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artbyblastweave · 3 years

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BLASTWEAVE what does steven universe have in common with watchmen?

Both Steven Universe and Watchmen are groundbreaking entries in their respective genres that demonstrate a deep understanding of the appeal of the genre they’re working in, and engage with their ideas on a previously unheard-of level for the medium. That breaks ground and clears the way for what other works in the genre can get away with.

Steven Universe showed that, well, first of all that you can make a cartoon that’s fundamentally ideologically queer beyond a few side characters, but also that you can have an emotionally intelligent and mature children's cartoon where the character nuance and depth and development are all taken very seriously. Watchmen showed that you could write serious and interesting narratives about superheroes if you were willing to roll with the crazy. (Neither of them was the first to do the things I’m ascribing to them, but I do think that they’re what made it stick for their respective fields.)

In doing so, though, both works create/created a catch 22 for all future works in their genre. Part of what made both of them so good is that they were willing to critically unpack and air out the ugly implications of their format that usually get chalked up to suspension of disbelief, and now that that’s out in the open it becomes very difficult not to think about how any other given work is or isn’t addressing those issues- even if they aren’t equipped to address those issues in the scope of the story they’re trying to tell. Watchmen asked questions about who sanctions superheroes, what qualifies you to do that work, where the line is between heroism and fascism or if there even is one, whether the agency to act means you have a right or a duty to act, whether anyone who seriously bought into the superhero thing could possibly be doing it for good reasons, and, if they somehow were, how long you can care with the intensity necessary to be an effective hero without suffering burnout (not long.) I literally can’t think of a single superhero thing worth reading that isn’t in some way in conversation with Watchmen - you now kind of have to answer those questions, explicitly or implicitly, even if your books thesis is “Alan Moore sucks eggs and being a superhero is very sustainable and fantastic.” If you just leave the question of whether your superheroes are justified completely unaddressed, there’s an uncomfortable discordance there, because we’ve seen the extreme end of that sliding scale in the form of the Comedian and if the narrative doesn’t engage with what makes the protagonist not Edward Blake, it can feel worrisome. If they try and then botch it it can feel alarming.

Steven Universe has a similar thing going on, at least for me. It’s the only unironic, non-parodic children’s series that’s really, seriously unpacked how fucked up and traumatic it would be to grow up as the archetypical All-loving Spirited Saturday Morning Cartoon Protagonist, how warped and dysfunctional a household that enabled that lifestyle could be at its worst, and what the future looks like when your whole childhood was centered on a now-ended conflict. ( a lot of cartoons flirt with that last one but don’t commit.) I’ve seen jokes and intended-as-cracky fan theories about this for years, surrounding lots of other cartoons (Ben 10, Pokemon, Powerpuff Girls) but almost never with the assumption that the creators are on the same page as them. I’ve seen stories that are post-modern reimaginings using the same general archetypes or whatever (Venture Brothers) but that’s not this! SU told an entertaining story earnestly, and then engaged with the emotional fallout of the story it told, with an unheard-of breadth and depth. A whole season of unpacking! No other show has ever been allowed to sink that much effort into closure. That’s usually what Fanfic is for.

I think it’s great, and that shows like Infinity Train and The Owl House are able to go as hard as they do largely because of Steven Universe’s precedent- but no matter how good a cartoon is, I can’t watch them without having this voice in the back of my head going “Oh, these children are going to grow up to be broken wrecks, bar an extensive and harsh healing process that kinda hurts to watch, huh.”

The issue is that not every cartoon can be Steven Universe, where the project was to thoughtfully and sensitively unpack this stuff. It’s a fair bet that we’ll probably never see a show with that exact project again (not least because of the loss of novelty value.) You’ve got your own stories you wanna tell that’ll run their own course, mostly aimed at children, there objectively isn’t narrative or financial room for most stories to unpack these assumptions if that wasn’t the goal going in. For example, Gravity Falls had pretty tight storytelling and a narrative that absolutely had room for a post-script "where-do-we-go-from-here” plot- it sped-run the “oh no, childhood’s ending” thing- and it’s pretty telling that the aftermath, healing process, interpersonal relationships and so forth are one of the things that that fandom heavily fixates on. The narrative had such a clean ending that it made people go looking for the mess. That’s not bad! It’s how most storytelling works! But now I look at any cartoon with kid heroes that’s meant to be taken even marginally seriously and go, Oh. Win the battle, lose the war. Then I feel sad. The contrast, of course, is that most superhero works actually can be, and in fact benefit from trying to be like Watchmen, because all the questions Watchmen raises about the ethics of power are also just.... like.... the most interesting storytelling hooks if you want to write a cape thing with real themes. They’re the kind of stories we’d have gotten years prior naturally if not for the CCA boondoggle. Admittedly it kinda creates a different problem where most “good” cape media is inescapably self-referential and draws on picking apart the conventions of a 60-70-year old canon that hasn’t been in wide circulation in years. But! I also think there’s a stronger obligation there to keep superhero fans in check- if your superhero thing isn’t making the reader question the ethics of violence and individual heroism in the face of systemic injustice, you wind up with people who unironically think Frank Castle is a role model to be emulated. We all know that guy. Children’s media doesn’t really produce that guy the same way, although it can draw them in from other corners. Superhero media often needs to be self-critical in a way children’s cartoons don’t always have to be.

#steven universe #gravity falls #watchmen #infinity train #the owl house #also I want to give a shoutout to animorphs for #similarly #engaging in how fucked up it would be to be a power ranger without being too on-the-nose about it #meta #thoughts #worm #parahumans #because lets face it #you know what's on the back of my mind when I'm thinking of works that think about Implications tm #wildbow

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vincememes · 3 years

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banana fish starters

WARNINGS: IMPLIED SA, VIOLENCE MENT, DRUGS MENT spoiler warning . to make it less long, the rest is under a cut.

feel free to adjust pronouns / names as needed !

ASH LYNX

❛ even if i did know something, what good would it do? ❜

❛ even a stupid street punk like me knows that ❜

❛ i envy you … being able to jump like that. ❜

❛ what could be more relaxing than three days away from these guys? ❜

❛ i wish i could hate you. i need someone to hate. ❜

❛ someone is dead. not that you’d give a damn one way or the other. ❜

❛ treating him like you’re giving the pope a bath isn’t going to help. ❜

❛ aren’t there any decent parents in this world? ❜

❛ that guy always regarded me as a human being with a real heart, not some sort of tool. ❜

❛ this little act of charity, you’re going to regret this. ❜

❛ i tried to forget. ❜

❛ stay with me... i won’t ask "forever". just for now. ❜

❛ well, i already know you’re a sick man. ❜

❛ ready to lose your life over a pizza? ❜

❛ my name... has become the signal for a massacre. ❜

❛ what on earth... have i become? ❜

❛ what do you think i am...? i’m a murderer... okay? ❜

❛ i told you before. i kill people. ❜

❛ they paid the price for their decisions— that’s all. ❜

❛ what the hell do you know?! ❜

❛ let‘s say i am ‘exceptional’. the problem is, i never, ever, my whole life wanted to be. ❜

❛ you said i am not like ordinary people. ❜

❛ there’ve been countless times in my life when i thought i’d be better off dead. ❜

❛ that nothing could be worse than what was happening to me right then. ❜

❛ at times like that...death looks sweet and peaceful, and unbearably enticing. ❜

❛ war is always good business for those in power. ❜

❛ sorry to destroy your youthful innocence. ❜

❛ you have any idea what those guys made us do? ❜

❛ don’t tell me you still believe the pen is mightier than the sword. ❜

❛ if you ask me, the white house can go screw itself. ❜

❛ i wonder if i’m dying somewhere. ❜

❛ i wasn’t expecting the law to protect me. ❜

❛ i’ve ignored it all my life... i sure as hell don’t plan on hiding behind it now. ❜

❛ just keep them away from me— please! ❜

❛ this town’s my backyard, remember? ❜

❛ sunrise and sunset are about the only times this junkyard of a city looks good. ❜

❛ even if i said no, you wouldn’t go back anyway. ❜

❛ if you went home i’d probably worry if something happened to you. ❜

❛ so it’s better you’re right here, where i can keep an eye on you ❜

❛ some people never change. ❜

❛ vulture got together with the viper. you make a great pair. ❜

❛ why now after all this time— does it have to be you, of all people...? ❜

❛ i don’t stand a chance. i’m dust against him. ❜

❛ over my dead body. if anybody hurts you... it’ll be over my dead body— ❜

❛ i don’t care who it is. i am not letting anybody hurt you. ❜

❛ do i scare you? ❜

❛ dont give me your stupid advice. ❜

❛ i’m happy, goddammit! ❜

❛ i know there’s at least one person in this world who cares about me. who doesn’t want anything from me. ❜

❛ do you have any idea what that’s like? i never did... not once in my entire life—until now. ❜

❛ and that’s worth more to me than anything else. ❜

❛ go back home! don’t look at me! ❜

❛ i don’t want you seeing me like this! ❜

❛ my hands are dirty with other people's blood. ❜

❛ i don't even know how many people i've killed. ❜

❛ i'm bad news. ❜

❛ i wish i could’ve been like you. ❜

❛ it’s just that… i always picture the worst-case scenario, that’s all. ❜

❛ guess it’s because i’m a coward. ❜

❛ i just can’t relax. it’s turned into a habit. ❜

❛ i was so scared i couldn’t speak, i couldn’t cry, and i screamed in my head, but... nothing came out. ❜

EIJI OKUMURA

❛ if i ever lose you too... i'll go crazy. ❜

❛ come back safely. i'll be waiting for you, forever. ❜

❛ if you feel responsible, the same goes for me. ❜

❛ my words might not mean anything now, but just remember one thing. ❜

❛ even if the world turns on you, i'll always be on your side. ❜

❛ humans can change their destiny. ❜

❛ if i'm going to die anyways, at least i'll die trying! ❜

❛ don't apologize. that's something for people like me to do. ❜

❛ i'd do anything for you. ❜

❛ i know we'll meet again, no matter how far apart we are. ❜

❛ you're the greatest friend i'll ever have. ❜

❛ you're not alone. i'm by your side. my soul is always with you. ❜

❛ you asked me over and over if you scared me. but i never feared you. not once. ❜

❛ i'm really glad i came here. ❜

❛ i met lots of people. and more than anything, i met you. ❜

❛ that’s when i decided. i would always believe in you, no matter what. ❜

❛ no matter what happened, he would always have at least one person... ❜

❛ i am very worried because i haven’t seen you and i don’t know if you are okay. ❜

❛ but so what? we are friends. isn’t that enough? what else do we need? ❜

❛ actually, i always felt that you are hurt, much more than me - that your spirit is wounded. ❜

❛ i know you are much smarter than me, and bigger, and stronger - but even so.. i always wanted to protect you. ❜

❛ but what did i want to protect you from? ❜

❛ i think i wanted to protect you from your future. ❜

❛ because your fate was sweeping you away, like a flood. ❜

❛ but i’m not saying “goodbye” to you... because this isn’t goodbye. ❜

❛ are you going off on your own again? ❜

❛ somewhere far away.. without a word? ❜

❛ i want to see you. i wish i was with you right now. ❜

YUT-LUNG

❛ a bloody history is inevitable when you are the one ruling. ❜

❛ what's wrong? you hated him, right? guess what? so do i. ❜

❛ no need to glare. i won't eat you up. ❜

❛ there's nothing you can do to help. ❜

❛ and what can you do to help? ❜

❛ you really irritate me. ❜

❛ you make people want to protect you or make them want to tear you apart and crush you. ❜

❛ so, what to do with you now. ❜

❛ i heard you tried to escape again. you have some spunk. ❜

❛ we have hired him, his target is your friend. ❜

❛ i have other things for you to do for me. ❜

❛ we still have two more scorpions. ❜

❛ i am a monster, too. ❜

❛ i'm not hearing any good news. ❜

❛ you become all tame when you’re around them. ❜

❛ you’ve degraded from a lone lynx to a content pet cat. ❜

❛ depending on your answer, i may not forgive you. ❜

OTHER CHARACTERS (shorter, max, sing, shunichi, etc.)

❛ his face when he laughed was cute, and childlike, and totally angelic. ❜

❛ it's my problem too! if you go alone, you'll just be killed. ❜

❛ you'll die for nothing! ❜

❛ i won't let you go alone. ❜

❛ i'm sorry, but believe me when i say this: i'll die before i let them lay a finger on you. ❜

❛ i can't anymore. set me free. i'm in so much pain. ❜

❛ we need to stay apart so at least one of us survives ❜

❛ if the former boss gets hit then it's the duty of the new boss to make the drop. ❜

❛ if we don't fight back now, we'll forever be expendable tools. ❜

❛ you asked me to look after them. ❜

❛ yes, honey. ❜

❛ that’s for you to decide for yourself.. ❜

❛ what’s wrong? you can’t punch me from that far back. ❜

❛ this will be the last time i give you a word of advice. ❜

❛ time is an ironic thing. for us, it means to age. but for people like him, it means to grow. ❜

❛ i love all women. they're beautiful and strong. like life itself. ❜

❛ it would only be making another one of us. ❜

❛ one more wretched being, unloved and unloving, whose only sustenance is hatred and nihilism. ❜

❛ don’t fight your memories, cuz you’re never going to win. ❜

❛ i guess home isn’t something you want to remember if you ran away from it. ❜

❛ in one second i knew he could read everything on my mind. ❜

❛ i wondered when this boy had started to watch out for his soul, then i knew how much he had suffered. ❜

❛ you are the most beautiful and the most dangerous, of all the beasts i have ever known. ❜

❛ rather than hate and be triumphant, you chose to love and be destroyed. ❜

❛ i staked my life on that choice. please try to accept it. ❜

❛ one who does not love cannot be loved, either. ❜

❛ you at the very least knows what it is to love. ❜

❛ how can you expect someone who suffered so much to have any respect for authority? ❜

❛ fine line between offender and victim it’s hard to know where to draw it. ❜

❛ there’s something about you that i just can’t hate. ❜

❛ 'cause you’re hurt your soul’s bleeding-even now. ❜

❛ you’re just like me that way. ❜

#rp starters #rp starter meme #s;; banana fish #banana fish rp meme #inbox starters #ask meme #rp ask meme #ask prompt #prompt starters #meme prompt #askbox meme #rp meme #i may have missed some good quotes i'm sorry

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kzuhadovey · 3 years

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i love you

character: miya atsumu x reader

type: angst

warnings: fuckboy!atsumu, no happy ending

song recommendation: i love you - billie eilish

this may seem like a happy lovey dovey fanfic but i think it’ll stab you in the guts aha- anyways sorry if this is too long, i got in the zone <3

edit: so someone requested for a part 2 to this story, so i wrote it! to read it, click here.

You were undeniably, so deeply in love. With who, you may ask? Miya Atsumu, of course. He was Inarizaki’s playboy- more like a cheaper version of Oikawa. He was deemed Japan’s best high school setter, and many girls confessed their love to him daily. You and Atsumu were close friends- you were the manager for their volleyball team so you were surely close to all of them. But there was something about him that made you realize- you were so utterly in love. The way you would laugh a bit too hard at his jokes, and the way you stared too long at him, and the way your heart would pinch at the sight of him with other people. You hated that you felt this way- it would ruin everything if you confessed. So you suppressed these feelings, even if you knew they would all spill out eventually.

You yawned as you walked into the Inarizaki Volleyball room, they were just about to start practice. “Good morning Y/N.” A familiar voice says, slinging their arm over your shoulder. “Good morning to you too… Atsumu.” You mutter back, zipping up your backpack. “Sorry we made you attend this early, Nationals are coming up,” Kita says. You nod and try to ignore the loud thumping of your heart as Atsumu attaches himself closer to you. “We should start practice. I’ll get your bottles ready.” You say, trying to wretch Atsumu’s arm from your shoulder. “Go practice, Tsumu. Don’t get distracted.” You manage to mutter out quickly before walking away. You can just feel the stare that Atsumu’s giving you- you’ve been ignoring him for the past week or so- a mere attempt at hiding your feelings.

“Oi, Y/N. What are you gonna do about Atsumu?” Osamu asked nonchalantly as you stuffed a pile of celery down your throat. “What do you mean by that?” You ask, your cheeks warming up by the second. “Well shit Y/N. You blind or something?” Osamu asks, rolling his eyes. “He has an obvious crush on you.” You almost choke on your food as you process what he just said. “Crush? Me? Pfft- how?” You ask, a bit embarrassed. It wasn’t possible… or was it? “He’s touchy, he talks about you a lot, and-” “And what Osamu? He’s touchy with everyone. I bet he only says that I’m kind and all that bullshit but he doesn’t actually like me because he’s Miya Atsumu.” You snap and Osamu chuckles. “Okay geez- don’t have to get defensive,” Osamu says, a smug smile plastered on his face. “You’re so mean.” You say, a small pout on your face as you start eating your food again. Was it really that impossible for Atsumu to like you?

atsumuu~ oi y/n. psst. y/n :0 huh what atsumuu~ you wanna sneak out? rn? y/n :0 -_- it’s like 2 am atsumuu~ yet you’re still not asleep my dear come on I’ll meet you at the park if you wanna y/n :0 you crazy bitch.

You sighed heavily- you couldn’t help but comply to Atsumu- it was something that happened every time he asked you for something. You blew softly at your cold hands as you made your way to a famous park you and the team liked to go to. The night air stabbed through your lungs as you took a deep breath and jumped over the gates, hoping that no one you knew was there. “Y/N!~” Atsumu’s voice was heard from across the small garden section, and you squinted your eyes. He looked half-asleep, but his eyes still shone as bright as ever. “Tsumu. Hey.” You said, shooting him a small smile as you made your way to him. “Look! We can sit on the swings- it looks especially pretty at night.” Atsumu said excitedly as he pointed to a pair of swings. You chuckled at his enthusiasm. “Alright then.”

You were sat on the swings, thoughts quietly running through your head as Atsumu rambled on and on about volleyball. “Y/N. Oi. Are you paying attention?” Atsumu asks, a sharp tone in his voice. You shrug away from your thoughts and smile sheepishly at Atsumu. “Sorry. I was daydreaming.” You say fixing your sitting position quickly. “Oh? Daydreaming about what, my darling?” Atsumu asks, leaning in closer. Your breath hitches at that nickname- he’s dangerously close to you- you’re pretty sure you’re about to faint at the proximity he’s in. “Nothing in particular.” You decide to mutter out, a feeling of warmth creeping in your cheeks. “Are you sure?” Atsumu asks again, and this time, his face is right above yours. You can smell him- he smelled like honeycakes and cologne. His breath is warm against yours, and if you lean in a bit more, you’re kissing. “Getting nervous, Y/N?” Atsumu chuckles lightly before pulling away, making you sigh in relief. “Shut up.”

y/n :0 tsumu tsumu tsumu are you ignoring me YOU’RE ONLINE ON IG BRO tsumuu read

You huff angrily at your phone. So he was on Instagram and clearly texting in the team group chat but he’s ignoring you? Piece of shit, you think to yourself as you head over on Instagram in an attempt to contact him again. You’re about to click on the DM icon when something catches your eye. Atsumu posted something new. A girl clinging on his shoulder. They’re… kissing.

“me and my girl ^__^“

Your heart nearly stops as you read over the caption again. Me and my girl. He surely meant as a friend right?- wait, they were kissing. Was this some kind of dream? Was this a joke? You choose not to like the picture and you shoved your phone away from you. Was he just playing with you? Was this all a sick, stupid game to him? You hiss quietly as you feel tears prick your eyes. You surely remembered having a connection- that night at the park. Was that nothing too?

You managed to get a bit of sleep last night- but you were still sleepy as fuck. It felt as if someone was stabbing your head over and over and the walls were closing in on you. Your eyes were still slightly red and puffy and splotches of foundation on your under-eyes were a shitty attempt at you covering up your dark eye bags. You tried your best to make it through class- it took almost all your willpower to not just flop asleep right then and there. Worse, you had volleyball practice with the boys. Today was the worst day to have volleyball practice, considering your… situation. You walked into the room with a heavy sigh and immediately sat down on one of the bleachers. Maybe Coach Kurosu could let you catch a wink of sleep. “H- Woah Y/N you look like the nun!” Osamu says once he’s seen you. You sigh, a hint of annoyance in your voice. “Just- warm-up or whatever. I’m okay.” You mutter, leaning back and snuggling into your backpack.

“Y/N~ You look ghostly my dear.”

Your eyes shoot open at that voice. The one that’s caused you pain, agony, and the voice that made you reconsider whether you were worth anything or not. “Hey. Hello.” Atsumu called out again, waving his hand in front of your face, trying to catch your attention. “Atsumu.” You could barely speak- all of the memories were rushing to your head, and you were definitely pissed off. “Come, let’s get you some water-” “Stop, Atsumu.” He was definitely surprised at the sharp tone of your voice. “Woah- what’s got your ass today?” Atsumu asks, chuckling. “Just stop it. I’m not a game for you to play- do I look like fucking Jumanji to you?” You say, standing up. You’re fuming- an indescribable feeling coursing through your veins. “Huh? What did Osamu do to you, heh-” Atsumu reaches out to touch your shoulder but you flinch. “Stop it. Why are you doing this? Acting like you care for me and shit.” You said, packing up your bags. “But Y/N, I do care for-” “No you don't! You flirt with me all the fucking time but you don’t actually make a move on me. And don’t you think I know about your little- girlfriend?” You snapped, glaring at him. “I’m so tired of this shit.” You say, tears finally pricking your eyes. “Y/N- I- I didn’t mean it like that,” Atsumu says, panic settling in his eyes.

“No, because you meant it like that. You wanted to flirt with me, to try and confuse me, and it’s so fucking tiring because I love you!” Atsumu freezes, and the whole team’s attention is diverted to you. “It’s so tiring, trying to love you because I know you won’t love me back. Instead, you play these stupid games with me and I fucking hate it!” You shout, fresh tears rolling down your cheeks. “I love you, and I don’t want to.” You say quietly. Atsumu is baffled- he has no idea of your feelings. “Y/N-” “Please, Atsumu. Don’t talk to me anymore.” You say, heartbroken.

In the end, he complied. You’ve seen him around in the halls, and once in a while, he would glance at you. You, of course, have moved on. He wasn’t important anyway, right? You’ve seen him stare at you- for an abnormally long time, and sometimes, you’ve seen him laugh more at your jokes. He’s in love with you. But he knows, because of a simple mistake, he’ll never have you. Maybe, just maybe, you’ll end up together in another life.

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leahquark · 3 years

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How to escape from a time loop

Prevent the causing event

Alright, so you’re stuck in a time loop. But maybe you know what caused it. Hey, if the causing event keeps happening, it’s obvious. Let’s say at the end of every day, you die. Easy peasy, just don’t die one day and you’ll escape the loop. Easier said than done, sure. Especially if the loop is short, or the event is out of your control (yea, 10 minutes really feels unfair to convince your aunt Sally on the other side of the country not to knock over her Egyptian flower vase). But hey, you get unlimited tries at this. Plus, a time loop means your money and resources reset, so feel free to go nuts and waste them. Just, don’t do anything you might regret if the loop suddenly breaks. Of course, after enough repeats, I doubt there’ll be much left in this category. If the loop happens when you go to sleep, then don’t go to sleep. Heck, chase the sun around the world if you have to. Rage against the dying of the light.

Make amends for the causing event

Okay, so maybe the event that caused the time loop only happened once. And maybe it happened on the day before the loop, or in the first iteration only. Well then, you can still make amends for it, hit the edit undo. Don’t believe me? The statistical probability that YOU would be the first person stuck in a time loop is so ridiculously close to zero. If you’re in a time loop now, that means others were probably in a time loop too, and maybe got in and got out the same way. And they kinda had to get out, in order for time to progress and trap you in your time loop today. So go track down that evil time witch and apologize to her, or find a scientist who can study the alien blood you’re covered in. Tell them to keep notes, then at the end of the time loop memorize them and regurgitate them back at the start of the next loop. Remember, you’re the only one who can retain information / make progress at the end of each loop. Only you can look out for yourself, but maybe medical science has an answer.

Prevent and make amends for everything that could possibly be the causing event

Okay, so maybe you don’t know why you’re trapped in a time loop. Alright, then try this. Go through a list of everything you did the day before the loop, and during the first iteration of the loop. Focus on things you said, places you went, objects you saw, things you thought about. It’s important to do this before the time loops repeat so many times you forget what happened the first time around. One of those things, something as minor as not hanging out with a friend, could have been the causing factor… at least according to movies and TV. In reality, it’s probably as likely the time loop was caused by a passing black hole, or a scientist at the large hadron collider. But hey, if it’s something not related to your personal life and daily activities, then you’re kinda screwed. So just completely change your daily routine, do things you’d never think to do, break that habit that you do on every iteration of the timeline, and hope that the loop was just some catharsis for your morning coffee addiction. Now is the time to fix any regrets you may have, to make amends, to become a better person.

Binge watch time related tv

Also read some sci fi. Of course, if you’re reading this, you’re probably on track already, and getting into the more obscure sections. That’s good, a lot of those mainstream sci fi movies are more meant to make you feel good than actually discuss the repercussions of time loops. But hey, you never know, maybe you’ll get some inspiration for something. Heck, a lot of escaping from time loops is getting the right inspiration. So yea, take a break, and binge those bad tv shows. You’ve got all the time in the world to do what you love… assuming you love sci fi television as much as I do. Heck, I won’t judge if you just want to use the time loop to binge all day, enjoy yourself! (You are trapped in a serious science anomaly we don’t fully understand after all) Just, make sure you eventually take a television break if the time loop doesn’t show any sign of fixing.

Find a guide

Alright, so basic fact of logic, there’s only one person on the planet who knows the absolute most about time loops, and chances are it’s not you. At least, it wasn’t you when you got stuck. For all you know, that person walking down the street next to you knows more than you. Heck, maybe they were trapped in a time loop too. So go ahead and ask. What’s the worst that could happen? No seriously, what’s the worst that could happen? You’re trapped in a time loop, any social awkwardness you display will be forgotten by the next loop. Go up and talk to random people, find that person who knows a ton about sci fi. My DMs are always open, and I’m sure you can find some people in a sci fi discord server. Want a real kicker? Spend one loop learning all you can about a person, just talking to them friendly and nice. Then next time loop start the conversation with an announcement that you’re in a time loop, and prove it by reciting those same facts you learned about the person in the last loop. Get to know someone, make some new friends, or just reach out for help (its so hard to escape alone).

Convince the government

That trick I mentioned, in point 5… that’ll probably work for the government too. Imagine calling up the president of the United States on his personal cell phone, telling him you’re in a time loop, and backing it up with a whole host of personal facts. What they won’t see, is the hundred or so timelines you spend going from convincing the police, to the FBI, to the governor, to your local senators, etc, etc. At every step of the way, wasting one or two timelines to learn all their personal info, then regurgitating it to them in the third timeline as proof you really are looping. It’s exhausting. All to convince some bureaucrats and some scientists to look into it. Let’s hope they really do have aliens in area 51, or this will be a massive waste of time. But hey, time is something you’ve got too much of anyway. The effort may be exhausting, but you can’t give in, you need some professional backup on your team, and no matter how much you repeat yourself, its worth the effort.

Number those timelines

Alright, so at this point, try anything. But you need a way to stop yourself from trying the same thing twice. And you need a way of prompting the people you are with to stop saying the same old ideas. If you wake up on the same day every morning, and ask the people around you to help you escape a time loop, then they’re going to be repeating a lot of their responses. But in my experience, people reply, think, and remember differently based on the prompts they’re given, and maybe those different prompts will jog your brain, and the brains of the people you’re around, into thinking of something new. One way to do it is get a dictionary, or some other book with a wide variety of words, and each day refer to the next word in the book as that day's prompt. Do something completely random, completely insane, but make sure it started with you and your time loop guides reading and thinking about the prompt. So you’re probably going out to go touch an aardvark then. Come back when you’ve ridden a Zambonni and I’ll know things are really desperate. Point is, keeping trying new things, and enjoy them while you’re at it.

Keep trying

Alright, it’s not really like you’ve got much of a choice here. Going about your day, or repeating the same day twice, or acting and pretending like you’re not really in a time loop, are all ways of experimenting with something new (though, frankly I think these will just lead to frustration). Heck, maybe instead of acting crazy, what you really needed was to act normal. Maybe it’s a sentient creature keeping you trapped in the loop, and it’ll sense when you’ve given up hope and then release you from the loop. Maybe. Really doubt that though. Technically, it’s impossible to give up. But hang in there. Keep yourself, and your joy. You get to live. You get to experience something no one else has felt. You can learn a hundred new skills, and master them all, and live frivolously every day. You get to meet every person on earth, and study them all in a single day. You are technically immortal. There is nothing you have to do, no responsibilities. There’s nothing new on television to keep you glued to the screen, and no point putting any of your dreams off until tomorrow. You’re trapped in time, but in a way free. Free of consequences except the ones you choose for yourself. So choose to be happy, choose to live. Choose to value this day with your friends and family, even if they won’t value or remember them. Maybe plan one million for escaping the time loop is to go down to a nice sunny beach and just relax. In a strange way, that’s got just as much chance of working as anything else. And it’ll make your eternity here a lot more bearable than moping around your house all depressed like.

Don’t die

I have no idea what the religious implications are of being trapped in a time loop. And the thing with most time loops, at least the ones I’ve seen on tv, is that death doesn’t let you escape the loop. And frankly that’s a good thing, because death is something worse. I’m not going to go into this too much, though if you really are trapped in a time loop I’m sure these few words are tantalizingly short. (If you need more, there are plenty of resources out there) But no time loop has ever been solved by dying. Even if it did resolve, your eternal purgatory would probably end up taking the form of a time loop. But don’t worry, I can give you my personal assurances that you’re alive right now. And that’s good. Because life is a beautiful thing, even when the day repeats. You know, especially then. After all these dark and gritty escape the time loop stories, of tormented characters driven mad because nothing they do matters, can’t we have one where someone is happy to be in a time loop? We all die, eventually that is. Whether you’re trapped in a time loop or not. But not all of us live. Not all of us truly live. Maybe being trapped in a time loop will help you live truly. I mean, if you really think about it, in several thousand years, is anyone even going to remember you? Remember your accomplishments? You may as well have lived for a day. If you want to escape the time loop so what you do matters again, maybe it’s time to face the reality that what you do… may not have mattered. And that’s okay. Life is about the living. Living every day, day by day, and making the most of it. We don’t always get to control the hand that life gives us. Maybe we know someone with Alzheimer's, whose memories fade at the end of each day, and makes it seem like we’re living that moment over and over. Maybe they don’t even remember who you are. Maybe, to them, you’re a stranger, who met them today, and knows so many things about them. Is it happy when someone laughs, if they won’t remember it later? Did it really happen? Yes it did. Yes it is happy.

10.

You can’t escape / why did you listen to me, I’ve never been trapped in a time loop

Life is a beautiful thing, time is a beautiful thing. It’s beautiful because it doesn’t loop. I can understand the anger, that bitter rage people can have, trapped and unable to reach out, repeating the same day over and over. Unable to move on. Unable to break free. And sometimes they do break free. Sometimes, silly movies and tv shows, that avoidance of the causing incident, or the help of scientists and their research, are enough to fix even the most terrible of fates. But sometimes they can’t, and we can go on, suffering forever. I’ve never been trapped in a time loop (I thought I was once, in fact, all my friends thought I was too, and they all tried to help me out of it. But I wasn’t. I wasn’t, right?), and if any of the people around me have, they've been hiding it exceptionally well. They’ve worked today, for the hope of relaxing tomorrow. They’ve made progress, with the thought that their accomplishments matter, and their adventures can wait. That’s the mindset a lot of us go through life with. But maybe, just maybe, life can’t wait until tomorrow. Maybe it takes getting trapped in a time loop to realize. When your hard work doesn’t pay off, and you can’t think of what evil thing has landed you where you are, when the universe deals you a bad hand, maybe that’s when you realize what’s important. Waking up, every day, with people you care about, ready to live life for today. Maybe tomorrow won’t come. Maybe it never will. Maybe you have to live, live every moment of your life, today. Or, maybe, just maybe, tomorrow is right around the corner. And when you tell those people around you that you love them, maybe this time they’ll remember. But what the hell do I know? I’ve never been trapped in a time loop. I’m just a person, one of billions on planet Earth, living life.

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smeraldos · 3 years

Text

Love by Daylight (2/2)

➸ characters: (sassy) Seokjin x Reader ➸ genres/tags: Sailor Moon!AU, fluff, humor ➸ tags: running away from the mortifying ordeal of being known, petty enemies/secret crushes to something more, (1) nod to seokjin's love of fishing ➸ words: 1.1K+ ➸ summary: Tuxedo Mask is none other than your p(r)etty (boy) rival, Kim Seokjin. << READ PART 1 HERE >>

"I guess I don't get why my Discord avatar doesn't do me justice?" You almost laugh when he blanches. "Oh, that. We don't talk about that." "Why not?" You lean in to give him your most innocent (read: cutest) look. He huffs. "You're prettier in person. Saying that out loud forces me to realize it even more."

◔

Eating with someone has never been so awkward.

You don't bite into your burger so much as you stare at it, willing it to disappear while Seokjin munches away.

He swallows. "Aren’t you going to eat that?"

"You can have it. I’m not hungry."

Seokjin eyes you suspiciously. You play dumb, pulling out your phone to switch the settings on your alarm. It rings a minute later.

"Shoot!" You jump up from your seat. "Forgot I had class. Gotta—"

In your hurry, you don’t catch Seokjin's sneaker sticking out and step on it. Hard.

"Ow!" Seokjin yelps as you make a beeline for the door. Before you can open it, a bunch of elementary schoolers enter in single file, all wearing yellow caps.

When the last one comes in, you breathe a sigh of relief...only to notice an orange capped kid and a new line of students behind her. You glance over your shoulder. Seokjin is approaching fast. For a second, you’re tempted to push your way out, but you don't. They're kids. No matter how stupidly prim and proper they're being.

Have they never tried ice cream and shakes?

"You think they'd be more excited," Seokjin comments, standing next to you now.

"Right?" You sigh, watching them order and count out their coins up front. "Seeing them act so grown-up is creepy."

He shudders. "I can't imagine living like that again. 10 out of 10 would not recommend."

"Glad you agree," you say, spotting a space between the kids and the door. Abruptly, you drop down and squeeze yourself through to a chorus of hey's and crazy lady's, all of which you've heard before. They should really come up with better insults.

"Psst, Thumper, what are we doing down here?"

You thought too soon.

In theory, Thumper sounds like a cute nickname, but you’ve only ever been called that when someone wanted to point out your overbite. It was either that or Jaws. You whirl around to see Seokjin right behind you, holding onto your hoodie. You yank it back.

"Sorry," he says, and you're so shocked you stare at him for a few seconds. "I know that's long overdue. I'd give you a laundry list of apologies, but my foot is kind of getting cramped."

"Oh. Yeah, um." You quickly scan the area, finding an empty bench underneath a well-trimmed tree. "Let's talk there."

◯

Seokjin wasn't kidding when he said he’d had a lot of apologizing to do. He'd pulled up a list on his Notes app, apologizing for the time he'd tripped you to the time he'd told you to give up on Jimin because he’d never like you back.

"I was jealous," he admits. "Jimin already gets the most chocolates on Valentine's, but instead of keeping them, he gives them away to kids at the orphanage. And what's more, you're like that, too."

"Me?" You have no idea what this has to do with you. Besides, you would have eaten all the chocolates. You wish you would have thought of sharing them.

"Don't look at me like you're innocent. You're the worst. You're nice and you actually mean it."

"Is that supposed to be an insult?"

"No," he backtracks, cheeks flushed. "Sorry. I'm bad at giving compliments. I just mean you're…"

"Perfect?" You guess, a little cheeky.

"Now you're just fishing," he says.

"Then what were you going to say?"

"I"—he takes a breath—"don't think it's a good idea. It's really sappy. I'm dying inside just thinking about it."

Honestly, it's a little endearing. You smile. "I promise I won't laugh."

"Don't bet on it," he says, but the way he’s looking at you is so tender you almost melt on the spot. "You weren't wrong when you said perfect. You're funny and kind in a way I can't explain, and you have a lot of heart to share, even with people who don't deserve it. Even with me. I guess I wanted to say it makes sense you’re meant to save the day, and your Discord avatar doesn't do you justice."

"Oh," you breathe, speechless. Seokjin said he was bad at delivering compliments? Well, you aren't good at receiving them.

Seokjin coughs. Then coughs some more. Gingerly, you reach out to pat his back. "Are you okay?"

"'Course not," he manages. "Is that all you have to say"—he pulls away to cough—"after I waxed poetic about you?"

"Thank you?"

"That's better," he says, straightening a bit. "Go on." So that's why he was coughing: he wanted words of affirmation. You can't believe he accused you of fishing for compliments.

"I guess I don't get why my Discord avatar doesn't do me justice?"

You almost laugh when he blanches. "Oh, that. We don't talk about that."

"Why not?" You lean in to give him your most innocent (read: cutest) look.

He huffs. "You're prettier in person. Saying that out loud forces me to realize it even more."

"I don't see how that's a bad thing."

"I like you, Thumper," he says, "but I'd be stupid to think you'd like me, too."

A rush of warmth courses through you, and you have to bite your tongue to keep from smiling. "Maybe you should be a little stupid, then."

Now it’s his turn to look speechless. "But—" His voice cracks, and he clears his throat before starting again. "But I'm a jerk."

"You apologized."

"I'm not cut out to be my avatar, not like you are."

"That's why you’re the sidekick."

He pouts. It's probably the most adorable thing you've seen, right up there with the compilation of kitten videos Mina sent you last week. "You didn’t have to go that far."

"I'm kidding," you say, laughing. "I'm not cut out to be my avatar, either. I'm a huge crybaby. Remember when you found me hiding behind the jewelry counter because I was scared of the you-know-what?"

He nods.

"You said I didn't need to steal anything because—"

Groaning, Seokjin swipes a hand down his face. "There's a reason I said it behind a m—I mean, my screen."

"But it worked. You made me laugh, and you were the one who always picked me up when I was feeling down or insecure or frustrated. You were the brave one, the guy with the plan, and…" You pick at your skirt, suddenly shy. This is all so new. "You meant it that day, didn't you?"

Gently, he takes your hands in his. It's comforting to know they're a little clammy. "You have my heart, ______. Hook, line, and sinker. Don't ever make me say that again."

note: the line he said as Tuxedo Mask was "I can't believe you're thinking of stealing when you already have my heart," which is 100% too sweet for 11pm on a friday saving the city. good thing you've always had a sweet tooth.

#bangtanarmynet #seokjin x reader #seokjin x y/n #jin x reader #seokjin fic #seokjin fluff #jin imagine #seokjin imagine #seokjin scenarios #jin scenarios #jin fluff #seokjin au #jin au #bts au #bts fic #bts fluff #bts imagines #bts scenarios #my fic

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willel · 3 years

Text

On this day, I’d like to talk about my feelings on Season 3.

I know I know. You roll your eyes. You’ve seen me talk about it before. But actually you haven’t. Not totally. If anything, you’ve just seen my inquisitional frustration now and then on how they decided to write it.

Make no mistake, I think Stranger Things 3 is the worst of the 3 seasons. Is it the worst tv ever? Nah.... though this is someone who doesn’t really watch tv other than Stranger Things (more of a reader myself). I usually watch youtubers rip tv shows apart instead.

So based on that, do I think Stranger Things 3 is worse that 13 Reasons Why, Riverdale, or uh.... hm.... oh! the last seasons of Game of Thrones? Well, no.

So how do I truly feel? Weirdly enough, I feel the same as I did when I finished watching it the whole time. I felt like... I was waiting for the ball to drop, episode to episode. I can’t pinpoint exactly what I was waiting for, but whatever it was didn’t come.

I didn’t.... FEEL as much as I did the first 2 seasons? And I felt like that was by design. They didn’t bring in the heartfelt stuff until literally the VERY end and by then, it was too late for me to feel invested in all these characters I genuinely like.

I never truly felt like anyone was in danger, especially not the Scoop Troop. Even as Steve was being tortured and had his daylights knocked out... it was just a *shrug* like moment for me.

Even when Hopper supposedly died.... I was kinda feeling like “meh. I doubt it.”

And I’m not trying to say someone HAS to die for me to feel something. No one died in Season 2 (except Bob) and I was still on the edge of my seat while they were interrogating Will or when they started panicking cause the Mind Flayer found their location. I was concerned that maybe El wouldn’t be able to close that humongous gate and Hopper would get eaten by demodogs before they even made it there. I was worried possessed Will would get loose before they managed to exercise the Mind Flayer and maybeeee he’d die or suffer more or something.

So for months, I guess more than a year now, I’ve just been debating my feelings on things. I’ve come to this conclusion.

Even though I didn’t really like the season overall, there were too many things in the season I did like to make me actually hate it.

Will’s arc that lasted about 3 episodes was off to a great start. I was really looking forward to it until it disappeared.

Murray’s friendship with Joyce... I dunno. I actually really loved that. They’re kinda similarly paranoid investigative people who bother Hopper in their own little way. It’s cute, like they’re long lost siblings.

Even if they laid it on a little thick, El and Max’s friendship was much needed and I’m glad that even though El was still trying to copy Max a little too much, Max was also doing her best to remind El now and then to find herself and no one else.

I like that El is now living with the Byers and that they’re moving away. It makes TOTAL sense that Joyce would pack up and leave Hawkins. Too much shit has gone down there, she needed to go for her and her kids sake + El.

Even though I wish the resolution had been different, Jonathan and Nancy clashing due to their backgrounds (being a woman vs being poor) was very interesting to me. I would’ve loved to have more of it. Not more arguing, just more talking about it other than the apology.

I love love love, first of all, Lucas reaching out to Will multiple times after the huge blow up trying to make amends. Some of it is in the background. And that CUTE HUG AT THE END. I love Will and Lucas. <3 Lucas is such a good friend even with a few screw ups there and there.

Jonathan for at least a second taking the big brother role for El and trying to cut that thing out of her leg. Trying to reassure her it’s gonna hurt but it’s gotta be done. So sweet even if gross

And then there’s the things I didn’t like that just... brought down my mood. Here’s a few.

Hopper was just... look. I don’t hate his character. I see this solely as a writing issue, not necessarily a character issue. I feel we could’ve ended up with the exact same plot if we cut out about 50% of Hopper’s snark. I get being overprotective of El and the old “Dad hates the boyfriend jokes”. Whatever. Would’ve been better if Mike ACTUALLY screwed up all by himself and Hopper was just enjoying the moment rather than Hopper being the cause of it.

And I get the whole Hopper really wanting to date Joyce stuff, but... I just can’t see how we go from season 1 and season 2 Hopper who was ready to throw hands with his deputies for implying Joyce was crazy. And the Hopper that really truly completely understood what Joyce was going through (anxiety,depression, and loss). How did that guy turn into someone trying to rush Joyce’s mourning along (after he mourned for his daughter for like, 6 years) and him being the one implying she’s crazy? It’s just weird. I can’t deal. It’s WEIRD.

No Jonathan and Will scenes. They’re finally on the adventure together and there’s still NOTHING. In the mall, Will is damn near having a panic attack hardly able to keep quiet and JONATHAN DOESN’T EVEN GLANCE IN HIS DIRECTION

No Jonathan and Joyce scenes. Mother and son who?

No Nancy and Mike scenes. They didn’t do it for season 2. Surely they won’t forget this time and give the siblings some screen time??? Nope. Bet 75% of the fandom forgot they’re even related.

No Max and Billy scenes. Not a fan of Billy, but Billy is her step brother. Why the hell wouldn’t the writing put a little more focus on that? Surely Max would be more suspicious of Billy acting weird or even nice to her? Surely they’d give her more moments of showing... something over the fact that her step brother is the big bad?

No Will and El scenes. Obviously I’d be annoyed at this. But you’d think the monster radar and the psychic girl would be butting their heads together a bit more to figure out what’s going on? This ties into Will’s evil senses only working 5 minutes too late. How did he sense the Mind Flayer smoke from 10 miles away, but now he can’t sense the huge flesh monster until it’s a couple meters above him?? No logical sense.

Complete erasure of Kali. I didn’t miss the fact that when El was having flashbacks of her mom, they pretty much cut out any mention or thought of Kali. Surely after that heartfelt goodbye, El would at least think of Kali for a moment and get distracted. She decidedly hid the fact that Kali exists from everyone else, wouldn’t it be nice if we saw her character still thinking about that secret from time to time??

And the final point that I feel like typing out tonight, too much focus on El. And I don’t mean it in the way you’re probably thinking. I mean that basically NO ONE is able to save El. EVER. She has to do everything up until the final moment. Mike and the gang isn’t allowed to save El from Billy choking her out. She ends up having to save them. No one can save El from the flesh eating vagina monster. She has to defend herself completely. Jonathan isn’t allowed to get the worm thing out of her leg, she has to pull it out herself. Mike and Max can’t do anything to protect her from Billy again. They all fail and she yet again has to save herself.

Ok, that’s all I wanted to say.

ST3 is like a..... 45 / 55 scale for me, and the 55 is the bad part.

#stranger things

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moonlit-imagines · 4 years

Text

Writing Challenge! (1)

So, I finally decided to start a writing challenge, it’s actually my first time creating one of these so bare with me please! Read ALL of the rules before entering. (These prompts are NOT for requesting my own fics, but may appear on several prompt lists in the future!)

Let’s start with how to enter:

Send me up to 3 characters and up to 3 prompts (DMs or askbox, MUST be off anon)

Put your most desired options first

Tell me if you’d like to use one prompt or two

Your url and the character you choose will be added next to the prompt(s) you chose

If you post early, you’re welcome to enter again!*

*you’ll only be able to have one entry at a time, you have to post your first one before re-entering

Post whenever you’re done! Don’t forget to tag me (@moonlit-imagines) , if I don’t interact within 24 hours, shoot me a message to make sure I’ve seen it!

They’ll be reblogged to @moonlit-ficrecs with my feedback!

Now to the rules:

First come, first serve!

Only write for characters from my fandom list (if you don’t see the one you want listed, you might still be able to use that one. just ask!)

Reader insert only, please!

Any POV (1st, 2nd, 3rd person)

Any type of fic, whether it be a gif imagine, one-shot, headcanon, whatever fits!

3 people per character

3 people per prompt

^None of your prompts can match someone elses with the same character

You can’t use the same character when you re-enter

Fluff, angst, familial/platonic, smut, AUs, etc. are all welcome!

There’s no set word count, do as much as your comfortable with!

Signups start: September 28, 2020

Signups end: October 9, 2020

Fics due: November 1, 2020 (or sooner!)

Prompts below!

(Note that if you feel the need, you can alter the prompt slightly for the correct pronouns, add names/nicknames, change it the past/present/future tense, or fix it so it fits a character’s accent!)

“You thought you could get away with this?” - (@emcon-imagines//Wanda Maximoff)

“I won’t let them hurt you.”

“Call me when you get home.” - (@unnuevosoltransformalarealidad//Tony Stark)

“Are you even trying?” - (@imaginesbymk//Edward Nygma)

“Can we get something to eat?” - (@writerdream22//Joey Tribbiani)

“Give me a kiss, please and thank you. I’m serious.” - (@alwritey-aphrodite//Diego Hargreeves) EXT.

“That’s my s/o. I would die without them.”

“Look at/talk to them that way one more time and I’ll break your nose.” - (@frostedimagines//Peter Parker)

“We’ll make it out of this, I promise.”

“I made you breakfast in bed!”

“Please come pick me up.”

“Who the fuck are you?”

“Can we go out tonight?”

“I thought you’d never ask.”

“You know where to find me.”

“If it’s meant to be, it’ll be.”

“Oh, my god. That’s sick.”

“I’m begging you not to do this! Please don’t do it!”

“It’s late...we should probably head back.”

“Is that blood on your sweatshirt?”

“Do you love me? I have to know.” - (@locke-writes//Arthur Curry) EXT.

“Say ‘cheese!’”

“Are you done yet?”

“Let’s take a walk. Just you and me.” - (@myriadimagines//Robin Buckley)

“Don’t sit there and apologize like you mean it. We both know you’re full of it.” - (@ofthedewthesunlight//Peter Parker)

“Keep it down, they’re sleeping.”

“We really are the worst, aren’t we?”

“Can we pretend like that didn’t just happen?”

“I like you, alright? Is that such a crime?” - (@isaiahdurag//John Shelby) EXT.

“You make me crazy.”

“I can’t keep running from my problems and neither should you.”

“You seem happy, what’s up?”

“Cry me a goddamn river.” - (@ofthedewthesunlight//Peter Parker)

“Where did they go?”

“I don’t know what to tell you, they’re gone.”

“I could paint/photograph you, if you’d like.”

“Look me in the eye and say it! Say it!”

“We aren’t made for each other, you know that.” - (@thereagles//Betty Cooper)

“Lay with me. Just for a minute.” - (@dannyboy-writes//Thomas Shelby)

“Does that feel good?”

“Dude, if you say that one more time, I’m going to give you a black eye.”

“Remember what I told you: crotch, ribs, nose. In that order.” - (@frostedimagines//Peter Parker)

“What’s that noise?” - (@dannyboy-writes//Octavia Blake)

“Make it stop.”

“You’re the one I’ve heard so much about!”

“Bring it in, you need a hug.”

“Nobody talks to you that way, got it?” - (@unnuevosoltransformalarealidad//Tony Stark)

“I like your poster. Interesting pick.”

“No, I did not get any sleep last night.” - (@dannyboy-writes//Raven Reyes)

“That’s absolutely none of your business.”

“I’m hanging up now, goodbye.”

“You are the most perfect person on this planet, I swear.”

“I wouldn’t change a thing about you.”

“Look at what I just posted.”

“You have got to listen to this song, it reminds me of you.”

“Dear, God! What have you done?”

“We make a pretty good pair, you and me. We should try this more often.”

“I know this isn’t your dream or anything, to end up with someone like me, but I hope you know that I’ll love you more than anybody else could.”

“I’m not one for sweet, sweet romance, so I’ll be getting straight to the point: will you go out with me?”

“I don’t know who you are anymore. You need to leave. Now.”

“You’re what’s getting in the way of my happiness.”

“I don’t believe for a second that we’re not meant to be together.” - (@thereagles//Diego Hargreeves)

“Where did you learn to do that? Can you teach me?”

“I’m sorry that I hurt you, but I’m begging you to forgive me.”

“Don’t you see? It’ll never be that easy.” - (@dannyboy-writes//Qi’ra)

“I’d like to do something spontaneous. Let’s get out of here.”

“They’re out of town, won’t be back for a while...” - (@alwritey-aphrodite//Diego Hargreeves) EXT.

“Do you even hear yourself?”

“Oh, sorry. Did I wake you up?”

“Is that the best you can do?”

“You can’t just fight anyone that upsets you.”

“Is that for me?”

“I got you a present! And it’s expensive!”

“Turn on the lights, I want to see you.”

“You’re all that’s on my mind.”

“I wish we could do this every day.”

“That’s what friends are for.” - (@wolfish-willow//Steve Harrington)

“We’ve got to do this more often.”

“I literally don’t think I could live without you.” - (@vansmaybeonthewall//Cal Kestis) EXT.

“It’s been so long since I’ve seen you. Please don’t ever let me go.”

“Wow. You look nice...”

“Fuck’s sake, you again?”

“Play a song for me.”

“Just checking on you, you sure you’re okay?”

“Wanna go for a ride?”

“Keep going, it’s just a little farther.”

“You can’t get everything you want. Give it up before you get yourself hurt.”

“We make a really good team.”

“You’re not acting like yourself.”

“It’s time to overcome our differences.”

“Put the baseball bat down!”

“They are so badass. I think I may be in love.”

“How many times do I have to tell you? Stop using your powers for that!”

“Look at the big picture here. At least we’re together again.”

“My parents said I have to be home by nine.”

“That is a lot of candles.”

“Someone got dressed up tonight, what’s the occasion?”

“Oh, my god. Did you change your hair again?”

“I found your diary...no, I didn’t read it.”

“I told you not to mess with my knives. I know they’re cool, but hands off.”

“Can I get a round of applause? “

“I will never be like you.”

“I don’t take orders from you.”

“Five minutes, that’s all I ask.”

“You remind me of the stars.”

“Are you kidding me? You’re beautiful.” - (@vansmaybeonthewall//Cal Kestis) EXT.

“What was that noise?”

“Put the mug down! No, not like that!”

“I won’t leave them behind. I will never leave them behind.”

“Who the hell let you in here?”

“You used to play [game]?”

“Let’s get a round for the table.”

“I got you a blanket and a pillow, make yourself comfortable.”

“Nothing will ever be the same.”

“Let’s get out of here. They’re not worth our time.”

“I really like your accent, what is that?”

“You’ve always taken care of me. It’s time to let go.”

“Woah, you made this yourself?”

“I’ll be back before you know it.”

“You keep a picture of me in your wallet?”

“Call me that again. I just wanna hear it one more time.”

“You just never stop flirting, do you?”

“Do I smell cookies? You know me so well.”

“I would never, ever give up on you.”

“I hate seeing you cry. I just want everything to be okay.” - (@emcon-imagines//Wanda Maximoff)

Submission Masterlist

#writing challenge #event rules

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aros001 · 3 years

Text

Read through light novel vol. 16. Random thoughts.

"Who is this OC looking f**kboy?"

Those were genuinely my first thoughts upon seeing the art of Takt on the throne. And it would seem my immediate dislike was not unfounded.

Seriously though, everything about him is like someone's self-insert original character for their shitty power fantasy Shield Hero fanfic.

"He dresses really cool, like all modern with jeans and pockets, and he can use all the holy weapons and vassal weapons, and his level is above 300, and he has a harem of totally hot powerful women, and he's the king of his own country, and he can counter everything that people use against him, and he can steal powers he doesn't have, and he can beat Naofumi and all the other heroes with, like, no sweat at all!"

I want All For One to come in and kick this little twerp's ass. Show him what a real OP villain who can steal powers is like.

This isn't a critique of the writing by the way. It feels like Takt is supposed to feel like that kind of character who plays to those tropes and is REALLY easy to hate.

I both do and don't like how Naofumi is acting in the prologue. Obviously I don't like specifically what he's doing because it's creepy and uncomfortable, but I really like the reasons for why. The dude is fried from everything that's happened and unlike Itsuki it's not because of a curse. He's grieving from a heavy loss, easily the biggest he's had since coming to this world, and unlike with Ost's death he has no one he can yet focus his anger on, so he's feeling completely lost and mixed up. Another great moment from Sadeena in helping him regain at least some of his sanity. Sex is a common way people try to find comfort after a terrible loss and if that had been the case I think she would have slept with him or even encouraged Raphtalia to be the one for that. But she could see pretty clearly that wasn't the case. Naofumi wasn't looking for comfort. He was practically a zombie, just going through the motions.

“It seems that from among the four holy heroes, the Shield and Bow have been most active over there. Based on their level of activity, there’s also a bias in the legends about the seven star heroes. They mainly talk about the Hammer, Claws, and Whip.” A bias. The Shield and Bow did complement each other well, that was true.

F**k that! Sword and Shield, BroTP!

“Putting that together with what we learned in Kizuna’s world, it sounds like the effects of the fusing of worlds,” I pondered. There was a wave that had combined the Shield world with the Bow world, and then the Shield and Bow world had been fused with the Sword and Spear world to create the current one. It was only natural that a bias in the legends would arise.

"Worlds lived, worlds died. And nothing will ever be the same."

I've talked before that I'm a big fan of the concept of a Multiverse in fiction, especially in superhero comics. Right away I liked that the four Holy Heroes came from different parallel universes and then getting Glass and L'Arc showed that there were also parallel fantasy universes also fighting the waves. And now we get this theory from the characters that Raphtalia's universe is an amalgam, made up of other previous universes that fused through the waves. It's very Crisis on Infinite Earths and JLA/Avengers.

Reading Queen Melromarc describe the king of Faubrey and I'm just remember a scene that I and many Overlord fans love to the depths of our hearts, of Sebas the butler encountering a naked little fat man who got his sexual thrills off beating the women the brothel provided him. Sebas, like any true gentleman, kicked him in the dick so hard he exploded. Is there some to hope that a similar fate befell the king whom apparently married and killed (and probably even worse than that) 9,999 women? Not even Witch deserves that. Nobody deserves that.

Even though it'd probably take him to a dark place he shouldn't go, part of me was hoping for some karma to occur when Witch revealed herself as Takt's ally to Naofumi. He no longer had the shield, meaning he could attack her like he never could before, meaning he could kill her with his bare hands. I'm glad he used the defense rating attack on Takt, because there's been great long-time set-up for that, but yeah, I wanted Naofumi to at least get to break Witch's nose after everything he's been through. And if Witch wasn't irredemable before, she most certainly is now, proving she has no loyalty to anyone other than herself. She used Naofumi and the other heroes from the beginning for her own goals. Her mother had enough control that she couldn't just do whatever she wanted. And Melty was standing in the way of her getting the throne. She's still a terrible person but there were at least reasons for her to be against these people. But Trash? Her father, who has been loyal and on her side since the beginning, who doted and spoiled her from a young age because of how much he loved her? She had no hesitation in ordering him killed along with everyone else. There was no reason behind it. It was just pure cruelly, greed, and self-satisfaction.

And then...there's the Queen. ...F**k. Y'all bastards were really good at keeping that spoiler hidden. I was accidentally spoiled that Alta was going to die but not through this site. I had no idea the Queen was going to die. Of course Naofumi couldn't have the Shield during that part. If he made Mirellia into a shield like he did Ost and Alta he probably would be unstoppable, because she was just that f**king awesome.

We're pouring one out for you, your majesty. May your youngest daughter inherit your great wisdom and unbelievably hilarious slapping ability.

I'm really glad with Trash's development in this book. Like I've said in past posts, I can feel basic empathy for him given his backstory, but feeling sorry for him was not enough to actually put me on his side, because he was not putting in any work to actually be better or redeem himself. He was just acting angry and crazy and then just sad and withered. Here? While he had to be shaken and roused into it (can't blame him for that as he just lost the love of his life), he puts in the effort to make use of himself and holds himself accountable for his past actions. I really like that he wants to continue being called Trash. That is his penance. Not more feeling sorry for himself or blaming the rest of the world. It's time for him to be the man he knows he's supposed to be.

With all that though, Melty was definitely the person I felt the worst for after the death. Of all the younger characters, despite being royalty and mature for her age, she is the person who feels the most like a real kid, and her crying her eyes out while clinging to Naofumi hurt just like it should, because this little girl just lost her mom. No idea what the expectation is in Melromarc for when Melty should take the throne but for her it's always going to feel too soon, because how could it not?

“Daddy . . . thank you for approving my marriage. You’ve finally agreed to let me marry Ollie,” she said dreamily.

“I’ll make you forget this ‘Ollie’ soon enough, although his keeping you a virgin for so long is something to be thankful for!” Takt cackled. It was clear that he was using some kind of illusion to make her think he was her beloved. “Those who don’t give proper thought to their daughters’ happiness have no right to live!”

Oh good! He's a rapist too!

So Naofumi was the Shield's first choice and the other three were the Bow, Sword, and Spear's third choices. I like the credit that's given that the first choice is not guaranteed to be the best, as they can become just as corrupt or egotistical, or the third choices are not guaranteed to be the worst, as they can grow into real heroes. I'm just wondering how the selection process worked and why they all couldn't get their first choices. The Holy Weapons apparently have some sway over the universes they pulled them from, given the promise of granting wishes if they want to return to them. My immediate theory is that the weapons all set up paths that'd lead their choices to being summoned but just through sheer coincidence and randomness all the first choices, save for Naofumi, kept missing the path. Going down the list, the weapons become more desperate and thus are more willing to use more extremes to get their choices, thus why Ren, Motoyasu, and Itsuki had to be killed in order to be summoned. They missed their window with their first and second choices so now they absolutely have to guarantee they get their third, even if the methods are less than ethical.

With the big final boss, the World Eater as Naofumi called it, I'm theorizing that he/she/it is using the waves to fuse multiple universes into one so that he/she/it can eat it all in one go.

I only have two issues with this volume and they're both kind of nitpicks. The first is with Trash's plan, specifically with the Glawick ore. I don't remember it ever being established before in the series. I really liked the Rucolu fruit being used in the Cal Mira wave battle because it was set up way beforehand, so it feels like a lot less of a Deus ex Machina. Same with Naofumi using defense rating attacks after his battle with Glass. That's good set-up. The ore doesn't break the story, it just feels very convenient that such a thing happened to exist. If I'm mistaken and it was set-up before and I just forgot, please let me know.

The second is Naofumi and Raphtalia being separated again after a trip into another universe. The story next volume seems like it'll be very different from last time but that part does feel like a repeat of what we've already seen. Plus, with the new status quo of Naofumi knowing how she feels about him, I want to see their interactions now that he's recovered a bit from the loss of Alta. Again, it's a nitpick, since I'm certain they'll find each other again, but I don't like feeling like I'm being deliberately kept away from what I want to see.

“The source of your power, the one true hero, now orders you. Reconsider the state of all things once more and bring down a storm of flame upon my target! Drifa Firestorm!” Takt completed the spell.

...

“The source of your power, just a hero, now orders you. Reconsider the state of all things once more and scatter the storm that would burn its target! Anti Drifa Firestorm!” I read the magic Takt had incanted and activated magic to nullify it. With that, the fire tornado scattered into nothing, as though it had never existed.

Biiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiitch!

“I’m here to destroy everything you possess,” I menaced quietly. “Your pride, your dignity, everything you treasure. I’ve already half-destroyed your composure and your arrogance. Now it’s time for the other half. False hero, possessing six of the seven star weapons and the shield from the four holy weapons! Now face the reality of being defeated by a regular guy who holds none of the legendary weapons!”

No wonder Raphtalia couldn't be in this part. After hearing that line I don't think she'd be able to hold herself back and would have tackled him like a wild Albedo in heat right then and there.

I am so looking forward to when this volume's final battle is animated, especially the part where Naofumi gets his shield back. That is going to feel like such an epic, heroic moment.

So Rishia unlocked Pay-to-Win. ...I don't really know what to say to that. What do ancient magical relics care about money? ("What does God need with a starship?")

So the person Malty had Ren give a sword lesson to back in vol. 11, was that Takt, King Faubrey, or someone we don't know yet, like the mastermind behind everything?

Is Kizuna marked for death now? From how Fitora made it sound to Naofumi, when a Holy Hero dies a new one can't be summoned if the others are still around. If Kizuna's world works similarly, she might have to die or there'll be no Holy Heroes other than her.

Naofumi really likes his Dragon Ball Z, doesn't he? Which is appropriate given I just realized that the Energy Blast from the Spirit Tortoise Shield is almost literally the Kamehameha. Seriously, Kamehameha translates to "Turtle Destruction Wave".

So...what the heck do I do now? I've spent about a month reading through 16 volumes of Naofumi's rise and I know there are at least 6 other volumes that haven't been translated to english yet. I'll probably go find another LN series to read until vol. 17 comes out in July. Though I am curious if RoTSH has a fan translation site like Overlord and Konosuba do.

Original Reddit post: https://www.reddit.com/r/shieldbro/comments/fot3tj/read_through_light_novel_vol_16_random_thoughts/

#rising of the shield hero #random thoughts #reddit repost

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liannelara-dracula · 4 years

Note

hi~ ✨ can I request reaction for Furuta-san to confessing 💌💞 (and girl also says that she knows who et what he are, but it's doesn't matter to her et she of course don't tell anyone) also, Yui on your profile picture so cute uwu 💗

Aww, thank you she is like one of my favorite characters. I really hope I answered you questions and sorry if this gives you a different view of him but this is what I really see. This idea hit me and I just really wanted to put it out. So thank you for giving me the chance to do this.

___________________________________________________________

Ok, so I do think that Furuta would be able to love another girl other than Rize.

Although the idea of that happening would very rare.

The girl would have to be someone who had gone through things.

She would be a ghoul for sure considering she could understand him a lot better.

Someone who could understand him on a level where she had been used like him.

Broken girl and broken boy, if you get what I mean.

But he does find shy girls quite cute.

Though let’s move on further into this.

So onto the scene where the human girl confesses. I wrote the scene to give you guys a better look at how he would react and whatnot:

You served the coffee to him like you always had except this time it was a little different.

“Y/n, I would prefer if you walked with me since your off of work by now, correct?” He asked with a mischievous grin, you softly smiled and answered yes.

After changing out of your work clothes you decided to walk with him wondering what he could’ve wanted.

You two had actually grown a little close through you working in the cafe department in CCG.

This was because he always walked with you after your shift was over. It was strange that he did but he said it kept him company during his break. So by then you always stuck around and got to know him.

You walked in the empty park wondering why he brought you here today.

“Some is on your mind, what is it?” He asked.

You shyly rejected his offering of spilling all your thoughts. “No, I’m okay. Is there something on your mind?”

He scratched the back of his neck as he looked away.”Yeah, there is something on my mind actually.”

“You mean someone.” You frowned already thinking the worst.

Furuta turned to look at you, he seemed all a little too surprised to see you frown. Almost as if he had never seen a girl upset.

“Yes, you.” He smiled, what could this have meant?

Ghouls couldn’t love humans, you were a girl, you had known him for a long time but you weren’t living in the ghoul world. You were surrounded by humans and you knew that. You were just a shy girl in a big world. He could only feel sorry for you seeing you didn’t get out much.

“Oh but why me?”

“Silly girl that’s because I wanted to talk to you.” His words brought you down knowing it wasn’t what you thought you were thinking.

This hurt to hear but you smiled, “Oh, right of course. Well, what about?”

He continued you to walk, “I wanted your opinion.”

“Ok.” You say following behind

“You know a girl, I love used to wander around in this park with me when I was a kid.” This broke your heart to hear he loved someone.

He looked ahead stopping to look at the endless field of flowers. “Funny thing was she didn’t care about how I loved her.” A single tear ran down his cheek as you whipped it away.

It pained you to see him like this, “She shouldn’t have, she doesn’t know what she gave up.” You gave a faint smile.

He looked shocked, yet he wanted to hear more of your reasoning. “If it were me I would have stayed by you, but I guess love really is blind sometimes.” You continued giving a warm smile. This was amusing to him, little did you know.

“What are you trying to say?” He looked down at you acting as if he hadn’t caught on to what you were saying.

“I know more than you think, I know about her and I know what you are Furuta. And it doesn’t matter to me because I think you are worth loving. It sounds crazy to feel like this but I really do like you. Even if you don’t understand.” He stood there taken back a bit your eyes welling up with unknown tears.

A small chuckle emitted from his lips which soon turned into a sadistic laugh that sent chills down your spine. You were taken back a bit and backed away from him.

He turned to give you a wide grin. “You’ve truly humored me, Y/n. Your teary eyes and sweet frown, and the sincerity in your voice is just too much. I honestly wonder as to how a stupid girl such as yourself could even think I’d ever love you.” His eyes narrowed like he had sent daggers through you. It hurt like hell to hear this.

He gripped your wrists tightly before shoving you against the nearby tear. “Hmm please, stop.”

“Don’t be so foolish as to think I would actually fall for some small, simple-minded girl.” This shattered your heart, you never would have thought for him to be this cruel. By this point, you only wanted to run away.

Your cheeks pink as your tears stung your eyes, your lips quivered not finding the words to say anything. “Ohh I see a frown, someone’s toying with your head or should I say your emotions.” He whispered in the shell of your ear teasing, a tear fell from your eyes.

“Why are you doing this to me?” You blurt hoping to budge away from his grasp.

He grabbed your chin for you to face him, “I was dying to hear your confession, who knew it be this easy for you to crack.” He chuckled darkly.

Your eyes widen to be the size of saucers

“Then why did you bother approaching me if you knew how I felt.” Tears fell from your lashes as you said this.

His index finger lifted your chin, “I’m in it for the fun.” He laughed.

Ok so that it is how that piece would go.

So as you can see, he would have already know bout the girl's feelings and would have just played mind games with her.

This is because he is also part of the clowns and they are about having the last laugh.

So I think it was important for me to exploit this side him more to you guys since some have claimed him to be somewhat nice which I beg to differ.

Anyways I think he would find her quite foolish to love him since he for one doesn’t love easily and does not really care for humans or people’s emotions.

Now you may be wondering is he just going to leave her after all this?

Well, he can cause she won’t tell anyone or he can kill her and give a very convincing lie and set everything up. I will it up you to figure out.

So as I have said before there are two sides to this if a human girl confessed to him he definitely wouldn’t think anything of it.

Though if the girl was a ghoul thing would be different. I also don’t think she would have confessed but he would have instead. This is because he spent so much time with her and her beauty was seen they’re her kindness and even though she seemed like a weak and damaged girl he stuck around.

This was one of the rarest times he ever saw beauty in something so broken. And he loved this girl he would love her more than he loves Rize because this girl wouldn’t have ever left him.

And I think if he met a girl (like the one I’m describing) it may just have been end game.

But tg was not a romance anime, not really, so let’s set that aside.

#anime #tokyo ghoul #furuta nimura #souta #tokyo ghoul furuta #tokyo ghoul headcanons #furuta washuu #washuu furuta souta #furuta x reader #tokyo ghoul x reader #anime x reader #anime headcanons #anime imagines #tokyo ghoul imagines #tg

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thebibliomancer · 3 years

Text

Essential Avengers: Avengers #229: FINAL CURTAIN!

March, 1983

"THIS IS IT! Henry Pym’s Last Stand Against... THE EVIL OF EGGHEAD!”

Why does this have Egg Fu energy? Obviously very much less racist but giant egg shaped head looming over things...

Please don’t grow a mustache, Egghead.

Wow, this arc has been going on for a while. With a lot of interruptions, mind.

But we had Hank rejoin the Avengers, do a bad job, build a robot to murder his friends to try to make them forget the first bad job he did, get kicked out of the Avengers, and got tricked by Egghead into committing treason and arrested. Egghead decided to take over the world via inventing eternal youth, put together a new Masters of Evil who immediately got their asses kicked, and then the Masters kidnapped Hank from his trial.

All to bring us to the Final Curtain, which is similar but legally distinct from the Final Countdown.

I’ve seen some sad Hanks but I think “framed into being a fugitive and forced to do science for his worst enemy” Hank is the saddest looking Hank.

He has a thousand yard stare WHILE carefully considering a chemical compound.

This is possibly because while he sciences, Egghead is hanging right over his shoulder being excessively chipper and calling Hank “partner.”

Hank: “I’d love to shove those words down his throat! It’s galling enough to be working for my oldest enemy, without having him call me ‘partner.’”

Guy also puts his hand on Hank’s shoulder chum-style and offers to get him some breakfast while Hank probably fantasizes about making scrambled eggs.

Later that morning, over in New Orleans, Monica Rambeau!

I’m still very hype about Monica Rambeau finally being in this book.

She’s sitting around in her nice home watching the news about the trial and the “dramatic escape” of Hank Pym and also Iron Man has disappeared. That’s on the news too.

Monica: “Uh-oh! I don’t like the sound of that! A disappearance, now of all times, by any of the regular Avengers could mean heavy trouble! Someone’s bound to accuse them of helping in Dr. Pym’s escape! It might not be a bad idea to look in on my new friends -- as Captain Marvel!”

She nyooms light speed from New Orleans to the Avengers Mansion.

Inside, Cap and Thor are discussing how neither Iron Man or Tony Stark have been seen in nearly a week. And Cap is worried because its not like Tony.

But he has to stop talking when Monica comes in because she’s not in on the secret.

Captain Marvel: “Hi, hope I’m not interrupting anything. I thought I’d drop by and... well... see how everyone was doing.”

Thor: “In truth, woman, the Avengers have known happier times.”

Captain America: “I’m afraid Thor’s right, Captain. A former Avenger’s disgrace is national news. Iron Man’s vanished. And the She-Hulk may be no more. Things... aren’t good.”

Monica is kind of taken aback by this because “These are two of the most capable men I’ve ever met! If they’re feeling down and out, what hope is there for the rest of us?”

Meanwhile, in specifically the second-floor study, Hawkeye is sitting with Jennifer Walters Not-Hulk and the Wasp.

And Hawkeye is surprised that She-Hulk’s other self is “so small and... fragile.”

Wasp is trying to reassure Jen that they want to help her but Jen is feeling helpless.

Jen: “I-I know that, Janet. .. B-b-but I still feel so helpless. Things seemed different when I was the She-Hulk! She could handle everything -- or so I thought! She didn’t do much against the Radioactive Man, did she? One blast of charged gamma rays from him, and my life as the She-Hulk was a thing of the past!”

I mean, I wouldn’t say not much. She-Hulk tossed Radioactive Man around pretty easily before the gamma blast.

Wasp tells her that the gamma-charge must have worn off by this point but Jen is too afraid to try again because she can’t face the thought of another failure and what that might mean.

She kiiiiinda blew up her life back in California to go be She-Hulk full-time. The comic doesn’t point this out but I am. She kinda blew off her supporting cast and law career to go on a cross-country trip and then moved to New York for brunch and Avengers.

Wasp is called away by Jarvis, who says there’s an urgent caller for her, leaving Jen alone with Hawkeye.

... Which, may have been a bad idea or at least a very hilarious one.

Hawkeye: “I can’t believe what’s happening to the Avengers! We’ve had bad breaks before, but this -- ! Even ol’ Cap’s been looking like one of the walkin’ wounded! I need to do something to get us back on our feet! Maybe I can start with the little lady.”

Y’know, Captain Marvel and Hawkeye both noting how dire things are feeling around the Mansion is doing a really good job at selling this as one of their darkest moments.

Nobody ever talks about this as one of those moments but the comic is making a good case for it.

At the front door the urgent matter is! SCOTT LANG!

Sight for sore eyes!

He’s here on an errand for Mr. Stark. But unfortunately he also has no idea where Tony has gotten.

Scott Lang: “All of Stark International’s in an uproar! First, Mr. Stark asks me to finish up one of his rush projects for the Avengers -- something he never does! Then he and that iron-clad bodyguard of his pull a disappearing act! And now, the tube is full of news about Hank Pym running off with something called the Masters of Evil! Wasp... what’s going on?”

Wasp: “I honestly don’t know, Scott! Sometimes I’d swear that the whole world is falling apart on us!”

Hey! More dialogue really selling how dire things are!

Scott gives her the project Tony had him complete and tells Wasp that Tony told him that Cap would know about it.

Which indicates that Scott finished this project and doesn’t know what it is or does. Wow.

He also offers to change into Ant-Man and lend a hand but Wasp hurries him out the door and slams it behind him.

Which is a rude way to treat a Scott Lang but in Wasp’s defense she couldn’t bear seeing someone dressed as Ant-Man when she has all these Hank feelings.

Captains America and Marvel and also Thor wander in. Cap(tain America) is telling Monica that there’s nothing they can do until they get a lead on Hank’s whereabouts.

Wasp, who was just handed a thing and told that Cap would know about it, hands it to Cap and asks him if it would be any help.

Cap(tain America) recognizes it as the miniaturized version of the cerebral scanner helmet that Tony was working on.

Captain America: “It was Iron Man’s theory that Hank’s recent problems were due to preset commands Moondragon had telepathically planted in his mind. This helmet was supposed to check that out. Now... I guess we’ll never get a chance to use it.”

This defeatism is finally a defeatism too far for Monica who blows up at the Avengers.

Captain Marvel: “Hey, just a darned minute! Is this the Avengers that I’m supposed to be joining, or an encounter group? I can’t believe what I’m seeing! Look, I know you’ve been through an emotional wringer for the past couple of months, but you can’t let it get to you like this! You folks don’t get much press west of the Hudson River, but what little word that does filter out is filled with awe! You’re the Avengers! You’re legends -- every one of you! You’ve probably saved this poor world more times than anyone can even guess! And you can pull through this crisis, too! But not if you keep acting the way you’ve been!”

Huh, more of a ‘dare to be badass’ than a real dressing down.

Also, its so weird that the Avengers are simultaneously a weird New York thing and also known for saving the world multiple times.

Thor, as Thor do when anyone dares to criticize him, gets indignant but Wasp interrupts that whole impending shouting match and asks what Captain Marvel has in mind.

(This is why Wasp is a good leader, by the by)

Captain Marvel says they should try to look at things from another angle. What if, and hear her out, what if Hank really was set up by Egghead like he claimed to be before the trial?

Egghead is dead? THE AVENGERS FIGHT PEOPLE THAT HAVE BEEN ASSUMED DEAD A LOT, YOU GUYS.

Geez, where has Monica been? She’s a breath of fresh thought on this team.

Monica also has another galaxy brain idea. Slash probably turn of phrase that inspires a galaxy brain idea. Like in a mystery where an innocuous statement cracks the whole thing WIDE OPEN.

Captain Marvel: “And this man you caught -- the Shocker -- the one who claims that Pym reorganized the Masters of Evil to free him -- maybe he’s the one who’s crazy, instead of Dr. Pym! Maybe it’s the Shocker who should have his head examined!”

And Cap(tain America) is like hey I just got this head examining helmet from Tony!

Meanwhile, in the second floor study, Hawkeye has decided to Help.

Be afraid.

Nah, just funning.

Look, this is all perfectly in character for Hawkeye and for Hulks in general. He’s just going to be extremely rude (he has trained his whole life for this) and make fun of Jen until something happens.

And he is pretty rude.

So rude that she smeks him across the face. But because she hasn’t had her Jen training arc yet, Hawkeye just laughs at her.

So she hits him again.

Hawkeye: “My, my! Both cheeks slapped and I’m still on my feet! Is that the best you can do, She-Wimp?”

Then he laughs and laughs and gets punched out of the room by a furious She-Hulk.

He quickly begs for peace, claiming he didn’t mean what he said.

So in the end, all she needed to break the mental block preventing her from turning into She-Hulk was Hawkeye being even more obnoxious than usual.

He does have his uses. Shoots arrow, pisses people off, apparently fun to be around??

Its hard to imagine future burned out trash-fire Clint Barton doing this. He’s much more mellow in how he’s obnoxious now. Although, he roasted Tony Stark good in the Freefall mini.

Y’know, She-Hulk and Hawkeye are friends later. And I don’t know if that’s because She-Hulk becomes everyone’s friend when she moves into more fun party She-Hulk territory. But I can also imagine that despite not liking each other much to begin with, She-Hulk and Hawkeye just grow on each other.

When Wasp praises Jen for being able to transform again, She-Hulk admits that Hawkeye helped.

Then Cap tells them to stop goofing, they’ve got business.

And the business is at the federal lock-up.

The Avengers want to use Tony Stark’s special cerebral scanner helmet on Shocker. His lawyer is like hell no. Shocker himself is like I’m down for whatevs.

Shocker: “Hey, if they want to plunk that pressure cooker on my noggin, it’s okay by me! I’m facing a pretty stiff federal rap, after all. I’m willing to cooperate. It doesn’t bother me. If I passed the polygraph test, I can pass this!”

The lawyer still protests so She-Hulk whips out some of her ol’ legal expertise. Which she is not licensed to practice in a professional capacity in the state of New York.

She-Hulk: “Your boy was caught participating -- in either a kidnapping or an escape -- in full view of witnesses. He’s in big trouble. The scanner helmet will tell us if he’s been manipulated by outside forces. And cancel any mental blocks or false memories. Now, wouldn’t you like to go into court with something that could prove your client was used against his will?”

... I’m baffled that this new technology whose inventor has gone missing could just easily be used as evidence in court.

Like, on who’s word are they saying that this device works? Has it been vouched by anyone? How do they even know that it works at all? It was finished by Scott Lang who is a good electrical engineer but didn’t know what he was working on!

But if I can believe a man can fly, I’ll buy this.

And its funny, Shocker goes from ‘yeah I doubt this will mean anything’ to immediately remembering and spilling the beans that he was set up by Egghead.

Which means that he’s alive and Hank’s defense has merit. God damn!

I like that the cerebral helmet does factor into the plot, even if in an unexpected way. Poor, disappeared Tony Stark’s feverish throwing himself into this project out of a guilty drive to help Hank will help Hank, in some way!

Meanwhile, in the secret and sinister suburban lair of Egghead’s Masters of Evil, Hank Pym brushes off his hands and goes ‘yup I’ve finished inventing your eternal life machine, can I go now?’

Egghead and the Masters call BS because its been three days. No way did Hank already finish the machine. Egghead was thinking it would be months of research before Hank could even begin working on a design.

Hank: “Admittedly, I was lucky in stumbling upon a breakthrough in micro-cellular reconstruction. But then, you did bring me here to produce results. That’s what I’ve done.”

Moonstone asks how close an eye Egghead kept on Hank, since Egghead is the only one truly familiar with the project.

The answer is: not very!

So now they’re worried that if they plug someone into the device, it’ll just kill them.

Tiger Shark goes ‘hey lets just test it on Hank’ and Hank goes ‘yeah whatever.’

Hank: “I stand behind my work 100%. I’ll be your guinea pig, if you’re all so afraid of gaining a long and vital life!”

Egghead: “Don’t use that tone with me, Henry Pym! I think I might enjoy using you as a guinea pig! Strap him in, boys -- good and tight!”

Tiger Shark, whose idea this was in the first place, suddenly considers ‘what if this is a long and weird way for Hank to commit suicide?’ but Hank says he would have ended it three days ago if he was that tired of living.

Egghead: (He’s right. As dispirited as Pym has been, he never became suicidal. Despite all the travails I put him through, I was never able to break him that completely. Pity. Perhaps I’ll try again... after the test.)

GOOD GRIEF EGGHEAD

I know that you’re evil and petty but geez that’s a new low.

Then again, this is the guy who blew up his niece’s arm out of spite.

So, yeah, driving to suicide the guy that made your eternal youth technology possible is about what I’d expect of you, Egghead.

The worst.

When they have Hank strapped into the longevity machine and switch it on, Hank starts to glow.

Which is probably not what is supposed to happen.

Also what is not supposed to happen, the machine creates a force field around Hank.

And also overrides the guidance systems in Beetle’s armor, making him fly all over the place bonking into stuff.

I have a sneaking suspicion that this isn’t actually a longevity machine!

No, in fact, Hank Pym played them all by going ‘yeah sure throw me into the briar patch, I don’t give a shit.’

Tiger Shark tries to rip Hank out of the machine but gets thrown away with a ZZAKK.

Moonstone tries her luck too.

Moonstone: “Your electrified field is very effective against brute force, doctor -- but can it resist a high-intensity laser blast?”

-it does-

Hank: “You tell me!”

The sass!

The lasers deflect off the field joining the bouncing Beetle in destroying the lab.

Egghead has duck and covered beneath a table and demands one of the Masters stop Hank.

A call to action that Radioactive Man takes up, charging the machine.

Radioactive Man: “You are even more capable than I thought, Dr. Pym. But your miraculous fields will not long withstand the power of my nuclear heat!”

Hank: “Probably not! But it doesn’t have to! I’ve had days to prepare defenses against all of you!”

Cadmium-plated tentacles come out of the machine and grab Radioactive Man.

Geez, really nobody was making sure Hank wasn’t up to anything so he got away with everything!

The cadmium dampens Radioactive Man’s radioactive so Hank uses him to knock out Tiger Shark.

Ah, yes. I do love a good grievous harm with a body instance.

Moonstone: “Incredible! Together, we possess nearly as much raw power as the Avengers themselves -- and yet one man has nearly overcome us in a matter of minutes!”

And since she’s Moonstone and practically the only supervillain who knows when to fold ‘em, she tries to skedaddle.

But Hank also built disruption stunners into the not-longevity machine’s manacles, like the ones he used as Yellowjacket, and he blasts Moonstone as she tries to flee.

Leaving Egghead to gape that Hank has singlehandedly defeated his Masters of Evil!

MEANWHILE, up in suburbia, the Avengers!

Remember them? They’re the title of the book.

Shocker spilled the beans to the Avengers because, honestly, fuck Egghead for using him as a patsy. So the Avengers and some copspolice have assembled outside Egghead’s secret house.

The cops are to evacuate the neighborhood in case the Avengers need to do a big punch-up.

Caring about bystanders, a thing that the Avengers do some of the times.

The Avengers also got the house plans from the county records office because they’re doing this raid right.

Problem is, they’re unlikely to be accurate because they don’t have an evil lair listed on them.

So Cap and Wasp are strategizing, planning to surround the house and work their way in slowly and quietly so the Masters don’t use Hank as a hostage.

Then everything explodes. And by everything, I mean the yard of the house.

Beetle burst out from underground, completely ruining the lawn and flies around out of control.

He warns the Avengers that he can’t control his flight and tells them to look out.

The Avengers mostly jump out of the way.

Mostly.

Thor just stands still with his hammer held out for Beetle to run into so hard that Mjolnir seems to disappear.

Beetle falls to the ground, all momentum instantly converted into horrific agony.

Like seriously. He’s going to be feeling that forever. No wonder he later jumps at the chance to flip good, rather than ever experience that again.

Wasp and Cap(tain America), strategy geniuses, decide that at this point, stealth is pointless but Hawkeye is way ahead of them.

I don’t see him in the panel where the Avengers scatter or in the panel where Beetle is falling off Thor’s fist so I think that the instant the ground exploded Hawkeye was like ‘this hole was made for me’ and immediately jumped down it to leeroy jenkins the rescue Hank plan.

Its a very him thing to do.

Plus, as he muses to himself, he has his own score to settle with Egghead.

I.e., that time that Egghead killed his brother Barney Barton. The crime brother? From the time we learned that Hawkeye actually had a name?

That time.

At the bottom of the exit wound Beetle left in the house, Hawkeye peeps in and is astounded to find the Masters of Evil lying defeated in various heaps with Hank Pym standing victorious over them, casually unhooking himself from the not-longevity machine.

As Hawkeye watches, Hank tells Egghead that he can come out of hiding because its all over.

And then delivers a massive ‘the reason you suck’ speech to Egghead, which coming from Hank Pym is doubly biting because Hank Pym knows what a trashfire he’s made of his own life and still says Egghead is worse.

Hank Pym: “I did a pretty good job of screwing up my life recently. You just about finished the job for me! You used me, Egghead... and you tried to make me criminal! But you couldn’t. You see, I’ve come to terms with myself in the past month. I know who I am, and who I’m not! I’m not Ant-Man anymore. I’m not Giant-Man... or Goliath... or Yellowjacket! I’m Henry Pym!

“And it was Henry Pym who beat the Masters of Evil! You, Egghead... you turned to crime because you thought your scientific knowledge made you better than everyone else... put you above the law! But you were wrong. You weren’t above the law, and you weren’t better! I’m the better scientist... I just proved that!”

“I assembled the pieces of your downfall -- right under your nose!”

Egghead takes exception to being told how much he sucks, and leaps at Hank to, I guess, try to beat him up, saying he hasn’t beaten Egghead yet.

So Hank beats Egghead yet.

Hank: “Oh... I was hoping you’d try that!”

After all that Hank’s been through in this vague arc and at the hands of Egghead, it is very satisfying to effortlessly turn the tables on the villains, deck Egghead, and prove that while he has spotty success as a superhero, he’s no villain.

This vague arc has broken Hank down to nothing. He ruined his marriage, his superhero career, abandoned his science career as fruitless. He was broke, so desperate as to take a loan from his arch-nemesis. Framed for treason and left to pay for Egghead’s adamantium scheme. Sent to jail and derided as worse than the supervillains there. Worse for having fallen from grace. Gave up winning back his wife after seeing her date one of his friends. Abandoned hope for anything but to win back his dignity and good name in a court of law. Had that taken from him as well.

And stripped of absolutely everything, Hank Pym proved that he is one of the finest scientists in Marvel, a crafty SOB, and owner of a dynamite right hook.

Then with Egghead sprawled on the floor, Hank turns to leave.

But Egghead is a petty, petty, evil, evil man. That hasn’t stopped being a thing so he pulls out a science gun to shoot Hank in the back.

Hawkeye jumps out of the beetle hole and shoots an arrow in the barrel of the science gun, making the science gun backfire kirby krackle.

Hawkeye: “Brother, that was close -- but everything’s gonna be okay now, Hank! We have all the evidence we need to clear you and put that creep behind bars!”

Hank: “Egghead won’t be serving any time, Hawkeye. He’s dead.”

DUN DUN DUN

Hawkeye, you’ve become a killer! And it didn’t even take a Bendis to drive you to it!

Well, maybe a man-slaughterer...

Follow @essential-avengers because I bring you the good Hank Pym content. The Hank Pym punching Egghead content. The best content. Also like and reblog, possibly. For the Hawkeye man-slaughtering Egghead content.

#Avengers #Egghead #Masters of Evil #Hank Pym #essential avengers #essential marvel liveblogging #Captain America #Captain Marvel #monica rambeau #Thor #she hulk #the Wasp #Hawkeye #somehow a very effective and helpful person in this issue #Thor is the world's most effective speedbump #Iron Man helps from off panel #don't mess with Hank Pym

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bi-makes-pie · 4 years

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"I'm her best enemy" Playlist [ PART ONE - Songs 1 to 30]

Click READ MORE to see the whole list

1. Nemeses (feat. John Roderick) – Jonathan Coulton I mostly see this as being in the Master’s POV.

“Could it be that you need me To keep you out, to run you faster Promise me you'll let me be The one, the worst of all your enemies”

2. Crazy – Burn the Ballroom 12 to Missy. This one is quite cute. He does calls her mad, but we all know the Doctor isn’t exactly the perfect picture of sanity either.

“She had problems with my love connections So she bought me bullets and she made corrections (…) I'd say crazy, doll, but you've got something different I'd say complicated but that's your kind of rhythm I'd say lost and you'd say love

But you're crazy not to see That you're crazy just like me...”

3. Silence – Citizen Shade This kinda makes me picture the Doctor trying to give in and settle down with the Master (any version) while dealing with the inner conflict that they’re far too cruel for their taste.

“I found peace in your violence Can't tell me there's no point in trying I'm at one, and I've been silent for too long”

4. Dangerous Man - Little Dume This alternates between the Doctor’s POV and the Master’s. But you can also interpret it as being 100% about any version of the Doctor, since they do have a dark side.

“Every bone in my body's bad Fire's burning, the skies are turning black They say I'm a dangerous man” “Can you hear the storm's a coming I'm a silver in the lining There's a spark in me They say I'm a dangerous man Better run fast as you can Don't you look back”

5. Under Covers – LeRiche A bittersweet song about two people who had this precious friendship and love for each other, and about how distance can keep it all bottled up but once they give it a chance, they immediately go right back to the start. Just fits them very well, if you picture a happy ending to their relationship.

“I don't know why you're looking for a friend I'm right by your side But out here from a distance You won't look me in the eyes Without your love, I think I could die Then you let me in, we go back to beginnings When we were just friends hanging out on the ceiling We'll laugh about love and how we felt for one another And I love the way we make up under covers”

6. The Scientist – Coldplay A song about longing to make things right again and with little analogies involving science? I mean…

“Nobody said it was easy It's such a shame for us to part Nobody said it was easy No one ever said it would be this hard Oh, take me back to the start”

7. Renegades – X Ambassadors The “They actually stole a TARDIS and ran away together from Gallirey” AU we need so much

“Run away with me Lost souls and reverie Running wild and running free Two kids, you and me And I say Hey, hey hey hey Living like we're renegades”

8. Love is War – American Young I like how cute this song is and yet there is a bit of a dark twist. Fits them.

“Sometimes love is all that can save us Sometimes love can kill a man Yeah sometimes love is a soft touch Or a pistol in your hand Sometimes love is a white flag (...) Sometimes a cannon ball But it's worth fighting for Baby, sometimes love is war”

9. Bury a friend – Billie Eilish (Cover by Pomplamoose) Master’s POV. Can apply to any of their regenerations but I think of Simm!Master the most, since Ten tends to run towards him rather than walk away from him.

“What do you want from me? Why don't you run from me? What are you wondering? What do you know? Why aren't you scared of me? Why do you care for me? When we all fall asleep, where do we go?”

10. Come as you are – Nirvana (Cover by Imaginary Future) Best Enemies, everyone. Master’s POV again.

“Come as you are, as you were As I want you to be As a friend, as a friend As an old enemy (…) And I swear that I don't have a gun No, I don't have a gun”

11. Turn – The Wombats Academy!Era, Doctor’s POV. Theta (Doctor) clearly has a crush on Koschei (Master) and they’re both love being chaotic together.

“I like the way your brain works, I like the way you try To run with the wolf pack when your legs are tired I like the way you turn me inside and out I like the way you turn I like the way your brain works Baby, it's the crazy I like I think I saw the world turn in your eyes”

12. Run – Snow Patrol Master’s POV if he was ever able to be honest about his feelings. Some parts can easily be read as the Doctor’s POV too.

“You've been the only thing that's right In all I've done And I can barely look at you But every single time I do I know we'll make it anywhere Away from here”

13. Maps - The Front Bottoms The Doctor’s POV as their relationship deteriorates after the Academy and he plans to steal the TARDIS and leave Gallifrey and his friend behind. I had to help myself from quoting the whole song because IT REALLY FITS SO WELL.

“There is a map in my room, on the wall of my room And I've got big, big plans (…) You say 'I hate you', you mean it And 'I love you' sounds fake It's taken me so long to figure that out I used to love the taste, I would do anything for it Now I would do anything to get the taste out of my mouth (…) "And what about your friends, Don't you love them enough to stay?" And I say, "If I don't leave now, Then I will never get away." Let me be a blue raft on the blue sea, I'll blend right in”

14. Old College – The Mountain Goats This fits the tiresome, sad, manipulative and draining part of their relationship.

“The warning signs have all been bright and garish Far too great in number to ignore (…) Our love has never had a leg to stand on From the aspirins to the cross-tops to the Elavils

But I will walk down to the end with you If you will come all the way down with me”

15. Like a Staring Contest – The Future Kings of Nowhere Covers the end of their friendship and start of the new enemies dynamic.

“I'm so tired of open warfare When the point of this was to be best of friends (…) When you fall in love as hard And recklessly as you and I do It seems that the final act should have The same intensity as the first scene”

16. Poison and Wine – The Civil Wars Reminds me of 12 and Missy but before Series 10.

“You only know what I want you to I know everything you don't want me to Oh your mouth is poison, your mouth is wine You think your dreams are the same as mine Oh I don't love you but I always will”

17. Genesis 30:3 – The Mountain Goats The mentions of a past relationship and the following lines followed by drums really make me picture this as Simm!Master and Ten getting a happy but bittersweet ending.

“For several hours we lay there, last ones of our kind Harder days coming, maybe I don't mind Sounds kind of dumb when I say it, but it's true I would do anything for you”

18. Blood Under The Bridge – Frightened Rabbit Could literally be any version, but I picture Dhawan!Master and 13 making amends here, mostly because he might be crazy and frenetic but behind that façade he’s clearly way more tired than she ever will be.

“And it's alright, it's alright It's just blood under the bridge And I'm too tired to fight And you're sick of feeling sick And so am I It's alright It's just blood under the bridge”

19. Even Though Our Love is Doomed – Garbage Missy’s POV. You can interpret this like her train of thoughts and reflections starting from early Vault days to the last time we see her on-screen. Reluctance, guilt and then the resolution.

“Come a little bit closer I need to understand Why we kill the things we love the most (…) Can you love me for what I've become Love me for what I Said that I would not become 'Cause they don't burn like I do (…) And even though our love is doomed And even though we're all messed up You're the only thing worth fighting for” You're the only thing worth dying for”

20. Starlight – Muse 12 and Missy during the episodes World Enough and Time and The Doctor Falls.

“Now I'll never let you go If you promised not to fade away Never fade away Our hopes and expectations Black holes and revelations”

21. Control – Halsey This screams Missy to me, especially since she literally incorporates the character of the evil nanny in her book (The Missy Chronicles) and in Big Finish’s audio dramas.

“I'm bigger than my body I'm colder than this home I'm meaner than my demons I'm bigger than these bones

And all the kids cried out, "Please stop, you're scaring me" I can't help this awful energy God damn right, you should be scared of me Who is in control?”

22. Enemy – Woodlock End of Academy!Era. Yet another song which reminds me about their early fighting days and the end of their friendship.

This is where it begins At the start of an end I could no longer pretend No more, you walked out the door You’re my enemy

23. Why Can't We Be Friends? – The Academic The title says it all. The lyrics also mention how the relationship is always turning into something new, so I had to associate with the longest friends to lovers to enemies we’ve ever seen on television.

“This world is pointless If you're not here This world is pointless If we're not self-destructing love And it falls and it breaks and it turns into something new And it falls and it breaks and it turns into something”

24. Wish That You Were Here – Florence + The Machine Doctor’s POV, in the days when he regrets leaving Gallifrey for a couple of seconds before turning to occupy his with something else. Because he knows that even if he went back, things aren’t the same and everyone has changed – including him.

“And I never minded being on my own Then something broke in me and I wanted to go home To be where you are But even closer to you, you seem so very far

And it's beautiful but there's that tug in the sight I must stop time traveling, you're always on my mind”

25. No Light, No Light – Florence + The Machine This one makes me picture the first moment the Doctor realized his friend had changed too much and had to choose between his own feelings and standing for what’s right. This happens A LOT in the show, but I imagine realizing that for the first time was the hardest.

“But would you leave me If I told you what I've done And would you leave me If I told you what I've become No light, no light in your bright blue eyes I never knew daylight could be so violent A revelation in the light of day”

26. Dancing with the Devil – Wolf Gang This alternates between the Master’s POV and the Doctor’s POV.

“If you're the chosen one How does it feel to be loved by no one? If you're the number one Where do you run to? Can you hide behind the sun? You say that there's no oxygen again You're forcing down the lies but you always get your way Something tells me that this was all arranged You tricked me once again”

27. Skeleton Park – Kasador Master’s POV. “You know, back in the day, I'd burn an entire city to the ground just to see the pretty shapes the smoke made” (Missy, in The Lie of the Land, Series 10, Episode 8)

“When the house is on fire Air fills my lungs I satisfy desire From watching all you run Yeah the house is on fire Hear the sirens scream My hands hold the lighter It fits so naturally”

28. Elastic Heart – Longfellow What I love the most about the Doctor (all versions) is how they keep fighting for what is right despite their own feelings being hurt or despite how much it may cause them pain. I love what this character represents, and those lyrics reminds me so much of them.

“Oh why can I not conquer love? And I might have thought that we were one Wanted to fight this war without weapons And I wanted it, I wanted it bad But there were so many red flags (…) Yeah, let's be clear, I'll trust no one You did not break in here I'm still fighting for peace”

29. Bite Back – The All-American Rejects “You think you've broken me? You'll have to try harder than that” (The Doctor, in The Timeless Children Series 12, Episode 10). Same unbreakable side of the Doctor, but this time she definitively resents it a little more than usual.

“You couldn't break me in the end And such a freedom I enjoy When you're deaf to the sounds you trust If that was all you've got, my friend Then set yourself to disappoint”

30. No Children – The Mountain Goats Listen to me here: this covers the whole “They were married way before they started to hate each other back on Gallifrey” fan theory.

“I am drowning There is no sign of land You are coming down with me Hand in unlovable hand”

[ PART TWO TO BE ADDED SOON ]

#doctor who #thoschei #doctormaster #best enemies #my playlists #playlist

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jamiejohnsontalk · 4 years

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LGBT Representation in Jamie Johnson as Compared to Other Kids’ Media

Pinned to the top of my blog because I’m quite proud of this post, and I still want newer followers to be able to see it.

From what I know, LGBT representation is relatively new in media. Not just kids’ media, but media in general. I don’t even think I knew what gay meant until I was like 11. And I didn’t know that religions didn’t exactly have the greatest opinion of gay people till my GCSEs. In that sense, I was lucky. I knew I was gay before I knew what homophobia was, so I have always been comfortable with who I am. But others didn’t have life that... Well, simple I suppose. I’ve always known who I am, but other people, well, in the worst case scenario, gay people can become homophobic themselves and grow to hate themselves. This might seem like a sidetracky introduction, but I think it shows the importance of LGBT in media. For someone like me, it can help to start to normalise gay people to my family. Even though they’re still homophobic, at least they’re able to watch programmes with LGBT characters in. I met someone who’s dad wouldn’t watch any shows with LGBT characters in it. And for how rare gay people used to be in media in general, they’re even rarer in kids’ media. Why is it that Disney Channel only had their first gay main character in 2017 when homosexuality was legalised in... 2003 in the US. Wow, I can’t lie, I looked up that statistic expecting it to be way earlier. OK, but it was legalised in 1967 in the UK. So why did I never see any gay characters in my childhood? I’ve known I was gay since I was 9, but I must have first seen a gay character in, OK, it was Doctor Who. Captain Jack was pansexual. So I did have some LGBT representation. But there wasn’t much. And again, not in kids’ media. So, let’s look at some of the kids’ media that changed the landscape for LGBT rep in kids’ media. Sarah Jane Adventures and Wizards vs Aliens We’ll start with what I think is probably the worst types of LGBT representation. First of all: Wizards vs Aliens. Benny came out. But I can’t remember the show ever talking about it again after he came out. Sarah Jane Adventures. Yes, it’s not Russell T Davies’ fault that he never got the chance to let Luke come out in the show, and yes, he got to have Luke come out in the memorial episode for Sarah Jane on YouTube, but even before Liz had... Luke had left the main cast, so his coming out would have still meant less to audience members. Gravity Falls had a coming out at the very end of the show, and I believe so did Adventure Time, so they fit in this category too. Compare that to Dillon from Jamie Johnson. Yes, there’s a reasonable chance we won’t see him again after this season, but if it is, he gets to leave on a high. We get to explore his coming out journey. Steven Universe Steven Universe is great for LGBT representation, and it’s great for normalising LGBT representation. You’ve got a huge variety of LGBT characters, because the Gems are all gay (Except Rose). So you can understand that there are different types of gay people (Love Victor did that too, but I’m not sure how many people would watch it). Steven universe is definitely the gayest kids’ show. High School Musical the Musical the Series fits in this category too. Carlos is out and proud. And we don’t see his coming out, more his love life. Again, great rep. Normalises gay people. Jamie Johnson is nowhere near the level of gay that Steven Universe or High School Musical the Musical the Series is, but I think that it’s less meaningful than other shows I’ll mention and Jamie Johnson. It’s the same reason Victor said “Screw you” to Simon at the beginning of Love Victor. We don’t want to see gay people who have it easy. We want to see gay people who are like us. Who have been through stuff and have come out the other side alive. We want hope, but that doesn’t come from seeing gay people who have it easy. I see people playing football and risking corona and I’m jealous. I want to play football again. I see gay people have it easy: Same. I wish I could have it that easy, and it makes me sad. Steven Universe is a great show, and has great rep, but I think even kids’ media should have something closer to home. Andi Mack and Diary of a Future President I love how they portrayed Cyrus and Bobby. We got to see Cyrus’ story from realising he liked guys to being able to say “I’m gay” to showing his crush he likes him (though homophobes can pretend the bench scene was just a friendship scene). Cyrus’ arc was great, and the bench scene was perfect and the only problem with it was that it deserved a fourth season so we could see Cyrus and TJ in a relationship. Diary of a Future President though. I was heartbroken when Bobby didn’t come out to Liam. But then I found out there was a season 2 and I was OK, because it’s hard to come out. It’s as if all the shows make it so easy to come out to the first person, but it’s not. The first real life person I came out to, I came out at 22. And they had come out to me first. And I had to write it down on my phone. I couldn’t say it out loud. So yeah, seeing Diary of a Future President take it slow is amazing, and I love it, and it’s also what they did with Dillon. Some people think that they only really intended for Dillon to be gay from season 4. But, I think that they’ve known since the beginning. I plan to do a character analysis on Dillon after my rewatch, but I think I found something that shows they must have known since at least season 2. (I expect the analysis will be a lot shorter than this. Sorry for the crazy length. And if it’s a crap read. I don’t essay well). But if they knew from the beginning, that was a brilliant move on their part. The only thing that makes me unsure is how Dillon took 3 years to realise he might be gay, but it’s possible that he denied it to himself until he realised Elliot was gay. Because there’s no way he wasn’t thinking he was gay in season 4 episode 5. He didn’t think he was asexual, his reaction to Ruby’s foster mums suggested that he was interested because they were gay. But regardless, I love that they took it slow. Not everyone can come out as easily as others, and having someone like Bobby, or like Dillon, is so much more meaningful than Cyrus, even though Cyrus is an amazing character. Bobby and Dillon are more relatable because they’re finding it tough to come out. The Dumping Ground I kept trying to decide whether I thought the dumping ground or Andi Mack/Diary of a Future President had better LGBT representation. In the end, I decided that I preferred the Dumping Ground’s representation. Yes, in Andi Mack and Diary of a Future President, we get to see the coming out journey of Bobby and Cyrus, but even though Andi Mack touched on homophobia, a lot of people didn’t even realise Kira was blackmailing TJ, making him afraid of how people would react if they found out he was gay. A number of people just thought TJ was being an idiot. But the Dumping Ground had a gay couple wanting to foster Gus. And IIRC, Johnny thought it was wrong because they were gay. Something like that would foster (see what I did there?) potential discussion between parents and children about gay adoption. Some kids watching the show might have been gay and if they watched it with their parents, they could talk about it with them. Gage their reaction. Maybe even come out to them. The Dumping Ground’s episode was great. And then May-Li came out. And we never got to see her full journey, But we did get to see her journey to being accepted by her grandmother I think. And that’s something. And Now On To Jamie Johnson Just like the Dumping Ground, Jamie Johnson has been able to tackle serious issues. I mean, season 1 dealt with Jamie’s cheating father. You’ve got Zoe being a carer, Dillon getting diabetes. But in terms of LGBT representation, it’s season 4 and season 5. Season 4 episode 5 was incredible. I remember telling all my friends about it, and how amazing it was that CBBC were doing this. To recap: Ruby said her heroes were her foster parents, causing Dillon to ask Ruby about it. She thought he was being an idiot, even though in actual fact, he was excited that someone else was gay and trying not to show it. Dillon told his dad that Ruby had foster mums while he was telling him how Ruby’s biological parents weren’t in her life anymore. Liam, Dillon’s brother, used it to rile up Ruby’s sister Alba until she attacked him. She probably would have gotten expelled from the club, but Sienna filmed the incident so everyone found out what really happened, and it was Liam who got expelled. I think Alba only got excluded. What I find really awesome about the storyline though is not just that they had it. It was that the consequences of Liam’s actions set the course for the rest of the season, aka Dodgy Duncan. Liam’s actions caused the club’s image to go down the drain, and sponsors to leave, and that’s what made Duncan turn to the dark side. And it’s a subtle way to just say “Homophobia is bad”. Because Liam’s homophobia caused all the problems in the rest of the season. The First Time Dillon Let Himself “be Gay” Dillon took a long time to come out. And, like me, I think for a long time, nobody really suspected he was gay, in real life or in the audience. He never really showed it. I’m pretty sure when I was a kid, I would act super offended and upset if someone jokingly called me gay. So, yeah, it’s a slow burn. And we didn’t get any hints that he was gay, but that happens. Gay people are good at hiding, I think that’s why gay kids are often portrayed as loving theater. They already have to act their whole lives. It’s not easy to be in the closet. But I think that once Dillon was able to leave his father’s shadow, he was able to be more comfortable with himself, leading to him coming out to Elliot in episode 7. I think he had crushes before, specifically Michelle from season 2, but Elliot was the first time he felt like he could be himself. So here we have two massive points from other shows, but they haven’t been done together. The discussion of homophobia in the Dumping Ground, and the Slow Burn from Diary of a Future President. Social Media Presence Andi Mack made a huge deal about Cyrus being gay, like a week before the episode where he came out aired. HSMTMTS had Carlos be a gay stereotype from the trailer, and OK, Steven Universe was always gay. But Jamie Johnson, and the Dumping Ground didn’t make a big deal about it beforehand. They didn’t scream to the world “Look at us! We’re woke!” They showed it. They let people see for themselves, they let people debate for two weeks on Dillon’s sexuality, and they didn’t tell everyone that this was the episode Dillon would come out (though they made sure that everyone knew they should watch this episode). They just let people see for themselves. And after the episode aired, they made their move. They had the Jamie Johnson logo in rainbow colours to celebrate pride, they had a guide on how to react if someone comes out to you, and they had a history of pride, and I expect they’ll do even more on their social media after this week’s episode. @tkstrand reckons the Delliot post is Jamie Johnson’s most liked instagram post. I don’t know whether the other shows did this, but it’s a great gesture regardless. Oh, and there’s the fact that they’re doing a Bafta zoom conference on how they tackle issues. Choosing the Right Character and Breaking Ground for CBBC A lot of people on Instagram said that they thought it was Boggy who should be gay, and while I think either storyline would be great, I think that the writers made the right decision. 1) Boggy is an amazing person. He’s not afraid to be himself. I think, if Boggy was gay, then he wouldn’t have as much trouble coming out as Dillon is having. Of course, Boggy is going through stuff right now, but I still think he would have been a lot braver than Dillon and so we wouldn’t get the storyline we’re getting now delving into homophobia 2) If Dillon does have a minor or major role in season 6, we might get to explore homophobia in professional football, which would be super exciting 3) While Boggy is an amazing character, I’d reckon kids tend to gravitate to the coolest character as their favourite. And while Boggy radiates cool. (Seriously, check out the two posts I made on how sarcastic he is. And just look at his hat at the beginning of episode 1!

But Dillon is the more traditionally cool character, so he’s more likely to be a fan favourite (that and the fact that he’s the best developed character in Jamie Johnson). So for those who aren’t necessarily homophobic, but don’t really understand homosexuality, Dillon is the perfect choice to have written as gay. Because after next week, the people who don’t believe Dillon is gay might leave the episode with a new understanding of LGBT people. It’s been done with TJ, who’s also a cool character, but people who want to ignore the gay subtext can because it was never said out loud in the show. And I reckon Dillon is a groundbreaking character for CBBC. Benny left soon after he came out, Luke left before he came out, May-Li is part of an ensemble cast, so in terms of a small number of main characters (the core 4 in JJ being Dillon, Jamie, Zoe and Boggy), so I think Dillon is the first gay main character (not ensemble character) on CBBC who has gotten a major gay storyline. Could be wrong, let me know if I am! Groundbreaking in General From what it looks like, the next episode is gonna focus completely on Dillon’s coming out storyline. Forget kids’ media, I don’t think I’ve seen an adults’ show that has an entire episode solely dedicated to an LGBT storyline. (Even Reunited from Steven Universe wasn’t completely focused on Garnet). Love Victor was jam packed with side stories and I think even Real O’Neals always had side stories to it. If another show has done this, I’d love to hear, but if Jamie Johnson really has the whole episode dedicated solely to Dillon, I think it’s huge. I only hope it doesn’t mean that the storyline will be forgotten about in the last 4 episodes, but since the head writer of Jamie Johnson is LGBT, I have no doubt they’ll do it justice. Does Jamie Johnson Have the Best LGBT Representation in Kids’ Media? No, I don’t think it does. Andi Mack has 2 seasons where we follow Cyrus on his coming out journey and Steven Universe has a lot more LGBT people, including a non-binary character. But in the aspects Jamie Johnson does well, it excels at. The homophobia storyline(s), and Jamie Johnson’s instagram presence. And having the best developed and best defined character be the one to show kids how to treat gay people. Thursday could be a historic moment for Kids’ television if they do this right, and I think they will. So I hope that everyone enjoys the episode! No, I swear this wasn’t a long promo for the next episode. No, I am not sponsored. Yes, this post was extremely long, I’m really sorry about that. I hope it’s worth the read. If not, don’t worry, this will almost definitely be my longest post. No, I don’t know how to have a “continue reading” button. Does anyone happen to know how? Thanks! Edit: Apparently 4 O Clock club had a gay main character first, so I got that wrong, but I still hold that Jamie Johnson is groundbreaking.

#jamie johnson #delliot #lgbt representation #analysis #long post #Seriously this is a super long post

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merspots · 4 years

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Share the Bad Batch headcanons! :D

Well, I’m pretty sure you’ve seen them before, but I’m happy to share them here too. I wrote most of this in 2017, based on the reels, but I still have them as my headcanons.

- None of the Bad Batch are pure human. They’ve got DNA from other species mixed in to give them their specific abilities.

- They were created as experiments by the Kaminoans to see if they could improve on Fett. All four of them were engineered for their roles, and they were trained to do them, but they were put into stasis before Obi-Wan arrived because the Kaminoans realized that ordinary clones were good enough and less resource intensive to grow (and didn’t have the strange quirks the Bad Batch had). The Jedi only found out about them after 99’s death, where they went “Wait, do you have any more weird clones like 99?” and the Kaminoans were all like “Well…” It took a lot of effort to actually get them out into the field, and that only happened near the end of the war when the situation became more desperate.

~ 99 is also an experiment, on how quickly they could age the clones, and he was kept around by the Kaminoans so they could observe the effects of the increased rate of aging.

~ The other clones call them defective and mutants because that’s what they were raised to believe all the ‘different’ clones were, even though in actuality they were purposefully created.

- All of them have issues that in some way relates to their engineering:

~ Hunter is in charge because he’s the most stable emotionally and doesn’t get distracted as easily as the others. He also has super senses; he can see further (and probably in a wider range of the electromagnetic spectrum), hear more, smell more and taste more. He can also sense electromagnetic radiation (so he’s part shark…) and can always tell what’s magnetic north. But because his senses are so sensitive they can easily become overwhelmed by too much stimulation, which means bright lights/loud sounds etc can easily disorient him. Also being around strong electronic radiation is uncomfortable for him and he prefers bland food. He can see in the dark, though, so it’s not all bad. He also is naturally faster & more flexible than the average human (that’s why he’s a stabby ninja), but tends to strain himself.

~ Wrecker is super strong and extremely more durable than the average human (his tissues can take stresses that would destroy that of an ordinary human’s). However he has trouble controlling his emotions (not just his temper) and is not as mentally and emotionally mature as his brothers. He also is not quite as clever, even if he’s not dumb. He just acts childish because he thinks more like a child than the others (and he enjoys being silly).

~ Crosshair is an impossibly good sniper, has great concentration and can run quite fast (because he’s tall). However he has trouble expressing emotions (that’s why he’s so grumpy), struggles to interact with people that aren’t his squad, is slightly long-sighted and is physically a bit weaker. He doesn’t really get emotions sometimes, which is why he can say heartless things without thinking it through (though often he’s being a jerk on purpose :P). His lack of emoting allows him to fall asleep easily, which is why he tends to fall asleep while they’re flying.

~ Tech naturally understands computers and automatically collects information in his brain, as well as does maths on everything. Ask him a question and he’ll probably know the answer. Unfortunately he’s prone to information overload, where he become frozen as he tries to absorb everything and work things out. During these freezes he becomes insensible to the world as his brain literally can’t handle any more information. Sometimes he even freezes mid conversation. He can also become deaf to the world when he’s focused on something. He’s physically weaker, and because he’s shorter than the others it takes him more effort to keep up because he has to jump further and run faster. But he also is a great shot because he automatically calculates the weakness of whatever he’s fighting. He’s also pretty friendly and calm compared to everyone else.

- The physical issues are managed by their armour, which is able to screen out things that will overwhelm them and keep them focused (that’s why Tech always wears his glasses). Also, they have learnt to tolerate things that would have overwhelmed them in the past, so the issues are less obvious now-days.

- When they were kids the issues were worst. Wrecker would be happy one moment, angry and destroying everything the next, then stricken with guilt at what he’d done because he lacked control. Crosshair could not express emotion and basically sat in a corner making everyone leave him alone. Tech would freeze all the time for several seconds, and his memory wasn’t that great as he kept getting overwhelmed. Hunter was extremely sensitive to any changes in the environment, and kept injuring himself as he tried to pull off crazy stunts. Having each other around really helped them learn to cope.

- They were quite naughty kids, and drove those in charge of training them up the wall. They were probably trained by whoever trained the clone commandos, given their specialized nature.

- They’re thieves. They steal things from both their enemies and other clones to modify their armour with, which is why it’s so unique. At the very least Tech steals stuff, it’s why he has all those pouches. They usually return things if asked nicely though.

- They like to watch the Holonet in general, but particularly enjoy badly made Sci-Fi B-movies. They laugh at how terrible they are.

- Wrecker, Crosshair and Tech easily get distracted, which makes getting prepared for a mission always a rush because they leave everything to the last minute.

- Hunter’s probably in charge because he beat them in some kind of contest (he probably cheated). However he really is the best qualified to lead them.

- There are some clones, that when they hear the Bad Batch is coming, run in the opposite direction. It’s a mystery how Cody can get along so well with them.

- The game Republic Commando indirectly inspired the Bad Batch, because they’re the most video game-y characters to not have a video game. If Delta Squad ever met them it would devolve into everyone trying to prove they’re better while Boss and Hunter just shake their heads in shame. (This is pure speculation, but Lucas was quite involved in giving the Delta Squad their personalities and I wouldn’t be surprised if he referenced them in the story meetings that lead to the development of The Bad Batch given the squad’s similarities.)

—

Also spoilers for the last episode:

- Echo probably suffers from nightmares relating to his capture and time in stasis.

- Tech enjoys messing around with Echo’s cybernetics. Echo has at least once woken up to find a leg missing and hidden somewhere on the ship. But Tech and Echo are buddies, so Echo usually doesn’t get too upset.

Edit: What happened to the formatting?! Fixed it but that was annoying.

#the bad batch #my thoughts #star wars #the clone wars #season 7 #headcanons #tech #wrecker #crosshair #hunter #my answered asks

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sctisfctions · 3 years

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( emeraude toubia, 28, cis female, she/her ) Have you seen CARINA TORRERO around ? I hear they’re an ESCORT who can sometimes be GREEDY & IMPULSIVE. But I also heard they can be DETERMINED & ADAPTIVE if you catch them on a good day. They’re usually hanging around LA CASA DI MATEO in their spare time. I sure hope they’re alright ! ( mandy )

Hello all! I’m Mandy and this is my child, Carina Torrero She’s… a lot, so bless your soul for finding your way to this intro.

Full name: Carina Cecilia Torrero Nickname: Care, Cari, C.C. Age: 28 Nationality: Mexican and Lebanese Religion: N/A City of birth: Laredo, Texas The current place for living: Chicago, IL Job title: Eden Escort Married? No Spoken Languages: Spanish, English Birthday: October 30th Does she own a home? Yes

B A C K G R O U N D : ( updated Feb. 25th, 2021 )

Carina is the baby of her family and has always was spoiled as such; showered in gifts. In the small town of Laredo, Texas, the Torrero family was known as the richest family in town. While it was rumored that there were some underground dealings going on in the family business, none of those were true. In fact, The Torreros prided themselves on being the purest and most righteous family in the region. Rev. Torrero owned and pastored a Mega Church that made millions of dollars every week, on top of people throwing money at her parents for their “good work”. But it meant nothing to Carina because she always felt like the church always came before her. Every time they were absent from her biggest life events, a gift was sent to make up for it.

When Carina went to Drexel University to get her degree in fashion design and marketing, she planned on spending the first year goofing off and exploring what the world has to offer her. In a city like Philadelphia, it was easy to get lost in the hype of pre-game drinking sessions and post-game parties, getting sucked into hook-up culture and living as thought she’d never have a chance to touch this many people all at once.

Getting out of college and moving back in with her family in Laredo was odd, at first, leaving the sweet life of sin behind and pretending to be the angel the town was so used to. Kidding, of course, she couldn’t leave it behind. She started doing modeling on the side and ended up getting commissioned for a huge gig with a very risqué magazine. Before the photoshoot even happened, word reached her parents church and the rumors spread like wildfire across the town. Her parents looked down on her with shame and disgrace.

It felt all so overwhelming until she realized it’s all just Texas life. Outside of their region, no one even knows who her family is. She knew the only thing to do was to pack up her things, steal a couple million dollars from her parents ( which was barely a dent for them ), and move to Chicago where she could carry on a life of her own. Within a month of moving, she made friends with some people who worked at a club called Eden. They got her a job as an escort and, to this day, she’s been operating as a freelance designer by day and an escort by night.

Family:

Sisters or brothers: One older brother and sister Wife or husband: N/A. Children: None. Other important persons: Roommate(s)

Physical Characteristics:

Addictions: control, power Bad Habits: acting only for the good of herself Color of Eyes: brown The color of Hair: black The color of Skin: tan Dialect: american accent Does the character drink regularly? always Does the character have any disabilities? no Does the character prefer any proverbs? “the most important thing is to enjoy your life and be happy” - audrey hepburn Does the character smoke? sometimes Good Habits: open-minded, forward thinking, tidy. Height: 5′3″ Hobbies: reading, working out, instagram, binge watching, skin care routines, healthy eating Is she wearing Glasses? no Is the character healthy or does he have any diseases? she’s healthy What’s the style of the character? (modern, outmoded): sporty and sexy. is almost always wearing a sports bra, leggings, and sneakers.

Mental Characteristics

Education: Bachelor’s Degree in Fashion Design and Marketing Intelligent or not? smart enough. she picks things up quickly. Fears: being misunderstood, spiders Life Goals (next 5 years): get a mansion Life Goals (next 25 years): own a fashion empire Self-perception: idk she’s just trying to keep it all together Assumed external perception: she thinks people think she’s either great or a bitch, there is no in between. Self-Confidence: extremely confident Rational Or Emotional: rational How could you upset this character? compare her to her family

Wanted Connections ( all based on crazy ex-girlfriend/galavant songs )

any of these could be filled with gang affiliates of any kind !! It’d be fun to see how a gang affiliate would spice up these connections !!

PLATONIC

FRIENDTOPIA: Carina loves very few people on Earth. They’re the Joey/Chandler/Monica/Phoebe to her Rachel. They do practically everything together, as they spend pretty much every waking second together. They’re her roommates (they can work at Eden with her, but it’s not required).

LET’S GENERALIZE ABOUT MEN: a bitch-type group of friends that get together, sometimes drink, sometimes shop, or sometimes just share gossip and personal thoughts about what the hell is going on around them.

SECRET MISSION: They say the enemy of my enemy is my friend. These people mutually hate someone and often come up with different ways in which they can make this person suffer. But it’s all just in good fun…… or is it?

OFF WITH HIS SHIRT: Any of the men she’s been with exclusively through Eden. Her “regulars” or “visitors”, if you will. She gets paid quite heavily whether she offers sex or just her general company.

MAYBE YOU WON’T DIE ALONE: Carina is the self-proclaimed Hook Up Guru of Chicago, so she’ll definitely attempt to hook you up with that person you’ve had your eye on and it sometimes isn’t subtle. But sex makes her happy, so helping her friends get laid makes her happy too.

AFTER EVERYTHING I’VE DONE FOR YOU: This person has gone to hell and back for Carina, yet she shows little to no gratitude towards them. It’s only a matter of time before their lid pops right off.

FACE YOUR FEARS: These are her older friends who help her figure out her shit and she ACTUALLY listens to them because she just trusts them more than anyone else.

GREG’S DRINKING SONG: Drinking buddies!! A lot of the instances Greg mentions in the song can basically just be different scenarios they’ve gotten themselves in.

ROMANTIC/SEXUAL:

IT WAS A SHIT SHOW: A bittersweet ex-boyfriend. They really didn’t have any choice but to end things. He has some things going on in his life, Carina wasn’t anywhere near ready for a monogamous relationship. They both agree… it was a DISASTER.

SETTLE FOR ME: Someone who, stupidly, has a crush on Carina and he literally doesn’t have a single chance in hell. I just think this kind of energy would be hella hilarious.

STRIP AWAY MY CONSCIENCE: One of the guys that she regularly hooks up/hooked up with. Maybe even dated, but it wasn’t anything more than sex, really. They’re still friends to this day.

SEX WITH A STRANGER: This is pretty straight forward. All of her hookups. I’m just gonna list them here for data purposes. They coulda been friends before or barely know each other. Honestly, if she avoided everyone she’s ever had sex with, she’d never leave her house.

ENEMIES:

MAYBE YOU’RE NOT THE WORST THING EVER: Bitter, toxic exes. This was one of her first real and intense relationships that happened in a time when she was the most vulnerable and unprepared. It ended HORRIBLY when they lashed out at each other and it’s hard to let those feelings go. If they can get over their own pettiness, they can at least hope to be frenemies.

JACKASS IN A CAN: People who really just DON’T think she’s all that. They thinks he’s very stuck up and don’t fall for her charming, blunt persona in the slightest. I’d just love someone to call her out on her bullshit.

I DON’T LIKE YOU: General dislike and sworn mortal enemies kind of situation. We can talk over what happened between them, but honestly, it wouldn’t be that hard to find something that she did… or someone.

WHEW this was long, but go ahead and press some buttons if you like and wanna plot with her!!

#crimson.intro #💫 ( carina torrero )

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thinkingbookthoughts · 3 years

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Exile From Eden pt. 3/3

Women. [Spoilers]

I don't think his depictions of women are bad. I think they're complicated and often disappointing.

Our understanding of every woman in both books is filtered through a teenage boy who is trying to figure them out without… ever asking them. I don’t necessarily fault the characters for that, I know I wasn’t the most thoughtful, empathetic person on the planet when I was 16, but still, the result is that we only ever know our protagonists. This normally wouldn’t bother me, a more or less first-person book is bound to run into that limitation, but UGh the women and girls of both of these stories could have been so much more than they were.

There is definite improvement in Exile, but in Grasshopper the women and girls of the story are more or less set dressing… Acting more than once as little more than wombs to produce more male characters for Austin to empathize with and talk about. The way he talks about his grandmothers… I just… was it strictly necessary to describe your grandmother’s breasts as being like frosted cupcakes… at least 2 separate times…? I’d like to know what that contributed. Please. Tell me. The girl who gets the worst of it in the first book is absolutely Shann. I really LIKE Shann. She is cool and funny and interesting (from what little we have of her) and yet her only role in the story is to act as one of the ingredients to Austin’s internal struggle. And then to… give birth to a second male protagonist for you to empathize with and read about… I was really hoping for her to get more in the second book, and she kind of just doesn’t. She’s so shafted by this story. And I’m not just talking about the things that happen to her, you’re allowed to have a female character not have a happy ending. I’m talking about the way the story (if a story could be said to have a will of its own, or maybe cough cough I’m talking about the writer) just does not care about her. She’s not a sexy lamp, but oh dear god does she come very close.

By the second book, we have Mel, Connie, Wendy, and Shann. Who are all living breathing women(and girl) who actually exist in the story and even have dialogue! Incredible. And we get to spend time with them, not a ton, but it’s massive compared to Grasshopper. The issue I have with the women in Exile is that while they have far more going on than the women of Grasshopper, it’s always from a distance and met with confusion. Yes, these women are complex and dare I say, realistic, but everything they go through is happening somewhere Arek can’t see. A limitation of the narration……… except it’s not. We get all kinds of information we probably shouldn’t, to the point where Austin just straight-up has to say “look, I’m not going to tell you where all this came from, just trust me.” And you do. Arek’s narration works more or less the same way. We could have had a better understanding of why these women are the complicated, messy ways they are. We just don’t. And that’s not necessarily bad, that’s life, babe. But because it’s specifically women, over and over again, whose hurt and trauma remains unexplored, with our only glimpse into them being Arek saying something along the lines of “I just don’t get it.” While most of the male characters, by comparison, seem super well adjusted (all things considered) and cool and are treated with understanding and respect? COME. ON. If I were being unkind, I’d say it has a very “broads, eh?” vibe to it.

And with Mel… I don’t dislike Mel, but who is she? We spend WAY more time with her than we ever did with Shann, and yet… I feel like I know way less about her. All I can really remember of her is that… Arek thinks she’s brave and blissfully uncomplicated and way way smarter than he’d ever be. Again, we get the suggestion that there’s more going on behind what is plainly visible to Arek, but no… actual… page time… spent on it… If it weren’t for the fact that I’m supposed to believe she’s like, a human, with feelings and stuff, and a teenager at that, I’d really think there was just nothing going on in her head all the time. A huge disservice to Mel, and frankly, the teenagers reading the book. Stop letting boys believe that girls are these smart, perfect, mature superhumans who are just better, and more equipped to deal with things, or else ditzy and useless. Fuck that. Come ON, ANDREW. I KNOW YOU’VE MET A GIRL.

Whether positive or not, it is still relegation to the other. It feels to me like he others women constantly, without really trying to understand them. Painting them as brave and strong and complex, yes, but unfathomably so. Their pain, their strength is different, unknowable. And I just don't think that's fair.

And dear god, do not get me STARTED on the whole “boys will always want to go away :(“ thing. Every time that line came up I nearly rolled my eyes out of my got damn skull. I believe you, Andrew, I do. But did you ever stop to consider that girls want to go away too? That a sense of adventure and longing are not actually gendered? Look at me… I’ve got started, haven’t I… Well, I’ll say this and I’ll leave it at that: I hate this because girls do want to go away. They want to run and never come back. They want to let go of stifling home lives and societal expectations and find something cool and crazy that no one has ever seen but them! MAYBE EVEN MORE THAN YOU DO. But at the very least, as much as you do. There are a lot of reasons they might not, but it sure as hell isn’t because they don’t want to. And every time I read “boys just want to go away,” followed by some implication that women could just never understand that drive… It fucking hurt, man. It’s straight-up dehumanizing. And it makes me think of all the women and girls who dream of going away. And all the men and boys who think they don’t have the same feelings as them.

There are things that come with womanhood that would be difficult for someone who hasn't lived it to understand, but I genuinely don't believe it's impossible. Or at least we can get a lot closer to it than Smith seems to be willing to in these books.

It’s a shame, really. I don’t know the guy, and probably never will, but from these books, I feel like he is an empathetic person who tries to understand the ways that people work. The ways that their lived experiences, and even the entire history of the world, come together to create a person. And fuck does it suck that the same level of attention and care is just not extended to the women in these two books to anywhere near the same degree. I’ve not read his other work yet, so I hope that I will continue to see improvement there.

#Exile From Eden #books #booksbooksbooks #bookblr #booklr #book thoughts #spoiling the whole concept of women #srry lads

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