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lqfiles · 8 months

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nct dream as tropes / aus. (mk / rj / hc / jm)

mark summer.

late summer nights spent walking or playing outside while the sun has yet to set. getting to know each other gradually as the summer progresses, enjoying each other’s company. fun evenings spent at the beach with both your relatives as the sand gets stuck between your toes, enjoying what summer had to bring. developing a crush, knowing it won’t go any further than that. enjoying how no strings are attached to whatever relationship the two of you have built. becoming each other’s summer acquaintance and fling that you will look back on in a few years, wondering how that boy named mark lee was doing. exchanging kisses under the sunset and heat that summer comes with, knowing it will all eventually be stored as another memory of what summer was like. “this will be a memory i’ll look back on in a few years, and i’m glad it will be filled with you.”

renjun academic rivals.

bad mouthing each other to your friends, yet feeling weird when they instigate on the bad mouthing. an unspoken battle going on with each lesson that you attend. taking sneaky glances at each other while in class. searching for one another when your test results come back, wanting to taste the sweet victory that is beating one another. bragging about your scores, knowing that neither of you truly care. silently being there for one another without having to tell, you can just tell from each other’s change in behaviour. being rivals in public but friends once you reach your own homes. using your work as an excuse to text each other, knowing you’re just looking for a reason to talk. a romantic tension that almost everyone can sense, including you, but choose to rather ignore it. “i know you would die to beat me for once, but don’t actually neglect your body like this, it worries me.”

haechan best friends.

knowing almost everything there is to know about one another. being the person other’s associate you with when they think of either of you. having almost no boundaries and being comfortable with each other. being there during each other’s best and most vulnerable moments, reminiscing the laughs and tears in a few months. being the first person the other calls for anything because you can always depend on them. the line between flirting and playfulness being thin. there always being an underlying romantic tension between you two making it painful for your own friends to watch the both of you interact. mistaking each other’s flirt attempts for being affectionate. platonically confessing to one another, knowing that both of you secretly mean your words. despising the idea of getting with someone else, because deep down you want it to be each other. “i don’t get why you would settle for less when i’m literally right here.”

jaemin college.

you had never noticed him, too occupied with your studies and personal life. he never noticed you, focusing on improving his grades. you met each other in the library which had become a regular meeting spot. slowly but gradually you’d feel more comfortable around each other. studying together, even though the both of you took different courses. studying until the librarian had to tell you it was closing hours and to leave. spending your afternoons treating each other with food to celebrate your improvements. crying together as stress only built up during exam season, yet being near each other was enough comfort. secret longing gazes at each other’s side profile as the other is busy revising. spending time together outside of college, as something other than school mates. hanging out in each other’s room for revision studies but never complying with the plan, watching movies together instead. sharing an impulsive kiss after the both of you had completed all your coursework, leading to a shift in your relationship. “you again? i’m starting to believe that you’re stalking me.”

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whencartoonsruletheworld · 1 year

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i feel like we’re finally at the age of information transparency on the internet that studio head execs are showing their own asses in an unprecendented way. like we all knew they were bigoted old farts who hate minorities and animation as a medium BUT now we have the entire hbo max tobacle, and that’s only the most obvious.

recently two tv shows for wings of fire and phoebe and her unicorn were cancelled– the first because of netflix budget cuts and the second because “nobody wants to watch a female-led show.” as for the latter, that’s so obviously not true that it’s laughable, what with basically every disney animated show being female-led and extremely popular incl. owl house and amphibia, legend of korra being revered rightfully for its badass queer woc main, the female-led infinity train seasons being just as popular as the male-led, my little pony getting a terrifying number of fans... i don’t even have to explain this to y’all i don’t know why i am, it’s just obvious that isn’t the case. the reason i lumped it in with wings of fire though is it shows that these execs literally have their heads so far up their own asses they don’t realize that they’re literally throwing away money. both wings of fire and phoebe are EXTREMELY popular with their target demographic– i work at a library and go to bookstores like, once a week, and wings of fire is THE kids’ series right now– every library and bookstore has a dedicated shelf just for it, every kid in the us and canada reads these gay lil dragon books. i don’t know much about phoebe but i do know that i have to shelf her graphic novels every goddamn day so they’re getting checked out constantly. making these shows would give these studios an immediate HUGE audience but they don’t want it because.......... ???? honestly the only thing i can think of is bias against animation, but also i do know that while WoF is very cishet in the first few books, later books add quite a few queer dragons and that could def be a reason.

netflix also recently told craig mccracken, creator of some of the most beloved kids shows of the 2000s, that “original content doesn’t sell anymore” and they need to do reboots and remakes instead. which is funny coming from the company that made stranger things which, while nostalgia-bait for the 80s, is an original fucking story. also the owl house and amphibia are disney’s top shows rn. the most popular kids movie right now is encanto, a completely original story. and that’s just in KIDS MEDIA, do i need to bring up the popularity around everything everywhere all at once, squid game, the knives out franchise, etc? we’re in an age of remakes and reboots yeah but original stories can still make money and gain fans if you make a good fucking product. but netflix doesn’t care about that, as evidenced by how fast they cancelled first kill and also every other show that was good.

and idk what it is but something about the state of the internet right now means that we’re all seeing this in a way we hadn’t before. we’re all seeing how fucking dumb these execs are– well, dumb or actively malicious. or even trying to commit corporate suicide for some reason. it’s just interesting to me that all this is happening now when in the past we were just kinda like. stuck with whatever we got

#mine

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still-a-morosexual-help · 9 months

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Here's MY thoughts on the love island the game's seasons, for no reason other than I want to:

Also because the majority of the people following me are here for OM! & I want to drag more people down into the litg hell with me :)

Season 1: why is everyone so bitchy for no reason????? Talia & Jake are okay but other than that it's meh... don't really like the art style either

Season 2: Immaculate. Chef's kiss. They hit a high they never reached again. Somehow managed to balance the drama & the found family aspect and created a dynamic where you can actually believe everyone is friends and having fun even if sometimes they try to kill each other. Characters are flawed but generally decent people who are allowed to grow throughout the season. You get the option to make MC a bi gym-bro who can devour an entire cake in one sitting and bench press her partner. There's a reason this got two sequels.

Season 3: It's fine ig. Short and kind of boring. Nothing much happens. AJ is so cute though she almost makes up for it.

Season 4: Honestly a close 2nd favourite. We get a lot of character backstory and like s2 it touches on some serious issues. The season with some of the funniest moments/lines of dialogue - multiple moments where I just laughed out loud. I'm still only half way through it but the "villain" is just straight up mean for no reason and doesn't get any character development like the characters in S2 but makes up for it by having some of the funniest interactions with other characters and I was so sad to see her go. Also the season where I desperately wish MC was allowed to be in an open relationship till the very end and finish off the season in a polycule with every other islander who was in the love "triangle"s of the the season because this was the hardest season to pick a LI - Najuma is just all around amazing, Bruno is sweet & funny, Tom is so pathetic* MC & Thabi's friendship is also the best thing? It's great seeing a platonic relationship that is as loving (if not more so) than the romantic relationships. It's literally:

Season 5: Psychological horror. The producers said 'hey wouldn't it be funny if we torture this woman on national tv' and then committed to the bit. My memories are hazy because even though I only played it earlier this year it upset me so much I did my best to block most of it out but also I'm 100% sure there was actual galighting happening. Don't know why MC stuck around till the end because all she's gonna be able to use the money for is to pay for her therapy. Anyway I think MC should have been allowed to brutally murder everyone, she deserved it <3

Season 6: I liked the concept but I think they should have utilised it more. I'm still right at the very beginning (around ep 9) and I KNOW the general consensus from everyone who has reached the last eps seems to be that Amelia sucks MAJOR ass. But look, this is the first time a game has given me a MC with a canon family member who is also part of the game so in my opinion Amelia could commit war crimes and she's still be the most precious little uwu ever because I'm activating MC's insanely overprotective oblivious to all faults ""big"" sister mode

Edit:

*I just played more of S4 and holy shit someone needs to get this man away from his parents and also maybe get him some therapy jfc

Edit 2:

** youcef, mc & valentina helping tom figure out he likes flowers and pink and tie-dye clothes and makeup and being complimented and called pretty and getting hugs is getting to me okay his parents better watch the show and see their adult son finally discovering himself and what he likes instead of what they think he should like and finally being able to let loose and have fun without worrying about what others think of him and finally being happy and they better get some sense knocked into them OR he should go to therapy and realise that no matter how much he loves his parents their love and regard being so conditional to the point that he's hidden his entire personality and is now so extremely self-conscious of it whenever it does manage to peak out, that he nearly cries on national tv after a practical stranger compliments those hidden bits is not good. Also the man has some of the most insane repressed queer vibes???? What do you mean he sees a canon nonbinary person wearing a floppy hat and is reminded of the floppy hat he loved as a child that his father threw away and replaced with a baseball cap and then when he "lost" the baseball cap his father bought him the exact same one again

Edit 3:

*** i was 100% sure i was going to get mc to stick with najuma (dorky mischevious goth who is so so bad at flirting hello!!!?) but i got caught by "sad & shy with serious self-worth issues hidden badly behind an overconfident exterior (who blushes & gets flustered easily because he so rarely receives genuine praise/compliments) experiences postive regard for the first time and loses his shit" for the third fucking time

Edit 4:

Okay but why does Dylan get (rightfully) called out by everyone in S4 for all the bullshit he does to MC from blatantly lying to her to not listening when she says "No" But in S5 when Suresh (admittedly, more subtly) pulls off the same shit no one says anything, even MC's "friends" don't believe her.

In S2 when Luke/Henrik gets a little too forceful after MC says no, he gets called out by MC's partner and immediately apologises

In S4 when Dylan does the whole "stop pretending you don't want me" routine after MC rejects him multiple times, the rest of the islanders band together and basically chase him off the island

In S5 when Suresh pulls literally the same thing from the very first episode itself but none of the other islanders believe MC, and Suresh keeps getting to do this until almost the very end while also managing to constantly play hot & cold with MC and chase away all of MCs other romantic interests

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geekgirles · 1 year

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Disclaimer: I am well aware of the content of the Bible Leaks. However, I will not be addressing them. If you are reading this and have read the leaks as well, please, refrain from pointing out any spoilers from them out of respect to fellow fans that chose not to spoil themselves.

With that out of the way...

Um...could we please take a moment to talk about what just happened, whatever the fuck that is, please?

If you've known me enough, then you must surely know I despise Lila Rossi. As a character, as a villain, if she were a real person I might literally bite her head off... I wholeheartedly believe she is the source of about 75% of the salt in this fandom, given most salt takes on other characters are a direct result of their actions whenever she's around.

Just her mere presence in an episode is enough to sour somewhat my viewing experience.

And even I think her character deserved better than the bullshit they're trying to pull.

Can we please agree that the whole Three Mothers and Three Identities thing is some major ass-pull????

Where the fuck does that even come from?!?!

It makes no sense, it comes completely out of the blue, and it all just comes off as some poorly woven plot to make a literal 14-year-old look worse than a grown ass abusive father terrorising a city and its inhabitants.

And you might say, "Well, Geeks. It doesn't come exactly out of the blue... There was the whole Other Mum from Risk and Different Room in Perfection thing. That's gotta count as foreshadowing."

And though I admire your efforts, I'm afraid I must insist that if that is supposed to be foreshadowing, then it's bad foreshadowing.

This doesn't feel like foreshadowing, but like some hastily added details they had to include like, "Oh, damn! That's right; we're supposed to be trying to go somewhere with this girl! I know, let's just give her a different mum and room in different episodes. That'll do it."

By the way, this also contradicts some key aspects which ultimately undermines the whole thing. Such as the fact that Lila Rossi is part of the Agreste Brand, so it makes absolutely no sense as to why someone who is clearly not Mrs. Rossi would take her to the train station. Because as evidenced by the Illusion father-teacher conference, Mrs. Rossi is indeed the woman that appeared in Heroes’ Day.

(Also, Lila was introduced as Gabriel's muse in Ladybug by Alec, though now I'm not sure if she's ever been addressed as Lila Rossi on public appearances such as Risk, but it still feels contradictory) (I don't know, maybe I'm being too nitpicky with this, but it' just feels so contradicting. I swear, I have a point and I will elaborate on it in the future)

But in the end, the reason why this fails to be proper foreshadowing is that Lila is too much of an absent character for it to properly work. Seeing as, out of 4 seasons before the current point in time, she's only really been in the spotlight/relevant in, what, 6 episodes????

It doesn't feel like a twist we should have seen coming, but as a rushed, groundless subplot that has nothing to do with her previous appearances nor does it tie itself with any of her previously shown traits other than her being a liar.

Which instead of expanding on her character, ultimately reduces it to one-dimensional levels.

I discussed this in a different post forever ago, but in my honest opinion, proper foreshadowing or, at least, character placement, would have been if Lila had shown signs of knowing Alya is Rena Rouge. Why? You may ask.

Simple.

Because Lila has been shown in two different episodes, in different seasons, to have been paying attention closely and jealously to the things going on around her home. Namely, Ms Bustier’s class doing things together at the park which is right below her window while she was stuck at home because, for some reason, she refused to go back to school.

As we all know, Alya first transformed into Rena Rouge in the park. It would have been the perfect explanation as to why Lila never once tried taking glory for Rena’s actions under the guise of being Ladybug’s best friend—because of course she would entrust her best friend with a miraculous! Just like it would have been the perfect chance for her to try to get closer to Adrien once more by claiming something along the lines of, “Though Ladybug overreacted, she has a tendency of doing that because we can’t forget the backhanded comments, we agreed to change my superhero identity into one that would be safer from Hawk Moth!”

Instead, by having Lila somehow pull off the triple identity con without a single warning in six years, what they are doing is robbing her of a believable reason for the way she acts!

Let’s take Chloé, for instance.

Chloé’s actions are not excusable. Regardless of how terrible Audrey is, or how badly she neglected her before hopping on to the Enabling Train alongside André, that is never reason enough to be a bully and a total brat to absolutely everyone around you.

However, Chloé’s reason for the way she acts makes perfect sense within context. She is not just your typical rich spoiled brat. She is a rich spoiled brat whose father is in a position of power and whom she has completely under her thumb, which results in André’s power over Paris becoming Chloé’s. And thus, whenever someone confronts her on her terrible behaviour, as long as they are not in equal footing with her (like Adrien or Kagami), she can just have her dad take care of the situation and potentially have that person or their parents/relatives’ lives ruined.

Essentially, Chloé’s character amounts to a spoiled brat in a position of power who’s constantly throwing temper tantrums. And yet, this aspect of her personality has gradually been explored over the seasons.

What’s scary about this is that this is a real-life issue. There are people all over the world getting away with their actions (regardless of how severe they are) because their families have money, power, connections...

Lila, par contrast, gets her character simplified each passing episode she’s featured in.

We’ve gone from all the possibilities we were offered back in Volpina—Lila indeed just being a new girl trying to make friends but being afraid of rejection, her hating Ladybug while liking Marinette, a possible redemption, her becoming a legitimate villain in her own right rather than the narrative bending over backwards to try convince us she is not a threat even though she is barely featured at all...— to a character whose entire schtick is “Oh, look at me! I’m evil and a liar!”

As I said earlier, one-dimensional levels of character depth.

The funny thing, though, is that Lila actually had a believable reason for the way she acted, and they are choosing to completely negate that and refuse to give their character any depth in favour of making her as malevolent as possible!

As I said with Chloé, please remember that reason does not mean excuse.

With that out of the way, let's remember how early seasons and especially Oni-Chan went out of their way to establish, or at the very least, hint at Lila being someone who most likely started lying to make herself feel special and make up for the lack of attention she was receiving at home.

Unfortunately, as time went by, her desire to be the centre of attention and liked, never mind if she never actually put the effort to deserve any of that, far outweighed any original good will and desire for friendship and genuine connections. While the implications that her mother giving her everything she wanted in hopes of making up for her absence further soured her personality until she became the lying, petty, attention-seeking spoiled brat we know today.

This, coupled with her desperation to be seemed and, more important, feel more special than she actually is gave us a legitimate reason as to why some petty liar would go as far as to ally herself with a terrorist.

Is it troubling behaviour? Undoubtedly. But Lila's never been shown to be a very stable individual. If the early running gag of her throwing things around when angered is any indication.

...

Um...

...esto...

...what exactly is she missing if she’s suddenly been conning three different, completely unrelated women into thinking she’s their daughter? A good psychiatrist?!?!

(I apologise for talking about a minor’s state of sanity, but you’ll have to agree with me that the writers are the first ones portraying kids as literal monsters here).

And you might say, “You might be overthinking this, Geeks. After all, it’s a superhero show; you can’t expect it to be realistic.”

And once again you would raise a very valid point. Hell, God knows I wouldn’t watch half the things I do if they were realistic. However, it is imperative that we make a distinction:

Fiction doesn’t have to be realistic, but it must be convincing.

And there is nothing convincing about a 14-year-old having three different identities because of how good a liar and manipulator she supposedly is.

Marinette pulls off impressive, crazy feats every single day? That is convincing because we see repeatedly how Marinette has both a complexity addiction due to a need to control things to calm her anxiety, and the fact that what ultimately saves the day is her natural quick-thinking and creativity, not to mention the fact that she has superpowers.

Chloé gets to expel people just by threatening to call her dad, the Mayor? Again, it is convincing, and probably even realistic, because she is in a position of power and, unlike Lila, her actions are appropriate in the sense that they are outlandishly cartoonish.

Lila...she doesn’t have that.

Maybe it's just me, but I just can't seem to buy the excuse that any responsible mother would be okay with their underaged daughter "going to Africa to deal with poachers" all by herself, especially in the middle of the school year. Just like I have the feeling many parents would at least be apprehensive at the idea of their teenage daughter becoming such a public figure as both a model and the face of the Alliance rings.

But hey, maybe those are just signs of me having the potential to become an overprotective mother in the future. Instead of, you know, one of the most atrocious cases of the Adults Are Useless trope I've ever seen.

Nevertheless, as of right now Lila doesn’t even have much depth. And I’m not saying she needs some sob story that will make us feel sorry for her, no. You don’t need to make a villain sympathetic for them to be a good villain. After all, Frollo from the Hunchback of Notre Dame has no sympathetic traits nor does he have a sad backstory whatsoever and he is still one of the best Disney villlains ever.

So what am I supposed to do with Lila? What, do I have to wait until season 6 comes around and retrospectively reveals she’s not a teenage girl at all but some sort of ancient witch who lures people in with her syren song and feeds off of their adoration for her?

At this point it just feels like the writers are so desperate for adding shock value, that they forget to add anything of value.

#miraculous ladybug #ml salt #lila salt #ml analysis #ml spoilers #ml season 5 #ml season 5 spoilers #ml s5.20 #revelation #revelation spoilers #ml writing salt #gabriel agreste #monarch #shadow moth #hawk moth #ml revelation

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casasupernovas · 2 years

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honestly the way season 3 of doctor who dealt with race was ridiculous.

first of all, you're telling me this black family didn't have anything to say with the fact that their father had ran off with a younger white woman who he was spending all their 'inheritance' on? ever have martha address how this might have impacted her? maybe in how she views romantic relationships? how she is stuck in the middle? how annalise belittles her and only her mum really sticks up for her and her father doesn't?

let alone the show having the 'doctor' choose joan, the white racially prejudiced woman in the series where the black girl is in love with the white lead, and have a gag that he only goes for blondes; newflash, that translates to white. let alone give that black character any black romances in her series. the people who hit on her all season are all white; the doctor, shakespeare, riley, captain jack and tom. then to slap her character with the only other black character in the show was laughable. i don't care if their relationship was supposed to develop in torchwood, it never happened so they should have scrapped it. it was tacky af.

or have martha ever talk about the prejudice and stereotypes she would have had to deal with as a training medical student? medical racism in the nhs is very much a thing. we're still having to break racist ideas that black people don't face the pain the same way white people do in 2022.

then the shakespeare code? the doctor's stupid wide eyed innocent reaction to martha asking him if she was safe? first of all, why on earth did the doctor react that way to someone asking him if they are safe. almost every companion he has ever taken he got to know under extremely dangerous circumstances. so yeah they're gonna ask if they're safe. and when martha specifies her race, you have this 900 and something year old genius timelord just say to walk around like you own the place and point at the two black background talent in front of them to make it okay. i am well aware that slavery was not recognised as legal in london at the time but if you think those people weren't racist you're an idiot.

moreover, you have martha be surprised at the way shakespeare addresses her? "i can't believe i'm hearing this" - WHY. why tf would she be surprised given you had literally JUST had her voice her opinion about race? and have the doctor respond that it's 'political correctness gone mad?' are you serious?! ESPECIALLY considering shakespeare referred to her as a 'blackamoor' and only two years prior in history the queen had ordered for the expulsion and removal of them from london? there were many black servants working in london and the queen literally sent letters to 'masters' in london to transport them away to SELL THEM. so martha's claim was 100% valid. and even if historians debate whether or not these letters were ever sent, it confirms massive racial prejudice that was definitely not all in our heads. and we see firsthand the 'othering' of martha.

then you bring martha to 1930S NEW YORK. and racism is NEVER addressed because you threw in hugh quarshie?! because racism magically disappeared during the great depression? trying to push that the great depression made everyone realise they were in the same boat? bullshit! america was still under jim crow and racially segregated! black people were still getting lynched in america! the wall street crash only made race relations worse!!! the doctor has willingly taken martha to a dangerous era for her TWICE. something that may have been okay if we knew he took it seriously but for some reason the show makes him brush it off, making him seem like an asshole. the episode was five years off the harlem riots! new york was the epicentre of jim crow! race relations were at an all time low during the great depression. and the show conveniently ignores that.

then you get 1913. the only episodes that actually show racism for some reason. i still don't know whether or not the doctor or the tardis intentionally chose this era, i don't think he did but to never hold joan or john accountable for their actions towards martha? to practically reward joan by giving her narrative sympathy and have the doctor actively try to get her to travel with him? despite her being an explicit racist?

then martha gets stuck in the past AGAIN this time in 1969? poc who have lived in the uk for decades have repeatedly talked of how they would still encounter racism despite the race relations act of 1968. being refused service. refused goods. human decency. and you explicitly have martha work to support the doctor and make it a joke, like she's nagging him? knowing how much racism martha would have had to encounter to get the shop? note martha is having to work in a shop anyway. not to mention again their presentation as a mixed couple living together? less than 2% were married in the uk. and them just being together period still would have been a thing. not to mention the national front had been founded already and enoch powells 'rivers of blood' speech.

then the master enslaves the jones? show them being roughed up by police? this is the second time the show has had black characters forcibly subservient to white counterparts - first with martha, then with the jones family. maid outfits and all.

and you don't even address the doctor x martha pairing at all. only a couple years prior to the season being released the uk aired that racist episode of wife swap, exposing just how much people loathed the idea of interracial dating and how much racism was steeped in britain still. the closest the show ever got to addressing that was playing "sunshine" by arrested development in the first episode, a song about interracial love.

and i haven't even mentioned the implications of making the first black female companion in the show's history constantly and negatively compared the previous show's white romantic lead, and the show having the lead character uphold this sentiment and actively perpetuate this? giving the racist fans ammo and justification? with little to no repercussions due to the next season being so focused on being the grande finale that the show never has time to address it? so martha gets sandwiched in the middle and forgotten by the time of the christmas special?

the blatant disregard towards the black characters, particularly martha and general lack of any sort of historical research in series 3 is terrible.

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sarucane · 5 months

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OFMD Spiral Narrative Analysis 50: Beards and Unconditional Love

Intro: What I love most about how season 2 builds on season 1 of OFMD is the spiral narrative structure. Ground is repeatedly and explicitly re-trod from season 1 to season 2, but in season 2 everything goes deeper than season 1. Meanings are shuffled, emotions are stronger and truer, and transformation is showcased above everything. The first season plucks certain notes, then the second season plucks the same ones--but louder, and then it weaves them together to create a symphony.

---

In season 1, Ed's beard is a visible determinant of his identity--he's literally named Blackbeard after all. But as soon as we see even part of Ed's face, the show also immediately signals that Ed's identity as Blackbeard doesn't line up with his identity as a whole: his beard isn't black.

Only the mustache is black. Ed's literally outgrown being Blackbeard, and his internal tensions around his sense of self are literally right there on his face.

The beard does the same thing the identity does: it shields Ed, protects him behind a persona just like the beard keeps his face warm. It hides his emotions, dampens his facial expressions so he's harder to read. And the beard is also a trap, something he's stuck with at all times, just like his Blackbeard persona.

And then it's just gone.

And Ed is so disconnected from that loss, just like he's been increasingly disconnected from the Blackbeard persona, that he doesn't even register why Stede is surprised to see his normal face.

And the shift in vulnerability is immediate, and striking. And Ed welcomes it, because as he says "that was over years ago." He's past that persona, past the part of his life when he wanted to project power and hide his face. At least, he is right now.

For Stede, this is a startling and not entirely welcome development for two reasons:

It unexpectedly shifts and intensifies his relationship with Ed. Ed and Stede don't actually talk about their feelings until the beard is off. This is a big deal emotionally, and Stede's already drowning in emotional turmoil.

Because he thinks it's bad. He thinks Ed has lost something important, no matter what Ed actually says to him.

Later on, when Chauncy is accusing him of being a monster, Stede thinks back to the moment he saw Ed beardless.

To Stede, Ed's beard disappearing is an exposure. To Ed, it's a liberation--and one he doesn't actually connect to Stede. He stays vulnerable when he returns to the Revenge. His thinking on the hilltop wasn't just about Stede, it was about himself, too.

And he doesn't want to change backwards, even if Stede's left him.

And it's worth mentioning at this stage that a beard is a time-honored euphemism for faked heterosexuality, and when Ed comes back to the Revenge he's both beardless and wandering around in a pink flowery nightdress left over from his boyfriend. Not to mention his physicality here--it's just noticeably more queer-coded than at any time before.

Ed is developing an identity that doesn't require his beard...except that he's also not shaving. He's got the stubble there from the beginning. The foreshadowing of his impending regression is right there on his face.

So when Izzy pushes, Ed falls.

But the thing about growing backwards is, you can't. Just like Ed can't will a beard onto his face when he decides to embrace the Blackbeard identity.

So, he draws a beard on. An actual black beard, a symbol of how he's trying to be more truly Blackbeard than ever before, trying to force himself into a monstrous and therefore unhurtable (and unlovable) persona.

And the "trying too hard"+"this is unhealthy" notes of this new beard are immediately obvious. He doesn't just draw a beard on, he goes and paints his whole face, like he's trying to make the "beard" consume him.

But he can't go back. This is just a surface layer, easily removed whether Ed wants it to be or not. He can't escape himself, or his pain. All it takes to remove this beard is a bit of water.

In the second season, he's still using the makeup to darken his face and beard.

But the layered meanings are deeper here, again, because he isn't shaving under the makeup to keep a perfect, fake black beard. He's growing a real beard that's mixing with the fake beard: this phase of his life--as he tries to be Blackbeard and over-corrects, hurting everyone around him--is going to stay with him.

In the first season, Ed couldn't just go back to being Blackbeard; in the second, he can't go back to just being Edward. That moment has passed, if it ever was that simple in the first place: his relationships to others and to himself are permanently different in season 2. He doesn't shave this season, and keeps a short beard the entire time.

But after all the fuss in S1E9 about Ed's beard being gone, there's one more episode where that transition is brought up again.

Mary doesn't much like Ed's loss of his beard--which makes sense, considering she's about to go back to pirating herself, and Ed losing the beard was a symbolic separation from piracy.

Ed's response, meanwhile, illuminates very clearly just how badly Stede hurt him. Ed shaved that beard off because of Stede, become vulnerable because of Stede. And he's lying about immediately regretting the decision, and Stede knows it. Ed's telling Stede that his current opinion on their relationship matches Stede's fears back when he bailed out (that he brought history's greatest pirate to ruin). That to him, the whole thing was a mistake.

Stede doesn't believe him, but it does hurt, and it does highlight the consequences of his carelessness back in season 1. Stede made Ed regret being vulnerable with Stede; he hurt Ed so badly that Ed gave up on himself.

And Stede owns this. And he deals with it, and weathers it, because he wants to make this work with Ed.

And you can't go backwards--but sometimes you can circle back. Ed's hurt over dinner sends him back emotionally to where he was right after Stede left--almost literally.

As Ed and Stede talk through it, Stede connects Ed's beard directly to the intensity of their relationship in that moment and how it made him panic.

And Ed voices the insecurities he's been building up ever since that conversation with Izzy: that his vulnerability without the beard was somehow wrong, that Stede's leaving was a rejection of that exposed self, and proved how unlovable and worthless he really is.

And Stede overrides all of that. When Stede first saw Ed without his beard, he was horrified over what it meant. He was an idiot being controlled by his own insecurities. He's grown since then, and he knows how he feels, and who he's talking to.

Stede and Ed deal with a lot of shit in this season, and find that their love requires serious work. But this here? This is a statement of unconditionality. Ed, Edward, Blackbeard, the kraken; Ed embracing one identity or balancing between several; Ed with a big bushy beard, no beard, or a short beard: Stede loves it all.

Ed doesn't really believe this when he hears it. When he leaves Stede later, he says "fishermen and pirates are nothing alike." It'll take him a while to trust what to Stede is a simple truth--after all, he doesn't love everything about himself, how could Stede? But Stede knows now that a beard is just a beard.

#ofmd s2 spoilers #ofmd #ofmd s2 #our flag means death #ofmd spoilers #ofmd meta #ed teach #stede bonnet #blackbonnet #sidebar: i'd bet a lot of money that the inn is going to burn down at the end of S3E1 (if we should be so lucky)#overanalyzed facial hair

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hughes43 · 1 year

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chase the august sun - jack hughes

A/N: inspired by the song Arizona.

(Also sorry but my inspiration is literally so dry i could not think of an ending. )

For some reason, Jack just felt off. To anyone else, nothing was out of the ordinary, he was continuing to act as himself, but he knew different. He had felt like this for weeks, and the jaded feelings were starting to impact his life. His games had gotten worse, his mood was foul and subsequently, no one would want to be around him.

Jack continued to feel this way for the remainder of the season, which ended on a rough patch, to say the least. He felt as though he had simply lost his spark, with no clue on how to get it back. He chalked his mood down to being burnt out from the NHL, which was nothing a summer at the lakehouse couldn't fix.

Jack always like being at the lakehouse, last year especially, because that was when he met you. That had been the first summer you spent in the area, deciding to stay with your college friends for a few weeks. Meeting Jack was pure coincidence, bumping into him at a convenience store - literally, as you were too engrossed in conversation. He laughed it off of course, and helped you take the dropped items to the counter, a basket would have been a good idea, but your pride got in the way. As it had turned out, the two of you were set up in houses not that far away and walked back together. It was easy to talk to Jack, the conversation flowed so well that you forgot you met him only moments ago. Before splitting ways he said he would be swimming with his friends near the rope swing, inviting you and your friends to join. You of course ended up in that exact spot later that day and on most days. While spending so much time with Jack and his friends, you began to fall for him, he had done the same. Eventually, the two of you would part ways, neither of you wanting to attempt long distance, you ended the summer fling.

After the bad year he had, Jack was determined to make this summer better than the last. A difficult task since he wasn't sure if you would actually be there. A week had already passed, and there was no sight of you, the next week he had gone back to the convenience store just about every day, and the week after that he had gone on so many walks around the small town trying to find you that his feet had started to blister. He gave up on the fourth week of not seeing you, this only made his mood worse. So when he went out to help his mom bring in the beach chairs left on the lawn, and saw you jumping off the jetty, he just about forgot how to breathe.

You had decided to split the summer, spending a few weeks with your family before driving back through to your friend's lakehouse. It was early evening by the time you pulled into the driveway. The drive had been long, your skin stuck to the hot leather seats of your car, and hair a sweaty mess from the windows being down. You’d been thinking about the water for two hours before your arrival, not bothering to swap your clothes for a swimsuit you just jumped in. You didn't see Jack when you first got here, and you certainly didn't see him walk to the jetty you had just jumped off.

“Hey stranger”

You turned at the sound of his voice and smiled softly

“Hey yourself”

He looked at you for a moment before continuing the conversation

“Do you think you’ll be dried up in five minutes?”

The question caught you off guard, not the catch-up conversation you had expected

“Maybe, I’ll need to know why first”

“I want to go for a drive... I want you to come with”

Needing no further encouragement, you got out of the water and walked inside to find a spare change of clothes.

Walking outside, you found jack leaning up against his car, he looked at you, opened the passenger side door with a soft laugh and spoke

“You took more than five minutes”

You gave a sarcastic apology in response. Despite a whole year passing since the last time you saw Jack, it felt as though it has only been a month. He drove in no particular direction, just happy to be with you again. Jack felt like a kid with his first crush, he wanted everything to be perfect, he picked a route with the best sunset views and had even gone through the effort of making a Spotify playlist just for you. You didn't know any of this and spent most of the drive criticising his choice of songs or just skipping them entirely to annoy him.

For the first time in what felt like forever, he finally felt like himself, his laugh came easier, he felt less irritable and he was making more jokes than usual. You didn't know that he had been feeling off, it just felt so normal, Jack though, felt like a new man. His family could see it the next morning, he was bearable again, as the two of you started the summer fling back up. It was bliss, spending the long days together, Jack could just live in these moments forever. But summer didn't last forever, he tried to reason with you, that the two of you could work. He offered to pay for flights for you to see him during study breaks, but you had to remind him that it was unlikely with his schedule that you might not get to spend time with each other.

“It's for the best Jack, we can’t live in summer year round”

He nodded sadly, he knew this was coming, but he tried so hard to ignore it, even extending his trip just to delay the inevitable. He looked at you, with the best thing he could come up with.

“I'll just wait for next summer… maybe things will be different by then”

You couldn’t respond to him, you didn't know where you would be in a year from now, but you took the moment to reassure him anyway, pressing your lips to his.

“Let's just worry about right now”

You spent the last night held in his arms, wanting the sun to never rise.

#jack hughes #nhl fic #nhl imagine #mine

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bylerspookie · 10 months

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Byler Analysis

This focuses mostly, but not only, on Mike Wheeler, because he's my favorite character who just deals with internalized homophobia (me fr).

I'm doing this episode by episode, starting from Season 1, ofc.

The time stamps on this episode are kind've iffy, just a few seconds off but the events I talk about happen at around the time that I put in, it should get more accurate as you go along, my phone was bugging out.

Also, please, I know some things might be stretches, but I truly believe almost everything has signuficance in this show, I payed attention to small details, like posters and pictures, I probably didn't even catch all of the hints, but anyways, I hope you enjoy this!

Season 1

Chapter One: The Vanishing of Will Byers

(01:50) The boys are playing Dungeons and Dragons, it foreshadows Wills disappearance

(02:10) I noticed stalkerish camera work on Mike, it happens a lot to Will before he disappears, as well as Nancy when she sees the demogorgan, it's like we're looking through the demogorgans eyes, but why do we see this with Mike? I see @lesbianmindflayer talk about this on her YouTube channel, but I didn't know that it started as early as episode one, literally two minutes in. It kinda makes sense for Mike to be a Vecna victim, especially because he's close to the two people that Vecna is after, Will and El. I suggest you watch "Why Mike Wheeler is Vecna's next victim (theory)" and "Who or What is watching Mike Wheeler? Compilation Reference." both by @lesbianmindflayer on YouTube.

(02:30) 13 is usually associated with being unlucky, and it is also associated with evil, but in this scene, it is good if Will rolled a 13 or higher, but no, he rolls a 7, which is associated with godliness and religion, but in this scene, it is bad. This may not be referencing anything in future seasons, and it may not be important, but it is quite interesting to me how they kinda reversed the meanings of the numbers.

(02:50) Random Pizza box, I'm pretty sure it reads "Pizza One", could be referencing Season 4?? I also think the way everyone panics and looks for the dice is a reference to how just like the dice went missing, Will did too. There's also a small poster on the wall on the right hand side of this scene, it shows a rainbow poster with a heart, now, Mike obviously is "the heart", according to Will.

(03:24) This is kinda far fetched but the guy on the TV looks awfully similar to Billy

(03:30) lot's of bird imagry, not sure what this means, but we see a specific owl picture multiple times in this Season, we also hear random Owl noises sometimes in this Season for like no reason whatsoever

(03:51) Another bird picture on the wall, I'm also pretty sure that "stranger things on stage", a canonical stage play, used a bird symbol on stage. They're trying to tell us something, I know it. (I think I'm going crazy help lol)

(04:20) More stalkerish camera work on the entire party, we see Wills bike for the first time in the show, which is very significant, as it is in every stranger things poster with Will, even if it's not quite in place, and we hear his bike sound repeatedly in Season 4, Will's bike is associated with trauma, I'm pretty sure. @willbyersabyss has a post about this, I think!

(04:32) Will tells Mike that he rolled a 7 and that the demogorgan got him, obviously foreshadowing his disappearance.

(04:46) Stalkerish camera now only on Mike, as the light flickers. Bro even looks up like "huh?" (CONFUSED MIKE). Anyways #flickergate PLEASE.

(05:34) X-men 134, I'm pretty sure this comic focused on Jean Grey (homophobic queen/j), which most likely represents El. It also foreshadows both Will and El's story line in this season.

(05:55) We see Will riding his bike home, with his yellow bike light reflecting onto the ground. Might be a reference of him being stuck in the upside down, and also him being the one to communicate with Joyce through the lights. Ah, we finally see the 'demogorgan', which is actually, most likely Vecna, and we hear Will's bike sound for the first time. From here on, we see the same stalkerish camera work used on Mike, now being used on Will. We also see Will's dog barking, and the same thing happens to Max.

(08:15) FINALLY. Eight One Five. No - Eight Fifteen. The exact moment when Will Byers goes missing. This timestamp is brought up in season 2, along with an addition the the sound track, "Eight Fifteen". Ha. Anyways, I actually really don't know if they're gonna do anything with these numbers, but if they do, I really wanna know what. Also, can we talk about the way in which Will goes missing? It zooms in on the light, the light turns extremely bright, and then he's just, gone? That's not what happened to Max when she got Vecna'd, her body was still here. And when the Hawkins gang went into the upside down, they had to go through the gate, they didn't just disappear into thin air. Something weird happened with Will. That's why we don't see it, and instead see the lights. Also, we never see Will talk about it ever again??? He may have forgotten his trauma, like El, as a coping mechanism, but it's just so weird to me, weird how he knew to talk to Joyce with the lights, weird how he knew to sing his favourite song, weird how he was kept alive for what, 2 weeks without food and water? Whilst barb died immediately as she entered the upside down. Weird how the upside down is literally stuck on the day that Will went missing. Weird how El literally knew him and pointed to his picture even though she never met him before. Just, all a little weird.

(11:33) Dragon poster on Will's wall, possible reference to season 4 painting.

(12:10) Mike puts syrup on his eggs, so does Will (well, in season 3, whilst he's talking about how he's not gonna fall in love). Mike is also wearing a shirt with blue and yellow stripes.

(12:55) Mike is the only one who seems worried about Will, it hadn't even been established that Will was missing, but he's still worried because he can't see his best platonic buddy.

(13:15) Mike is called "frogface", a reference to season 4 and also kermit the frog, a reference to basically the whole suzies house scene, a very, very gay scene for Mike, but we'll get to that when the time comes.

(13:48) Makes Dustin feel better about the bullying by comparing him to someone with superpowers, Mr Fantastic (cause he can stretch and stuff get it, well done Mike). I think this can be taken back to El, with superpowers, Mike only begins to show that he likes her when he realizes that she knows where Will is, and that she has cool powers that could help with finding him. As soon as he thinks Will is dead, he gets mad at her (for basically no reason). In fact, before he realized that she could help, he was making plans to send her back to where ever she came from lmfao, he didn't care, he was trying to be nice. El also literally told Mike in season 4, "the way you were looking at me, I felt like a monster." Whilst Will said in the van, "you make her feel like she's good for being different-" a completely contradiction to what El told him, which is why I truly think Mike knows that Will was projecting, just a lil, because most of the stuff Will was saying was contradicting El's statements. Mike literally says in his monologue, "You're my superhero." But she's not, she's not his superhero and she doesn't want to be either, that's why El feels that way, she doesn't want to be something she's not, and Mike doesn't have to be something he's not either. Anyways, we'll come back to this in the Season 4 analysis.

(17:48) Joyce says "He's a sensitive kid." A direct parallel to Vecna as a child, which is why I think Will has something Vecna wants, why Will was kept alive, because he's just like him.

(17:52) We understand that when Joyce said "different", she meant queer. And Hopper even asks, "is he?", and Joyce is like "are you serious rn bro", but I think Hopper is kinda right, he thinks Will might've been hatecrimed for being gay, that's how bad these situations can be.

(18:20) Joyce says "what about the other time, the one, the one!" could be a reference to 001/Vecna.

(18:25) Another reference to a bird, an owl, to be specific, and again, we hear Owl noises a lot this season.

(21:20) We see El for the first time, my pookie.

(22:52) First interaction we see with El and another person, that person calls her a boy, she's literally always called a boy this season it's not even funny anymore, Mike Wheeler I KNOW WHAT YOU ARE. What is bro even hiding at this point.

(23:14) We see 'boy' behind Mr Clarke on the board, idk what this means here but we see this A LOT with Mike in season 3 and season 4

(25:40) 'Castle Byers' is painted in yellow whilst behind the structure of the castle is blue

(26:00) We see a tiger in castle byers, reference to season 4 poster that says "freshmen love their tigers" (💀). We then see a lot of Tigers in Will's room at California, and Mike is a freshman...

(34:56) Mike does to El in season 4 when they're eating what he does to his sister in season 1, a familial parallel, hinting that Mike loves El in a platonic way, but because of heteronormativity, he thinks that because El is a girl and he's a boy that he has to like her in a romantic way.

(36:25) Ted makes a homophobic comment and Mike immediately is defensive. He says that he's the only one that cares about Will, which, isn't really true, I mean, Joyce, Jonathan, Lucas, Dustin? Do they not exist? So Ted says, "We care." Which, again, maybe they do,but no one loves Will as much as Joyce and Mike do in this season, yes, other people care, but clearly, love outshines all of them, so, Mike is using "care" as a cover up for "love", obviously he'll get mad that no one gets it, because he cares, but in a different way.

(45:57) Mikes torch, which was once yellow (Wills colour) before, turns purple (Els colour).

(46:00) Mike meets El, she's wearing a yellow shirt, Mike literally could not give a shit, he looks confused, even slightly angry that El is not Will, but again, mostly confused, like, why is there a random person in the woods what is going on. And in the next episode, he's mostly worried about sending her home, but again, yeah, I'll talk about that later lmaoo.

I hope you liked this pookies, I'll do episode 2 tomorrow.

#byler #byler is real #byler is canon #byler is endgame #byler analysis #stranger things #gay #lgbtq #mike wheeler #mike wheeler is gay #mike wheeler is babygirl #mike wheeler is a boy kisser #the babygirlification of mike wheeler #will byers #will byers is gay #anti midleven #anti mileven #byler nation #mike wheeler is queer

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kooktrash · 1 year

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Hi, I have a Jungkook fic request but feel free to ignore if you don’t like it! I was thinking something kind of inspired by the Stanley Kubrick film The Shining except not scary and no one loses their mind lol. Like, Y/N and JK don’t like each other but end up stuck in the dead of winter watching over this hotel/resort until it reopens in spring which forces them to spend a lot of time together. Through the course of their stay they realize how much in common they have and as they let go of their bias of each other they discover it’s much easier to lean into the attraction for one another rather than fight it.

omggg I love the shining so yes I am definitely doing this.

inspo: the shining — book by stephen king

You swear you weren’t being dramatic, but this was about to be the worst winter of your life. There’s various reasons as to why but the main one was Jeon Jungkook himself. He was about to make this winter the most annoying, unbearable, vacation ever.

You already deal with him enough but now you’ll be isolated in some vacant hotel until spring? The pay was about to unbelievably good but if you knew Jungkook would be here you would turned down the offer immediately. He clearly felt the same because the entire cab ride through the snowy mountains before an ugly storm told you enough. The driver had probably felt the tension between you two because you hadn’t even fully shut the trunk when he was starting to drive off wishing you two the best of luck.

The manager of the resort must’ve felt the same because after an extremely quick, and unhelpful tour of the place and he was ready to leave. When you two were finally alone neither one of you said a single word. It was basically like being back home trying to ignore the existence in the other and here it was going to be harder to do so. All the two of you did was retreat to the rooms you’d be staying at for a couple months which, even if this hotel had hundreds of room to choose from, you got stuck next door from each other. The manager had offered to separate you two but with the complete isolation he recommended keeping close and you didn’t have the energy to argue.

“Did you find the firewood?” You asked coming down the grand staircase dressed in layers of warmth. Jungkook stayed in the lobby using a fire poker to fix the wood into place. He rolled his eyes, “Obviously.” You mirrored his eye roll as you went to one of the couches spread around the fireplace. The hotel was huge, elegant and out of your element. You could never afford a night, much less a week at this ski resort without saving for quite literally years to do so. The only reason you came out was because of your boss. He pulled you to the side a couple days before the shop closed for the season and asked you if you’d be interested in a very rare offer. His brother was the manager here and needed two groundskeepers for the interior and asked you if you’d be interested.

You were basically a freelance filmmaker and though you worked for a film studio, you had a very lenient schedule that you set yourself. Jungkook did too which is probably why the boss asked him as well. You were reassured that you’d still have your jobs and work spaces so you agreed. By the end of winter you’d have a few thousand dollars more than you would have still working in Seoul. It was too good to turn down and Jungkook knew it. Well, clearly it was too good to be true because so far this sucks. You’re freezing, alone and with no cellular service. Just great.

For an entire week you and Jungkook barely spoke unless necessary. You practically spent the days alone in your room forcing yourself to find things to do. When it was meal time you and Jungkook didn’t cook together and definitely didn’t eat together. It wasn’t until the eighth day here that you had a sit down to talk.

“As much as I hate saying this, I can’t stand this isolation,” Jungkook said first. You were both currently sitting in the dining room eating dinner that you prepared for yourselves, “It’s been an entire week of silence and it’s driving me crazy.”

“Me too,” you said truthfully. You haven’t spoken to any of your friends or family in over a week and it was starting to weigh on you. You warned them this would happen but you didn’t expect it to be this bad. Jungkook just gave a nod of his head, “After dinner I’m gonna head out to get the rest of the firewood out back.”

“Do you need me to go with?” You asked nervously and he looked clearly surprised. Still, he shook his head, “It’s freezing out there. I’ll be fine alone, we just need to get all we can before the blizzard really kicks in.

And a few days later it did just that. The entire hotel was freezing. You wore layers upon layers and you were still cold. Lately the two of you have mostly been in the lobby since it’s similar to a humongous living room and have done your own things by the fire. You still aren’t talking a lot but just being with someone else was comfort enough.

“Want to watch a movie?” You asked out of the blue one day. He turned to you with furrowed brows and you felt the need to explain, “I don’t have service but I brought some movies and my laptop has some downloaded too.” Jungkook didn’t even hesitate since he’s been dying of boredom and said, “I brought some board games and my camera.”

So it began. You brought your laptop out and your movies and let him choose. He chose a Marvel movie and joined you on the couch as you put the disk into the player and set the laptop down on the coffee table before you. You shivered slightly tucking your legs under you. Two pairs of pants, a long sleeve, sweater, and puffy vest and you were still freezing. Jungkook said he’d be right back and a little later he came down with two fluffy blankets. You thanked him and the movie played.

You hated to admit that Jungkook was better company than none. Another week has passed and every day your watch one movie, play one board game, and have your meals together. You were both still wary of each other but neither could lie and say you weren’t starting to appreciate the presence of the other.

The blizzard was in high effect and sometimes you couldn’t sleep. The wind was so loud, whistling and hitting the building to the point where you worried glass windows would shower. Jungkook tried keeping your fireplace going but with months before you, you didn’t want to waste more wood than necessary do the new rule started.

Jungkook began sleeping on the floor in your room so that two bedrooms wouldn’t need to be kept warm. It was weird at first but for some reason it brought you a sense of comfort. Jungkook held his video camera up and pointed it at you making you lift a hand to block your face, “What are you doing?”

“There’s nothing better to do. Figured I could try and entertain myself with a documentary about this place,” he said and you just nodded. He cleared his throat still aiming the camera at you, “It’s day 15 of being isolated in this empty hotel. My only company comes in the form of my biggest enemy. Y/n L/n. Say hi to the camera.”

“Jungkook,” you groaned still hiding yourself even as he stepped closer, mischievous smile on his face, “As you can see, she’s a bit camera shy but usually she’s talking shit about anything I do so don’t be fooled. She got a mean streak. Can you say hi?”

“Hello,” you mumbled, moving your hands away. Your nose was red and your voice raspy. You were shivering, “Happy?”

“Almost,” Jungkook said with a shrug as he turned the camera to himself, “You're about to see us play an intense game of Monopoly with just two players. Don’t be fooled though, this gets deadly. She tried killing me last night when she went into debt. Who will win? The beautiful, charming… Jeon Jungkook. Or the evil wench, Y/n L/n. You decide audi—“

A pillow hit his head and he just barely had time to react and move his camera. He glared at you and put his camera down as he sat with you in your small living room inside your bedroom. He still visits his bedroom since that’s where his things are but he’s been sleeping on your couch to stay warm. He set the camera down and you quickly snatched it, pushing record again and holding it to your face, “Alright it’s my turn. As you can see, the cold has not been a friend of Jungkook’s. If his eye bags and ghostly face says anything. He’s clearly going through it.”

Jungkook flipped you off but didn’t bother taking his camera back. Instead he laid on his side fixing the stacks of cards on the board and handing you the trash can playing item for the game, “Here. A trash can seems fitting for you.” You rolled your eyes but didn’t say anything as you zoomed in on his face one more time catching the way he sniffled and cleared a cough out of his throat. Zooming back out you aimed it down at the board, “Who will today and will the game end up in the fireplace?”

“Throw it away and you owe me 30$ when we’re back.”

“Yeah whatever,” you said setting the camera down on the bed still aimed at the board making sure it recorded the two of you played.

Jungkook began sneezing, a never ending sneezing and coughing that made it hard for him to tell you which property he was going to buy. You worried a bit, “You okay?”

“Yeah, just a little cough,” he told you and you tried to get back to the game. By the time you called it quits it was night already and Jungkook seemed to be in worse condition but he was clearly trying to hide it from you. He was getting his makeshift bed ready on the couch when you came up behind him and pressed your hand to his forehead. He was clearly caught off guard by the action but didn’t move back when you checked his cheeks and neck for the heat. With a small frown you said, “Come sleep on the bed.”

“Excuse me what!?!”

“The couch is freezing and the bed is in front of the fireplace. You’re clearly getting sick and we’re stuck in the middle of nowhere with a landline that barely works.”

He couldn’t argue with you though he found that he didn’t really want to. So, instead, he followed you to the bed as you pulled the covers and got under them like this was a normal thing to do with someone you strongly dislike. It’s not like there was a huge reason why you didn’t get along, you just didn’t. You have very different styles for film and it would clash so you just stopped trying to work together. Then it just turned into pettiness and that’s where the two of you had been. Now with just each other to talk to things were clearly changing. He liked making you laugh. He thought you looked pretty through his camera lens. He found you taking up most of his thoughts and he wondered if you felt like that with him.

He kept at least two feet between you but your body beat and the fire was already warming his toes. You looked over to him, “A movie?”

“Music?” He asked and you nodded. You reached for your laptop which had been on the laptop and played some music that had been downloaded in your library. It was soft and quiet, some sort of gentle r&b/soul and you added rain sounds in the back to block off the whistling of the cold air that you hated. The only light came from the fireplace and he found himself studying you. It wasn’t even the face of a cold that was clearly taking over his body, it was just you. And he wanted to move closer but he also didn’t. And the two of you just stared ahead at the fire in complete silence other than the song playing. It was slightly awkward, being in bed with him but not because you despised him. It was awkward because you didn’t… despise him that is. And your feet and hands were cold and the blanket and fire wasn’t enough warmth so you were still shivering.

He noticed it too, so without thinking he lifted an arm to you, a clear invitation to tuck yourself into his side with blushing cheeks. You took a moment to think. You were the only two here. It felt like nobody else existed but the two of you and that’s what made you shimmy over and snuggle into his side. He ignored the beating of his heart choosing instead to wrap the arm around you and rest his head over yours letting his eyes shut. “Jungkook?” You said and he barely hummed a response.

You’re not sure if he noticed but his fingers had been caressing your arm and his face had been nuzzled into your hair, making sure to rub his cheek into it. When you didn’t immediately respond he pried an eye open to look down at you meeting your soft gaze. The sizzle of the fire cracking in front of you and without thinking he pressed a kiss on your forehead, “You warm now?”

You gave him a small nod biting your lip and before he could ask what, your lips were pressed against his, not caring if you got sick or not.

He released a sigh of relief against your lips and pulled you further into him to deepen the kiss. It was gentle at first, testing the waters but the intimacy felt amazing. His other hand came to cup your face, turning his body to its side so he can face you better. Something felt good now.

Maybe it was the fire or the fur blankets and thick comforters.

Maybe it was the isolation the two of you had from everyone else.

Or maybe it was just you, who drove him crazy and made him think about you nonstop back home. Someone he couldn’t stand but had become so lovely in his eyes that all he’s wanted to do is hold you.

So he kissed back harder than before with a promise that he’d be with you back home if you let him.

thanks for sending in the request luvvv. It’s only about 2k words so sorry it wasn’t such a slow but since it was a drabble I didn’t want to make it longer :)

#kpop #jeon jungkook #jungkook request #jungkook drabble #bts #kooktrash requests

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therese-lokidottir · 2 months

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Either showrunner completely in hurry or to much blind seeing obvious things. I meant they look like knowing what they showing is horrible things so they using words to 'fix it' but of course it only made the series look very stupid and cruel

I meant they said the plot twist is that tva is evil, when in first scene thy literally showing they being evil

Then in season 2 they trying make them more sympathetic by showing their past but not working well because how horrible and evil they showing in season 1 and make it more worst they very aware what they did.

See the problem. They can be sympathetic, I willing to give they sympathetic if in season 1 they actually showing that tva agents showing guilty and remorse by erasing timelines but we'll they stuck in loop because they 'created by time keepers so they feel need obey'. And they not so cruel with varinats,I meant kill is one thing but they torture variants too for unknown reason (I bet it's for showing power and superiority)

But what we got ? Jerk and evil persons that hide behind 'good reason' . b-15 is not care about her own co workers, mobius too narcissist, ravona is hungry by power and let's not forgetting all minutes man are very cruel and showing didn't a give a shit if they pruning innocent peoples like in roxxort

And Casey pretty much not really understand what is going around him (he didn't counting). So on one of tva workers showing really sign of sincere feeling. And suddenly in season 2 they want us feel sympathetic to this cruel peoples that have not remorse at all?

Not that I want anymore of this trash but I think Loki is a good example 6 episode is just not enough to try to tell the story and have the characters they want to have.

They don't have time to set up and develop the characters. To dive into what drives them and explore the nuances of them. Everything has to be rushed past. Like, in season 1 Mobius being so mad and saying Loki betrayed him is awkward and poorly done. The first two episodes make it so clear that Loki is on a leash, Mobius doesn't trust him and Loki himself doesn't want to be there. There's no point they become friends. Loki had no intent to stab Mobius and was trying to prove his theory in Pompeii that's the closest we get. So, when Mobius calls Loki a crappy friend and accuses him of working with Sylvie comes across as delusional and dumb. Why Loki would consider the person who has done nothing but talk down to him and manipulate him, a friend is equally baffling.

There's no time for nuance so characters just feel uneven at best and malicious two-faced at worst. The reason I lose any sympathy for everyone in the TVA is not only do the only change when they themselves are the victims, they're shown enjoying the power they do have. We the audience are told the characters are one thing while being shown another. The exposition has to be barfed out with no thought or time given to the world-building. The Disney+ were made without a show bible which explains why things feel so nonsensical at times.

#asks #loki #loki series criticism

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raayllum · 2 years

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Irony and The Dragon Prince

So, TDP really likes irony as a story telling tool to craft both characters, foil relationships, and general arc stuff. There can be irony purely in someone going against an intended expectation (i.e. subversion can fall under irony sometimes) as well as more general dramatic irony. Think Oedipus Rex in which the further Oedipus pushes for the truth, the closer he comes to destroying himself and everyone around him - the audience knows this, even if he doesn’t. Or 1x08′s beloved little bit of verbal and situational irony sometimes. It’s also where we get most character inversions and foils from, for example:

Rayla, an assassin who has never killed anyone, becomes the protector of the princes she was sworn to kill. Meanwhile Soren, a proven captain of the crownguard, is tasked with killing the princes instead. The fact that Viren ordered Soren to do something so terrible is precisely what leads Soren to end up stabbing his father in the first place. Bait is grumpy (a negative trait) yet can glow with light (a positive association) whenever he needs to; also his name, for that matter. Claudia is extremely goofy and also a sinister dark mage. Callum spends most of season two stuck in his head until he is literally stuck in his own head in 2x08. A hero (Callum) and a villain (Aaravos) both seek the exact same thing: magic, and freedom from the chains (metaphorical or literal) that bind them.

King Harrow states that a child is freer than a king, so then the show explores the weight of being a child king in Ezran. Then, right when Ezran gives up the crown (thus ‘freeing’ himself of that weight) he is literally put in chains. This is also the main reason why I haven’t let go of the “Harrow in Pip” theory, either, because a king trapped in a bird (the symbol of freedom) is simply too much up the show’s alley to deny.

TDP also really really likes to have things come back in horrifying, roundabout ways. Claudia mentions turning chains into snakes in 1x03 and we see that spell twice in S2 from both her and Callum. She and Soren are tricked using illusions of the princes, Soren states he hates the moon, and then Claudia uses the same trick on him a season and a half later. Avizandum blocks out the sun and then kills multiple humans crossing back into Xadia, only for his son to block out the sun by the end of the season in order to save Callum and Rayla’s lives.

Perhaps the most obvious examples are Rayla and Claudia’s mindsets from the first few episodes. “My heart for Xadia” is something that follows Rayla throughout the series and the way she prioritizes what she feels her duty is over love and family time and time again, even over Runaan and then over Callum in TTM. Her arc also ends with her actually succeeding in her mission as she kills a human and a king of Katolis no less, just not the one she was supposed to.

Then you have Claudia not understanding why Harrow would have reservations about the switching spell, even when Viren does, embodied by the way Claudia has still (seemingly) killed a man (or many things) in order to bring her father back to life.

TDP loves irony and bringing things back in unforeseen ways, even episodes or seasons later. It’s one of the reasons rewatching the show is so rewarding, whether to pick up on things you missed the first time, or to speculate about other things in the future, and I love / appreciate it very much.

#tdp #tdp meta #the dragon prince #analysis series #analysis #arc 1 #rayla being a Dual wielder even when she often insists on doing everything alone lmao

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scripted-downfall · 2 years

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An Interpretation of Confidentiality

I’ve been doing a rewatch of Lucifer, and I forgot how much I hated the season 6 episode “Save the Devil, Save the World.” There are so many things that piss me the hell off about this episode, and I find myself disliking most of the people in it for various reasons.

I mean, first there’s Linda, and I cannot express enough how much I dislike her in this episode. For all she spoke about Doctor-Devil confidentiality across the seasons, she started a very, very long book based on what should have been confidential therapy — and not just therapy with Lucifer, either, since it featured components of everyone’s conversations with her — and intended it to be mass-published eventually. When Lucifer found out, he had every right to be pissed (and, frankly, I was hoping he would be)... and yet he sees the best in the gesture and is legitimately enthusiastic about it… and then, later, she turns the entire situation into being about herself. It’s selfish and unethical.

Then, there’s the collective response to reading the book. Everyone jumps on Lucifer for how he portrayed them in the story, but the fact is that it’s not just his account that’s been put into the book?? It’s really unfair for him to get all the blame when the fact is that Linda knew everybody involved, that she’d had counselling sessions with all of them, and that the book contained things that Lucifer literally couldn’t have told her. I mean, the snippet about Maze and Dan feeding Chloe’s father’s killer to the Russians wasn’t something Lucifer knew about, or, at least, certainly not in as much detail as was contained in the narrative: not the exact wording, for example, of what they’d said. Linda quite clearly took information from everybody in the celestial inner circle — quite possibly including Ella — for her book, so blaming Lucifer for how everyone is represented is idiotic at best and purposefully unfair at worst.

And then there’s Chloe and her damn, “What if you think I’m smart and… and beautiful and ‘perfect’ because you’ve never stuck around long enough to see me at my worst?” I mean, on the one hand, I guess that I kinda get where she’s coming from, but also… She broke into his penthouse, trashed the place, stole his stuff, and tried breaking into his safe in a fit of pique because he and Ella had to go deal with a case on her birthday. She tried to poison him and send him back to Hell. She got addicted to super strength from Amenadiel’s necklace and tried to kill him permanently with Azrael’s blade to keep it. He’s very clearly seen her at her worst and consistently stuck around anyway, so acting as though she’s been a picnic the entire time is ridiculously naive and kinda insulting to him.

All of this is made so much worse by the fact that Lucifer legitimately doesn’t seem to recognize there being a problem. He takes the book-writing as a good gesture and makes the best of it; he does the same with Chloe’s decision to renege on their plan to go with him to Heaven without any notice. I’ve talked about the way he seems to view his own rights as not especially important in the post Needing the Eggs, but this entire episode showcases it. I really wish that someone alive had pointed out to Ella that three other humans had found out about Lucifer’s devil nature, and that it had prompted one of them to have a slight breakdown and two of them to try to kill him; Lucifer certainly wasn’t going to point that out and, while Dan kinda tried to do so, he had to do it through Linda’s book, which meant that it was contained in a single line that Ella didn’t even seem to register.

Honestly, the only two characters in the episode for whom I truly, completely felt bad were Ella and Lucifer.

I feel for Ella, I really do… I fully understand why she feels hurt. (I would say that I’m not sure that Lucifer actually knew that she lost her faith in the aftermath of Charlotte Richards; I don’t remember precisely what was going on, but I recall him being absent/extremely preoccupied at the time. I think that it might have been when he was worried about salvaging his relationship with Chloe post Devil-face-reveal/when she was trying to kill him, but I very well could be wrong. Either way, I’m not sure he was that aware that she lost her faith such that it’s fair to say that he just stood by watching without helping.)

And then Lucifer… I mean, Rory’s appearance was already a pretty vicious cut to any progress he’d made towards not hating himself (telling him that he’s no better than the father he hated, saying she hated him, trying to kill him, etc), but this episode… Slowly but surely, the entire cast of characters — including Ella, if I’m being honest, though, again, she’s the only one at all justified in it — spend their time jumping on Lucifer, slowly but surely eating away at that same progress. By the time the episode ends, he’s internalized everything into “You think I’ll fail, don’t you? My own therapist doesn’t actually believe that I’ll become God.” and “I’m not capable of real change.” (Oh, and then Chloe acts all surprised by that statement, trying to excuse her earlier accusations with “What I said back there… I was scared” as though that fixes anything, but not intending to hurt someone does not erase the hurt, especially since she’s supposed to be the one person who supports him, who has faith in him, etc.) All in all, this episode was the very last thing he needed.

I’m not sure that’s everything I dislike about the episode — it’s probably not — but I felt the need to express at least some of how I felt… Honestly, it might be one of my least favorite episodes of that season.

#lucifer #lucifer tv #lucifer morningstar #ella lopez #season 6 #6x8 #save the devil save the world #anti chloe decker #anti chloe #anti linda martin #anti linda #anti rory morningstar #a little #i love ella #i love lucifer #tbh i like most of them #just not all the time

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alltheficsiwant · 2 years

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Same Old Hawkins, Or not?

PART ONE | Welcome To Hawkins

Summary: After a series of unfortunate events in Utah which she moved to from Hawkins. Reader moves back to her old hometown just in time for her senior year. She half expected it to be the same old boring Hawkins as she remembered back at middle school.

She was wrong. Apparently, Hawkins is now home to the monsters she thought only existed in D&D and now she is in the middle of an impending doom on her beloved hometown. Really, she was just passing through and now she might have a reason to stay.

Yeah, it's nothing to do with her small crush on a certain fellow senior. A metal head who is always up to no good. It's really about saving the town she is starting to love again, yes?

It's totally the metal head.

Warning: Brief mention of violence and mention of drug use. This is all the warning I can give. Please tell me if I miss something.

Words: 2.7k

Note: This starts around Season 2. Steve and Eddie's Senior year. This is also a Harrington!Reader. Obviously, Eddie is the reader’s love interest and we are going to make this the reason why we are ALSO going to ignore ST 4 ending and Eddie’s story line.

PART Two | Series Masterlist

Posted also in AO3.

You can’t help but sigh as you take a sip of your drink, but hissed almost immediately as you remembered the still healing cut on your lip. Deciding to fight through the pain, you drank. Your eyes still settled over the small town you thought you would never be seeing again.

“I’m back Hawkins,” You mumbled as you finally drank the last bits of the soda and crushed it with your hands. You haphazardly threw the cup away before you turned towards your motorcycle and picked up your helmet. “Please be just as boring as you should be back then,” You fervently prayed.

Before you were able to put the helmet back on, you stopped short as you stared at you reflection. You quite literally looked to have been gone and back to hell with the amount of fading bruises. You turned towards the mirror as events of what happened to you back at where you came from flashed through your mind. Your eyes traced the fading bruises that littered your face. You were lucky that most of the injuries are on your body and not much on your face. Though, it was really lucky if the injuries on your body is what left scars all over it. You guess there won’t be bikinis for quite some time.

You shook your head as you tried to push back the memories. You will deal with it when you can but for now you just want to forget. You pulled out the concealer you have in the pockets of your satchel, thankful for the innovation of makeup. You applied it the way the nurses thought you how. You do not want to alert your Uncle when he sees your condition. You do not want to discuss anything at all and you want it to stay that way. When you finished, you gave Hawkins one last look.

“Please be fucking boring,” You pleaded to the air and finally put your helmet as you straddled your bike. You back stiff and riddle with tension as you drove off towards the main road.

You just wanted to get to Hawkins as fast as you can. Somewhere safe and far away from that damned place. Fucking state of UTAH. If you have a choice, you could have move somewhere tropical but alas, you weren't exactly a full functioning adult yet despite turning 18. You have a lot of things to deal with but for now all of it are far back from your mind. You have to go to safety first.

You were too caught up with you thoughts that you didn't noticed you already passed the “Welcome to Hawkins” sign though what stuck in your mind is what you felt. The feeling of something pulling on the pit of your stomach and a shiver down your spine. Though you supposed, it was just a breeze but you should have known. You forgot that it was the same feeling you had before. Instead you shrugged it off and tried to remember the route to your Uncle's house.

After all, you weren’t really someone who relied on your feelings. You already learned your lessons. Besides, aren't you determined to put everything behind?

Well, you might have jinxed it but hey that is future you problem.

You slowed down once you reached the familiar road. You just knew it was the right street, judging by the more groomed houses and white picket fences. The familiar road that you usually ride your bike with your cousin back when you and your parents still lived here. You were suddenly struck by a sense of nostalgia.

Though you also remembered that things you hated about this side of the town. You forgot how stifling it is as you watched nosy housewives coming out of their houses. (Probably bothered by the noise you are making.) Then those picture perfect houses that is a home to town drama and gossip or sins that cannot be mentioned inside the church. People classified as an upper class is here, which your family belonged to before your mom went off with a richer husband and your dad took the job at Utah. When things went– no, you are not going there.

You took a deep breath as you ignored the stares and proceeded to slow down right in front of a house. It was still the same, it must have been maintained the way it is for the past seven years you are gone. You doubled checked at the mail box and your surname is still written on it. You parked your motorbike right at what looks to be the driveway. Just behind a maroon BMW. You revved up the bike one last time as you parked and you made sure it was loud enough to alert the people inside. As soon as you removed your helmet, a familiar voice called out your name.

You turned your head just in time to see Steve Harrington standing at the door with his hands on his hips and a cheeky smirk. Your brows raised a bit as you took in his appearance after years of not seeing each other.

You expected him to grow tall, you just did not expect the hair. It looks eerily familiar yet not as you stared.

“What happened to your hair Steve?” You asked as you finally moved off the bike. He rolled his eyes as he walked towards you.

“What happened to your height? Growth spurt did not come?” He retorted back. You glared at him as you placed the helmet on the seat. You clicked your tongue at the roof of your mouth as you regard him.

“Jerk,” you told him as you glared with your arms crossed. He finally stopped in front of you as he put his hands back on his hips.

“Squirt,” He retorted back. The two of you glared at each other but then his lips started to twitch trying to maintain the glory. Though, you both didn't last long as he broke into a smile and you reciprocated. The both of you laughed, breaking staring contest and went into an embrace.

“It's good to have you back Squirt,” He mumbled the nickname against the crown of your head while your arms went around his waist. You sighed as you felt the tension in your body melt away as you buried your face on his chest. You felt him hold you a little tighter too as you did that.

“It's good to be back Jerk,” You closed your eyes as you let yourself settle against Steve. Hawkins might be boring but the one thing you are willing to come back here for is your one and only cousin. Steve was the older brother you never had, despite being the same age. Memories of the both of you up to no good back at middle school came into mind. You relished into it. Utah going to back of your mind.

“Oh come on now, don’t hog your cousin to yourself Steve,” a deep voice said right behind Steve. You let go of your cousin and leaned to the side to see Uncle Harold standing there with a soft smile. His arms open. “Can’t I have a hug from my favorite niece?”

“I’m your only niece Uncle Harold,” you told him as you walked over to him and into his arms. Despite seeing him almost two weeks ago for your father’s funeral, it's good to finally have him back around. He was the only one who was able to go to Utah to help with the arrangements. Of course, he was devastated to know that his twin brother died. He even told you that he was having an off month for a while and had wanted to visit his brother and you but decided to put it off. Though it was really a good thing he didn't come a month early.

You were thankful of his help and his presence. Despite turning a legal adult in Utah, you are still not capable on arranging things for your father. Harold was the one who managed all the funeral arrangements. Though he had to leave you a day after burying your father to arrange things back at Hawkins for your move.

It was a good thing he left, if he stayed a few more days. He would be with you to suffer the shit show that was Utah and with the sudden memory of what happened. You held on him a bit tighter which your Uncle felt as he tightened his hold back on you.

Thinking that you might still be hung up on your father’s death.

“You’re okay now. You are with us. We’ll take care of you pumpkin,” He mumbled against the crown of your head. You just nodded and after a few moments, you let him go. You gave him a smile as he ruffled your hair. “Your things haven’t arrived yet but they will be here tomorrow. Steve will be helping you in properly moving in.”

With that Steve groaned as he walked over to the both of you. “But Dad, I have a thing with Nancy on–”

You turned to him with a raised brow at the familiar name. “Wheeler?” You asked and Steve bashfully smiled at you. You can’t help but smirk. “Now you are going to need to tell me why she settled for a jerk like you,” you mused and Steve’s smile melted as he glared at you.

“Shut up,” Steve just supplied as he turned to his dad. “Dad, I have a thing with Nancy–”

“Which you will reschedule. Pumpkin has to move in so that she would be ready for Monday. She has a lot to catch up to since the school year already started,” Harold supplied as he started to usher you inside the house. “Besides, your cousin needs you more than Nancy. She would understand,”

Steve remained outside as he glared at you while you just looked over at him with a teasing smile. He offered a sneer at you, something that made you laugh at him.

“Okay, I'll just have to call her then,” He mumbled but before he could take one step you stopped him.

"What is it?" He asked but then you smirked at him as you looked over his shoulder towards your bike. He followed your gaze towards the bike.

“Why don’t you start helping me by getting my helmet and taking those satchels off my bike,” You told him with a sweet smile. Steve huffed as he looked back at you. You continue to flutter your eyelashes at him as if you are that cartoon you often see in the TVs. That Bessy---Betty? It was effective since Steve's face softened and he looked back at you fondly.

“I missed you Squirt,” he told you as he walked over to your bike.

“I missed you too Steve,” you called out to him as you waited for him at the front of the house. You even scolded him a bit as he fumbled with the loops on your satchels. Harold already entered as he called out to Aunt Miriam who is probably on the phone. That is the only thing you know that would keep her away from welcoming guests and some things never really change.

Steve walked back with your helmet and the satchels. You offered your thanks as you took the helmet out of his hands.

“I’m sorry though for the cockblock,” You added and that made Steve sputter at the vulgar term. Nearly tripped over his shoes.

“What the hell?” He looked at you as you looked at him surprised by his reaction. Wondered if you read what he said wrong.

“Isn’t that–”

“No! I–I mean. I just– what the fuck?” Steve supplied and you laughed this time. As you did, you hissed as the cut on your lip stretched out. Steve looked at you with concern and finally noticed that cut on it.

“What happened?” He asked but you just quickly shook your head. You moved head away from him a bit as you pursed your lips. back into your mouth.

“I tripped while packing up. It's nothing, just my usual clumsiness.” You supplied as you run your tongue over it. Steve looked down at it and nodded.

“Anyway, you just shocked me with your words and no, the thing is I'm not getting some. Me and Nancy are going on a real date,” He told you as you both walked inside the house. Though it doesn’t sound like that to your ears.

“Sureeee” you said as you dragged the last syllable of the word and made a face. Steve turned to look at you and just shook his head.

“Since I am rescheduling it and I would be spending my weekend with you might as well be the proper welcoming committee,” he said, completely changing the subject. “I’ll start with a warning. You are a new thing so people would probably treating you like the shiny little thing the minute you set foot in school on Monday,”

You groaned at that already hating the possible attention. Really, you had enough of that but the attention you got from Utah was far from being a shiny new toy. You'll deal with it but it doesn't mean you won't complain. They would lose interest once they learned how much of a fuck up you are.

“Great," You dragged the last syllable again this time in disdain. "Can’t you do something about it? As I remembered from Uncle Harold’s story that you are doing good in school,” You said air quoting the words doing good. Steve continued to lead you towards the stairs and guided you to where your room is supposed to be.

Steve had this disturbed expression on his face as he turned towards you. Then he continued to walk towards the end of the hallway.

“What is doing good supposed to mean to you?” He asked as he opened the door. You ignored the question in favor on looking around the empty room before stepping inside the room. You did another quick survey of it before you turned towards him.

“One look at the picture Uncle has on you, I just knew you are walking the halls like a king,” you said as you looked at his outfit. Steve looked down on himself, pretty confused. “So, doing good is my tamer version of being an asshole king of the school. That's what we call them back-there,” You pointed behind you not wanting to mention the place. Or you just can't say it out loud?

“That is pretty insulting,” Steve mumbled as he finally processed your words. You snickered as you placed your helmet on the study table. “But, I’ll take being King of Hawkins high as a compliment and no. I can’t do anything for you, Squirt. I was dethroned,”

You looked at him shocked. “Dethroned?”

“There is also a new guy in school. Billy Hargrove. Real asshole and a playboy,” Steve as he looked over at you his face going through series of emotion as he those words until it settled on stern. “He might be coming after you too now that I mentioned him.” He suddenly shook his head furiously. “No! No! Not the image I wanted gosh. Just promise me you will stay away from him?”

You just watched Steve and quite bothered that he would think that you would entertain that kind of guy. There are not worth your time. Instead you said, “So much for your help Jerk.”

“Well, it also doesn’t help that you are riding a motorcycle. Most kids here have cars. So you just have to deal with the attention,” He supplied. You sighed.

“Motorcycles are more cost effective,” You just reasoned at him disgruntled at how they view the most genius piece of transportation machine. You turned to look over the window. It faces the backyard and looking slightly to the left you could clearly see the pool. “I forgot you have a pool,” You observed.

Steve walked forward to stand beside you as he looked over the window and he winced. You raised a brow at that before he turned around to face you instead. “By the way, there is a party me and Nancy are going to. You can come with us if that is your–”

“If there is free booze, I’ll come.” You told him as you felt the obvious topic change about the pool. You don’t know why he reacted like that but you aren’t privy with it. You turned away as you started to rummage around your satchels. You pulled out some small pouches and clothes you bought with you. Enough until your things finally arrived from Utah.

“Halloween night of course,” Steve and you nodded but then you scrunched your nose as you faced him.

“Is it a costume party?” You asked already backtracking and Steve quickly shook his head.

“No, just a party at Tina’s. Just a few blocks from here,”

You nodded as you moved towards the door you assumed was the bathroom to put your toiletries.

“Okay as long as this Tina girl offers free booze. Count me in.” you told him as you organized everything. You heard him move behind and you thought he was starting to leave. You turned to say your goodbye but then he is standing at the entrance of the bathroom with a solemn look on his face. You knew that expression. It was the same face everybody at the funeral sported.

Pity. You hated that.

“I’m sorry about what happened with Uncle Nate,” He mumbled and you just nodded as you moved past him. You didn’t bother to reply as you started to fold your clothes properly. You don’t know what to say anyway.

“Are you okay?” Steve asked softly as you heard him move until he was seated on the bed right in front of you. You paused at your task before taking a deep breath.

No. “Yes. I’m okay, why did you ask?”

Steve mumbled your name, “Dad told me what happened at Utah,” He started. You nearly froze at that. He knew about what happened— “How Uncle Nate died because of the poisoning in the lab he worked at.” You nearly sighed with relief at that but you held it in as you continued doing your tasks. That was bullshit but it was the only good enough reason.

“Papa knew what he was into when he accepted that job.” You told him as you moved to put the pair of sleeping shorts you brought and underwear you bought with you. “I knew someday his work would kill him. Just not expecting it to be right now,” If not with the job maybe with the hands of— no stop that.

“Still, I should have been there with you in Utah,” Steve supplied. You stopped as you looked over at him. You put down your shirt and walked over to where he was seated and sat down beside him.

“I’m okay. I promise. Don’t beat yourself up about it. Okay?” You told him and he nodded. "Besides, I'm here now and I really want to borrow myself here in Hawkins. I want something boring. I knew Hawkins had plenty of that.” He muttered something under his breath, though you caught up some of it. Monsters and girls with powers? You didn’t bother to ask anything about it. You just want the conversation to end. You patted him on the shoulder before you moved back towards your clothes.

“Now I want you out. I need to change,” You told him and Steve nodded as he stood up.

“I’ll leave you to it. I’ll call you when dinner is ready,” He said and you put an okay sign to him. You heard him move towards the door of your room as you were busy folding your shirt. You heard him stop right before the door and you turned to see him again looking back at you. This time with a soft smile.

“By the way, Welcome back to Hawkins,”

Yeah, it's good to be back.

To be continued.

For the motorcycle/motorbike model: Suzuki Katana GSX1100S (Its all black and the first model came out around 82')

#eddie munson x you #eddie munson #harrington!reader #ilovemyrockstar #stranger things #season 2 #eddie munson fic #steve harrington #alltheficsiwant #SOHON #Eddie munson x reader #eddie munson fan facition #fan fic #stranger things fandom #eddie munson x fem!reader #eddie munson fan fic

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zvtara-was-never-canon · 1 year

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zutaras : Maiko is abusive cause she said, "I just asked if you were cold not for your whole lifes story." (clearly they never improve as a couple and remain static cause the beach aint canon so they can ignore zukos bad behaivor )

Zutaras: you cant use zukos past to define zutara but they do it consantly with mai and zuko first meeting katara is a 100 times worse

Zuko invades kataras village/ roughly handles her grandma/ nearly burns the women/children/ nearly runs over a child with his large boat zutaras: Crickets / he redeemed himself/ doesnt count/ season 3 he hired a hitman well thats OOC awkard/ shy baby zuko would never. but aang would def abuse katara and make her do all the chores

Zutara: aang displays predatory behaivor/ abusive behaivor /bad boyfriend behaivor

Zuko throws a man into a wall because mai was talking to his friend/ insults her/ tries to wrap his arm around her after snidly asking, "wheres your new boyfriend? Zutaras: Call the two times he kidnapped her romantic/ Quote a line where he knocked her out as romantic

(and i have yet to see a kataang label zuko a rapistcause we aint braindead and dont want to demonize a child we just point out canon and zutaras just hate canon for some reason)

Zutara: Mai is abusive /katara would never/ worse girlfriend ever /bringing up zukos behaivor means you dont support abuse victims mai saves zukos life: Zutara: OOC // she never feared azula/ mai is toxic/ aang goes to save katara: CLINGY/ BAD BOYFRIEND/ hes obessed with katara zuko saves katara: TRUE LOVE

aang lets katara go and goes into the avatar state zutara: Seems fake that never happened katara:suggest her and aang kiss in cave of two lovers zutara: OOC / This is only happening because their stuck/ katara is his mom Zuko/katara trapped in a cave together: TRUE LOVE UNITES/ they were meant to be see the symbolism

Katara tells toph she doesnt want to be seen as a mom Zutara: MOMTARA is canon if you tell us otherwise your sexist

katara and sokka pretending to be aangs parent= GROSS INCEST tho i recall aang wasa their grandpa once.. its almost as if katara is the only girl who can pass as somewhat older, toph sure couldnt.. its not that deep fam..

zutara: LOK is sexist cuase kataras a mom but if she was the mom of zukos kid it wouldnt be sexist because.. she loves politcs

this is why i cant stand the zutara fandom from the hypocrisy, the igornace of canon, ignoring kataras agency , the hate towards aang, the sexist hate towards mai, the handwaving of aang trauma the sludge i went through with the tags as a zutara shipper.. made me nearly hate the ship.. it waasnt kataang fans that nearly killed a ship/ ruined zuko for me it was zutara fandom. sure not everyone thinks that way but so many of em do and it ruined the fandom experience for me i had to block the tag i still ship but it have zero interest in a fandom that hates the show /main character/ heck im convinced 90 percent of em hate canon zuko /katara cause they sure never talk about their canon personalitys kts all just boring fanon to throw shit/aang/mai worse shipping fandom i ever met..

The only thing I'll disagree with is the point about Mai and Azula. While fear/intimidation/Azula being her princess before being her friend WAS the main reason why their friendship crumbled, it wasn't as simple as Mai being just her puppet. We literally see her deciding, of her own free will, to go help Azula in book 2.

She made a bad choice by joining Azula. So did Zuko. If anything, the complexity of "I cared about this person, but the relationship got toxic and I had to distance myself from them because of it, and now to make things even worse we're in opposing sides of a war" is something they can both relate to - hence Zuko not holding it against Mai, since that is a mistake he also made.

It's almost like they are compatible or something...

#anti zutara #pro maiko #pro mai

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kiss-my-freckle · 4 months

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To say Bonnie suffered more than any other character is actually quite laughable. While I do feel they made certain mistakes with her character, girl doesn't even come close. And if I wanted to, I could argue a good reason why Bonnie has and should have little family in the show. Not just for Bonnie's character, but for their storylines.

A claim that Bonnie died more times than anyone else. Uhm, no. Alaric died more times than she did. If we're to get technical, Bonnie died twice. But so did Jeremy, Elena, Damon, and Stefan. Damon and Stefan both died when their father shot them. Damon died again when he went to the prison world with Bonnie and Stefan died again when he took Katherine to hell. Elena came back as a human, but she still died during Klaus' ritual in season 2. She died again when she drowned in season 3. Damon killed Jeremy in 2x1, then Katherine killed him when she fed him to Silas in 4x14. Alaric died a total of four times. Damon killed him twice, in 1x15 and 3x4. Esther killed him in 3x20 to make him a vampire, then Rebekah killed him in 3x22 when she killed Elena.

When it comes to losses, Bonnie still doesn't compare. She lost her grams during the tomb storyline in 1x14, Silas killed her father in 5x1, and her witch cousin they introduced in season 2 is shown dead later in the series. Her mother was turned into a vampire, but she STILL has her mother. The same can't be said for other characters. Caroline lost both her parents, Matt lost his mother but still has his father. Jeremy lost both his parents and his aunt Jenna. Elena quite literally lost two sets of parents and her aunt Jenna. The brothers endured every family death since 1864, including Sarah Nelson, so the brothers have the monopoly on loss.

Like I said, I could argue a good reason why Bonnie has and should have little family in the show. Not just for Bonnie's character, but for their storylines. Any female relative of Bonnie's would likely be a witch. Most of her storylines are written around her witch powers. She's either losing her powers or she's using dark magic. She has an anchor storyline that turns into the prison world storyline with Damon. She has a hell stone storyline that turns into the hunter storyline with Rayna. Bonnie has little family and they suppress her psychic powers because there'd be no struggle otherwise. One more Bennett witch is one too many. That's all it would take to wipe out an enemy like Lily and her heretics. One more Bennett witch is one too many when that witch could pull her away from their supernatural world and quite literally out of the storyline. If you want me to boil it down, there is no strength without struggle. Bonnie would be just like every other character had they written her otherwise. Instead, she's written in strength because she struggled just as equally as they have. Her witch powers are as powerful as they are because her witch family is dead, so she relies solely on herself and her own magic. Let's not forget that if it weren't for Damon and his map, she'd still be stuck in the prison world. If not for Damon pulling a party of vampire killers, she would've died from those pills Enzo fed her. Bonnie relied on them as much as they relied on her, a fact that shouldn't be dismissed. To put it bluntly, Bonnie would've been best with male non-witch relatives. At the same time, they had to be unlike her father in trying to pull her away from her supernatural life. That's where they failed Bonnie in the family department.

Romance is where I feel they failed Bonnie most. It's my opinion that their first mistake was putting her in a romantic relationship with the boy that her mother basically adopted. He should've been kept in the show and became a brotherly figure to Bonnie rather than a quick boyfriend. Their second mistake was pairing her with Enzo even though they were a good ship. Had Enzo been human, they could've let him live, but he had to die because he's a vampire. It was the only way for them to kill off Stefan. Had Enzo been in the storyline, he would've been the one taking Katherine to hell and everyone knows it. If they truly wanted Bonnie to have a forever romantic partner, they should've paired her with Matt and been done with it. They could've had a third cure if only 1903 had good transportation back then. That third cure in the second prison world could've been the one to save Enzo. Then Benzo and Delena both would've gotten their endgame.

Bonnie lost three family members, which is exactly how many romantic partners Alaric lost. Two of his wives died and his girlfriend Jenna died.

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noctilucentstorm · 1 year

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i agreed with you until you said ghost game was better than all the non adventure anime

savers is really good

Savers is really good and definitely one of the more underrated Digimon series. I should probably go back to it sometime since there were elements I did enjoy, like the premise and the story. I didn't really latch on to any of the characters though and for me that's probably the number one thing I care about, which is why I would rate both Adventure and Ghost Game higher in my personal list.

Since you've brought up different series, it's made me think about my own biases to each series and why I have them and how the way one is introduced to a series can make such a difference on their impression of a show.

There seems to be this push recently (...ok, last decade) in fandom for fans to be more objective in their thoughts and feelings on a piece of media. I'm not really sure why, since the whole point of fandom is about being stupidly passionate about something and finding others who support that passion. I've tried being in fandoms where almost all the most-active members would do is analyse and critique every new work that came out. It was frankly exhausting to try and be a part of. That's not to say one can't criticise something, but in my own experience it tends to snuff out creativity in smaller fandoms.

So as a counter to that, here's my personal opinions on each Digimon series and how the way I approached each season likely shaped my viewing. Warning for lots of rambling and bias.

Interacting with media, whether they're books, TV shows or films among others, is deeply personal. The main reason I gave up doing write ups of each episode of Ghost Game wasn't because I stopped enjoying the show, but because I didn't get anything from writing my thoughts out in such a way. I've always preferred the fanfiction and fanart side of Fandom, rather than the side that analyses every scene and critiques and speculates, although I appreciate why others enjoy that.

Like probably many that still hold the original Adventure in their top spot, I started watching it at a very impressionable time. I had watched one non-episodic series before, so a plot going over a whole series in a cartoon was pretty new to me and I loved it. I started watching Digimon during the Myotismon arc at a time when there was no easy way to quickly catch up with a series without trying to tune into every episode on TV I could find. I honestly don't think I would've stuck around if I'd started watching the series sooner, but it's difficult to know for sure. By that point the dubbing changes were less obvious, although still there, and I absolutely fell in love with the characters, the settings and the plot about a bunch of kids around my age trying to save the world with all their virtues and flaws exposed. It's stuck with me even as an adult, so even if an objectively better Digimon series came along, I think it would still be an uphill battle to dislodge Adventure from the top.

I watched almost all of Adventure 02 and Tamers as they came out: weekly episodes that I sometimes had to miss due to other commitments. Unfortunately, I missed the finale of Tamers and it was literal years until I saw the final two episodes. I've done rewatches of both since and have an appreciation for them, but they just highlighted how much I missed the original Adventure kids. Is that fair? Not really. I also didn't particularly like what they did to Rika or Jeri in Tamers who were basically the only reason I kept watching (especially the former). I also wasn't a fan of the final arc, but get why others did like it.

Frontier is a weird one because I will fully admit I rate this one too highly on my personal lists compared to what it deserves. I saw it at a time when I was moving... a lot, so pretty much only saw a handful of episodes from the first half. But again, I loved the characters and I got enough of a hint of the story with Kouji and Kouichi that I was really intrigued. When I finally watched the rest of the series in it's total I was pretty disappointed like many that half the cast was side-lined and the sexism with Zoe/Izumi was pretty off-putting. Still, the initial potential of the series will always stick with me.

Savers was the first series I watched through online so went through binges and breaks as I caught up with episodes. As I said at the start, it was good, but just didn't leave an impression in the same way. Some of that was probably because I just went through episodes, leaving little time to contemplate them after. And the characters didn't hook me the same way.

I've not finished Fusion/Hunters or Appmon. The first dragged like many Digimon series and I found trying to get to where the plot picked up difficult, and Appmon was... loud. I don't think I've ever hated the partnership/evolutions scenes before, which has made viewing more than an episode at a time a real struggle and doesn't particularly leave me wanting more, despite promising characters. Both would've benefitted from me being able to watch in weekly episodes, but I missed Fusion's release and I had held out on Appmon, hoping it would be distributed legally given Tri. was.

Tri, Adventure: and Ghost Game I watched as they were released. I personally really enjoyed Tri. although understand the criticism that fans have. Given it was made by a new team, though, I never had expectations for it to feel the exact same as Adventure and I really appreciated them trying new things even if it didn't always work. In contrast, Adventure: seemed to lean too heavily on nostalgia rather than trying to be it's own thing. The expectations for the latter were too difficult for me to overcome, which is why I dropped the series about half way through. I do appreciate the pandemic may have messed with their original plans though.

And finally Ghost Game. I don't think I've hidden that I was originally disappointed when learning the series was going to be episodic and focussed on getting in new fans. I interpreted that as most of the episodes were going to be stand-alone so a new viewer could pick up the series at any point, which probably appropriately set my expectations. It was designed so someone could drop in part-way through the series without needing to go back to the beginning a bit like how TV shows aired when Digimon first started. Was it a good idea? I'm not sure, but for me I liked the comparatively low stakes in contrast to the others, while being more "realistic" on the consequences of humans and digimon trying to live together - something Tamers tried to do, but I personally thought was less successful in because it focussed more on the action and consequences to the kids rather than wider society. Ghost Game is also the first Digimon series I've watched where I feel I could stitch together a completely different story while still keeping to canon, which offers some great fanfiction possibilities I hope might get explored. I'll fully admit I was pretty surprised and disappointed a new Digimon show wasn't announced on the back of it, since it felt like Ghost Game was going to be the gateway for new fans, but with lots of newer series taking months or years off in between seasons, maybe continuity just isn't as important anymore.

Digimon has been around long enough it has a wide range of viewers since, unlike a series such as Pokémon that sticks to a formulae, it's constantly trying new things. It means some series will work for you and some will not quite resonate.

And that's a good thing!

#digimon #ghost game #wall o' text #I'm so sorry anon #you can just read the bit before the cut #the rest is my pure self-indulgence based on your ask #ghost game is such a gold mine for canon-based fanfiction #wish I had more time for all my ideas

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