterlist] Pairing: CamBoy!Taehyung x CamGirl!Reader Beta: N/A Genre: Romance, Angst, Fluff, NSFW, Smut Rating: 18+ Words: 3.7k Request: @pars-ley

Summary: You sign up for the world’s newest and sexiest Late-night Television program called ‘Temptation’. Where you are competing with nine other Cam workers to win One Million dollars. The catch? You can’t cum?

Warnings: Oral f & m recieving, Doms & Subs, Orgasm denial, Penetrative sex, Handjobs, Fingering, Vouyerism, Exhibitionism, Bratty, Daddy Kink, Impregnation Kink, Auralism (sexy sounds moans etc...), Orgy, Dirty talk, Group sessions.

You were a cam girl, but you had been recruited with the best of the best to participate in an elimination game show. Basically, you were not allowed to come, which didn’t include private masturbation unless you were with a housemate in the previous half-hour. The winner would win one million dollars.

There were a few catches, you were each given a phone that would give you commands on things you had to do with other contestants. You had permission to do anything to anyone if the phone told you so. So if you were told to give a blow job you could, but the male was not allowed to finish. Equally so if you were told one of the males could eat you out, you weren’t allowed to finish.

With a sigh, you sat in front of the camera and began talking about the first day while rewatching the footage. You were told to react as if it was happening and relay the thought you had in the moment. “right here I thought ‘oh it is going to be easy’,” I signed up to Temptation and I am going to win. I have to win, I am planning on paying out my family's mortgage and perhaps buying myself a home something permanent.”

You took a moment to pause and thought “it wasn’t the easiest growing up poor, I have a good job now and a good apartment but I don’t spend money on myself until my family are in a better position”

You met the other contestants and you could pick out which ones would go first, the ones who had no resolve. There were four doms and you knew you could get them in seconds. Everyone was dressed normally and you each took the time to greet one another.

This would be the easiest money you ever made. Everyone introduced themselves and their highlight cam videos appeared on the screen and you paled. Suga, RM, J-Hope, Honey, Jimin, lovelymi, Jungkook, EatJin. Names you hoped would “Hello, my name is V, I have been in the cam industry for about seven years, I do partner and solo videos, I am a switch.” His voice was so deep and it stirred something in you.

His videos started playing and he was grunting and fucking a girl. Him talking dirty while he used his hand, he was big and looked honestly amazing. He was holding a girl’s hair as he bucked into her mouth. All while looking and sounding so freaking sexy

“This be harder than I thought” you laughed “he is handsome and his voice is truly amazing, from a purely sexual point of view he is attractive”

“But what will his personality be like? That's the question. Things can make you excited but if he opens his mouth and is a jerk well that excitement plummets.

“Hey guys, My cam name is Baby, I have been in the cam business for a long time I can’t even remember, I am a submissive, I have done partnered and solo cam video” Your videos began playing, you were thankful for the quality of your videos and editing things looked desirable and left you wanting more. You acting like a brat and being punished. You acting submissive calling your cam partner Daddy.

This last one had the dom’s in the room squirming and you knew you had some power over them.

“I joined the cam industry because I was interested, I got to have pleasure in the privacy of my own house and get paid. I use a fake name and I entertain clients with videos. I choose what I do in the video if I don’t like it. I'm sorry, I choose who can watch me. If someone is acting rude or threatening I can kick them out the website and my setup at home is protected so common creeps cannot find me. The people I film with are people I trust and also work in the business”

You shrugged raising your hands up “I mean what can I say it all sounds like a great deal, orgasms and money what else do you want”

You smiled and the Host spoke over the PA, “Please check out your new rooms and your attire which has been carefully selected in your size. Relax and freshen up dinner will be served shortly.”

You stood up and looked innocently at the doms. “What should I wear for dinner mummy and Daddies?”

The four doms Suga, Jhope, Honey, and Jin looked at you with firm eyes. “Would you like me to dress you, baby?” Honey asked

“Wear something pretty?” Jin said his voice firm as he walked off, loosening his tie and unbuttoning his dress shirt as he walked down the hall.

“Wear something to impress daddy?” Jhope grinned and you went off to your room, looking through the cupboards and you thought the others would go for blatantly sexy but you actually snuck into Jin’s room while he was in the shower and stole his dress shirt and left, you made sure to wear a pretty set of white lace underwear but you didn’t put on shoes and you let your hair down and put on natural-looking makeup.

The shirt dwarfed you and you didn’t do up all the buttons at the top or bottom. Everyone walked out to dinner and you grinned. All the guys were either just in pants or in suits except Jimin and Jungkook who were in harness’. LovelyMi was wearing lingerie, big heels, and full hair and makeup. Honey wore leather and big shoes stepping out. You yawned pretending you woke up your hands unseen in the big sleeves.

“Is that my shirt?” Jin asked

“Daddy's shirt smelled so good?” Jin stirred, you bit back a smile and everyone started eating dinner and you reached for something and V made a small groan as the shirt fell open revealing your breast. You sat back down and grinned when Suga’s phone chimed.

“One of your well-known skills is Tongue technology, pick one girl and eat her out.” He said with a laugh.

“Suga, genius. The only two things you need to know” he shrugged looking at the floor. “Enough said”

He walked down the table and pushed your chair back. You looked up at him innocently. “Daddy is going to eat this pussy, is that okay my sweet baby?” Suga caressed your cheek, you did like praise.

“I want a different daddy” You huffed pulling off your underwear and throwing them at Jin. Suga pressed his tongue to his cheek, looking visibly pissed that you were questioning his authority knowing you were playing as the rules stated if you didn’t want to participate you would use the safe word.

“Spread your legs, brat” this was a command and your legs fell apart. He placed them on the arms of the dinner chair and V looked down swallowing hard trying not to look but you commanded his attention.

“What a pretty little pussy, for such a bratty girl” Suga smirked, wasting no time, you picked up your drink and drank it slowly thinking about the dinner. After the initial surprise, you knew you would be fine he wouldn’t get you to finish but he was so close.

Another phone went off and Jimin read aloud his instructions to give RM a blow job. You continued eating dinner zoning out completely you were pretty skilled at keeping yourself from cumming. What surprised you was when Jimin came it was the first night, but the boy had an oral fixation and that coupled with an audience and the moans around the room, he came while deepthroating RM.

You were sad to see him leave but you were thankful the orders for the night were complete.

“Suga has tongue technology all right but, there is one sure-fire way to put me on edge and that is with a deep voice. I cannot stand V’s voice it is way too sexy”

It had been a long first week, you had been drawn to the edge by Honey and had given a blow job to Jhope who held himself together with swears and shaky breath. You were all sitting in the pool at the end of the week and LovelyMi was eliminated. The fans had voted her out.

The next week saw Jungkook eliminated. Honey had him tied up and he couldn’t hold back. There was no voting elimination but there was a challenge. You had to answer sex facts to earn points. Some of the questions were how many times can a woman orgasm. You won and the hosts Adora and Pdogg asked how many times you had successfully finished.

“Eleven,” You said, “I could have kept going but I took a break and ended up falling asleep.”

“I am impressed?” RM grinned, he had got the next answer right and the two of you got to draw from the hat some cards.

“Hell yeah, I got a free finish card” You grinned

“I got an extended order time card” RM laughed and you both high fived and headed back to continue playing the game.

After a few games such as the fastest to dress in their role-play costume, you all picked what door you wanted and you laughed when you were dressed as a businessman, you laughed at the array of costumes but V was the winner having won wearing a nurses dress. Another game was won by Jin and it was called ‘whose lips are these?’ You each took turns being blindfolded and you were kissed by the others.

For you, Jin’s lips were the easiest to identify, followed by Honey’s and you just knew when a large hand took your waist and your heart sparked that it was V. Three out of six wasn’t too bad.

“They always guessed when it was me, do I kiss a certain way or weirdly?” You touched your lips confused and mumbled in an afterthought “I thought I kissed really well.”

You stepped up to V your heart racing nervously and you slipped your hand into his hair pulling his hair firmly and he groaned making you lick your lips. You kissed him and he kissed back his tongue entering your mouth and you pulled away watching him sigh in relief.

“I got every one of them wrong except her, there was something about how soft her lips were, and the way she tasted like strawberries it was kind of delicious.” V spoke his cheeks red “I want to kiss her again”

Jhope won a game of sex bingo where you had to mark off what you had done but the catch was there as like a hundred different things. Where you looked through your cam videos and marked off what was in each of them. Honey and Suga didn’t have a single card. V had a free from elimination card and Jin had a kink assisted order. Jhope won a group order card.

“Some would say, I am well versed in sex, and they would be right!” JHope laughed, clapping his hands. “I enjoy trying new things and well I have preferences but I can at least say I have tried it”

That week was fun, you had filed away the free finish card for when you needed it and hoped like hell you wouldn’t need it. RM used the time extend card for his order to fuck Honey but accidentally eliminated himself and Honey simultaneously.

Eliminations came along and Suga was the next to be voted out. There were four of you left. You and three males, this was going to become quite difficult. You were sitting on the couch watching movies with Jin when you got an order.

“Give a blow job to the nearest contestant” You smirked and sank to the floor unzipping Jin’s pants and you hit accept on the phone and got to work you had a time limit and you weren’t going to lose one million dollars because of a six-minute timer.

You used everything called him Daddy made all the right sounds and gave him all the right looks but he didn’t come. The timer rang and he grinned tucking himself away and you rested your head on his thigh. “Please daddy.”

“She is dangerous, I almost didn’t want to stop but I am here for the money, she isn’t playing around” Jin sighed “I can still hear her saying those words in my head and I want more than anything to continue our session.”

You noticed V in the kitchen with a piece of orange in his mouth, eyes wide he had seen everything and you blushed.

“That was the hottest thing I had ever seen, she really wanted to win and I am just thankful that it wasn’t an order for me” He shivered running his hand over his jaw. “I wouldn’t have made it, and I don’t know if I would try”

He looked at his hands ringing them out before looking up “She is my opponent and I will do my best to win against her!”

Jin had used a kink assisted and you were given headphones filled with V’s moans while Honey had given him a handjob last week.

“She either really likes V or she likes deep moans that is good to know?” He snickered “I think she is in love with V the two are smitten”

You bit your lip and turned to the camera’s “Oh this is playing dirty.” You hissed Jin was skilled with his fingers, he apparently played guitar and some piano but no matter how much he rubbed your G spot and clit at the same time. You weren’t going to come, even if V sounded sinful in your ears.

“There is nothing I want more than to win, but I almost didn’t think I was going to make it. Have you heard him, growling and moaning” You blushed burying your face in your hands “He is the only one who can make me lose this game”

You looked up and leaned back on the couch throwing one leg over the other. “So now we are all preparing for war”

Amongst all the sex, you and V grew close, the two of you Swam in the pool and played games, when you weren’t talking you were having deep conversations and at one point you even stayed up late chatting until he leaned in pressing his lips to yours. You couldn’t help but kiss him back with similar vigor.

“Baby” Jhope called and showed you the screen of his phone reading out loud. “Jhope ten minutes with Baby everything except penetrative sex”

“Okay?” You nodded

“And I am calling the group card” he grinned

You were surrounded by all three men and they quickly discussed what they should do. JHope grinned, telling Jin to return the favor for the earlier blow job and V looked disappointed.

“I know why he chose me, I am called EatJin for a reason.” Jin explained seriously “these lips can devour women… and a good steak”

“Was I disappointed that JHope asked Jin-hyung to eat her out?” V scoffed a few times “me? never”

He got up out of his chair as he took his microphone off and walked away with a dark tone “What would ever give you that impression”

The next elimination saw JHope leave. And it was you and the two handsome young men, you understood why they weren’t voted out.

You had an amazing evening watching V give a rather enthusiastic Blow Job to Jin who came with a loud cry.

Now it was just you and V.

“Am I scared?” You laughed at the question, touching your mouth in thought. “Why because it’s just the two of us now”

“It’s her who should be scared?” V looked proud as he held an intense gaze.

“I do this for a living, why would I be scared?”

You tried to bluff unsuccessfully “I’m bloody terrified, Have you seen him he is handsome as hell and I know he will be the end of me”

“My biggest fear is not being able to stop. She is magnificent, we have gotten to know each other so much over the four weeks and she is cheeky and charming and sweet and I truly believe I love her.”

He licked his lips “it started out that I thought she was my type but it became that she was my everything”

When you woke its first day with just the two of you and he smiled over breakfast. “The house feels lonely without everyone doesn’t it?”

“The house feels too big and too cold” you mumbled.

You spent the week together which would be fast-forwarded on the week's episode.

“Today is the last day the challenge is going to be extreme,” he said, “you think you're ready for it?”

“Yeah, I think I am ready, what about you?”

“I think I am more nervous I wish we were on even grounds your free finish card has me worried”

“What I am about to do is either incredibly stupid or incredibly stupid” you buried your face in your hands.

“I would like to use my free finish card” you pulled the card out from the back of your phone. “You better be worth it?”

V’s mouth fell open in shock and you looked at him feeling a little mischievous.

“She is going to give up her free finish now so we fight an even and fair match tomorrow.” He said biting his lip “I love her, and I am not going to waste this moment I am going to rock her world”

You followed him to his bedroom. He held your hand the entire way and you grinned as he pressed you to the door. Kissing you hard and moaning into your mouth. He slipped his hand up your little skirt and plunged his fingers down the front of your underwear.

He didn’t let up and he was kissing and sucking at your neck before he moved you to the bed and buried himself between your legs he moaned the whole time and he was torturing you.

His tongue working magic on your clit and his long fingers curling up inside you. It wasn’t long before your legs began to tremble and you gripped the sheets as all the sexual tension that had been building up finally released causing your back to arch off the bed.

You shivered watching him lean back onto his heels and lick his fingers and palm with a soft moan. “You are delicious”

“I have made a mistake” you whispered quietly.

It was the big day you were both dressed immaculately and this was the moment of truth Adora and Pdogg watched from the sidelines beside the three judges.

“Now the rules are simple the first to cum loses the winner gets a million dollars”

“It is kind of weird knowing the finale is just the two of us having sex until someone finishes but hey who am I to judge. I am one of the people doing it”

You both went to the bed, there were cameras everywhere including inside you, that was a fun appointment. Even though it was a tiny little silicone camera on a fine cord, they were able to move the camera around by a remote so it was always in the correct position you would admit it was nerve-racking to have it inside you. V looked at you sitting on the bed with a nervous grin and you both hugged whispering under your breath.

“Are you as nervous as I am?” You whispered

“Yeah, I didn’t expect I would be having sex on late-night television”

“Yeah I agree”

“Do you think that after this, we could watch a movie or get something to eat?”

“I would love too” you breathed

Everything began and you were underneath V and he was working hard and a timer went off every ten minutes to switch positions so that you each got different stimulation and such.

You almost lost it while he fucked you from behind, you were clenching around him tightly trying to make him finish. He was grunting and growling.

Your mind was spinning and you whispered to yourself don’t come hoping you could convince yourself to hang in a little longer.

You switched positions sinking onto him and straddling his waist his hands held your hips and he bucked up into you.

“Let’s give our two contestants their first hints,” Pdogg grinned, the two hosts taking envelopes.

“V has an impregnation kink” Adora read the card aloud

“Oh yeah, daddy? you want to fill me up, you placed his hands on your lower abdomen and pressed back on him so he could feel himself through your stomach. “You want me all nice and full, huh?”

He groaned loudly and you clenched around him biting your lip. “Baby has a sound kink her preference is deep voices but she enjoys moans growls and pants. She has sensitive ears.”

V sat up putting his mouth to your ear and began, talking to you making obscene sounds in your ears and he flipped you over after hearing the belly and grabbed your hips thrusting hard.

His speed was dangerous for both of you, “Come on” he growled and you felt everything crash over you, your body practically convulsing from the power that had built up.

He came after you and it was warm. The footage from inside of you was very explicit watching him finish inside of you. You laughed, slapping his arm, you fought dirty.

“I gave up on trying to hold back if I didn’t give one hundred percent neither of us would finish. I had to get dangerously close in order to push her over the edge” He pumped his hands in the air.

“But I did it!” He cheered. “I won!”

“And there you have it V is the winner of the sexiest game of the year Temptation.” Adora cheered.

“Think you have what it takes to go online to our page to see behind the scenes footage as well as applications for next years big game”

“V, tell us what you are planning to do with one million dollars”

“First of all I am going to split it with Baby, and maybe take her on a date”

If you enjoyed this story don’t forget to Like | Share so others can enjoy it too. PLease see my [Masterlist] for more of my work.

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solar-pxwered · 3 years

Text

A List Of Norman Reedus Movies/Shows I Have Seen And My Opinions On Them

1. The Boondock Saints

The Best. A classic. Bloody and inappropriate and if I remember my count correctly, contains 194 “fucks” or variations of it (this movie certainly illustrates the diversity of the word). Terrible Irish accents. A KICKASS soundtrack. Willem DeFoe crossdressing. Dropping toilets on people’s heads. Over the top action sequences. Cheesy dialogue. Campy as fuck. I freakin’ love it.

2. The Boondock Saints 2: All Saints Day

Some people didn’t like this one as much as the first one, and I admit that I wasn’t as fond of the new detective in this one as I was of Smecker...but, overall, I really enjoyed it and I drove 2 hours to see it in theaters. I love Romeo more than Rocco. The humor was on point. It was nice to see the original actors for Doc, Dolly, Duffy and Greenley. There was more terrible Irish accents, another KICKASS soundtrack, cheesy dialogue, over the top action sequences, still campy as fuck. I freaking love it.

3. The Walking Dead

Cannot even describe how much I love this show. I have ALWAYS loved zombie related shows and movies so this show was right up my alley from the very beginning all the way back in 2010. I watched it religiously every Sunday. I adore this roller coaster ride of a show and I especially adore Daryl, Carol and Jerry. This show has it all: Comedy, drama (hella lots of that), tragedy and triumph...and it never fails to pulls me in and hold my interest.

4. Mimic

Honestly, I saw this a LONG time ago and I hated it because...well, because I have a cockroach phobia, ok?! Don’t judge. Norman’s part was pretty small, not one of his lasting impressions on me.

5. Six Ways To Sunday

This is a weird one. It’s about an overly innocent 18 year (played by Norman) who gets involved in the Mob and develops an alter ego that’s violent and his complete opposite. There’s murder, prostitutes and good ol’ fashioned mother-son incest and it wasn’t a movie I suggest for the lighthearted or anyone with those sort of triggers.

That being said, I watched the whole thing and didn’t hate it. It was just uncomfortable...as seems to be a theme with Norman Reedus movies.

6. Dark Harbor

This fucking movie...

Ok, so, I’ll be straight with you: I really enjoyed this dumbass movie. It had me guessing right up to the very end and it took me on a very strange ride along the way.

If watching someone sexually feed a woman a poisonous mushroom, lots of dark eyed staring scenes or Norman Reedus making out with Alan Rickman is your thing, then go for it.

7. Let the Devil Wear Black

It’s modern Hamlet. What else is there to say? If you like Hamlet, you’ll like this movie. If you like pre-car accident, baby face Reedus with the black hair, you’ll like this movie. I liked it.

8. 8MM

You know what the best thing about this movie is? Nicholas Cage. He steals the damn show no matter what movie he’s in and no one can even deny that fact. Norman’s part in this one is pretty small too but I liked this movie anyway because...well, Nick Cage. Enough said.

9. Bad Seed

I honestly can’t remember how this movie ends, all I remember was that it wasn’t at all how I expected it. I liked this movie because it’s a psychological thriller and that’s my most favorite genre of all time. The movie’s premise is a guy suspects his wife of having an affair and comes home one night and finds her murdered so he goes after her lover (Reedus) to try and kill him because he believes he was the one who killed her. It’s a cat and mouse chase sort of thing...now I need to rewatch it because I can’t, for the life of me, remember how it ends.

10. Gossip

Ok, no JOKE, this is the best movie I ever randomly discovered and I can’t believe how many people have never heard of it! It’s got some big names in it (Lena Headey, Norman Reedus, James Marsden and Kate Hudson to name a few).

It’s a psychological thriller/mystery drama in which three friends start a rumor at their school as a social experiment for their class. The rumor grows, however, and suddenly it’s out of their hands and spiraling out of control. People start getting hurt, reputations get dragged through the mud and then it escalates to the point of someone losing their life. The three main characters {Reedus, Headey and Marsden) try to figure out the truth behind the out of control rumors and discover more than they ever imagined, or ever wanted.

I HIGHLY recommend this movie. I really, REALLY do. The ending is one of the best twists I’ve seen in a LONG time.

11. The Beatnicks

This movie is so weird. It’s like...it’s just really weird. It revolves around two beat poets who find a magic box that somehow magically helps them get good at being poets but it’s like...an evil box and so they decide to only use it once and then get rid of it. Yeah, it’s a weird movie. Not my highest suggestion.

12. Blade II

Ok, if you’ve never seen the Blade Trilogy then I just don’t even know what to tell you.

My favorite of the three movies, Blade 2 gives us the glorious Reedus character of Scud, the pot smoking, horrible-shirt-wearing, mechanical genius and Blade’s sidekick. Not only is he precious and adorable, the movie in all is enjoyable and has a fun rave-esque soundtrack.

The one thing I hate? *SPOILER ALERT* Scud’s scummy betrayal.

13. Tough Luck

This is another one of those movies that I liked but it’s just so freaking weird.

It’s a psychological drama where a down on his luck con artist, Archie (Reedus), tries to rip off a carnival worker and gets caught. As punishment, he’s hired to work at the carnival to pay off the debt. He gets involved in a scheme to murder the owner’s wife, but falls in love with her in the process.

Things go to shit. He gets the short end of the stick. More plots and lies develop. It’s all twisted until the end and the answers fall into place.

I really like this movie, it’s one that I kept and still have my copy of.

A word of warning though, never leave this movie on your movie shelf for your father to find and watch while you’re away at college, resulting in your mother calling you and asking you why you have such a nasty movie. Because the sex scene at the end is OUTRAGEOUS. I mean, it is the FUNNIEST fucking sex scene I have ever seen in my life and I can’t ever watch it without cringing and laughing. My mother, however, didn’t think it was funny at all and my father was too shocked to even form a sentence.

I highly suggest this trippy as hell movie.

14. Octane

Ok, to be fair, this movie is actually alright, although Norman’s character gets the shittiest death possible. I mean, imagine dying because some psycho vampire kisses you and bites your tongue out. That’s one shitty death.

But, overall, this is a good thriller. Johnathan Rhys Meyers plays the villain and he’s always pretty quality. The story is basically a teenager has a disagreement with her mom and gets picked up by this drugged up, blood sucking, vampire wannabe cult and indoctrinated joining them. Her mother joins up with a tow truck driver (Reedus) whose daughter was also kidnapped years ago and who has been hunting the cult down ever since.

It was a cringe filled, yet interesting, movie and I didn’t hate it.

15. John Carpenter’s Cigarette Burns

This is John Carpenter....OF COURSE I liked this one.

I won’t say what it’s about because that would ruin the story, but it’s part of an anthology and John Carpenter loved Norman’s role so much he STILL talks about it today and suggests Norman to people in the industry.

It’s a good one if you’re into horror shorts or anthologies or the genius of the legend that is John Carpenter.

16. A Crime

I had completely forgotten about this movie until I started making this post, but now that I remember...I REALLY liked this one!!

This is a pretty sad one, but it was very good and Norman’s acting in it is absolutely wonderful. His character’s wife was murdered and the suspect was never found so his neighbor, who really likes him, creates a fake culprit so that he can finally get some closure.

This is a good one. I suggest this one if you’re in the mood for a strange sort of romance movie that has underlying thriller tones.

17. Moscow Chill

I remember watching this one, and I remember enjoying it, but I honestly can’t remember anything about it except that it’s a Russian film in which Norman plays a computer hacker who gets hired to hack into a Russian bank and gets caught and put in prison. But I honestly can’t remember what happens in detail.

If you like foreign movies with hacking and subterfuge plots, then give it a try because I do remember enjoying it while I watched.

18. Red Canyon

This one is kinda fucked up. Imagine Daryl Dixon mixed with Breaking Bad mixed with Deliverance and you’ve pretty much got the story...

A brother and sister return to their mother’s hometown to settle things and put their horrible past behind them...but upon returning they end up reliving the nightmare all over again.

It’s a good thriller/horror watch, but there are scenes of sexual violence so if that’s not something you can handle, then don’t watch this one.

19. Hero Wanted

This. Is. A. GOOD. Movie.

Cuba Gooding Jr. is the lead and he does an AMAZING job. Gooding’s character is a garbage man who falls in love with a girl who never takes any notice of him. To get her attention, he stages a heist in which he is supposed to jump in, save the day, and win the girl...only the heist turns out to be real and he is shot and the girl is also shot in the process. He sets out for revenge and gets in way over his head.

Norman’s part in this isn’t very big...but HOLY SHIT, was it impactful. His character didn’t have a lot of screen time, in comparison to a lot of other people, but he had a solid backstory and reason for being involved and MY GOD did I cry about it. This was actually the first movie of his I watched AFTER discovering Boondock Saints and it solidified my love for his acting abilities.

A very good watch. Highly suggest.

20. Messengers 2: The Scarecrow

This one is pretty ok, actually, as far as lame horror movies go.

The plot is simple: Blonde, beardy, corn farmer Norman gets slowly driven insane by the haunted scarecrow in his field that he thinks putting up is a good idea for some damn reason. He starts to get more and more violent and rapey as time goes on until his family is forced to take up arms against him.

It’s not bad. Second part in what I THINK is a trilogy? I’ve only ever seen the first two. If you like horror movies then this one is a good watch. As I mentioned though, there is an attempted rape scene in this one so just be aware.

21: Pandorum

It’s an alien movie. Astronauts run into a species that is stronger and hungry for tasty humans. Shepard (Norman’s character) doesn’t make it out alive. If you’re not in the mood to see Norman get LITERALLY gutted or other characters get nommed by aliens, then don’t watch.

If you ARE, then go ahead and watch, because it was pretty alright.

#norman reedus #panja speaks #I just thought anyone wanting to check out more of his stuff should have a starting point

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ladyc0312 · 4 years

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A Jikook Guide to RunBTS: 20-29

I’ll be totally honest here - I was kind of worried when I took this on that looking closely would end up convincing me that I was just seeing things through shipper goggles. And, sure, there are moments that have had their significance overplayed because all of the guys are touchy. But overall, I've ended up being even more convinced there's at the very least something unique about this relationship!

FYI - I started putting these notes together a few months ago, so my memory about certain episodes has grown a little hazy. In the interest of not needing to rewatch these episodes for a third time, I’ve decided that if I don’t remember much about the episode, it must not have been that memorable, and that’s reflected in the (totally subjective) rating.

Thanks so much to everyone who shared moments I’d missed last time around - please continue to do so!

Ep 20 "The Taste of Korea" (Ep: 4 / KM: 2)

The one with Tae’s squirrel plate and JK’s sticky sweet potatoes

01:45 - Jimin stands super close to JK

12:55 - Jimin laughs particularly hard at JK's glazed sweet potatoes sticking to the plate

13:15 - JM and JK lock eyes as they joke about the sweet potatoes. Then Jimin continues laughing at JK's antics even when they start going on a bit too long

15:05 - Jimin is the only one to laugh when JK makes another joke about the sweet potatoes

17:44 - JM is the only one paying enough attention to laugh with JK at Jin's comments on the sweet potatoes

Ep 21 "Board Game Competition" (Ep: 1 / KM: 1)

The one I recall almost nothing about beyond that the room was ugly (and maybe in Chicago?)

12:44 - JK has moved next to Jimin during the cut. JK pats JM on the shoulder and starts to say something about him, but gets cut off.

12:54 - JK compliments Jimin's card-dealing

15:46 - JK tries unsuccessfully to get JM's attention so he can advise him what color to pick

Ep 22 "Hangawi Festival" (Ep: 3 / KM: 3)

The one where the members wear hanbok to make food and play games

3:18 - When Suga comments that JK is good enough to be a songpyeon artist after retirement, Jimin says JK has a lot to do after retirement since JK told him he wanted to run a BBQ place.

7:01 - Jimin leans in close to JK and asks him to vote for his songpyeon (weirdly, hearts pop up on the screen when he does). Despite his desire to win, Jimin cheers loudly and puts his arm around JK when JK's songpyeon gets the first vote. He keeps his arm around him the entire time the voting is happening and as they start announcing the votes. 7:45 - When the other members go over to look at the dishes, JM and JK stay behind together. 21:00 - After watching Jimin spin in fascination, JK tells everyone that Jimin used to be a dancer (no idea why he says that like it's new info for anyone lol) 29:11 - JM and JK walk off together BEHIND 2:58 - JM and JK look over all the songpyeon together and Jimin compliments JK's 3:55 - more footage of the super long amount of time JM had his arm around JK

Ep 23 "Pet Friends" (Ep: 5 / KM: 1)

The one where adorable boys play with adorable dogs

5:16 - Jimin seems to find JK's joke about eating dog treats as snacks hilarious and adorable 18:01 - JK and JM address each other when bragging about their dogs and have a moment of just looking at each other 19:50 - Jimin smiles when JK enters with his dog and the captions feel the need to clarify that it's a "brother-like smile"

Ep 24 "BTS vs. Zombies" (Ep: 4 / KM: 0)

The one where BTS (minus JK) is too afraid of zombies to complete any tasks

None

Ep 25 "Game King" (Ep: 2 / KM: 3)

The one that reminds us video games are more fun to play that to watch people play (but it’s super fun to watch Jimin dance while water is poured over him)

1:36 - JK walks over and puts his arm around Jimin when they get put on the same team. He does the same to Jin after and there are much better jikook moments in this ep, but including it for the sake of completionism 22:32 - JM sits right up next to JK and is kind of touchy when they pick a punishment. 22:56 - When the producer asks what song Jimin should dance to while getting water poured on his head, JK requests "'Blood Sweat and Tears,' a sexy one" and then gets shy and rubs at his ear. 23:32 - Jimin has his arm around JK when saying goodbye. 23:52 - When Jimin says he's nervous to dance, JK asks them to play the music loud. They're all staring at Jimin when he dances while getting soaked (because how could you not?), but JK's face at 24:16 after he gives JM a once-over is pretty great. And I think it's JK who yells "so hot!" at 24:23. He's also the only one still clapping at 24:43.

Ep 26 "Secret Agent" (Ep: 3 / KM: 1)

The one where the boys wear tuxedos and drive go-karts

15:19 - Jimin comments that JK will like the laser part of the course. 17:38 - JK taps JM on the shoulder to indicate something. 24:30 - JM proudly tells JK that he heard he scored the highest (even though that is a. not true and b. would be bad for Jimin's team). BEHIND 0:15 - Jimin reaches over to pat JK's stomach even though Jin is the one who messed up.

Ep 27 "Welcome to Your First MT Part 1" (Ep: 4 / KM: 3)

The ones where BTS play games, sing karaoke, and have a BBQ

6:22 - Jimin points out that they shouldn't make things harder for JK's team and imitates JK's confused big eyes. 7:48 - Jimin is playing the nonsensical answers game and is doing well until they ask what JK's favorite color is and Jimin immediately says yellow. Then, looks over at JK with an embarrassed smile. 13:55 - Jimin loses again with JK involved and, after, keeps looking at him and sings something I don't recognize. 19:22 - When Jimin has to do the nonsense game again, JK cheers him on with a "Jimin fighting!" even though they're on opposing teams. 20:50 - When Jimin has to drink lemon juice, JK volunteers that Jimin will be good at that since he likes sour things. He then repeats that fact another two times. 24:30 - Not super shippy, but the sound effect JK makes for Jimin's die toss is pretty great. 24:44 - When JK argues that Jimin's team should get less time, Jimin looks at him and acts cute so JK laughs and stops arguing. 28:18 - When Jimin gets an answer wrong in a funny way, JK says "this is is how he makes the show awesome." BEHIND 0:58 - Jimin complains that the shirts with JK's face on them make Jungkook look "too cute."

Ep 28 "Welcome to Your First MT Part 2" (Ep: 4 / KM: 1)

6:50 - Jimin doesn't even glance at J-Hope when he makes a comment to him while JK is singing

Ep 29 "...Be Each Other's Stylist" (Ep: 4 / KM: 4)

The one where the guys all dress each other

10:18 - Jimin says he wants to try Jungkook's clothes because he thinks he might look great in them. This whole scene, JK seems kind of nervous and keeps hovering near Jimin - it's especially apparent at 10:45

13:25 - When he gets picked to be styled by Jimin, JK celebrates, calls JM Jimini-ssi, and clasps his hand. 16:36 - Not a shippy moment per se, but the look on JK's face when Jimin holds up the pink shirt he's considering dressing him in is pretty great. 17:14 - Jikook keep joking around with each other about the pink shirt while the others are introducing their styles. JK swats at JM with the prop rose at 17:45 as part of this. 21:19 - While the guys are getting changed, Jimin calls everyone's attention to how he's dressed JK and gets them to compliment how good it looks. Then, V comments that it's the boyfriend look and Jimin says he wanted it to look great. 23:21 - JK trails his eyes up Jimin's body as JM poses. 23:27 - This starts the sequence of JK modeling Jimin's clothes, which involves a lot of laughing and looks plus JK imitating Jimin's hair sweep. At 23:54, JM calls JK Jungkook-ssi and says he looks even better than he thought. JK immediately stops posing and gets shy and earnest as he asks "really?" and says thank you. Then he takes JM's hand and holds it a few seconds and his entire face lights up. (This isn't a moment I'd given a lot of thought to before, but watching it now, I actually think I'd put it on my "moments that highlight how differently JM and JK interact with each other than with anyone else" list) 29:10 - While doing his model walk, JK imitates JM's hair sweep again and then does a piece of JM's choreo from "Save Me." JM cracks up the whole time and they do a bro-hug when JK is done. 33:00 JM and JK crack up together in the middle of the final poses. BEHIND 5:29 - As they get changed, JM and JK joke about the fit of the pants JM is trying on. 6:58 - JM and JK decide that JK should change into the outfit JM originally picked out. JK does and then starts imitating JM, which makes JM laugh and playfully smack him. They keep talking and at 7:40 JM briefly touches JM's back. 9:10 - J-Hope says that Jimin said before the episode that he wanted to dress JK. JM corrects him that he said Tae.

#jikook #kookmin #run bts #jikook guide to run bts

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beneaththemasks · 3 years

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Beast, Fifteen, Dead Apple and Fyodor´s ability put togheter

The first time I watched Bungou I didn't pay much attention to be honest and that lead me to committing a big mistake and that big mistake is what brings me here today.

This is a theory I´ve been working on for a long time now.

Before anything else I have to tell you that this is something I came up with entirely by myself, I don´t know if anyone has already written something similar to this, so any similitude is pure coincidence.

DISCLAIMER: this contains spoilers from the manga and light novels and is quite long, so read at your own risk.

Any hateful comment will be simply ignored, this is just something I'm sharing with you because it makes sense to me and I want to know what you think.

Please excuse my english if it gets bad at times since it isn't my first language.

Let´s begin:

I´ll start talking to you about some guy named “Randou” who was presented in the light novel ''Fifteen” as the responsible for the mafia´s predecessor return and the Arahabaki incident.

For those of you who don´t remember him, here´s a picture.

Ok so, you might wonder why I'm bringing him up.

If he was supposed to be a forgettable face from the beginning, another extra character in the story, then why didn´t I forget him? Why do I mention him before anything?

The answer is simple: I can forget a face I´ve seen once or twice but not one I´ve seen thrice.

“What do you mean? we only saw the man one time”

You´re totally right, however that wasn´t the case for me.

Confusing his face was the big mistake I made and the one that lead me to building this net of theories and clues that I'm putting together right here right now:

Even though the first time we see Fyodor´s face is at the ending of the second season and then again in Dead Apple, I remind you that I wasn't paying attention at all (like literally guys I already told you about how I would call tachihara “bad tanizaki” just because they looked the same to me). Due to my lack of attention, after finishing the “cannibalism” arc. and becoming more familiar with Fyodor´s face it occurred to me that he was the same guy involved in the arahabaki incident.

Why? because I can so I did.

My brain automatically assumed these guys were the same person just because they were dressed as if they were going to sleep on the top of the Everest for a whole month and because their faces were equally sad...

Of course, when I finished the anime and started reading the manga I was totally confused when Dazai asked Fyodor what his ability was, since I thought him and Randou were the same person, therefore I thought they shared ability.

After that I had to rewatch the whole anime and then realized how high I was when I watched it the first time.

But even when I managed to get the whole story right I still couldn't stop thinking about Randou, he was still a mystery, but more than the man himself, his story and the order in which they were presented by Kafka were somehow strange.

So after reading “Beast'' I came up with a few theories about the book being canonically in that alternate universe, because for me, even if Beast was supposed to be just a spin off written to promote the release of Dead Apple, it couldn´t be that and only that.

I just can´t accept that “Kafka wrote a 200-page novel to promote a movie that had nothing to do with it when he was asked to just write a 50-page short story” because he just felt like doing it. I knew from the deep bottom of my heart that he was not the kind to write just for fanservice.

So I came up with this idea: “What if the release of Beast and fifteen are more important than we think?”

Despite the first time we see fyodor´s face being at the end of the second season, the first time we see him meeting Dazai, is during dead apple. However, he seems to be just an extra character, someone who doesn't seem to add much to the story at first sight (except for when he turns Shibusawa into a big dragon).

But if we think about it, the same happens with the mentioning of the book in “Beast” and with Randou´s appearance in “Fifteen”.

In these three stories, the book, Randou and Fyodor are like an app running in the background of your cell phone, they are responsible for some kind of event and or incident that we cannot see now but that eventually will go out to light.

These are all very small hints, but that's why it is important, the smaller the better.

We can´t forget that Kafka has always been a mastermind of hiding evidence in plain sight.

He wrote and published 3 stories at the same time that have nothing in common and then used them to promote each other. He decided not to wait any longer nor release them earlier because they´re relevant to each other even when they don't seem to be. They are like a building in the middle of the city, we see it but we never get the chance to observe it because of all that's happening around it.

But as far as we know Randou dies at the end of fifteen. How could he possibly be related to Fyodor if they never met?

The importance here is not his death or them meeting, maybe not even Randou himself but what happened before his entrance to the PM and after his death.

As far as we know, Randou used to be an european spy tasked to investigate a powerful entity of power in japan and sent to steal it. However, during that mission he was betrayed by his friend who tried to kill him but is Randou who ended up killing him instead.

Nevertheless, in the story we never get to know why his friend betrayed him nor what is that so called “source of energy” that the japanese government has been secretly guarding.

never

know

until now (?)

Towards the end:

What if that “source'' is actually the book itself and his friend tried to kill him to keep it for himself and escape with it?

Even more important:

What if Randou, after killing his friend, decides to steal the book but forgets about it and it´s power after losing his memory in the Arahabaki incident?

These explanations can perfectly fill a void we never even noticed was there: Randou dies without remembering that he has a very important item with him, which is the reason for which he was once chased by the GSS (an agrupation that is connected to the Guild who we already know was searching for the book as well) and the same Dazai could have stolen after the Port Mafia kept his belongings when he died.

Please please pleaaaaaaseeee finish the idea.

After writing for 2 days, tying knots and untying them, reading and rereading, remembering details and searching for others i couldn't remember, this is my final conclusion:

Fyodor´s ability could be nothing more and nothing less than the book itself.

The proof of that being:

-All we know is his ability “Crime and Punishment” is presented as a perfect complement to one another. When he explains why Sibusawa´s mist didn't affect him he says “it´s because crime and punishment are good friends” which can mean that for one to appear, the other has to do something, that is to say, he has to commit a crime to receive punishment.

-We can assume that as someone whose objective is to free everyone from the sense of morality (as Gogol explains) he's the one to decide whether he commits a crime that deserves punishment or better said, his ability “the book” that can only function following the rules of karma.

-He probably doesn't need to communicate with the outside at all and is trying to deceive Dazai since the plot is going according to his plans and to how he planned to write the story on that single page.

-We know he has a page since the beginning and he also knows everything that´s written on it (for example that sigma´s existence was written on it 3 years before) but it's never mentioned how he got it.

-He literally joined the Guild to search for that book (´cause it belongs to him).

-Despite everything, Dazai is not worried about his plans either (he says all he has to do is observe him) because he's confident that everything is gonna turn out in his favour (you can see the little bitch didn't mind sending Akutagawa to his own death) since he stole the book from Randou long ago.

-What Dazai could've done with the book is nothing more and nothing less than creating the “Beast” universe after leaving the PM just to give Oda a proper farewell and because since he discovered the real power of that book he decided the best was to hide it.

However none of them can reveal any of this for obvious reasons.

Well I´ve nothing more to say, this is all I have for the moment.

I know some of these ideas sound very complicated and even excessive, however in the end everything fitted perfectly to me (and I swear I came up with 3 different theories before putting this one together).

If you managed to read this far, thank you very much :,)

If you feel like commenting something feel free to do so :)

#bungou stray dogs #bsd #bsd manga #bsd light novel #bsd dead apple #bsd beast #bsd fifteen #dazai osamu #fyodor dostoevsky #asagiri kafka #harukawa 35 #long post #as you can see I have no life and a lot of free time #bsd spoilers

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tammyhybrid21 · 4 years

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Tadeo and Internalized Ableism

Well… this…

Wasn't actually the next post I planned to make next for this fandom, but well, since Tumblr deleted an old post of mine, right when I decided I was going to scream and share that OC again… Well, it lead into a discussion that I had sort of-- half started and stopped a few times, and now here I am… And… this will be a lot, sooo--

"What is with You?"

Let's see if I can shed some light on this.

So first… to catch up the uninitiated… I have, by this point cemented my belief that Tadeo is quite likely Autistic himself(Read that post here). So now alongside the rather more obvious Autism that Mummy displays we have Tadeo-- Tadeo, who has one character trait/flaw that keeps coming up and that I would personally like to dissect along with some extra reflection on some of his actions in the sequel and the hints given to us in the little animated/stylized growing up sequence for Tadeo…

So to start…

What's the trait/flaw…

Well, it's even looking to be the BIG ONE for the next Movie. Tadeo seeks the validation and respect of his peers, but always falls short.

Tad would love for his archaeologist colleagues to accept him as one of their own, but he always messes everything up.

Or else turns them against him... Which... Okay, this is something that we've actually seen as a rule for him, from the opening credits of Movie 1. And even from his Construction Worker peers... Although we didn't really see it so much in movie 2, buuut--

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MOqolHchI6Y&t=6s

Let's start this analysis off properly with this, and the symbolism re: Maladaptive Daydreaming in this whole little introductory to Tadeo sequence here from the first movie.

Which okay, look, I know it might not seem like much. But in the greater context, well. There's actually a lot of information that we can unpack in this short introduction, and points one and two I would like to make are the ones with Young Tadeo in the school "classroom". Because here's the thing...

That-- That's a familiar place. And it's an unfortunate thing, but-- Just how it's framed here--

I... can't really say anything 100% on this... but this feels much too close to daydreaming away Public humiliation. Like, look, okay-- it's all too common, but public shaming for one reason or another. Being too dumb/distracted, or if you're stimming in class-- and I have... many feelings about Tadeo and potentially supressing his stims-- but these scenes in this opening hit really close to how it feels--

And again, maladaptive daydreaming in general is this WHOLE sequence.

Soooo why does this matter in the context of this discussion? Well, let's ask why, this all would be happening. And the answer is going to be very simple. The same reason at the start of movie 1, one of the first scenes we see is a pair of boys teasing/mocking Tadeo in his front garden dig site.

"You'll never find anything"

"Loser"

Which-- isn't much, but for the context of the scene. This is our introduction-- and even in the sequel, we know he's still teased over his interest in Archaeology-- it's seen as a "loser hobby". Which I think also brings me to the next point of the moments in the opening...

JEFF! Give him a puppy since nobody wanted to be the weird kid's friend. It's not even a proper balm really. And possibly might have incidentally caused some other issues, but I don't think I could really explain or give those things justice... So instead... I'm just going to finish this section with a point of note.

How many times must Tadeo have gotten punished for being "distracted" or "not paying attention" in the classroom. How many times would he have been punished for stimming?! I really do wonder, and if anything else, how many classes must he have daydreamed away to escape from the stress and pressure of reality? Hell, we still see him as an adult stress daydreaming--

With the consequences of getting fired...

Which okay, none of this actually makes my point. So-- I want to draw attention to the behaviour in the sequel that really annoyed me, along with a friend who I watched both movies with. It's just the behaviour that's there throughout the whole movie-- best summed up as... not appreciating company... BUT

On that actually--

I would like to bring up one expression early on that gives me MANY EMOTIONS.

And it's the one up above, as the preview image to this post. Specifically this face:

Now... I don't know about you, or anyone else. But THAT'S a thousand yard stare if I have ever seen one. But additionally. I have, a much, much too in depth reading on this expression. Like, so far in depth it's not even funny.

There's a sense of fear, long stare, the small twitch in the frown as if guilt-- and then because it's literally on the heels of "stop drawing attention" (the first occurrence of that line as well)... And just-- you get flashback sense. Also I would like to comment on the movement in this scene, in how his hands are on the wheel the small twitches and quirk in his expression... it's as if--

As if...

Well. Look, considering the precursor scene. And listen. WE ALL want to do what Mummy done in that prior scene!

Same Mummy! SAME!

But-- I would like to talk about sequencing and the emotions in when and how Tadeo drags him in... there's a moment I really can't quite catch properly... between it, but--

This frown... this thinky frown... and the line draw-- Tadeo? Is that guilt mulling over a decision? And there is a double glance, but that's not something I can catch in screenshots, and I don't know how to make Gifs... but the following sequence and expressions and I just can't with my emotions and what kind of feeling Tadeo gives me here.

It just...

I really want to know what he's thinking.

So... let's talk about this expression. I don't know if it's just me, but again, there is... a sense of-- well almost upset for being a "kill joy". Bursting Mummy's bubble... Popping his fun. And considering we have ALL been there and wanted to stick our heads out the window--

BUT--

Why is this a detail I would like to bring up... well it comes into how Tadeo explains things. Mummy scares people, he's different, a Zombie in their world... which yeah, that's fair... BUT! After so many rewatches... and remembering that promise... promise sealed with such an important object to Tadeo--

I just have a lot of thoughts... and I don't think it's really easy to explain, but I would like to draw back to a background detail in the sequel again...

In relation...

And... as an Aside. Specifically... the promise made... or what Mummy asked in Movie 1.

"If I let you go, could you guarantee me you'll let us live in peace?"

Also, I know this seems arbitrarily related... But I do wonder if some of Tadeo's pushing Mummy aside, stop drawing attention, you need better disguises... I do wonder, really wonder if it's actually because of this promise... misguided and maladapted maybe buuut-- it would make some sense in the context of how there is always something in the background of those moments that Tadeo is just worrying about.

BUT

That's only speculation, and not even one that holds up in relation to some of the worst offence moments of Tadeo's problematic behaviour...

And thus... let us enter into the realm of problem projecting... and with some bonus from Tiffany and how she makes this dynamic juuust that touch more clear on rewatches along with my own talk about this particular topic.

As a minor note, this scene actually doesn’t have much. But I kind of get... more specifically this grumpy dad/parental friend from Tad's expression. And considering. "I told you to wait in the car!" BUT ALSO, I just want to note how Sara is less worried in this scene. More if this is happening-- Tad's worry, again could be the promise...

But more specifically... There's a lot in Mummy's body language and appearance aside what he is-- the truth of his origin aside... he does not fit in... and it's specifically the outfit, breaking the "rule" that Tadeo worries about... drawing attention and eyes... and considering the next image set I want to talk about... I have emotions, but it's very messy, and kind of scrambled.

I have... a number of statements I could make on this one... but number one, exactly what the dialogue here actually is... And where that worry is coming from. Tadeo... isn't actually scared of Tiffany here realizing what Mummy is... I think that cat's long out the bag... but there's something else.

"Your friend is a bit weird"

"You have no idea"

Sooo... there's a lot of scenes here... and a few more, but I really, really want to talk about something. For a lot of this... Tadeo is really the only one who has an expression of worry, or fear, or anything that's similar. Tadeo's the one worried.

Mummy is bopping out, I can't really get a good shot of the dress, but again, Mummy... isn't really bothered or anything. Tiffany is also the only one who really has a weirded out reaction... but that actually strengthens the point I'm going to make about what this feels like more than anything else... And I suppose we can touch base on the queer aspect on that note but really--

For a lot of this stuff...

Tadeo's issue is drawing attention. But for the other part of it... I want to point to Tiffany's reaction and even much later... how the villain identifies him.

Also Tadeo's reaction in the last one is... arguably the worst of all his reactions. Like, I have-- many emotions on a lot of his reactions but just-- Tadeo is not in a good place right now...

"Are you serious WHAT ARE YOU DOING?"

Which... hmmm, now, where have I heard that before? Where have any of us heard that one before? In fact-- Tadeo... his reaction to ALL of this is telling.

Like... aside the Tiffany thing... which also her whole "It's official, your friend is a total FREAK" has some baggage... does anyone else look at all these scenes and get that...

"I'm THIS close to a panic attack" feeling? Also, on that note, I would like to point out there's just... so, so much worry from Tadeo when it comes to the Super Cookie scene, again not something I can really capture in just screenshots. BUT--

BUT--

This brings me to the big point. Mummy by this point is basically masking/mimicking Tad to fit in. Since Tadeo has shot down, all of his disguises... and-- Tadeo's response, has always been that fear. But here, there's an outright anxiety. Which again this could be covered/passed as him being-- well, anxious over his promise. But there's also MASSIVE ANXIETY with the Super Cookie scene, more than I can really capture without the animation... but...

Let's talk about projecting issues.

And specifically.

"A total FREAK"

Now... here's the thing. Again. Mummy throughout the WHOLE movie has been, pretty much dropping the mask. He's going wild and having fun being himself and happy... but-- for that he's pretty much been shut down at every turn... MOSTLY by Tadeo pre-emptively... but... I want to point out something...

This is... Such a small interaction... but it is SUPER telling.

Tiffany is... an issue. Because here's the thing. Part of her reaction, might actually be bleed through from how Tadeo's been in this WHOLE situation. Which, again there is a lot for me to unpack and talk about... But my biggest lynchpin and realization moment... for what's going on... is that scene with Mummy dressing up and mimicking Tadeo...

And more or less picking on Tad's insecurities.

WHICH-- underhanded, BUT IT POINTS OUT A RECONTEXUALIZATION POINT.

Because here's the thing... Tadeo... Stifles those things.

"I would never! I'M NOTHING LIKE THAT!"

And then the sheer panic with Jeff, and the super cookie, and what if?

Let's go back to this for a moment:

Now... for a moment... imagine... a kid...

No friends. Just a dog. Jeff is... Tadeo's security blanket, and possibly one of his only friends. People only seem to tolerate Tad at best. He's still bullied and teased and mocked and--

And--

And can never do things right. A screw up. So he stifles his stims... like seriously. Go watch when he does his happy dance, and see how long it lasts-- and then see this:

And there are moments from the first movie as well, buuut-- He IMMEDIATELY stifles it when he catches himself... and I know something about stifling stims... sooo how is the relevant... well... I would like to propose that fear anxiety/overprojection idea.

Tadeo is scared... Scared not even necessarily of Mummy's identity being out... but of how people will react... AND Let's talk of something else...

Considering what's been revealed about a certain Descubre con Tadeo scene... Mummy knows... and he's aware... and that's internalized... but... There's a BIGGER issue with Tadeo... He's... not just embarrassed by his own stims and actions and his own "oddness"

But that's bleeding over to what looks like projected embarrassment and shame and a deep, deep fear, in regards to how he interacts and works with Mummy. And I know this is big brain and heavy... but Mummy's side of things...

Small and subtle. "Weirdo like me!"

Tadeo, has gone to trying to be normal, and while Mummy feels it, he owns it.

Which... brings me to the end of this whole thing. But not fully, because there is... a small thing more. For all Tadeo has been a DISASTER throughout the whole thing. Overprojected worry that just reeks of that second hand embarrassment projection... Tadeo proves he cares in a small moment that I don't think people would think too much about...

Not in front of a crowd, and he still needs a smack...

LIKE A SERIOUS ONE.

Like, look, for all Tadeo has been a disaster projecting issues friend... he does care, and this moment subtly reminds that. ALONG with that it IS projected worries and issues. And... Internalized ableism that makes him embarrassed. Of himself, and more, of how free Mummy is acting with his own neurodivergent behaviours. Tadeo is... a mess.

And...

Now I need to circle back for a moment.

Because here's the thing. Tadeo might not be doing this, mostly because I don't think he's a writer, but the point of call that made this post... was me getting excited about sharing an OC...

Specifically...

My smurfs OC... one who I made a post on back in 2017, that has now been deleted... and I will not be reposting it... but if you want the details... I turned it into a doc for sharing... But... the biggest thing is... the logic behind making this character, and giving them the name they have had up until recently was... Internalized Ableism and trying to deal with bullying... Also not everything in that document is even accurate anymore...

But hey, kudos to me in 2017 for trying to explain it.

But...

"Call a self-insert [Insult] because it made the word hurt a little less(it's only the truth right?)"

This is Mummy's approach... while Tadeo... tries to be normal, normal, and shun it to the point he hurts himself. And... inadvertently hurts others around him as well...

I will probably make a few smaller clarification posts later, since this is practically 2700 words and I feel like I've only barely explained it, but really, how can you even explain this properly? It's just one of those nuances...

But yeah... internalized ableism and the beast it is making relationships and talk hard... even between two neurodivergent icons of characters.

#THybrid Jones #Tadeo Jones #Ableism #Autism #Mental Health #Mummy(Tadeo Jones)#Tad(The Protagonist)#I was up all night making this post and it SHOWs #But I still have many things to say #Will probably say them in other smaller posts #The more I dig into these movies...#The more I discover #I feel like you reach the end of the post and I've just talked in circles #The point is lost #But that's what specific scenes as their own posts will be for

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caffeinatedhealer · 4 years

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Emotions

I’ve spent the past few days really pouring over who I am, how far I’ve come, the parts of myself I’ve improved, the parts that still need work, and the things I still want in my life.

I’ve got a decent paying job that is based on what I went to school for, I have my own place, I’ve been eating healthy/working out regularly, I have some new friends who are very nice... I feel much more stable and love myself much more than I ever had in the past. Sometimes it’s a strange feeling, but it is worlds better than mercilessly hating everything about myself.

Altogether, it’s been a very emotional experience. I never used to talk to anyone about how I was feeling or the things that have happened to me in the past. I didn’t want to burden people, I didn’t want to seem like I was desperate for attention.

The problem is, that led to me acting in thoughtless and impulsive ways... ways that ultimately drove a rift between myself and people I cared about... the person for which, to this day, I’ve felt the most love in my life.

It’s been over five years now, and when I think about the person I used to be... The things I did... I hate that I let it get that bad before actually getting the help I needed. I should’ve went to therapy when there was still hope, but I was still too weak, too scared. I didn’t want to face the fact that there was something broken inside of me, that there were painful things I was hiding inside, even from myself.

It’s been over five years since I was that person, and I feel so much better now, safer, free, unclouded. I don’t feel the judgement, the disgust, or the resentment, neither the real from within or the imagined from without. I’m just afraid that it might be too late - and that I may have already done too much harm - to find the one thing I’m still missing: love.

I know, it’s cliche. It’s painfully cliche, and sometimes I can’t help but roll my eyes and sigh heavily at myself for it, but ... it’s honestly always been a part of who I am. I’ve always been a melancholic loner seeking the matching other half with whom I could share all of life’s mysteries. Those feelings were just crushed and buried under so many layers of psychological and emotional damage built up over 20+ years that I couldn’t properly express myself. Now, though, I feel I’ve finally found the comfort and freedom to leave that pain behind me... only to find that the emotion of “romantic love” so rarely stirs within me.

Yes, I have had relationships since that time... but both were short lived and never caused me to fall so helplessly head over heels as I did before. I gave everything of myself and did all I could to be the best partner possible. I refused to repeat the mistakes of the past, they didn’t deserve that, no one does.

Suffice to say, however, they didn’t work out. One had her own demons to deal with, so great that she would turn every minor spat between us into a raging tempest. Fortunately, after some time we were able to agree on being friends again. Even if we don’t really talk anymore, I wanted to diminish any lingering negativity.

The second, however, is a different story. She hurt me very deeply and shattered the trust I had in her and our shared friends. Sometimes, however, I feel like I deserved it. It felt like some ironic punishment for what I had done in the past. Now I DID know how it felt to be so utterly devastated. I know believing that isn’t healthy or fair to anyone, so I have done my best to accept that these are just things that happen... and we have to move on and be stronger. Hope for better.

Sometimes I think about reaching out to her... but her life has taken such a vast departure from anything relating to me that it would feel cruel to do so. I don’t want to reawaken painful memories within her. I want her to be happy, I want her to feel loved. It’s why I eventually decided to fade away completely from anything associated with her. The last thing I’d ever want to do is cause her any more pain...

There was a time when I got rid of everything associated with her to assure myself it was over. I put it all in a large garbage bag and drove it to the dump and left it there to GUARANTEE I couldn’t get it back. It was one of the most difficult things I had ever done, effectively destroying the tokens of love from my partner in life, but clinging to them... clinging to her... I had to let go. She deserved to be set free in all aspects.

But, my sentimentality makes me weak.

I kept one thing, a single trinket: a small, bedazzled, metal star charm. It was something she used to wear when we were in college. It was one of the first things she ever gave to me. In my mind, it was the seed of our relationship. It reminded me of the innocence and love that suffused the beginning of our time together, before my mind started to warp everything. Ultimately, I kept it. I tucked it away in a small keepsake box I keep in my room. About once a year, when I’m cleaning the house, I’ll take the box out and look over the things, and just remember them. I think of her a lot during that time, look toward the moon, and hope that wherever she is, she’s smiling.

I wonder about who she is now, how her life has been, the things she has seen, the places she has been... Is she still doing art? Collecting records? Rewatching the same movies? Does she still have the same dreams? Does she still like her Panera sandwiches the same specific way? What new stories and experiences would she have to share? Who is she now?

I should probably bring this to an end. Honestly, a lot of this stemmed from a conversation I had with my mother during the fourth of July. She mentioned wanting grandchildren, and - though I never really wanted any to begin with - passingly said that she’d have to rely on my sister for that, since I was starting to accept that I will likely spend the rest of my life alone. No one else has so readily and thoroughly claimed a portion of my heart, and I don’t know if anyone ever will.

I don’t know if I’ll ever find someone else who feels like they just... fit me. I don’t know if I’ll ever want to learn everything about someone as much as I wanted to learn about her. I don’t know if I’ll ever find someone else with a heart as big and as giving as hers. Maybe that’s just the way life goes sometimes. I was so stupid, so afraid of being a worthless failure, that I torpedoed everything beautiful in my life myself. I think that... things would be so much different now... but that’s not possible any longer. So I need to just accept it.

On the day I moved out of my last house, I went for a walk. I wanted to visit one of our spots before I left for my new home. It had been completely demolished, and in its place was a heap of rubble. It seemed... painfully symbolic. I climbed to the top of the pile and sat there, watching the people walking along the river.

And then I saw her.

She was walking a couple of dogs with someone else, but it was unmistakably her. My heart stopped, I ran down the hill, and bolted to my boxed up room as quickly as possible. My roommate saw me, breathless and crying, and I told him what happened. He comforted me, and I just... I just... turned my mind off. My heart kept trying to tell me it was a sign, but my brain knew it was just a coincidence. I had to completely ignore my own thoughts so that I could finish packing and drive out to my new place. I try not to think about it too much...

Anyway, that’s enough. It’s almost 2:00 in the morning and I have a lot to do tomorrow. I just needed to get that off of my chest. It hasn’t been the only thing on my mind recently, but it has been the most immediate. I don’t know what more I can do at this point other than continue moving on and hoping some day I find someone new who inspires the same feelings of compassion and devotion from within me. Now that I have a better handle on my emotional struggles, I’m sure I can be the kind of person someone would be proud to take on the world with together.

#Emotions #Personal #Feelings #Love #Loss #Pain #Loneliness #memories #ranting #rambling

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ahs-theories · 4 years

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Episode Reaction: 9x08 Rest in pieces

@echoesout | @its-a-goode-day

Alright, we’re almost done. While I was watching the episode I kept having this feeling that it seemed to be mostly a set up for the finale. Almost every scene consisted on the characters getting ready for the final act/fight/event. That said, it made for a very entertaining hour.

The deadly trio

Now that we know who the deadly trio is, it seems so obvious. But in all honesty, I wasn’t considering Bruce at all. I wondered if we would see him again, but I didn’t expect that he would play a significant role in the final stages of the story. Not complaining, though. I find his wannabe ways highly entertaining. On the other hand, while I don’t believe Margaret’s plan will be successful, I find it quite logical and very business-oriented, lol.

I still feel silly because I literally had this whole thing about Bruce heading towards the camp and being a fan of Ramirez and in all that not once did it occur to me that they’d actually probably meet XD I love all three of them together though, it’s a very fun team dynamic.

The ghosts

It was really interesting to see the shift on Montana when she found out that Ramirez had changed since she first met him and after Richter all but told her that she was the cause for that. At first it seemed like she was going to just be depressed about, and almost could detect a hint of guilt in her, but I loved how she pick herself up and rejected the idea of being another woman blamed for a man’s actions. (Also off-topic, kind of, but Montana’s face when Trevor mentioned that no good aerobics class were left anymore. Priceless. Billie is being great this season).

I loved the speech, but honestly, I thought her whole “Ricky wasn’t like that when I knew him!” thing was really random. He was already in the news as the Night Stalker, albeit his streak was just beginning. He was already a Satanist. Seriously, he killed some dude at her aerobics studio and licked the blood off her feet. And she liked it. So, I don’t quite get in what way he’s turned out different than she expected, or why she was depressed about it considering how many people she’s killed just for fun these past few years. It definitely seems like they’re trying to backtrack with everyone one by one--Donna, Jingles, Montana--so we know the real villains are Margaret and Ramirez, and I don’t mind giving her character more depth, but I’m not sure this was the best way to do it.

I do hope Montana and Ramirez meet again in the next episode, if only because I have no idea how it would go. Ramirez seems pretty attached to Margaret and I wonder if he’s thought about Montana at all. Plus, I wonder how Xavier’s gonna handle the news of Montana getting together with Trevor (I still don’t understand them together either. They almost had sex one time in a lake and apparently he’s been in love with her for years since).

Brooke + Donna

Who else thinks Donna will be the final girl? They made such a big deal of it not happening. It’s very interesting to watch her trying to help Brooke, even though her experiment is over (or is it?), she’s still thinking on scientific terms (’you don’t have to act on those feelings and become a murderer’). As for Stacey the reporter, I wonder if she’ll show up as a ghost next episode.

Brooke and Donna were super cute in the roller rink and they seem like a great team, but I still feel like we just blew over the fact that Brooke knows about Donna’s role in the 1984 events. At the very least there should have been some acknowledgement of it, whether to say Brooke forgave her or is just teaming up with her because they’ve got bigger problems, etc., but something. And like Nora wonders if Donna’s experiment is really over, I wonder if Brooke is really Donna’s ally. It doesn’t seem like a huge stretch that once Margaret is taken care of, Brooke might punish the other people who had a hand in that terrible night

Benjamin

I’ve heard a couple of different things about that ending (I’ll let my partner in crime here expose her initial idea on that), but the feeling I got is that it’s not “real”. I believe it’s Benjamin’s very own afterlife, the same way in AHS universe everyone goes to their own hell. So the Lavinia there was not the Lavinia we saw last episode, but the one in Benjamin’s idea of heaven. One that has been reunited with her dead son and loves Benjamin. The real Lavinia is still roaming around the camp, and will probably never rest.

That ending did look like the end of his story, didn’t it? If it is, I liked it very much. Although depending on how accurate the theories are about Finn playing playing grown up Bobby (the son, not the brother), we may see more of him.

Also, I wasn’t expecting to see Lily again, so thanks for that, even thought it was only a few minutes.

I agree-that’s definitely not the real Lavinia. She never even liked him before Bobby died, and it’s really weird that they’d skip over any sort of reunion between her and Bobby if it was real and Bobby was literally hiding in the lake the entire time just waiting for his big brother so they could be a family again or something.

I’m skeptical on the afterlife bit, though. The last time we saw him, he was begging not to be thrown into the lake because his son would die if he couldn’t stop Ramirez. From what we know of past ghosts in the Murphyverse, he shouldn’t be able to move on to the afterlife until he’d made peace with not saving his son, not go to the afterlife in order to make that peace.

Honestly, I’m not sure what it’s all about. One option is that he’s hallucinating from oxygen deprivation. Obviously ghosts don’t need to breathe, but they can experience pain and other physical sensations, so theoretically he should still experience all the feelings of drowning and maybe this part, too. Other than that, it’s crossed my mind that it could somehow be Bobby’s doing. Benjamin and Jonas talk a little bit about the void ghosts go to between “dying” and coming back, but what if Bobby gave him a dream or somehow talked to him instead?

Either way, unlike my lovely co-writer, I feel like having Bobby drag him into the water so he can go have a nice talk with an idealized version of his mom would be a disappointing end. Without him as the bridging factor, I doubt we’ll see Lavinia or Bobby again, and I’d really want to see them reunite and for Benjamin to get to see real brother again. There has to be a reason why Bobby showed back up now after all these years. I have an imagine of Benjamin waking up on the banks with Bobby standing over him looking like he did before he died instead of all swamp-monster-y.

Season Finale

The plot summary goes like this: Camp Redwood draws in a lost soul looking for closure.

Aren’t there a few lost souls looking for closure? I’m guessing they are talking about Brooke, but they couldn’t be more vague if they tried XD

I don’t have many theories other than Donna being final girl (if there’s any at all) and what I mentioned in a past episode reaction about Margaret’s fate. Other than that, I’m curious about how the flashforward to present time is going to play out. If Finn is really playing Benjamin’s son, I can see how it can go with him going back to the camp to seek revenge. It is AHS after all, so I’m not looking for a clear cut ending.

I think it could be Bobby himself who’s the “lost soul.” Say someone kills Margaret, prevents anymore murders. Brooke and Donna and anyone else still alive would probably just disappear into anonymity, knowing that one one would believe their story. So, the official story still remains that Mr. Jingles committed the 1970 massacre, and Bobby would think his father was a mass murderer. But also, he was left to be raised by a neighbor, some who would probably tell him stories about what a lovely couple his parents were and how much they loved him. I could easily imagine Bobby going to Camp Redwood as an adult just looking for some way to reconcile the two stories. It’s a lot of “probably”s and guessing, but it’s my best theory at the moment. Although yeah, considering AHS is not one for cut-and-dry endings, I think it’s definitely likely they’ll go darker. Maybe Margaret was the final girl after all and after hearing the real story, Bobby goes after her and becomes a killer himself.

Also, this is completely random, but like, I want Lavinia to kill Ramirez. She may not like Benjamin, but she’s still a mom and knows what it’s like to lose a child, and I think it would be awesome if she took it into her own hands to make sure her grandson wasn’t harmed.

Season 10 theme

So, according to Ryan Murphy, there’s a clue about season 10’s theme in this episode. I should probably rewatch and pay more attention, but the two things that caught my mind were Stacey’s mentions of Bigfoot, Loch Ness monster, which makes me think of urban-legend creatures, cryptids and such, and Small Wonder, that is, robots. Of the two, I’d say the first one is more plausible, but I’d like to hear more theories.

A cryptid season would be so much fun and could go in so many different directions, although I do wonder if it might be too similar to this season--people being terrorized in the middle of the woods and all. On the other hand, this isn’t the first reference we’ve gotten to robots. I remember everyone making a big deal of Mrs. Mead singing the robot’s song from Space Odyssey as she died. People have been wanting a space/extraterrestrial/future/robot/etc. season forever, so maybe it’s finally going to happen. Murphy’s said he’d never do something actually set in space because it’s American Horror Story, but we’ve seen the aliens and their technology on Earth before in Asylum. I’d especially love a direct follow up featuring Kit’s children.

#ahs #ahs 1984 #american horror story #ep. reaction #ahs spoilers #s9 reaction

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super-writer-gal · 4 years

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J, O, S, and Z if you feel like ranting ;)

i am always up to ranting, you know me so well ;)

J: Name a fandom you didn’t care/think about until you saw it all over tumblr

i saw the adventure zone all over my dashboard, because a lot of people i followed listened to it, and i didn’t really think i’d ever really get into it? because i have a hard time listening to podcasts/paying attention long enough to actually get into it. and then my coworker started recommending it and this quarantine gave me way too much time on my hands, and i figured i’d give it a shot. and now i love it so much, and planning out a cosplay for one of the characters, so i guess i should thank tumblr for reblogging all that fanart onto my dash lol

O - Choose a song at random, which ship or character does it remind you of

atm “work song” by hozier gives me aziraphale/crowley vibes, but to be honest everything reminds me of them if i try hard enough. i’m still at the point where i’ll twist anything and everything to try and fit crowley and aziraphale lmao. OH i also saw an animatic to “accidently in love” with them that i’m obessesed with, that song fits them so well

S - Show us an example of your personal headcanon (prompts optional but encouraged)

while i love the idea that crowley is touch starved, i personally love the hc that aziraphale is the one who is touched starved. this headcanon came from the show -- tbh in the book i think those losers are holding hands every chance they can get, so this doesn’t apply to them -- but yeah in the show heaven is this wide, empty place and the angels don’t even touch aziraphale unless they’re hitting him on the shoulder as a “friendly gesture” or punching him in the stomach, and nothing else and my poor boy needs a HUG,,, i’ve read so many good fics where aziraphale is put into isolation as a punishment which is Not Good for him, because he’s a rather social creature (so long as they’re not trying to buy his books) and he wants to help, so when he comes out he’s a Mess. and i really like that lmao.

Z - Just ramble about something fan-related, go go go (prompts optional but encouraged)

okay i’m going to do a 180 and talk about doctor who because i’ve been rewatching it and i have a Lot of Feelings, but i really miss donna and GOD they did her so dirty 😤😤 she was my favorite, and i loved how she didn’t have a romantic relationship with the doctor, because don’t get me wrong i love doctor/rose, but tbh when they tried to force martha into falling in love with the doctor, i did not vibe with that. martha could have been so much better if she wasn’t stuck on the doctor. like if she was more like donna, with a platonic relationship she would have been unstoppable. (also ten treated her so bad, we get it you’re still mourning rose but respect martha or die by my sword). anyway making donna forget about the doctor and go back to her old life where she was miserable was literlly the worst thing you could do to her, donna grew so much with the doctor and it’s erased just like that?? @bbc bring her back you coWARDS. also i still say bill should have stayed on with 12 longer, i loved her so much (i guess i was so unused to a companion only staying a season bc amy, rory and clara all had such long runs?? crazy). i’m also gonna go out on a limb and say if they kill off anyone of the newest companions i WILL sue the bbc (graham said “it’s not the monsters that’ll kill me, it’ll be worrying about you” as a little offhanded line but i SWEAR if that’s foreshadowing i will fight the bbc)

#personal #the last one got a little out of control lol #thanks for the ask love you #ask game #basilstorm #ask

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bellamyblinkingrapidly · 5 years

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Wow Dany stans really can’t step back for two seconds to realize the lessons GRRM wanted them to learn from supporting a tyrant all these years & honestly this is what scares me about society & people in general...

Context matters. But it does not justify her actions. And sure there’s a lot of other characters who have done shitty things & have their own reasons. But their actions aren’t justified either.

The main difference is that the Starks have a code. They follow this code (for the most part) in killing people, and believe in a justice that isn’t just their own. And if they act outside this, they don’t try to pass it off as some new revolutionary way of thinking that is somehow just because they want it to be. Dany instead believes in herself. If she thinks something is just, it is. She creates her own justice and doesn’t own up to what’s wrong. And that’s not okay.

She may have done a better job of this early on, but more and more throughout the series she’s gone away from following advice, adhering to moral standards, and trying to appease others. She more and more does what she wants when she wants to. She adopts this sense of entitlement & fire and blood mantra where everything she does is okay bc she is BORN to rule on the Iron Throne. And that’s just a completely misled and wrong way of thinking that I don’t think anyone on the show has truly shared besides Viserys, Khal Drogo (and maybe other khals) & Aerys. Like Varys said when you start believing in your own destiny that’s super dangerous. She buys into herself as a savior & that clouds her judgment. It’s not that Dany was never moral or never understood this. It’s that she CHOSE to go down the path of creating and believing in her own justice. And that is a dark path that leads to tyranny. There are consequences for that.

But make no mistake, she always had the makings of a tyrant. She was always leading up to this. She could have made different choices and gone down a lighter path & maybe because of all her life experience and trauma that was too hard for her. But that still doesn’t justify choosing the dark path. It gives us empathy but it doesn’t make it okay. That is super important to understand. She committed genocide. Flat out. On purpose when she didn’t need to. And you know what? she thought about doing it like 3x. Before she ever did.

I know this is gonna lead to BUT WHAT ABT SANSA WHEN SHE DID THE THING— or when the Starks did this—

Yeah Sansa feeding Ramsey to his hounds alive. Pretty cruel. Context makes sense. Is it morally justifiable? No. The penalty for treason is death. But it shouldn’t have been like that. It was wrong. It felt right but it wasn’t. Why was there no consequence? Well Jon knew what she’d been through and it was a war-time transition. Still not justified. This darkness she displayed though was brought up, I think, in her talk of giving away the ancestral homes of the traitorous families. To which Jon showed mercy and contradicted her, bringing back a sense of morality and code — something she later acknowledged was good.

Sansa holding a trial for Littlefinger in front of the entire court and having Arya execute him as an extension of herself? well that’s different than most of what Dany did. He got a trial. Bran KNEW what he did exactly. And the penalty for treason & murder is death. He betrayed her and her father and her mother. He murdered Aunt Lysa.

Ned executing a deserter from the Night’s Watch was hard for him. It was also just. Deserters are killed.

Jon killing the men who betrayed him. They literally held a coup and killed the lord commander of the Nights Watch. Also different. He literally came back to life and is the best witness ever. So like we didn’t see a trial... but do we need one? We KNOW. They all KNOW. They might’ve even had one. He’s Lord Commander and he passed the sentence himself. The punishment for their crimes Is death. That’s just according to their code. But He also killed a boy. Which obviously in our time wouldn’t be okay at all. It haunts him. We see that. He’s devastated that he’s had to do that.

Dany is also haunted when her dragon kills a little girl. She remembers the name and fears what her dragons can do. She even locks them up for a time... onLy to let them out again and embrace what they are. In the books she even forget the girls name signifying it’s no longer important to her. That’s similar to the sentiment she offers Sansa “what do dragons eat anyway — whatever they want.” That’s freaking forbidding af. When the dragons fly overhead, Dany literally smirks like a proud mom when people scream and scramble in fear of them.

Jon has literally admitted he never liked killing - he doesn’t like what he’s good at.

Also pls don’t bring up war to compare the terrible deeds Jon has done versus Dany. Yeah Jon killed people in an army to take back Winterfell. That’s battle and it’s different. He also tried to fight Ramsey one on one to spare bloodshed.

Jon killed wildlings. He killed Qhorin Halfhand. He did that to infiltrate the wildlings and for the betterment of the Night’s Watch and the entire realm. He also didn’t kill Ygritte (bc he didn’t see how she was guilty/evil) which got his brothers killed, and he wanted to kill Crastor (a perpetual incestual rapist and abuser) which would have also gotten his brothers killed. He made decisions based on his code - guarding the realms of men and stuff.

Arya’s list of revenge kills isn’t just either. It feels that way but it’s also just her creating her own justice instead of letting the code and laws do that for her. It feels good in the moment, but as she learns from the Hound it actually turns you into an ugly person with an ugly and doomed life. We aren’t met to watch Aryas journey and conclude that her revenge is okay. Similarly to Daenerys arc, we are meant to realize oh we’ve been rooting for something unfulfilling for her & she could live a much more healthy and normal life if she would turn away from this behavior. We can understand her actions because of context and even root for them at times, but it doesn’t justify them morally. Killing without a trial is still killing even if they’re a killer. Feeding someone’s sons to him is still so fucking cruel. Most importantly though she doesn’t justify her actions. She is okay with committing them, for sure, but she doesn’t try to tell others that she was right. She doesn’t try to pass off her cruelty for mercy or for justice.

Dany’s problem is she justifies her immoral choices as JUST. She tries to pass them off as right. Where some other characters (the more honorable and noble ones) would admit their wrongdoings.

But it’s pretty baffling how much y’all can’t just admit you were wrong to support her... the entire lesson you were supposed to learn is this is how tyrants rise to power. Slowly, deliberately, by doing things that seem good at the time. She sucked me in too & I believed in her until I rewatched the series 5x and saw her for what she is. I truly believe if you didn’t see it coming you’re either delusional or a casual watcher. I don’t actually know how you could be paying attention really well and be shocked. It’s very obvious she was going to go mad. It’s very obvious she was going to choose violence. It’s very obvious she was going to adopt the “fire and blood” motto. Like rewatching a couple times it hits you straight in the face.

This season was incredibly obvious as well and gave a lot of insight into her mind and descent to madness - everything was rushed this season and yet we spent so much time with her. Get the fuck over it and pay more attention next time. Because you have to vote and shit for real so you should be scared.

#you supported a tyrant #own it #realize it #learn from it #it’s a lesson #GRRM is a genius #anti daenerys #anti dany #this was always the ending #wake up #wake up sheeple

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ruffiorocks · 5 years

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Rewatching season 5 of Game of Thrones

Rewatching Game of Thrones

1. Dany has some sense, not 100% on the ball but still not quite up to last weeks standards. She's constantly being advised on how to rule and simply refuses to actually pay attention. She arrives in cities and just assumes she knows how to rule them even though all she has ever lead is the Dothraki. Poor Hizdahr zo loraq 🙁 he tries to advice her on how the city runs and she just won't have it. She threatens to feed him to her dragons purely on the grounds that he is the head of his family. She then tells him he is going to marry her and he doesn't have much choice as the alternative is being a dragons lunch. Dany also openly still sleeps and flirts with Darrio just making herself look ridiculous. Hizdahr still tries to educate her on how the city works and she thinks she knows better. Well the poor guy had a tragic end. Dany tells Tyrion when she meets him she has dragons and that's how she'll take Westeros, hint hint there. She also punishes people by burning them alive whether she knows if they are guilty or not. Dany never really learned to listen to advice. She didn't know how to rule because she never had.

2. Tyrion has some sense, he even said he trusted Varys more than anyone else 😑. He told Dany dragons were not the way to go when it comes to Westeros. He spoke sense nds seemed to stop her in her tracks when he asked her why the common people should support her at all.

3. Jon has what counts as sense for Jon. He brought the wildings past the wall. He was a good Lord Commander.

4. Say what you will be about Qyburn but that guy was loyal to Cersei, probably the best friend she ever had. His death by his own Frankenstein creation was very underwhelming. But he stayed loyal to Cersei to the very end.

5. Stannis just burned that wonderful angel Shireen!! 😭😭 And not one soldier stood up for her! Remember when Stannis was boring and even the characters thought he was borning? But he was the one who probably would have made the best king. He was going to make Jon a Stark. He even gave his ships to Jon to save the Wildlings. Stannis didn't want to be king, he simply believed he was the rightful heir and that it was his duty to take the throne. Remember he knew that Cersei's kids weren't Roberts. So his only legitimate rival would have been Dany and she wasn't around. Renly was a younger brother and therefore a usurper. I believe without Melisandre Stannis would have been much better and level headed, he was taken in by a fanatic. Without her? Renly would still be alive and so would little Shireen!

6. The Dornish plot was horrific!! What were those Sand Snakes? Prince Doran was so boring! He had the potential to be much more exciting. But all his scenes were just him talking. What he was talking about made sense, but he was ridiculous when it came to Elira Sand, he should have locked her up the moment she disrespected him and took it upon herself to send threatening messages to Kings Landing on his behalf. Prince Trystane wasn't much better, all he did was walk in the gardens with Marcella and then lounge around with an entitled, pompous look on his face. He met a crap end as well. They missed such a good opportunity here, in the books Doran has three children. The eldest is a daughter named Arianne and she is his heir. Dorne doesn't practice male primogeniture. Arianne believes that Doran wants his second son Quentyn to be his heir and Quentyn goes off to court Dany. If I remember correctly he believes he can just say hi to a dragon and he pays the price. Arianne then decides she wants to crown Marcella as Queen of the Seven Kingdoms. Marcella loses an ear at some point. That would have been way more interesting than what we got.

7. Poor Sansa 😭 watching her scenes with Ramsey is still so uncomfortable. But man she still sasses him! The girl has strength and I will stand up for her no matter what!

8. Ollie sucks! We get it his fam were killed by Wildlings, Tormund led the raid. Ollie should have a beef with Tormund then. But he doesn't under and neither do the majority of the Nights Watch that leaving the Wildings beyond the wall will result in more white walkers. It's simple math! Grudges don't mean a thing when you're all dead!

9. Sam got laid lol good for Sam! Also Ghost came and saved Sam from being beaten up and Gilly from being raped.

10. Remember when the Night King was an actual threat? 😂 Remember when Jon and him had the longest stare down in TV history? We all thought that meant Jon would kick his ass at some point. Yeah.... I'm all Team Arya and everything but really? All that for Arya whose arc never included the Night King to be the one who killed him?

11. I have one episode left to go on this season and I can't remember if ive even seen Bran??? That right there says it all.

12. Margery got cocky! She was stupid to antagonise and humiliate Cersei of all people.

13. Tommen was sweet but entirely useless. So easily manipulated by Cersei. He sat around crying that Margery, Loras and Cersei were locked up but didn't actually protest once when Margery was dragged away. Say what you want about Joffrey but he never let Cersei manipulate him after he became king. Joffrey would have done something.

14. Theon got over being 'reek' pretty quickly. Also in later seasons it seems to have been forgotten he's supposed to be missing fingers and toes.

15. I don't entirely disagree with everything the High Sparrow was on about. He wasn't wrong about the wealthy lording it over people. When he said we are many you are the few it's a lesson that still applies today but people don't realise it. Those in power are there because we put them there and we let them stay there. He was a fanatic on other things though.

16. Uncle Kevan Lannister is such an underrated character! He didn't recognize Cersei's non existent authority and left Kings Landing and her to it. Then he came back and dealt with things quite well while she was locked up. Kevan should have been around more.

17. Sooo Margery, Loras and Lancel didn't have to do a walk of shame but Cersei did??

18. Little Finger sucked ass! He sold and tricked Sansa and actually believed she would forget that?

19. Olenna Tyrell is the queen of sass!

20. Ser Allister Thorne was a nob to Jon Snow. But he believed in his duty. He obeyed Jon when he became Lord Commander, he didn't stand with or up for Janis Slynt when he ridiculed Jon. He could have kept that gate shut to Jon and the Wildlings. He even told Jon he had a good heart. What he did was wrong, the same thing applies here as it did will Ollie, bigger picture! But he died with dignity and he died for what he believed in.

21. Why did Roose Bolton have Ramsey legitimatzed? He knew he was getting married and that could result in a legitimate heir. So why run the risk of your psycho bastard son (who you know is psycho) killing your true born heir?

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verdigrisprowl · 6 years

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May 19 Bevel’s Movie Night -

Brooklyn Nine-Nine: Pilot/The Tagger/The Slump/M.E. Time, Steven Universe: Lion 2: The Movie/Beach Party/Rose’s Room/Coach Steven

Prowl continues to like Brooklyn Nine-Nine.

He managed to get into an argument with a Predacon Queen. (Considering that he’s gotten into an argument with god himself, that’s actually not too surprising out of Prowl.)

Bevel ((i'm ready whenever y'all are Jazz [[ i'm ready ]] VProwl ((ready)) Jazz [[ god i love this show ]] [[ how many episodes are we watching?? ]] VProwl ((same)) Bevel ((i could rewatch this show a million times Bevel ((i'm gonna skip the tagger unless y'all don't mind watching it again in stream? VProwl ((i don't mind)) Jazz [[ i love it pls don't skip ]] Bevel ((then i will not Jazz [[ i forgot about charles' ridiculous crush on rosa ]] ItsyBitsySpyers *Soundwave jerks awake. Is this the police show again? He should pay attention. Find out more about how these things are supposed to work.* Omicron ((*peers in and waves*)) Bevel ((heya, icy-mun Omicron ((hiiii 😊)) ItsyBitsySpyers ((WHO CAPTIONED THIS WHY ARE THE NAMES LOWERCASE)) Jazz [[ these captions 😕///// ]] Bevel ((someone very lazy? Jazz [[ but they captialize chubby Cheeks ]] ItsyBitsySpyers [[Congratulations. He killed a statue.]] Bevel It was a very dangerous statue. ItsyBitsySpyers *Streeeeetch and settle. He rubs his helm with his own feeler.* VProwl *arrives late. considering how streams have been going this month, is expecting something else horrible that he's barely going to be able to tol— OH HEY IT'S BROOKLYN NINE-NINE.* Omicron ((you have no idea how tempting to poof icy in her human form right now)) VProwl *dammit he missed the start.* Bevel *it is! she remembers he liked it last time she showed some* ItsyBitsySpyers *Pings Prowl.* Jazz [[ i think steve rogers would enjoy b99 ]] Bevel ((there's at least a couple of crossover fics Omicron *Icy falls in, sits up, pretends nothing happened.* Bevel *waves to Icy* VProwl *pings back. belatedly. he's a little distracted by the show.* ItsyBitsySpyers *Startles slightly. And by slightly I mean he aims the feeler at Icy and powers it up for a second.* *...He'll just. Put that back on his lap.* VProwl *startles because Soundwave startles.* ItsyBitsySpyers [[He apologizes.]] VProwl S'fine. Omicron *Predacon is checking over her frame as if making sure all limbs are in place. Sits up, missed the fleeler, yep, nothing happened* hi. ItsyBitsySpyers [[...Why does he want them all to wear - what are those weapons called. Nooses?]] Bevel He called it a tie. VProwl If they're colorful it's for fashion, not strangulation. Omicron ugh, cloths. annoying things in general ......why is he in colorful ice cream? ItsyBitsySpyers [[It is dangerous fashion. ... Why do enforcers need to care about fashion.]] VProwl You'll see. ItsyBitsySpyers *Wait, so this is a thing Prowl knows too? He stares for a second before looking back to the screen.* VProwl *he's seen this episode before.* *shoulders tremble. GREATLY appreciates how Holt handled that.* Jazz [[ my mom called me away and i missed the gay reveal AND the speedo reveal, damn ]] Omicron *Icy stretches out where she can, looking around and wondered if there was someone willing to give scritches....* VProwl *points at the screen. that's why the fashion matters.* ItsyBitsySpyers *Slow nod.* Bevel ((hello, ika, i don't recognize your name, who do you play? ItsyBitsySpyers [[He used to insist that his deployers color coordinate with his paint, for similar reasons.]] *Soft huff.* [[Obviously no longer the case.]] ika Hey Bevel ((yes hey, who are you on tumblr? ika ? I am just here I wanna watch the show Bevel ((ah, ok, this is an IC event for RP purposes. The room should have been locked. VProwl ((this is a roleplay stream)) Omicron *Ice queen peers at soundwave and prowl.... and then eyes Bevel* Bevel *peers back* VProwl ... I've looked into "numerology" before. It's not what it sounds like. It's actually rather disappointing. Although I appreciate the rigorous mathematics that go into it. ItsyBitsySpyers *Soundwave senses someone staring at him and looks over at Ice Queen for a second.*

[[...What IS it? Numerology.]] Omicron *leans over to Bevel, sniffing....and predacon head in the lap* Bevel Hi! *pets Icy on the top of the head carefully* VProwl It's fortune telling based on numbers. Omicron *starts to deeply purring as the pet/scritches start* ItsyBitsySpyers [[...So it is pretending to do what you actually do?]] VProwl More or le— *looks at Soundwave. you think he can predict the future?* Omicron *purr* ItsyBitsySpyers *Not in THOSE terms, but.* ItsyBitsySpyers [[...What?]] VProwl *... leans on Soundwave. pingpingping.* Bevel But the punishment for drawing stuff is not very bad is it? ItsyBitsySpyers *...He's confused about what suddenly caused this, but he will settle into the lean, ping affection back, and keep watching.* [[If it were, Buzzsaw would spend more time in the cells.]] Bevel ...oh yeah, that is true. VProwl No, but he has an ally in high places and can still destroy Peralta's career. ItsyBitsySpyers [[And so would whoever spent those days writing Prowl Is Right. Even if he is.]] Bevel ...yeah. VProwl *is today Interuniversal Stroke Prowl's Ego day?* Bevel *pointedly not looking at Prowl or Soundwave* Omicron *growls at screen* Bevel This guy is rude. Omicron ((I hope he does the right thing....)) ItsyBitsySpyers [[He still thinks this deputy commissioner should be punished for abuse of power. Harshly.]] VProwl The property defacer should be punished and the deputy commissioner should be punished even more. Bevel Yay! Omicron haha ((that's when I was born)) VProwl *Prowl loves this show. It's so optimistic.* Omicron I agree with prowl *belatedly, also she knows she's horrible saying that* Bevel ...*wants to see Robocop now* VProwl I can't believe they left Hot Fuzz off the list. ItsyBitsySpyers [[The twins tell him Robocop is quite interesting.]] *Taps thigh.* [[Was the Hot Fuzz film created yet?]] Bevel I like Rosa. What is Hot Fuzz about? ItsyBitsySpyers *And doesn't see anything wrong with agreeing with Prowl. But, y'know. Biased.* VProwl Yes, five years before this. Omicron *Icy tilts head....any more scritches or does she have to risk the others?* Bevel *nah, she's been pretty consistent about scritching Icy* ItsyBitsySpyers [[...Wart?]] VProwl A very professional city cop is sent to a very sloppy rural district. Omicron *okay, Icy's purring* ((woot! Thunder!)) ItsyBitsySpyers *Checks the datanet for "wart".* *...Oh. Strange flesh growths. Okay. Organics being disgusting organics. Nothing new there.* Omicron ((Duude that thunder clap was a good six seconds)) ItsyBitsySpyers ((!!! be safe!)) Omicron ((I'm not going for my walk)) ItsyBitsySpyers [[This will not end well at all.]] Omicron pffft ItsyBitsySpyers [[A talented youngling.]] Omicron are all autobot offices like this? ItsyBitsySpyers [[Hah.]] VProwl *the premise of this episode has always been incredibly bizarre to Prowl. trying to recruit new police officers? recruiting people? into a job they didn't already have?* Are all Autobot offices like what? But I'm inclined to say no, not at all. ItsyBitsySpyers *What's wrong with wanting a different job.* VProwl *nothing, but "the ability to choose different jobs, much less recruit someone into a different job" and "Prowl working in the police" have never been two conditions that have existed simultaneously.* Bevel Oh no, poor Terry. VProwl *until the last five months. but they've gotten nowhere close to recruiting.* ItsyBitsySpyers *Very true.*

*Perhaps they should get a civilian to do it. You know. Once they've gotten the house in order. Ish.* VProwl *who on all of Cybertron has ever had experience RECRUITING someone for DIFFERENT JOBS?* Omicron *lifts head and staaaaaaaaares* ItsyBitsySpyers *Oh, he doesn't know... mechs who decided to throw a wrench in the social works and refuse to perform the tasks they were assigned. Maybe a few who ran off to join a war against such things.* VProwl *no see you're referring to terrorist soldiers convincing other people to be terrorist soldiers. that's not /job recruitment./* ItsyBitsySpyers *Everyone has to start somewhere.* VProwl *"you should hate the thing you do" ≠ "you would love doing this thing over here"* Bevel ((me as a cop Omicron *confused....okay wants to get scritches* VProwl *and that moment right there is one of the many reasons Prowl appreciates Holt* Bevel *pets Icy some more* Omicron *Puuuurrrrrrrrrrssssss* ItsyBitsySpyers *Sounds like Buzzsaw. So much.* Omicron *PUUURRRR* VProwl *ooh. murder mystery date night.* ItsyBitsySpyers ((i'm dying lmfao)) Bevel ((omfg prowl no ItsyBitsySpyers *Slowly looks over at Bevel to see if she's cringing.* Bevel *...she may have flinched* ItsyBitsySpyers *Tiny tremble.* Omicron *purring bad?* Bevel *purring is fine, she scritches Icy some more* VProwl ... I'd like to learn to do that. On—to be clear, on Cybertronians, not humans. Omicron .... *eyes prowl* ItsyBitsySpyers [[Where is it taught?]] Omicron I would rather not... VProwl Nowhere, right now. ((im jake)) ItsyBitsySpyers [[Do you have anyone who knows?]] Bevel We have a forensics officer on our planet? Omicron ......is it bad I would rather eat someone rather then take them apart? ItsyBitsySpyers [[Ravage would say not.]] VProwl We've currently got a couple of... fffreelance medical examiners, I guess you could call them. And some doctors who have performed the duties before but aren't currently trained. ItsyBitsySpyers [[Perhaps the one Bevel spoke of could be of use? To you.]] VProwl No, Iacon presently has enough to meet our needs. ItsyBitsySpyers [[No, no. To -you.- ]] VProwl They're... *sigh* Not the best trained I've ever seen, but— Oh. What? Me? I run the CSF, I don't have time to be trained in miscellaneous forensic investigative fields. Bevel Maybe they could help train some of the bots in your universe? ItsyBitsySpyers *A light huff.* [[You will have at least one Monday free.]] Bevel Or that! VProwl I can't learn to do full autopsies on a /Monday./ ItsyBitsySpyers [[You can watch one.]] VProwl I've watched thousands. Omicron what about a different world that runs on a different time? Bevel Oh yeah, there are a bunch of those. VProwl If I'm going to one of those, it'd better be to use that excess time to deal with the cases I already have on hand. ItsyBitsySpyers *Soundwave lifts a hand. He'll let this be as it is for now.* [[As you wish. But he does think you should learn what you can when you can. If only /because/ you can. ]] VProwl ... That philosophy seems... irresponsibly self-indulgent. ItsyBitsySpyers [[He's never been called that before.]] VProwl Well. Maybe if you'd taken another vacation day or two. ItsyBitsySpyers *STARE.* Bevel *claps a hand over her mouth to stifle a giggle* ItsyBitsySpyers [[That is not an argument likely to convince him to spend more time on the one coming up.]] Omicron *snorts* you both could get an insecticon cleaning VProwl Sorry. I'm joking. Take a longer vacation. ItsyBitsySpyers *Oh no.* VProwl *tenses at the suggestion.* ... What? *he doesn't understand the suggestion but it involves Insecticons and therefore it's not good.* Bevel What is an Insecticon cleaning? ItsyBitsySpyers [[He prefers to be responsible for his own cleaning.]] Omicron I have worker insectocons, they're about human sized. But they love to make things and people shiny. Bevel ...that is a cool sword. VProwl Absolutely NOT. Omicron Workers are harmless, you have not seen them using all limbs to skate with scrubbers over the floor *snorts, but looks fond* VProwl *freezes* No. Omicron okay *tilts head to get scritches again?* Bevel I think I like cleaning myself. *scritches* VProwl *tiny bugs crawling all over and under his armor.* Omicron They only clean someone now with permission. Bevel That is good. Getting cleaned without permission is really annoying. ItsyBitsySpyers *Doesn't want to ping too soon but doesn't want to seem inattentive... perhaps a casual redirection?*

@P: [[You didn't have to apologize for joking. He was not upset.]] Bevel This is not going very well at all. Omicron no but the youngling is trying VProwl @S «If it's discouraged you even more than you already were from taking a proper vacation, then it's doing you harm and should be apologized for.» ItsyBitsySpyers @P: [[It did not. He was merely pointing that out. He already decided on his vacation length last week.]] VProwl @S «... Don't let it discourage you from taking longer vacation sin the future.» ItsyBitsySpyers @P: [[He will consider it if this one is n--]] *Flinch* VProwl *winces* ItsyBitsySpyers *Whatever that stone is, he doesn't like it.* Omicron *rumbles* ItsyBitsySpyers *What was he thinking.*

@P: [[If this one is not of sufficient length after all.]] VProwl @S «I think you have a rather skewed view of what makes a sufficient length.» *points at the screen.* Moriarty. ItsyBitsySpyers @P: [[He 'retired' for two years. It was... dull.]] *Points at the screen as well.* [[And glitches.]] Bevel Nope. VProwl @S «There's a difference between retirement and vacation.» It's probably generating a world too large for the program. ItsyBitsySpyers @P: [[Very little. Only the intent to return to work. Which, as it turns out, he did after all.]] Omicron hmm ItsyBitsySpyers ((it's a faaaaaaaaake)) VProwl ((lsdkfjlg)) Bevel ((lol VProwl @S «How would you know? You've never had a two year vacation.» ItsyBitsySpyers @P: [[He has heard stories.]] VProwl @S «You need something to adequately fill the time. Which is why I tried to recommend some shows. ... Apparently that was offensive.» Omicron *gives bevel a nudge and nuzzle in thanks for all the pets and scritches around her horns* ItsyBitsySpyers @P: [[It is not. He apologizes for causing you to think so. He values your recommendations.]] VProwl @S «You accused me of trying to get rid of you.» ItsyBitsySpyers @P: [[He apologizes for that as well. It was uncalled for.]] *Small attention draw toward screen* VProwl *what do they mean, fuse—* Bevel ...WHOA ItsyBitsySpyers *Leans back* Bevel *Bevel loves her* ItsyBitsySpyers *Oh no.* VProwl *oh. ew. ugh. no. bluh. yuck. ick. ack. egh. eugh.* Omicron *impressed* ItsyBitsySpyers *And it's smashing things.* Omicron ....oh my VProwl *well. it'd been a good night.* Bevel ((me and cro VProwl ((i realize that pearl is an alien, but)) Bevel ((lesbian culture VProwl ((*points* pearl is too gay to understand this)) ItsyBitsySpyers *Leans forward again.* [[Singing?]] Bevel *oh cool singing* Omicron *hums* ItsyBitsySpyers [[...If she is making these words up on the spot, she is very g-- ah, dancing too.]] [[And somewhat sensible, as well.]] VProwl *well, the spontaneous singing is weird. maybe it's a cultural thing?* Bevel *giggles* VProwl *but otherwise—he likes pearl even more now.* ItsyBitsySpyers [[That's not how four wheel drive works.]] Bevel It should be. VProwl *shudders* ItsyBitsySpyers *Sincerely hopes this has a good ending.* Bevel Aw no, she is mean. VProwl *focuses on Pearl. Very hard, on Pearl, and nobody and nothing except for Pearl.* Bevel ...Pearl 😔 Omicron *tilts her head* VProwl *Go Pr— Pearl. beat the combiner that's deva—destroying the beach.* *projecting? who?* Bevel That. Was. AWESOME! VProwl *... shoulders slump in relief.* ItsyBitsySpyers *Tiny applause clip.* Omicron *chirps!* ItsyBitsySpyers *......................Checks his records of earlier documentaries for something.* Bevel Did you see how she outsmarted Sugilite? ItsyBitsySpyers *A love song about music? Also listening and recording that.* ItsyBitsySpyers *Aha. He was right. Which poses an interesting question - but not one he will ask around the others just yet. Patience, patience.* [[Excellent song.]] Omicron *nods, predacon streaches out again* Bevel Tonight was fun. I am glad I showed this stuff. ItsyBitsySpyers [[He appreciates that you did.]] *There were things he was interested in, and he's pretty sure Prowl needed that last one.* VProwl *soundwave is very wrong* *watching pearl win was +7 points but watching sugilite happen was -15 points* ItsyBitsySpyers *He can be, from time to time. He's not the better bot at math like that, after all.* Omicron *Ice Queen glances over at prowl, head tilting* VProwl ... How many of them do that? *she may observe that Prowl continues to look very normal.* Bevel The fusions? VProwl Yes. Bevel Um, well, Opal was really quiet and we have not seen anyone else. Pearl said her and Garnet fusing would have been less like Sugilite so maybe whoever they are is less mean. Omicron .... *pings prowl for the first time, crosshing her forelegs and giving Bevel a lick out of habit* VProwl "Opal"? ItsyBitsySpyers [[Wait. Opal?]] VProwl *who in the world is pinging him?* Bevel Amethyst and Pearl fused! VProwl @I «... Yes? Prowl here.» Bevel I think you were away, Prowl. VProwl ... So all of them. ItsyBitsySpyers [[They did?]] *Pause.* [[Did they dance, too?]] *No. Damn it. Wrong priorities.* Bevel No dancing, but she sang a little! She also killed a buncha birds with a bow and arrow. I can give you the record? VProwl No. Bevel ...oh, ok, Prowl. Should I tell you if they fuse again? Omicron @P ::are you afraid of insecticons? *yes blunt* I had considered taking a worker with me one of these times. But I can leave them behind.:: VProwl @I «Of course not.» *he said, like a liar.* ItsyBitsySpyers ((TAKE OFF THAT PROWL MASK, SWERVE)) Bevel ((lol ((get the paddy wagon VProwl ((ouo)) Omicron @P ::.....I dont think thats true. *teeeemped but shes a mature queen now, vents and snorts* alright. If you are....what's the word...:: Omicron @P ::Adversed? I can keep them on the Dreaded wings. but the workers are truly harmless for what its worth.:: VProwl @I «Then I think that you are impertinent and rude. Do not presume to tell me my own opinions.» Omicron @P :: I'm also a pirate and a predacon queen on top of those.:: *well, that's what she gets for attempting to be nice, snorts cold steam and starts to get up* VProwl @I «I don't know whether you're offering your job titles in an attempt to support or protest my assessment. I also don't really care. Is that all that you wanted, then—to ask me about my feelings and then inform me I'm wrong about them?» Omicron *pauses and swings head around to stare* *opens jaws, then growls* VProwl @I «I'll take that as a yes.» *ends the comm.* Bevel *blinks in confusion at Icy suddenly getting up and--whoa whoa growling, she scrambles up to stand* ItsyBitsySpyers *Slowly lifts a feeler. He has no idea what's going on - Prowl's comms are something he doesn't touch, out of unusual respect - but he will shoot or strangle if necessary.* Omicron Alright Prowl, I said I didn't bereave you not that I was forcing moods on you. and I was trying to make an offer not to add stress to these present evenings. My hatchlings are one thing. VProwl *without looking away from the screen, slowly leans over and tries to push the feeler back down. Don't get into a fight to defend a hologram.* ItsyBitsySpyers *It's a principle-of-the-thing thing. But he'll let it be pushed down. For now.* VProwl Oh, you've decided to involve the whole room in a private discussion. Hm. Omicron I may not be the best at terms, I realize for primus sake *lifts head and starts to turn, pauses and growls and -growls- as she realizes she forgot the coms* Omicron For primus fragging piece of *lapses into predacon but somethings about stupid comms and not ever really working them right comes out as she starts to get up, something...she hates internal coms and...may not always able to work hers* VProwl *politely ignores.* Omicron ((Icy = internal comms are frustrating sometimes. <<;;;;)) Bevel *reaches out to pat Icy on the neck in an attempt to calm her down while she looks worriedly between her and Prowl* I think it is time to call it a night. VProwl Sorry to have disturbed the peace. *will also politely not mention that he wasn't the one who switched to audible conversation.* ItsyBitsySpyers This message has been removed. Bevel It is ok, no one disturbed anything. VProwl ((*edits post*)) Bevel ((totally did yep VProwl ((why delete post u inspired the switch to peace. take credit for writing better cop dialogue than me)) ((*holds cro on high*)) Bevel ((yess good Omicron *rumbling growling still, keeps from lashing her tail and lifts head up, trying really hard to stay calm. Stops growling. and with as much grace as she can dips head to Bevel, Prowl and Soundwave* thank you for the evening, and it was nice to see you two as well. *She's trying to be mature queen* ItsyBitsySpyers ((*is afraid of heights, tries to wiggle down*))

*Soundwave stiffly nods his helm as well. He's still partially in prepare-to-battle mode.* Bevel *applies a little more pressure to the spot where she's touching Icy's neck and then nods and smiles* You are welcome. VProwl ((... *puts cro down and Will Smiths at instead*)) Omicron I'm not going to eat anyone Bevel. Apparently I had another....moment. I'll leave ItsyBitsySpyers ((*accepts this*)) ((the will smith i mean)) Bevel I know. *one of her favorite people is a literal cannibal and she doesn't worry about him eating anyone... at movie nights, she doesn't know what Ravage does when he's not at movies 99.99999% of the time* ItsyBitsySpyers *Great and terrible things.* Omicron *looks at Soundwave, she had not ment harm, puts extra feeling into that before* @P :: For what its worth comms are hard. And I'm sorry for offending.:: *she moves away now, there, Icy Adult-ed* VProwl *ping of acknowledgment.* Omicron *Icy hopes into her bridge* ((*still wants to listen though*)) ItsyBitsySpyers *...This looks fun.* Bevel ((of course, 😸 VProwl *well. he might shortly need an excuse to stop coming.* Bevel *nooooo* VProwl *doesn't think "exhausted from constant reminders of having his mind broken into and trashed" is an adequate excuse.* Bevel *it is, though Bevel would try to find things that wouldn't remind Prowl of terrible things if she knew* VProwl *ah but that would involve saying something* *maybe he should pull some more double shifts. that'll help him feel better.* Bevel *well, as long as he enjoys himself* ItsyBitsySpyers *Nudges Prowl's knee and sends coordinates to the other Cybertron with a curious marker. Does Prowl want to go home? Three rough things in a night, and all...* VProwl @S «... What's there?» ItsyBitsySpyers @P: [[If you would prefer it, both of us. Or only you.]] VProwl @S «No, what's the place? Where are we going?» ItsyBitsySpyers @P: [[Ah. He has no idea. Buildings, one or more roads. Perhaps a working streetlight, if the grid hasn't malfunctioned.]] [[Space for a dr... a walk, even.]] [[Or a drive. He has practiced.]] VProwl @S «............ Why there, then?» ItsyBitsySpyers @P: [[Because Bevel thinks it is time to call this location a night, he enjoys your company, and he thought you might not care to be here after that... whatever happened.]] @P: [[And it is not crowded.]] VProwl @S «But why THERE? Why do you want to go to a random street corner instead of one of our places? Or SOME kind of destination.» ItsyBitsySpyers @P: [[He doubts he can go to your place, you will be at Dancitron soon enough, and he thought it might be pleasing to enjoy peace, quiet, and the existence of a living planet. If you would rather go to either of his living spaces, however, he does not mind.]] VProwl @S «......... Okay.» *he lives and works on that living planet, but, sure, he'll try it out, he guesses.* ItsyBitsySpyers *Well, Prowl already said he wouldn't come with Soundwave where he's going on vacation, so...*

@P: [[If you do not find it as relaxing as him, we can go somewhere else. He will have plenty of time to be at a spot of his own choosing soon enough.]]

*Soundwave lightly bunts Prowl's shoulder with his crest before rising.*

@P: [[Pahvo, by the way.]] VProwl *rises with him* @S «You found the coordinates? It survived the war intact?» ItsyBitsySpyers *Soundwave nods his helm toward Bevel.*

[[He must thank you for telling him of your discovery, Bevel.]] *An answer and an expression of gratitude all at once. Multitasking!* Bevel *huh? oh, oh right, she beams* VProwl *ah. of course. the one who found the records to begin with.* Bevel I wanted to make sure it was still safe and I know you do to. ItsyBitsySpyers *Suddenly not looking at either of them. My, what an interesting wall across the way.*

[[He was curious.]] VProwl *who you tryna fool* *go enjoy your pacific telepath trees* ItsyBitsySpyers *Soon, soon.* Bevel Uh-huh. Good night, Soundwave. Good night, Prowl. *drops back down onto her couch* ItsyBitsySpyers [[Hmph. Goodnight.]]

*Looks at Prowl. Shall they, then? Meet him there?* VProwl *as long as he's hotspotting off Soundwave's projector, he plans on just following him through the bridge.* ItsyBitsySpyers *In that case, he'll open one and start through it.* VProwl *follows*

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abadpoetwithdreams · 7 years

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Nirvana in Fire Episode 4 Reaction

I thought this would be a fast episode to recap/review, but no. It wasn’t. A LOT HAPPENS. Most importantly? This is the episode where we really, finally get introduced to Jing (and, in a way, to Lin Shu himself) and that whole scene is so important!!! Also there’s the subplot with the slave kids, and the threat of Ni Huang’s impending marriage, and now there’s a subplot TO that subplot about her being in danger from someone, PLUS we FINALLY learn what Lin Shu is ultimately trying to do here in the court, and aaaaaahh. So much goodness! I got a little misty-eyed, even? That’s how good it is. It doesn’t bode well for my poor emotions in later episodes. Will this show ever have a filler episode that I can summarize my reaction to in, like, a single paragraph??? I’m guessing not. But I’m okay with that because I’m enjoying it so much.

Back to this episode, episode 4, we start where we left off with the fight from last episode, with Jing Rui getting flung across a table by Baili Qi. The emperor intervenes and stops the fight before anyone (meaning poor Jing Rui) gets seriously hurt, but in the pause afterwards he notices that Chang Su (who DID manage to swallow all that tangerine without dying, I am very proud of him) is leaning over whispering in a smiling Ni Huang’s ear. So of course the Emperor demands to be let in on whatever secret is being told.

And how cute is the sight of Mei Chang Su and Ni Huang whispering mischievously to each other at the EMPEROR’S OWN TABLE, so to speak? The answer, my friend, is pretty dang cute. They look like they’ve reverted to being a couple of children together. Ni Huang’s so comfortable and close with him, it reeeeeally feels like she instinctively recognizes him and it’s like her brain is just waiting to catch up with her heart which is already making her treat him like a lifelong friend, even if she doesn’t consciously realize it yet. Then again, she seemed already so intrigued from the first instant she saw him … I really want to know what he was telling her; I don’t think he was telling her the stratagem he was about to put into play, because he did seem surprised when she caught on so fast, but he could have been acting so idk. Maybe he just told her to follow his lead. Or maybe he literally just told her what he tells the Emperor he was saying: that Baili Qi is a strong but badly-trained warrior who could undoubtedly be defeated by children.

(Chang Su acts embarrassed as he admits this but COME ON. He is LOVING it.)

The whole room gasps. This is a massive insult delivered by an honored guest in front of the most important people in the kingdom. They are electrified with horror, shocked amusement, and intrigue (and, in the case of Northern Yan’s group: outrage).

And Mei Chang Su, THIS TROLL, puts on his meek innocent face and is all “oh, no, I meant no offense at all, we are all friends here, my bad, it is just that I make mistakes like everyone else, I should really learn to think before I speak ohohohoho”

But the ambassador from Northern Yan is having none of it and demands Mei Chang Su produce some children to be slaughtered by Baili Qi right. Now.

(I feel insulted on poor Jing Rui’s behalf that his buddy Chang Su has basically just said to THE EMPEROR that a child could fight better than he just did, and he does actually look a little miffed here, but only briefly. He is a better person than me, this noble sword-boy.)

(Btw, this scene is a good example of how Chang Su has the SWEETEST smile when he wants to. It is an excellent distraction from his clever manipulation, which I can attest to personally because it distracts ME from paying close attention to what he’s saying, so I’m assuming it worked on everyone else in that hall, too.)

Chang Su says ok, but also he’d have to train the kids, PLUS the kids would have to be previously untrained, and Ni Huang catches on almost immediately and starts helping, the end result being that the two of them work together fiendishly well, dancing back and forth with their varying reasons for why the children they pick for the bout HAVE to be taken from the slaves in the palace–y'know, one of which is Ting Sheng from last episode. It’s about now that I started laughing because “oh no he isn'tttt” but yes: he totally is. Mei Chang Su is already setting things in motion to save the kid Prince Jing mysteriously cares about. Brazenly, in front of the Emperor and the entire court. With Meng surely sweating bullets the whole time as he stands beside the Emperor.

Also there’s a great moment when Chang Su pretends to be VERY contrite about suggesting some children could whip Baili Qi, almost to the point of being flustered, and he stammers out some thing about how it wouldn’t be fair to use kids already trained in martial arts, as that would be an unfair advantage to them, and the Northern Yan crew look like they’re going to have a fit and the rest of the hall busts up laughing (except for the Crown Prince who looks upset by this further insult to the foreign group, and for Prince Yu who just smirks like he’s impressed) and in the meantime Mei Chang Su stands there in the midst of this hurricane he created looking wholly innocent and clueless and ugh I LOVE HIM. HE’S THE WORST.

So Chang Su, with the help of his secret ally Meng, manages not only to get the Emperor’s permission to take three kids from the slave ranks to train them, but also gets permission to train them back in his own house, and is given five days to do so. He also hints that the kids might deserve, oh I don’t know, some kind of reward after they defeat Baili Qi? I SEE YOU, LIN SHU. I SEE WHAT YOU’RE DOING.

Meng picks three kids at random, and Ting Sheng somehow happens to be one of them. Wow, what a craaaaaazy coincidence!

Later, Jing Rui voices concern about the kids’ chances because he is, y'know, sane, but Chang Su is unmoved. He says he is going to have them use a Towering Phantom technique? Sounds impressive. Jing Rui knows of this technique but has never seen it. Chang Su asks does Jing Rui not trust him? Jing Rui promptly replies that he DOES trust his friend, who is so clever and knows so much. It’s painful to hear him say so. Then Yu Jin chimes in by saying that everything must be ok because Chang Su clearly has a plan: if the kids defeat Baili Qi in this mock combat round, Baili Qi won’t have the gall to then say he has the right to fight Ni Huang. That’s a good point. I’m very impressed that Lin Shu is seemingly managing to kill two birds with one stone, here. Very good.

(Speaking of Yu Jin, slight sidetrack meta time: I’m writing this as I rewatch after making it to episode 16 and then stopping, so I have seen more of these boys than just four episodes’ worth. And this is one of the earliest telling moments I’ve noticed where Yu Jin seems to see Chang Su’s stratagems clearly. He doesn’t see any long term goal in them, but he’s good at seeing what’s going on in the moment. It seems to me like the reason why he notices more about what Su is doing when compared to Jing Rui, is that Jing Rui takes Chang Su’s friendship more for granted. They are already friends at the beginning of the show; Yu Jin begins the show eager to meet this legendarily cool pugilist leader, so he’s a bit more removed from Chang Su the person and more calibrated to view Chang Su the persona. Chang Su is just lucky that Yu Jin is such a happy puppy of a person who wants to see the best in people and so isn’t a suspicious sort, otherwise he would definitely have an edge when it comes to figuring out that Chang Su is such a devious plotter and has some dangerous long-term goals; he is too innocent, alas. I also get the feeling that Jing Rui is at a disadvantage here even though he is the more mature of the two simply because he’s grown up surrounded by not one but TWO doting families so he’s just? Used to being loved? (And yet still hasn’t gotten spoiled, bless him.) But being accustomed to being the center of attention/having a positive network around him blinds him to Chang Su’s machinations. Anyway. Yu Jin and Jing Rui are the Most Precious souls in this entire show so far and must be protected at all costs. I dread what’s undoubtedly coming for them. The show wouldn’t make them this Good for no reason.)

Meanwhile, best of friends Meng is assuring the Emperor that it is very possible that Su Zhe might know a secret technique that would enable children to defeat Baili Qi, and also says even if the kids lose it’s a win-win for the Emperor. He also says even if the kids lose, it “won’t be any worse than it is now.” The Emperor somehow finds that reassuring? I feel like insulting a rival nation’s champion, then losing to him in a fight brought about by the insult IS a situation that would be made worse by the loss, but maybe he figures he’ll just punish this random impertinent strategist if things go wrong and so therefore he, the Emperor, is fine no matter what. Whatever.

The next scene starts pretty randomly with one of the less important concubines crying because she has to light candles at the shrine for a dead Empress. Is dead Empress the current Emperor’s mother? I feel like it must be. Anyway she must have been an awful person if her ghost can scare this woman that badly.

Enter Jingmum!! Jingmum (not her name, alas, but I’m using it for clarification sake) offers to accompany and help her fellow woman because she is a good and wonderful person. How much influence did she have over Jing as he grew up? Because he seems like a fantastic guy, but as a concubine of the Emperor I don’t know how much freedom to just be a mom to her kid this woman had. I want to see what their relationship is like.

Oh, and the current Empress is the one punishing the sad concubine for something trivial like bad handwriting or somesuch. This is an interesting detail because until now the Emperor’s favourite concubine, Crown Prince’s mom, seemed much more obviously hateful. This shows the Empress is also definitely not a good person. It reminds me of how Yu scolded those sparring soldiers so harshly back in episode 2. Guess that’s where he learned it from?

“Your arms must be sore,” a way too kind and compassionate Jingmum says to her fellow concubine, after the latter lights some candles. If her arms are sore, she needs to do some lifting, my gosh. Then again, I suppose she doesn’t have anything to do in her life to strengthen her arms, but still. That’s pathetic. Jingmum even massages her arm as they walk out of the shrine together??? What a saint. She says she was trained in medicine before, so I guess that explains things. Have her take a look at Lin Shu, pls. I want him alive longer than two years ok? Make it so.

Thunder sounds and I’m immediately like “SAVE THE BEAUTIFUL DRESSES” but the two women have the same thought apparently and scurry under cover, much to my relief.

BUT THEN. Their run for cover puts them right outside a secluded room where they can overhear a conversation between some old woman and the most evil-looking handmaid I’ve ever seen in my entire life. This actress flat-out sneers every word, and it’s kind of funny. But the conversation itself isn’t funny: they’re talking about some kind of drug that “the Empress Dowager used on Princess Supreme Li Yang back then.” Um. WHAT?! Someone wants to use this drug on someone in secret, and these women are making the necessary arrangements.

Jingmum and weak-arm concubine hurry away before they are spotted, but that sounded REALLY SKEEVY. My suspicions are confirmed when weak-arm concubine, in major distress, tells Jingmum that this is an emergency: that drug they were talking about is basically a date rape drug that was used in the past on the Princess Supreme. Who, I am pretty sure, is one of Jing Rui’s moms???? (Ten episodes later I know that yes, this is Jing Rui’s mom.) WHAT IS HAPPENING. Nothing good, that is sure. Weak-arm asks Jingmum for advice, and Jingmum tells her to keep silent about what she heard. It’s better to play it safe in the palace and not meddle in secrets, she says. This is exactly he opposite of what Jing would say, I have no doubt. So he can’t have spent THAT much time with his mom: enough to inherit her goodness but not her subtlety, I think.

Back at Snow Cottage we are treated to a long montage of the slave children waving swords around with varying expressions of seriousness on their round faces. Fei Liu is doing all the work to train them, and I imagine he’s a brutal but effective teacher. Lin Shu is sitting nearby paying nearly zero attention; he trusts Fei Liu to get the job done. “Make them faster so I can be sure to win,” he instructs, and I’m pretty sure that’s all he needs to say for Fei Liu to do everything in his power to make these kids the fastest children under the sun. I am curious about why he is so very, very devoted to Lin Shu. They’re such an odd duo but so great together.

Lin Shu does start paying attention, however, when Ni Huang shows up for an unannounced visit. Surprise! As always, he looks momentarily stricken to see her, and I wonder if she realizes she frightens him, she seems like she’s always watching him very closely. She looks like she is pleased to have surprised him, but he covers his reaction almost instantly. Ni Huang is here to see the children’s formation they are practicing for herself, and she is very perceptive in her criticism of it as she walks alone with Chang Su afterwards. I love it whenever Ni Huang shows off how smart she is AND how skilled she is in warfare. She’s perfect. She asks if he maybe has something further planned, and he doesn’t answer, like he doesn’t trust himself to reply. Every time she shows how clever she is it’s like you can see that hidden Lin Shu in him fall in love with her all over again and it’s the WORST. Sidenote: Hu Ge has done amazing work in this show so far, but one of my favourite aspects of his portrayal is that you can so clearly tell when shades of Lin Shu are coming out–which is remarkable, when you think about it, because I still haven’t been introduced to Lin Shu. I still don’t know who he IS. And yet I do, because Hu Ge has such a clear understanding of who he is, he’s clueing me in even without that formal introduction, even without convenient flashbacks, or without ever talking about who he was before. He’s wonderful.

Chang Su finally promises he will do all he can to help Ni Huang out of her predicament (one of the few promises he makes that I 100% believe, lol), and she looks thoughtful.

“For some reason,” she confesses as she looks out at the garden, “I actually trust you.”

Lin Shu’s only reaction is a blink that covers a flinch, and it’s like you can see how glad her confession makes him before reality catches up to his relief and turns it all to pain, and then he just. Walks away. No bow, no farewell, nothing. Because he can’t handle this, and neither can I. Ni Huang watches him go, looking strangely triumphant. Point to Ni Huang, I think. She is DEFINITELY on to him.

That night, Jingmum stays up very late sewing some pouches. She’s planning something. The next day (presumably), the delightful grandmother is back!!!! I’m desperately hoping that this time she doesn’t break my heart. Right now she’s all happy because she’s admiring the nice smell of the pretty sachet she has; the other concubines present also have some. Crown Prince’s mom and the Empress are there, too. The grandmother, learning that Jingmum made the sachets, eagerly asks that she be invited into the hall. Apparently her status is so lowly she cannot visit the grandmother without permission?? That’s so unfair. I wonder if the Emperor’s displeasure with Jing is thus reflected onto Jing’s mother, or if she’s just always been a nobody.

(Sidenote: the Empress’ headdress is a MARVEL. It’s been a while since I’ve commented on costumes. That headdress might be my favourite costume piece of the episode. Either that, or Mei Chang Su’s cute white turtleneck thing.)

When Jingmum comes in, Princess Supreme Li Yang is there. She is so sweet? Jingmum offers her a gift of a sachet, too, but then uses that moment where she presses it into the Princess’ hand to squeeze her hand hard, and the Princess immediately knows something is up. This is a code of some kind, probably a “we need to talk” or something similar.

Grand Empress Dowager, meanwhile, has another memory time slip; she seems to think that Jingmum is new to the harem, and is still just as warm and kind to her, because she’s such a wonderful old lady.

And THEN THIS HAPPENS:

“After Consort Chen gave birth, she isn’t feeling very well. You are a medical maid. Since the Lin family sent you here, you must take good care of her.”

Whoa, whoa, whoa. As the grandmother says this, EVERYONE gets visibly nervous and the music gets very tense. There is no Consort Chen, the Empress says. She died a long time ago.

The poor old grandmother immediately is extremely distressed, and starts begging for her eldest grandson. What has happened to her eldest grandson? She cries. Nothing good, I think. Darn it, this old woman has punched me in the heart AGAIN. I will never trust a scene with her in it ever again, so help me. The various women flutter around trying to calm her, and order Jingmum out of the hall, saying this is her fault.

Okay: there is a LOT to unpack here. First: Consort Chen. I don’t know who she is, but clearly her death was NOT a natural one. It definitely had something to do with whatever went down twelve years ago. Second: the eldest grandson. I don’t know who he is? Maybe I’ve heard before, but not enough that I recognize his name. Presumably he was also part of that disaster. I’m assuming both he and his mom (?) were implicated in the same false treason that took down Lin Shu himself, because those women looked scared to hear those names brought up. Furthermore, if he was the eldest son, then I’m guessing that he was a main target in whatever plot went down. Third: the Lin family sent Jingmum? So she’s related to Lin Shu directly? (Aside: I know a bit more about how the various families are connected from where I am in ep16 now, but at the time I watched this I was a lot more up in the air.)

Later, Jingmum is visited by the Princess, who made up some excuse about a rash so she could visit the medically-skilled minor concubine. In truth, she’s just there because she got the signal earlier and wants to know why Jingmum wanted to talk. It’s a refreshing change to see Court women sneaking about for the sake of good, instead of because they’re wicked snakey people (looking at you, Crown Prince mom and Empress). Jingmum explains about what she overheard, and the Princess FREEZES. There’s a flashback, and oh my gosh. The princess was given the wine by HER OWN MOTHER???? WHO ARRANGED HER DAUGHTER’S DRUGGING TO ENABLE THE MARQUIS TO HAVE HIS WAY WITH HER???? THEREBY TRAPPING HER IN AN IMPOSSIBLE DILEMMA OF DISHONOR UNLESS SHE MARRIED HIM?? This is despicable. It’s horrific. And I feel horrible for both the Princess and for Jing Rui, who surely knows nothing of this, and ughhhhhhh. It’s so gross. HER OWN MOM.

Anyway, the Princess is first angry that this painful history is brought up, but when she realizes someone is in danger of suffering this fate today, she is first shocked and then turns all to steel. Jingmum tells her only she can save Ni Huang, who is surely the target of the unknown schemer. Many people are desperate to be allied to Ni Huang and her family via marriage right now. Somehow, they have to protect her.

Does Lin Shu know this is going on???? I can’t imagine how he would, but surely he won’t be kept in the dark for long.

Speaking of Lin Shu, the kids are still flailing around with their swords and they look more adept now. Chang Su congratulates them and they all grin back at him and it’s very cute. This has probably been the best week of their lives. Why is he so good with kids??? The cynic in me is like “because he’s good at manipulating people” but I like to think it’s the Lin Shu part of him, not the Chang Su, that connects with them. Anyway, Fei Liu is like an angry, jealous cat until Chang Su, somehow managing to keep a straight face, gives him a very deliberate compliment to mollify him.

And then: Jing is back! And never mind what I said earlier, HIS costume might be my favourite of the episode. Those strong, vibrant colors? That bright red belt? LOOKING GOOD, JING.

The children scamper off to play, but Ting Sheng pauses to smile shyly at Jing before he goes and I melt a little. Jing is here to check on the boy, but also to let Chang Su know he’s researched his background. Is it just me, or did Chang Su look a bit excited at that? He lights up a little at the prospect of finding out how well he’s duped Prince Jing. A little too well, as it turns out. Jing is particularly cutting as he says, funny story, he tends to be pretty ignorant of politics (heavily implying that politics is the Worst), but he has found out that Mei Chang Su is buddies with both the Crown Prince AND Prince Yu, isn’t that interesting? Coming from someone as forthright and firmly principled as Jing, this is a slap in the face. He somehow manages to even turn how he sips his tea into a diss. Chang Su definitely pauses here; I honestly think Lin Shu planned for this, but that he didn’t anticipate how much it would sting to have Jing think so little of him. He CLEARLY cares a lot about Jing’s opinion of him, which might prove problematic to his persona, I imagine. He says he’s not their friend, they just both want him as their ally, and Jing scoffs: surely the great Mei Chang Su didn’t come to the capitol NOT to try to seize power?

No, that is true, agrees Chang Su. He does want to help guide the next Emperor. Jing looks a little disappointed, but not surprised. He asks with pointed restraint whether Chang Su is going to support the Crown Prince or Prince Yu.

And this is the moment Lin Shu has been waiting for, for who knows how long–you can tell that this is a moment he has been longing for–he doesn’t want either of them. I’d like to choose you.

I did NOT see this coming, but the instant he said it I was like YESSSSSSSSSSS!!!!! He’s not just tearing down: he’s building up!! It’s not just about ruining the people he hates, he is going to beat them at their own game by raising up an Emperor HE wants!!!! Omg. Omg. So hyped. This revelation made me SO. HAPPY. Because it makes the stakes IMPOSSIBLY higher, and it also makes me love Lin Shu even more. Because this is solid confirmation that this isn’t just a revenge story, and I’m just ECSTATIC because this game Lin Shu is playing is also going to be soooooo much more complicated and multilayered than I had anticipated if Jing as Emperor is his end goal. He’s going to have to play the court like a fiddle, and omg I can’t wait to see him work. Plus, I WANT JING TO BE EMPEROR. So I am aaaaaaall in. This is the best reveal ever.

Jing, meanwhile, almost gets whiplash from how fast he turns to stare at the placidly smiling Chang Su. He looks absolutely dazed for a good few seconds, and it’s adorable–and then he bursts out laughing. This poor man.

He sits down and downs a cup of tea like it’s a shot, which made me laugh in the midst of my giddy excitement, ahahahaha, and then, slightly bitterly, Jing lays out plainly to this strategist just how impossible it is for him to reach the throne. His mother is of low rank, he has no noble family connections through her, he has no connections in the world of politics or in any of the various government ministries, he’s spent basically his entire adult life soldiering and so has no worthy connections there, he is not even a high-ranked prince himself even though he’s 31 because, oh yeah, his dad the current Emperor HATES HIM. So, good luck with that, Chang Su. Hearing Jing list all the ways he’s a (supposed) failure made me so sad. I know basically nothing about him as a person, but I know on instinct that he deserves so much better. Again: the acting is so good. Also the music. The Music starts up in this scene and it’s awesome.

Chang Su looks levelly at Jing. I know you are at a disadvantage, he says. But I have no other choice. And for just a second, he sounds DANGEROUS. It’s one of the few times so far, I think, that Lin Shu is speaking 100% honestly, no restraint or hiding behind masks, but pure INTENT, and the depth of the emotion he had in that one line was just–yes. Yes, do it. Take down those who wronged you, and work impossible wonders to get Jing made Emperor. DO IT. I BELIEVE IN YOU.

(Just … Do it without hurting Jing Rui?)

(Meanwhile, the Princess Supreme tries to visit Ni Huang but Ni Huang is away for the day. So much for that storyline for the moment.)

Back at the Snow Cottage, Chang Su tries to pour Jing more tea while explaining his plan, but Jing is stone-cold not having it–neither the tea, nor this conversation in general. I hate how distrustful he is, but it makes total sense from his point of view. Especially since he was connected to the Event™ somehow 12 yrs ago, if not politically then emotionally. Small wonder that he’s so distrustful and defensive! His continuing bad relationship with the Emperor has to stem from then, because he still believes that the people implicated were innocent. Ni Huang also thinks this, seemingly, but she’s more subtle about it so I guess she got a free pass. Jing comes across as a man who has grown accustomed to being always lonely and unable to trust anyone, let alone grow close to anyone, and it’s horrible even though I believe that the way he has frozen up is what has kept him alive this long, I, Claudius style–if the Crown Prince and Prince Yu thought him a threat, they’d surely have taken him out by now because he is not protected by the Emperor’s good opinion–or, well, by anything, come to think of it. Furthermore, his own father could easily interpret any semblance of ambition as treasonous? Because of his apparent sympathy to the people who died a dozen years earlier, it would be a very small logical leap for the already disapproving Emperor to make. His position in both the kingdom and his own family is terribly vulnerable and I can’t blame him for having adapted the way he has. But I don’t want him to be that way??? I want him to be happy. Gah. WHY CANT THE GOOD PEOPLE IN THIS SHOW JUST BE HAPPY.

(Sidenote: I wonder if he has any sort of subconscious recognition of Lin Shu like how Ni Huang has, but if it’s affecting him in an opposite way–making him even MORE guarded and hostile, instead of instinctively trusting this stranger. Based off the music cues and the acting, Lin Shu and Jing definitely have a Past. I’m eager to find out what that Past is, but also–I’m very scared. The more these two interact the worse I’m going to feel watching it, probably.)

Chang Su tells him he wants to support him simply because political success while backing such a hopeless candidate for the throne will make him, Chang Su, look even more impressive than he would if he worked with one of the other two Princes. Jing seems to believe that this selfish, ugly motive is the truth, which is good for Lin Shu’s goals and secret identity, but also–ughhhhhh. Jing also comments on how he cannot understand how people like Chang Su, who are obsessed with political manipulation and power grabs, think. Again–this is the WORST, because Lin Shu CLEARLY understands Jing really well. So presumably Jing would similarly understand Lin Shu if he knew who he was. But he doesn’t, so. Shu just keeps impaling himself on the sword of Jing’s scorn to coax the stubbornly righteous prince into working with him.

(Sidenote: Jing has THE most beautiful eyebrows. They’re so impressive. Truly worthy of gracing an Emperor. Crown Prince’s sad ‘stache shouldn’t stand a chance.)

Finally, Chang Su asks Jing plainly if he WANTS either of the other princes to take the throne. Jing is visibly upset by this and says essentially that if Chang Su is as great a strategist as everyone says, then he should know the answer to that already. Chang Su smiles and says of course he does: he IS the Divine Talent, after all. I still am amused that he even has that name for himself? But it seems to be well-earned, so go ahead and call yourself whatever you like, Chang Su. Does this mean we can say he actually has four names? Good grief.

Jing gets VERY intense and says that there’s no hope of the throne for himself, but he will do ANYTHING if the Divine Talent can prevent those other two from taking the throne. (Actually, hilariously, the subtitles on dramafever have him say he would “pay whatever prince it takes” but I’m assuming he’s actually meaning he’d pay any price, metaphorically speaking, not that he’d bribe any prince. Because that would kinda go against his whole character as established up to this point, so.)

Chang Su tells Jing that Ting Sheng’s freedom will be his first gift to him. If Jing accepts that gift, then they will be partners in this play for power. Jing is clearly conflicted over this, and soothes his uneasy conscience by telling Chang Su plainly that he does not like sneaky, manipulative people like this, so even if Chang Su does help him to the throne, Chang Su isn’t guaranteed any kind of fame or reward. Chang Su–who, again, looked ever so slightly hurt by Jing’s appraisal of his character–says that’s fine; there is time enough for negotiating rewards later. What really matters to him is how Jing’s temperament is different from the other two Princes’.

(Also, the music, you guys. THE MUSIC. WHY IS THE OST NOT ON ITUNES.)

We’ve never met, Jing tells him coldly. How could you know what my temperament is like? Oh, Prince Jing. I have only known you as long as the fake Mei Chang Su has, and even I know what your temperament is like. Also, did Shu slip in saying what he did, or was it planned? It felt spontaneous. He backs off the statement a little, changing tack and instead reminding Jing that if he doesn’t want the other two princes as Emperor, then Jing is the only other possible successor; no other prince is eligible. The scene ends there, but–I think Chang Su has got him. I think Jing is the type that he won’t be able to get those plainly presented facts out of his head, and he’ll talk himself into actually going for the throne just so he can stop his terrible brother’s. I don’t think Chang Su has to push him anymore, he just needed to plant that seed. I’m so excited.

Cut to Marquis Xie, who is apparently having his wife followed??? His wife, who he drugged and raped decades ago???? He can NOT get any worse, what a disgusting slug of a man. Unfortunately he seems like he’s also very clever. Unfortunate for Lin Shu’s scheming, that is; it’s very fortunate for the story because watching Shu work his magic wouldn’t be anywhere NEAR as compelling or as satisfying if he was just given a bunch of straw men opponents to knock down. Major kudos to the show (and, I’m assuming, the novel) for making basically everyone intelligent. A lot of times stories with brilliant protagonists just write everyone else as stupid so that the protagonist just seems smart; making EVERYONE smart is way harder to write, but the payoff is HUGE. Yes, Mei Chang Su does make some Sherlock-Holmes-esque leaps of logic sometimes that don’t NECESSARILY have to lead to what he concludes, but that being said it’s usually pretty solidly done, plus he has tripped up a couple times anyway, so he isn’t always right. I can live with a handful of convenient deductions when the narrative and emotional payoff is this good.

Anyway, back to what I was saying: Marquis Gross is having people follow his wife. He knows that she tried to visit Ni Huang and that she was not successful. I’m curious about WHY he is spying on her, though. Is he just a jealous husband? Or does he have spies tailing other people, too? I would have thought he’d have had Mei Chang Su followed by now, if that were the case.

Back at the Snow Cottage, Meng is peering at Ting Sheng while the boy sleeps. It’s not as creepy as it sounds. Also, I half expected Meng to accidentally drip candle wax on the kid’s face and wake him up, lolll. He nods at Chang Su like he’s confirming something, and once they are back at Chang Su’s tea table–an already iconic location in this show, tbh–he says something about are you sure that slave kid is Prince Qi’s son? And instantly I’m like ohhhhhhh, wait. Wait. Is Prince Qi the supposed leader of the fake rebellion, the dead grandson the old grandma Empress was crying about earlier?? The oldest prince????? Because of COURSE Jing would care about this boy, if so. But the Emperor can have no idea, I would think? Otherwise this boy would be dead, I’m prettttttttty certain.

Lin Shu lays all this out, and Meng admits the boy looks like the dead prince a lot. He then brightens and says, well, at least this shows the gods have a conscience! The look on Lin Shu’s face when Meng says that–somehow, I reeeeeeally doubt he feels the same, lol. Again, Meng asks what happened 12 years ago and how Lin Shu survived, what horrors has he had to go through, to be here alive but apparently 100% transformed? Once again, Shu sidesteps this question. Once again, I am incredibly frustrated. He says the only thing about his survival that matters is that he will not let this life he’s managed to cling to go to waste.

Then we cut to Ni Huang sitting in what I assume is her manor? Her armor and campaign map are on display in the background anyway, nice touch. She’s reading something. Her brother comes in and asks about the children’s chances against Baili Qi (oh yeah, almost forgot about him after that Jing-Shu talk scene) and Ni Huang doesn’t seem like she was that impressed. Her brother is instantly upset and starts to march over to Chang Su’s house in the MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT (I love this brash kid) but Ni Huang sharply forbids him. She reminds him, too, that just because the kids might not defeat Baili Qi doesn’t mean SHE can’t. I totally believe Ni Huang could take him, because I want to believe in her. She’s amazing.

Back to the Snow Cottage, Meng is aghast at the notion of Jing vying for the throne. He’s definitely worried that this plan will get Jing killed. Heck, IM worried about the same thing! But Lin Shu has an answer–a terrible, terrifying, heartbreaking answer:

Doesn’t he still have me? Leave all those despicable and ruthless tactics to me. If we are to overthrow those evil villains, the innocent are bound to be hurt. At times, we might even have to be ruthless to them. If Prince Jing can’t bear to inflict such pain, I will.

There is a LOT to unpack from this little speech (once I stop sniffling and blink these drafted tears from my eyes). Firstly! Lin Shu knows how Jing is limited by his morals and principles AND HE DOES NOT WANT TO CHANGE THAT. He is not setting out to make Jing into a more ruthless person; he needs Jing to stay, well, Jing, if he is going to succeed in putting a Good Emperor on the throne. Secondly!! STAY AWAY FROM JING RUI AND YU JIN. It seems my instincts that Mei Chang Su somehow befriended Jing Rui for ulterior motives is were correct, ughhhhh. Thirdly!!! This speech comes RIGHT on the heels of his previous statement that never mind what horrific suffering he has endured; the important thing is that he is alive and thus he must not waste his life. This plan of his seems more and more like a sacrificial suicide of both body and soul; he knows he doesn’t have long to live (according to his conversation in episode 1), and so he risks what little time he has left by going back to the capitol and exerting himself far beyond what I imagine is safe, both mentally and physically. Not only that, but he knows good, upright Jing would never stoop to the underhanded machinations necessary to win the throne on his own, so here comes Lin Shu willing to sacrifice his own sense of righteousness to keep Jing Good as well as to make him win. We’ve had enough clues now that I really, really, REALLY don’t think this scheming and manipulating and cold calculatory nature is something that is actually natural to our sickly avenger. It is simply that in his mind the end goal justifies any means, ANY AT ALL, and that includes not only hurting innocents, but also hurting himself. Before Lin Shu throws any innocent or good person to the wolves for the sake of Jing’s success, he is throwing his own self away. Before his body perishes, he is already attempting this suicide of self: now that he has his life, he has to make sure it is not wasted. He exists only to get his vengeance and to eradicate the corruption in his family and the government that essentially cost him his life all those years ago, and this means he exists only to use himself up as a sacrifice to ensure Jing wins this harrowing political game. Meng has commented repeatedly on how this Lin Shu is physically changed. He is trying to hold to an equally drastic mental change. In light of this revelation, all of his scenes with Ni Huang, who is subconsciously drawn to the Lin Shu that’s still in there, are made approximately 500% more painful. UGHHHH.

I’m still not over this scene; I might never be over this scene; but I have to move on, so now we cut to the Princess, Jing Rui’s mom. She tells her maids to cover for her and then makes a spectacularly conspicuous escape from her rooms, heading to the cottage where Mei Chang Su is staying. Seriously, she is still in her fine silks, she’s carrying a lantern larger than her head; all she did was cover her hair with a lovely hood. I don’t know where her husband’s spies are right now? But they should be fired.

But somehow she sneaks successfully to Chang Su’s door. He looks surprised, but lets her in for a chat after Meng stealths away. She’s come to tell him about the plot she was told about to drug Ni Huang. He asks can’t she put a stop to this without his help? This poor woman looks decidedly bitter as she tells him that her high rank as Princess Supreme really isn’t much use. She can’t do anything herself for fear that her husband and children will be implicated, and she doesn’t have anyone to accuse anyway. Chang Su assures her he will help. I really like this woman; I don’t have her name down yet. Li Yang? Something like that. She’s so pretty and her voice is so distinct, and I feel so badly for her. And how brave she is to take this risk in the hopes of saving Ni Huang from what happened to her!

But uh-oh, there’s trouble: the Marquis is on his way to his wife’s empty room. The Princess Supreme’s maids panic, until this utterly fantastic old maid (or governess, of somesuch? An old servant who knows how to play people just as well as Mei Chang Su, anyway) takes the situation in hand. She tells the Marquis his wife doesn’t want visitors. When he protests that but it’s him, though! She responds with oh, his wife ESPECIALLY doesn’t want to see him. Something happened with grandmother Empress today and she saw a room in the palace that reminded her of something that happened a long time ago, soooo …

This scene was brilliant. He backs down SO fast–and almost looks ashamed??? Too little, too late, you horrid man. I have no sympathy for him at all. But as a result of his guilty response (which includes him exhorting the old woman to make sure his wife is well-cared for and then him walking away comically FAST) the Princess Supreme’s late-night visit remains a secret, and she herself remains safe. Or as safe as she can be while living under that villain’s roof. Take out the Marquis, Lin Shu, do it, do it now!!

Chang Su walks the Princess Supreme out of his house to be polite, looking very calm, but the instant she’s gone his smile drops and he runs–or the closest we’ve ever seen him run, lolllll this poor invalid man–back into his cottage. Meng comes out of whatever cupboard he was hiding in (hey–where was Fei Liu this whole time? I just realized he was absent) and is like who could possibly want to drug Ni Huang???? Lin Shu, very deep in thought, says it has to be either the Empress or the favored Consort, the Crown Prince’s mother. And he says they won’t know which it is until one of them summons Ni Huang to the palace.

Aaaaand, end episode! Hoo boy, a LOT happened in this one, and again–it was all really important! Except for the boys training, I mean it’s important that they ARE training but those were the only scenes I felt like I didn’t have to pay attention to reaaaaal closely. Jing moves further into the foreground of the action in a big way, and we FINALLY get inside Lin Shu’s head a little as he shares at least a major part of what his endgame is. The stakes are sky high, everyone, and I worry that he’s not going to be able to handle what must be an immense amount of stress that will only worsen as things progress. He’s already having a hard time around Ni Huang, and he hasn’t been in court very long. Also, this cliffhanger is the most intense one yet, because it involves Ni Huang’s safety. I agree with the Princess Supreme that Ni Huang is clever enough to keep herself safe once she’s tipped off, so I hope Chang Su really can warn her at the palace fight! Too bad she can’t just punch the Empress or the Consort in the face, or something. That would be satisfying.

Next up: Episode 5! Hopefully I can get the post written and posted before my plane flight on Sunday. Also, I have a dance competition on Saturday, so really I would have to finish episode 5’s post by Friday to be able to post it before sometime late Sunday … I will try, but I can’t promise for sure.

Also! Sunday marks the beginning of my 10-day tour of Okinawa, which means my updates here will largely rely upon when I can find wifi. Adjust your expectations accordingly and just be prepared for my replies to comments and asks to be less prompt for a few days. And thanks again, guys, for making this viewing experience such a fun one, despite me putting off watching the show for about two years now? I only started writing these episode reactions/recaps for a couple individuals who specifically asked to know my thoughts, and I never expected there would be more of you out there who would be reading along, too, considering the show ended so long ago! Being able to chat with you all is really enhancing my first-time viewing experience, so thanks for that ^_^

#nirvana in fire #badpoet watches nif #badpoet watches #nif response ep4 #long post #cdramas

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