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tloujm · 4 years

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Part I: Going Home

Author’s Notes: This is the first chapter of my first Joel Miller fic. As mentioned in an earlier post on my main page, my desire was to veer away from canon and it does...like a lot. It still keeps enough details to make it familiar, but I rearranged it to fit the plot that I had in my head. This takes place after the events of TLOU. It does utilize some scenes at the end of the first video game, but most of the plot is inspired by the second game. The reader, you, is replacing Ellie. Instead of a father/daughter relationship, there is a romantic relationship between Joel and a more age appropriate OC/reader. The reader is still younger than him but an adult. Its up to your imagination how much of an age difference there is. I try to keep things vague regarding the physical description of his romantic interest to make it easily relatable for a variety of readers. It’ll probably get more specific in later chapters to help with imagery of certain scenes *wink wink*. I’ve proof read it, but let me know if things don’t make sense. Please show love if you enjoyed reading it! Even if no one reads this, I enjoyed pouring out my love (and lust) for Joel.

Genre: Fluff, Angst

Summary: Joel drove you to Jackson to live a more stable and comfortable life. It was his best way to protect you; that and lie about what really happened at the Fireflies hospital. His goal was to move on from anything Fireflies related, but you couldn’t quite do that. So many questions ate at you which caused your emotions to conflict. You wanted to trust Joel; you felt something deep for him. Unbeknownst to you, he came to terms with his love for you when your life was threatened at the hospital. It was you or them and he chose you.

Ship: JoelxReader

“They stopped looking for a cure. I’m taking us home.” Joel said before falling silent on the car ride to Jackson.

It was a long ride from the hospital in Utah to Maria’s settlement in Wyoming. You would drift in and out of sleep in the back of the car Joel was driving. Home. He said it so naturally as if Jackson was the destination the whole time. A home felt comfortable. The word gave you warm feelings as it was something you hadn’t known for a very long time. That sense of content mingled with the anesthesia allowed you to push away any more questions you had.

They were still there, however; popping up more frequently in your head. After the car ride, Joel was careful not to mention anything related to the Fireflies or the hospital around you. His lack of transparency caused you to be a bit hesitant. The words just wanted to roll off your tongue; it was so close, you could taste it. Tell me everything. What did the test results say? Where are the other immune? How could they have given up? You remember the look in the eyes of the Fireflies back east. They were so eager to find a cure.

Just a week ago, there was no one in the world you trusted more than Joel. Being around a group of strangers in a state that you’d never been in, Joel was a crutch. He trusted the place because of Tommy, so you knew you should too, but it wasn’t that easy. At the same time, however, you had the instinct to keep your distance from Joel. He caused an inner conflict with you.

The settlement itself was easy to love though. The running water, electricity, stable of horses, fresh food and the list went on. It wasn’t easy to maintain these resources, but it was damn better than hunting and gathering out there everyday. Joel picked out an empty house within the settlement walls large enough for the two of you. He fully expected you two to sleep in separate rooms but he did not expect you to reject the house altogether. He may have been your social crutch, but you just felt better being in your own four walls. Being protective, he preferred to have you close, so the two of you made a compromise by agreeing that you live in the garage. It was quite large as it was a two-car. After a little while, you were able to make it up in a way that suited you. Soon enough, the only thing you had to share with him in the main house was the bathroom. It wasn’t that you wanted to avoid him completely. In fact, he peaked a certain interest in you which furthered the inner conflict.

Having space from Joel was difficult because you hadn’t yet made friends. Between the anesthesia weakening your body and Joel’s air of mystery, people tended to tread lightly around you.The only other people you really talked to outside of him were Maria and Tommy. It was surprisingly easy to fall into a domestic routine of sorts. The two of you ate together, walked around outside together, patrolled together. Watching Joel sit on the porch or relax on the couch after a long day gave you a glimpse into how he must have looked before the world went to shit. After all that he’d been through, watching him rest warmed your heart. He deserved it, you thought. He didn’t smile often, but you caught him smiling more since arriving home.

Laying in your bed, you thought back to the period right before you arrived at the hospital. It was probably the best part of the whole journey. The weather was just starting to get warm again, the scenery was lush and most impactful of all, the two of you were getting along. Not just in a civil way, but in a ‘something more’ kind of way. At least that’s what you felt and you couldn’t help but tread across those waters. Joel became more open with you. He would play into your flirtatious antics as if he wanted more. Despite knowing that the journey was nearing its end, Joel allowed himself to enjoy your company as you did his. You remembered that he even asked if you wanted to continue the journey further, at one point. He said that the two of you could turn back now and head north to Jackson. Sometimes, you wish that you had chosen that option instead, but you know that you’d just regret not choosing the hospital even more.

Seeing Joel’s guard fall down, slow as it was, still is sometimes, made you happy because you liked the person that you saw underneath it all. It was still a struggle some days, though. A hardened look would appear on Joel’s face at the mention of the Fireflies, even if it was unrelated to you. Moments like those reminded you of the questions that formed not too long ago in your head. Moments like those prompted you to form new questions. Why did he look so defensive? What was he hiding behind those darkened eyes?

After a few months of living in Jackson, you had finally mustered up the courage to talk to Joel about that day back in Utah. What was the worst that could happen? You were comfortable around him and he cared about you. He never said those words, but you knew that he did. You wouldn’t be in Jackson if he didn’t.

“Joel?” You shout from downstairs. You entered the house from the back door without knocking like you usually did. He wasn’t scheduled for patrols today so you were hoping that he was home.

“M’up here.” His voice responded from upstairs. You walked up the steps until you reached the hallway. The only door open was that of his craft room.

“You making something?” You gestured to the raw piece of wood in his hand. He looked up from his whittling knife and turned to face you standing in the doorway.

He shook his head. “I dunno what I should make,” He offered up a half smile. “Just shavin’ off pieces ‘til I figure somethin’ out.” He sat the knife down onto the workbench. “What is it, (Y/N)?”

You shrug casually. “Just wanted to see what you were up to.” You moved into the room and found a place to sit. Joel scoffed at his dinged up piece of wood before setting that down too. “Actually, I wanted to talk to you.”

“Shoot, darlin’.” His pet name for you always made the nerves that you had melt away, to an extent. You would constantly tell yourself that there was no reason to be nervous around him, but you saw the way he looked when he was triggered by certain words.

You let out a breath. “You know, back in Boston when I was bitten, I was not alone. My friend was there. She was my best friend actually.” You look down at the wooden floor. “Well, she got bitten too. We didn’t know what to do. We were scared. So she says, ‘Let’s just wait it out. We can be all poetic and just lose our minds together.’ She...I didn’t…” You shake your head. “I’m still waiting for my turn.”

“(Y/N)” Joel began before you cut him off.

“It was her, then everyone else I attempted to get close to after that. Why do I get to live when they don’t? Each time, others have had to take my turn for me and I don’t know why?” You pause. “Why am I immune?�� It was the first question you had for the Fireflies but everything happened so quick and next thing you knew, everything went black.

“(Y/N), that’s not on you.” Joel said gently. “I’ve struggled for a long time with survivin’.” He let out a sigh. “No matter what, you gotta keep finding somthin’ to fight for.” He made sure to look you in the eyes, even if you didn’t want to meet his.

“You don’t under---” You start.

Joel cuts in. “Now, I know that’s not what you wanna hear right now, but it’s---”

You speak up. “Back at the hospital...” You watched as his face began to harden. You contemplated what to say next. “Just swear to me. Swear that everything you said about the Fireflies is true.” He repositioned himself in the chair, never breaking eye contact with you.

His voice turned gruff. “I swear.” You stared at him for a long moment to read his face. He looked you dead in the eye and gave you his word. How much could you trust a man that would do that and still lie?

“Okay.” You nodded your head and left him alone in the room. Joel had half a mind to go after you, but decided best to give you space. You asked him to swear and he did.

*****

“(Y/N), You comin’?” Joel asked from the other side of the garage door after knocking. You didn’t forget that Tommy had invited the two of you over for dinner. After talking to Joel, however, you weren’t much in the mood.

“I’m coming.” You said with a huff.

You quickly threw on something nicer than what you usually wore and opened the door. You found him standing there waiting. He turned to you and smiled as if the most intense conversation you’ve had with him in months hadn’t just occurred. You offered a tight lined smile in return before walking off. The air was crisp and the temperature was just right. It didn’t take much for him to keep pace with you. Joel took glances at you every so often. You would only look back at him when he wasn’t. The thing was, you weren’t sure if he was actually lying. You could only translate the feeling in your gut. You stopped on the stoop of Tommy and Maria’s house as Joel lifted his knuckles to rasp the door. He waited a moment and glanced at you again.

“Hey!” Tommy exclaimed after opening the door. “Come on in.”

“Thanks, Tommy.” Joel muttered as he walked in.

“Yeah, thanks for having us.” You followed.

“Of course. It’s not often we all have a night off at the same time.” Maria chimed from the dining room. Joel grunted in agreement.

“C’mon, have a seat in here.” Tommy guided us out of the hallway. “Dinner’s just about ready, right hun?”

“I hope y’all like duck! I tried my best with it. I’ve never cooked duck before.” She brought a large roasting dish into the room and sat it in the middle of the table. “If not, there’s still mashed cauliflower and gravy right there and then some lima beans over there.”

“I’m sure it’ll taste really good, Maria.” You said.

“Now, where did y’all find a duck?” Joel inquired as a way to make conversation.

“I went hunting, brother mine.” Tommy replied, patting his older brother on the shoulder before sitting. Joel rolled his eyes and gave Tommy a pointed glare to which he chuckled. “Jesse told me about a new pond he discovered while out on patrol and well, you know, where there’s water, there’s life. So I decided to go see for myself and I took my rifle with me.”

“Shoulda told me. I would’ve gone with you.” Joel responded. He held out his glass as Maria came around with a pitcher of water. He nodded at her in gratitude.

“Nah. Wanted it to be a surprise for the dinner here. You ever had duck?” Tommy turned to you.

“No.” You shook your head. Tommy could sense there was something up between you two but he knew better than to bring it up at the dinner table. He wondered if Maria had caught on.

“Duck.” Tommy stated with a sigh, trying to think of something else to say. “Always thought it was a rich man’s food. Now look at us.” He carved into the breast of the roasted duck and began to serve portions.

“Next time, I’ll bring some caviar.” You spoke up. You saw what Tommy was trying to do, so you in turn tried your hand at comic relief. Luckily for you, it worked. The room broke out in laughter.

Maria sat down and grabbed her husband’s hand to her right and yours to her left. This prompted you to take Joel’s hand into yours. “We are rich in our blessings. We have food and we have each other.”

Maria quickly said grace before everyone at the table dug in. For something you’d never tasted before, it was good. It wasn’t your favorite meat but the dinner as a whole was delicious and fulfilling. You think back for a moment on how your full belly now contrasted to that of yours a year ago. The four of you sat at the table for an hour after finishing the meal. You had to admit that it was an awkward start but these were the people that you were most comfortable with in the whole town. That had to mean something. Even things with Joel subsided, if just for the evening.

The rest of the night was spent in the living room. The four of you caught up with each other. At times, the conversation included everybody and at others, it was just between Tommy and Joel which elicited Maria to spark up a conversation with you.

“How’s things going?” She gestured her head toward Joel. She caught on. “If you guys need anything, you know all you have to do is ask. We’re happy to do what we can.”

“Oh, we’re fine. I’m fine. I’m sure Joel’s fine but thank you.” You replied.

She looked at you for a moment. “Is there something going on between you two? I’ve seen the way Joel looks at you. Even the first time y’all came around to Jackson. I saw it back then and I know you live with him.”

You glanced up at him then shifted back to Maria. “Well technically I don’t...um no. There’s nothing between us. We’re friends.” You shrugged as if you had no idea what she was talking about. “I guess after traveling so far for so long, you just grow attached to each other, but that’s it.”

“I think he’s grown more than attached to you.” She shrugged as well. “But if he’s not who you want, then that’s fine. Just please don’t hurt him. Tommy has told me things about his past all the way down to their childhood. I don’t know what he’s shared with you, but he’s had it rough.” To this day, Joel hadn’t shared much with you, but you didn’t need to know exactly what happened in his past to know he’s had it rough. Everybody’s had it rough in different ways.

“I could never hurt him.” You meant it. You just hoped that he could say the same about you. “I was wondering if I could ask you something.”

“Go ahead.” She replied.

“How do I go about changing my patrols? I don’t want to stop going out with Joel, but I would like to do it with other people. Make some new friends.”

She smiled. “I think that’s a good idea. Jesse is one of the patrol leaders as well as Tommy of course. Talk to one of them about it. They can pair you up with an experienced patroller to start you off. I know you’ve got experience patrolling with Joel, but it's just protocol when someone takes a different route than usual.” She paused for a moment to down the rest of her water. “Hell, Jesse might even take you out himself. He’s a good kid.”

“Thanks.” You replied.

#Joel #Joel Miller #TLOU #TLOUS 2 #The Last Of Us #Ellie #Troy Baker #fanfic #fanfiction #tlou fanfic #joel x reader #joel miller x reader #reader insert #oc #fandom

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sendmyresignation · 3 years

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You Got Blood On Your Money

Question: how do you make honest art? Is this not the eternal conflict as a creator- how to stay genuine to yourself and your art without tripping into the pitfalls that lay within fame or money or popular culture? Every creator must grapple with the fight between being seen and being sold. But very few artists struggle with this quite as visibly as My Chemical Romance has. From the inception of this band, which has always been more art project than musical endeavor, its members have tried desperately to convey a bone-deep sincerity fundamental to their work. From their very first song, the band proclaims itself as a savior to a generation that had been stripped of their will in the face of unimaginable horror. At the same time, there exists within their music a commitment to storytelling, a desire to fill the empty space in rock music with narrative and macabre and emotion that had been absent. Both of these elements manifest themselves into a band that very seriously considered it their mission to save people’s lives, as well as to create deeply meaningful art. But how do you save as many people as possible without being corrupted by the spotlight? And how do maintain genuine storytelling as you get further and further from the basement shows you got your started in?

These are questions that permeate their music at every turn, something that haunted each album and made itself known in each new project. And while there are many ways to dissect this particular struggle in their discography, nowhere is it more apparent than in the dispute between Thank You For the Venom and its reimagined successor- Tomorrow’s Money. These songs are noticeably similar in their structure as well as lyricism and imagery but instead of the latter building off of the other, they are inverses of each other. And they speak to My Chem’s long battle with becoming a legendary band in the midst of also attempting to keep their identities as artists and outsiders. And in analyzing their differences, it becomes reflective of the band’s main career-long conflict between the commodification of their art and the need to create something larger than themselves. And the question remains, were they successful?

Before we answer that, let's talk about Thank You for the Venom. To begin, it's important to note that Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge is an interesting part of My Chemical Romance’s discography because ultimately, it is unconcerned with legacy, but instead is centered on the immediacy of loss and the reactionary pursuit of revenge. In a record overwhelmed with death and grief, there is very little mention of the afterlife for either the living or the dead- characters are murdered but there is very little textual violence. Characters come back to life but there is minimal discussion of how they died or where exactly they were in death. However, that does not mean Revenge is not devoid of mythologizing- it just happens to be about immediate intention rather than a long-term commitment. It is because of this reckless drive forward almost to spite the odds that allows for Venom to exist as the band's declaration- it is their call to arms. Specifically, the track is a pronouncement of My Chemical Romance as renegades fighting against the fake, safe bands writing hits for money instead of survival or purpose: they “won’t front the scene” if you paid them, after all, but are instead running from their enemies. And not only are they an oppositional force, but they are pariahs, targets- something you can try to kill but will fail at. More specifically, in “If this is what you want the fire at will” there is an element of martyrdom, the idea that they are not just a necessary part of the very structure of society but also there is the implication that killing them is to concede to their influence and a necessary part of their lifecycle. Once you get big enough to become a target, you inevitably will be shot down- that is the final step of a great and honest band’s success. This also feeds into the album's wider ideas surrounding revenge as a concept as the greatest revenge is finding success in the aspects of yourself and, by extension, the things you create that other people thought were worthless (I don't think it's a coincidence so much of this album is steeped in comic book imagery and art and mixing punk and metal and theater when those are things the band would get shit on for enjoying). At the same time, this theme exists as the foundation necessary to create an anthem of survival- revenge is the fuel that keeps the protagonist, as well as the band, in motion. Look at the specifics of their thesis- “Just the way the doctor made me” and “You’ll never make me leave” are both reconciliations with the self in spite of the prevailing narrative against them. That connects to the way this song is a statement of a savior and a martyr twofold- “Give me all your hopeless hearts and make me ill” as a representation of the band taking on the pain of others to keep them both alive. All told, in Venom there is perseverance in the face of a large, unimaginable adversary. It is a threat directed at your enemies. It’s living as free and ugly and completely yourself as you can until they shoot you down in a hail of bullets. And then even that end is itself a victory.

Here, at its core, Venom is really the singular instance in the entire album where the band reconciles with an image. And the image the band creates for themselves is as outcasts in opposition to the "scene" and as a revenge plot, proving to their audience the value of authenticity and survival and rubbing it in the faces of those who doubted them. These themes about what My Chemical Romance is and what their goals are is something they wrestle with for the rest of their career- how do you say lives, reach an audience, and remain a fighting force against the societal norm when you exceed your mission and become part of the fabric of popular culture? But that is for later, at this moment, Revenge imagines no future. Only this desperate battlecry.

By contrast, Tomorrow’s Money is dealing with the aftermath. Functioning as a cynical reimagining of Venom, the song is structurally, thematically, and even lyrically reminiscent of Venom to an uncanny degree. First and foremost, the songs are structured the same- a slow build-up into a whispered intro, a multi-part chorus, the exact same chorus-verse layout, and a strikingly similar solo. Looking at the two Toro solos more closely, they both feature more building up as well as tremolos, triples, darker tones, and what sounds like a slide progression just ripping through both of them. Tomorrow’s Money is mimicking Venom pretty clearly here- either as a direct reference or because Venom is so reminiscent of the condensed MCR sound that they’re ripping off to make their point. And looking deeper at the themes present in Money specifically, just like Revenge, there is a clear lack of legacy- “we got no heroes ‘cause our heroes are dead” calling back to the very real disillusionment of Disenchanted that’s placed specifically in a song about becoming part of the machine, being heroes themselves, to nod to the fact that the very mission of the band is dead as well.

Simply put, Money tackles similar issues as Venom about fame and audience and creating art while using much of the same language and metaphors to completely invert the claims found in the “original”. To start with, both songs use the verbage “bleeding” to associate with a kind of suffering for your art that was an aspect of their previous band ideology. Namely, it’s the idea that the audience makes the band ill through the “hopeless hearts” as much as the “poison” does. The “what’s life like bleeding on the floor” of Venom is paired with “you’ll never make me leave” is a statement of defiance and survival against the odds while still bearing the burden of other’s pain. Money, on the other hand, explicitly says they “stopped bleeding three years ago” as a rejection of this leftover martyrdom prevalent in Revenge especially. But it also refers to their newfound luxury of comfort, they have a way to stitch themselves together that they didn’t have before. These implications transition directly into the ideas surrounding health, vitality and living- specifically surrounding both doctors and infection. Speaking of the former, Money has an interesting lines in “If we crash this time, we’ve got machines to keep us alive” and "me and my surgeons and my street-walking friends" because they speak to both becoming a part of the “industry” by mentioning mechanization but also specifically evokes the living dead. In the MCR canon, the idea of the undead (both vampires and zombies) are antagonistic forces that represent the outside world, specifically fake people or the music industry. And zombies, in general, are already rife with allegorical connections to consumerism, like how Dawn of the Dead, a known mcr influence, is directly about materialistic culture. Vampires, subconsciously or not, are often representatives of exuberant wealth as well as beauty and desire. They’re also blood-suckers and leeches that someone in this narrative has fallen in love with, as if colluding with the enemy and allowing them to literally drain them and their life force. Thus, in describing themselves as essentially undead (when they crash, they’re revived) as well as directly collaborating with the undead, they are connecting themselves to the very forces they’ve been fighting. But perhaps the most interesting aspect of this association is how they specifically relate it to survival, the only way of staying alive is to accept them, to allow themselves to be hooked up to the machines that make them undead in the first place. Almost as if you make it far enough not to tear yourself apart, you’ll eventually assimilate into and become part of the industry.

This idea of unavoidable assimilation is compounded with the multiple references to viruses- “You're loaded up with the fame. You’re dressed up like a virus” then being reemphasised with “We’re gonna give it for free. Hook up the veins to the antibodies, got it with the disease, we’re gonna give it to you”. Both these lines condemn fame but also implicates themselves as part of the contagion that is celebritidom at the same time it depicts this process as unavoidable. Not only that, they’re the ones spreading it at the same time they condemn it. This duality, possibly even exaggerated hypocrisy is buried deep into the foundation of Money. Even the ending line, as angry and inflammatory as it is- still names them as complicit as the "I’ll see you in hell" implies that they're going to hell too. Looking even deeper, there are multiple references to the dilution of their message: “Choke down the words with no meaning” and “The words get lost when we all look the same'' both representing meaninglessness in the lyrics while “the microphone’s got a tapwire” is reminiscent of wiretapping or even the surveillance company Tapewire, suggesting their words are under scrutiny, they are being monitored and that could be one of the reasons for meaningless words. All of these lyrics reference, with subtly or, in the case of the last one, very obviously about the sellibility and how rigid the label of “emo” is and how they couldn't escape it - they may not have gotten paid to front the scene, but they sure did inadvertently lead a cause. And being put in that position was clearly very stifling, striping them of their artistry. Even looking at the response to Black Parade, it's clear that popular culture at large did not appreciate the record for its genuine message but for the moment in time it represented or the aesthetics it called back too. In many ways it was taken at face value- “words with no meaning” or just another dark, death obsessed emo record. What Tomorrow's money is is a rejection of the glorification of suffering and nativity of Venom in the face of becoming pop culture icons but it's also, in a way, reconciling with a perception of failure and loss of creative control that will haunt My Chem for the rest of their years.

Ultimately Tomorrow's Money is representative of the band's response to the gradual shift of My Chemical Romance, as an entity, away from martyrs to an accepted part of the music industry and culture. How do you reconcile with that? In this moment, in a post-Black Parade era, they try taking everything down with them- becoming a whistle blower to their truth. But perhaps most importantly, this conflict lays the foundation for Danger Days as both critique of industry’s commodification of art, as well as the reutilization of the obsession with legacy and death in their next project -no longer can they let the machines revive them, they have to get out of the city, yell incendiary graffiti at the top of their lungs, and explode in brilliant colors. It was time to return to calls to arms. It was time to return to the power of not just of death but of living on long after it, the album the act of becoming folk heroes for a new generation. And while the bright lights didn't last forever, by scrapping Conventional Weapons and starting over in the name of artistic integrity they truly created a legacy of material unrivaled in its sincerity, reach, and cultural significance.

As we know, the story didn’t end there. The final chapter used to be closed, and ending with "I choose defeat I walk away and leave this place the same today" as the conclusion of their career. This was not the explosion Gerard wrote about, not the doomsday device but a quiet goodbye, a silent curtain call. It's another round of disillusionment finally fully-realized. And yet, the Reunion seems to be a direct contradiction to their farewell- in some way they did come back because they were needed, because their absence was a gaping hole in music at large which suggests they did change things, that they do have a noticeable effect on the world they inhabit. Looking at A Summoning for even a moment, the picture illustrated to the viewer is that they are an otherworldly power. That they are an entity that you plead for the return of, the hero and the savior on clear display. And regardless of how you feel about the postponement, you can never talk away that fact- some force bodily brought them back in their narrative, that it was human interference that started the resurrection. And that it was primarily through art, especially that video, that they declared their forced-to-be unfulfilled intentions. I've always liked to believe that we've cycled back around, that the cynicism of Conventional Weapons and then later Fake Your Death has had its moment but now it's time to return to that world of rebellion in this era of the desert- the reinhabiting of reckless living and creation. Again, we must ask: what does it mean to make art for the masses? I don’t think we’ll ever truly find the right answer, but I think My Chemical Romance have always tried their best to solve the equation.

#you know the drill. Bibliography Post <33 #yes. i HAVE been thinking a lot about venom recently how can you tell?#my posts #mcr assigned reading

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reliciron · 4 years

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Eternal Empire After Effects

In addition to that post I made a while back about how your characters deal with either the boost in Force sensitivity or the brand new sensitivity for your smugglers/troopers/agents/bounty hunters. I want to talk about the general fucked up-ness that the Commander has to deal with post-KotET.

Like DAMN. Bare minimum, they’ve had to deal with carbonite poisoning, the general mind games of Valkorian, and then they had their mind literally broken in the last chapter. At worst, they get all that, plus taking a lightsaber to the gut. To say nothing of having to fight an impossible war for a little over a year straight with everyone’s hopes and dreams riding around on their shoulders.

A lot of the posts I’ve seen about other people’s ocs has some form of lingering effects from everything. And I just want to talk about it for a minute, cause I live for filling in the scenes we don’t see. [Take this with a grain of salt, as I’ve never played a dark side character, so my perspective will be skewed.]

Long term physical effects:

They were poisoned slowly over the course of 5 years, you can’t tell me that one little dart thing can fix that, at least not right away. This could take the form of lingering nausea, migraines, dizziness. The symptoms of heavy metal poisoning would fit well here. And I hc my consular as having some permanent nerve pain from it.

The stab on Asylum is absolute bullshit in the game. Valkorian or no, there’s no way they’d be walking out. I think I posted a pic I took before, but the stab is easily close enough for the heat transfer to damage the spine. Bone cracks and warps with heat, so you can see the problem there. The wound is almost dead on for where the stomach sits and the lungs, liver, kidney, and intestines are all in range to get badly burnt (yeah I know, alien anatomy might be different, but we’re assuming its mostly the same).

We’ve seen what a lightsaber can do to a blast door in The Phantom Menace, take that and apply it to a person, and Arcann held that blade there a loooong time.

Yes, Valkorian saves them, but I think of it more as he kept them from dying, and not, he completely stopped the blade from cooking them from the inside out. So the three days Lana mentioned are horseshit. The Gravestone’s tiny ass med-bay is absolutely not equipped to handle an injury like this.

I always figured a better way was Valkorian kept them alive long enough for Lana to threaten her way onto an appropriate station and made the doctors fix them. Even so, getting what amounts to several organ transplants, implants to bypass possible spinal chord damage, replacement ribs and vertebra, and a whole lot of skin and muscle grafts will leave your Commander pretty messed up, even with magical Star Wars tech and Force magic. And their allotted recovery time seems to be the length of the base’s construction on Odessen, so there’s no way in hell they’re really done healing by the time they have to go back out into battle.

Specific injuries aside, a year is a long time to fight more or less constantly. At least during the base game you sort of had rests between chapters. They’re gonna rack up an impressive list of injuries, alongside wear and tear like their knees and feet having trouble from the constant running and jumping. And their elbows and shoulders will break down from hours upon hours of absorbing the recoil of a gun or the constant flurry and clash of a lightsaber.

Long term mental effects:

As ugly as the physical stuff is, the mental effects are just as bad. Depending on what class they are, having the goddamn Sith Emperor riding shotgun in their head will fuck them up big time.

Classes who faced off with him more-or-less directly, like the Knight, Consular, and Warrior, are going to have the worst time of it because they KNOW what this sort of thing leads to. The warrior has seen the dead eyed puppet on Voss and knows that could be them soon. The consular had to deal with the emperors children and the First Son. They’ve seen a prominent and powerful Jedi master absolutely crumple under the power of the emperor and he wasn’t even IN there. And Knights have already experienced the emperor’s control first hand.

Not to say the others won’t have trouble with it, it’s just that the reasons will be a little less direct. The smuggler and bounty hunter are used to being their own people, not tied down to anything or accountable to anyone, and now there’s the threat that everything they have will be taken from them and there’s no amount of sneaking or shooting that will save them. Troopers built up their command from basically nothing and now they’re Republic heroes, but Valkorian now threatens the lives of everyone they’ve sworn to protect. The agent is easy, they’ve suffered mind control before, they’ve been slaves in their own body, and they’re terrified of it happening again. And inquisitors were literal slaves who clawed their way to the top, and they’d sooner die than be a slave again.

So just having that asshole there means constant stress for the whole of KotFE and KotET. Insomnia must be a given. How do you know you’ll wake up as YOU? That Valkorian won’t hollow you out in your sleep and walk around in your skin the next day? And for the Knight, Agent, and Inquisitor, I’d think panic attacks are probably a thing, even if they don’t let anyone see it.

The stab will definitely cause some trauma. Pretty sure any wound that gruesome would. And if they didn’t have nightmares before, they sure do now and I’m willing to bet that they might shy away from lightsabers for a while, which leaves an interesting dilemma considering they’re in a war with Force-users, and some of them are Force-users themselves.

Fighting a guerrilla war with an absurdly powerful adversary has to be incredibly taxing, especially for classes who’ve never had to command anything. Smugglers and Bounty Hunters are very screwed here, assuming they care about running the Alliance well. And the burden of saving the galaxy is a heavy one. I can definitely see classes who have saved the galaxy multiple times to be getting increasing bitter about always having to be the one to clean up the messes. Why are THEY the ones who always have to suffer? Why isn’t there ever a hero to save THEM when they need it?!

Agents get their own little special bit here with the bullshit that is Vaylin’s conditioning. They know exactly the kind of misery she’s going through, the powerlessness that one single phrase or word causes. I can understand that the writers couldn’t figure out or bother with a whole separate scene of the agent refusing to use the conditioning, cause then they’d have to figure out how to not have Vaylin murder them on the spot. But goddamn we could’ve at least seen them struggle with it! Maybe an extra few lines of them pleading with Vaylin because they desperately don’t want to use her control phrase. Ugh, at least behind the scenes an agent can have a break down about how they’ve become exactly like the intelligence officers who’d decided that they were too much of a liability to go without a leash they could pull. And now they’ve pulled an identical leash on Vaylin.

And then we have their mind being broken. That could be a post in and of itself. Valkorian came within a hair’s breadth of destroying them entirely, and they were so broken that they didn’t even know their own name. And in the space of 10 or so minutes, they scrape themselves together and fight a god. It’s very impressive (and I’ve got my own issues with that fight) but I don’t think you can pull yourself together that fast after being that messed up without some lingering issues.

Chronic insomnia and night terrors, full blown PTSD, panic disorders, severe anxiety; something THAT traumatic will absolutely leave marks.

And after that? They just keep going. Yeah, things calm down, but they’re still at the head of a very powerful faction now (if not ruling Zakuul), there’s no going back after this. And they’ve got a massive restoration project ahead of them as tensions continue to simmer between the Republic and Empire. The more dutiful characters must be near the end of their rope. There’s no rest, just the next fire to put out, and they continue to run themselves into the ground. And the more flighty characters are now forever shackled by the Alliance. There’s no flying off into the sunset for them. No more anonymity as a bounty hunter or smuggler. Their old life is over, whether the wanted it or not. And how can they really relax when there’s this many people looking at them for direction. They’ve become just like those asshole military leaders who they used to mock.

And for just about all of my characters, they hide it. No one can know that they’re falling apart at the seams. Either it’s about personal pride and acting unphased cause they’re just THAT good, or because they’re trying to be the leader the Alliance deserves and don’t want to disappoint or frighten them by showing just how badly they’re coping. Either way there will be a breaking point.

And even after it all comes out in the open, and they (hopefully) get the help they need. It’s never completely over. Chronic pain and fatigue, depression and anxiety, persistent insomnia; these things don’t just disappear, they’re an ongoing struggle that helps color their future actions.

I just… I really like considering things like this because it hits close to home. Seeing them struggle with some of the things I deal with makes them feel more like people. Cause god knows the writers aren’t gonna put this kind of stuff in there.

#swtor #mental health discussion #chronic pain discussion #physical injury discussion #kotet #kotfe #relicwrites

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persephone-garnata · 3 years

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The Only Thing You Can Never Buy In Heaven

Just finished my first fanfic in more than two years!

Thank you, SPN finale :D

remembering this scene

It’s a wincest one-shot about our favourite co-dependent soulmates, with middlegame Sam/Eileen. It’s mostly canon-compliant, except for Miracle goes to Heaven too, and there’s the Samulet, because I love the Samulet.

Read it on AO3 here or below the cut:

The Only Thing You Can Never Buy In Heaven

Dean loved driving around in the Impala, Led Zeppelin blasting on the stereo – the sound much cleaner now, the acoustic guitar opening of Ramble On coming through as clear as a crisp spring day. Always his favorite song to drive to, along the endless highways of Heaven.

He visited with old friends – Bobby, obviously, his mom and dad, he went to the Roadhouse to catch up with Ellen, Jo, Ash and the rest. There were so many he knew who had died before him – hunters and civilians alike. But mostly, he just drove around – through countryside in all seasons, spring and summer and winter and fall, through mountains and deserts and cities and forests, along the shores of lakes and oceans. He stopped at countless roadside diners and ate countless plates of delicious food, without having to think about cholesterol once.

But there was always something missing – or rather, someone. Someone to tell him to think about cholesterol, even though he didn’t have to. Someone to sit shotgun, and keep him company on nights beneath the stars. He knew he wanted Sam to live a full life, to enjoy all those years he deserved – a career, a family, a house with a white picket fence. And after all, against the backdrop of eternity, what difference did a few decades make?

Enough difference, it turned out, to make him feel constantly like half of him was missing. Especially since there was one thing he couldn’t find, no matter how much he searched, no matter how many boxes he emptied out or pockets he rifled. You’d think that, in Heaven, you should be able to get hold of whatever the hell – or whatever the heaven – you wanted, but there seemed to be at least one exception to that. He found the replica and hung it from the rearview mirror, but it wasn’t the same.

‘Do you have idea where I can find my old necklace?’ he asked Bobby, one time when they were sitting on the porch together, drinking beers and shooting the breeze. Bobby gave him a slightly sad smile, and didn’t ask which one he meant. There could only be one.

‘Think Sam’s still got it,’ he said. ‘Back on Earth. You’ll just have to wait. Won’t seem like no time at all. Like I told you – he’ll be along.’

‘But –‘ Dean creased his brow - ‘Sam still has Baby, too, and yet there she is.’ He pointed at the car, sitting gleaming on the driveway. ‘And – I don’t know how this is supposed to work, I was never that good at all this stuff, but isn’t there loads of stuff in Heaven that’s on Earth too?’

‘Oh, you got that right,’ said Bobby. ‘There are exceptions to the rule, see? Cosmic special cases. And that necklace is one of them. Can’t be in two places at once.’

Dean took a long pull of his beer, thinking. ‘Can’t I make a new one?’ he asked. ‘Or – buy one?’

Bobby laughed at that. ‘Buy one? It ain’t something you can buy, boy. In fact, I figure it’s the only thing you can never buy in Heaven.’

‘I just – don’t feel right without it.’

Bobby turned his shrewd gaze on Dean. ‘I know,’ he said. ‘It feels like there’s half of you missing, doesn’t it?’

‘Well – yeah.’

‘That’s ‘cause there is half of you missing. That’s how soulmates work.’

Dean nearly choked on his beer, and Bobby had to slap him between the shoulder blades. ‘Oh, you didn’t think I didn’t know about the soulmates thing, did ya? The amount of time I spent with you boys – gimme some credit.’

‘I – well – we – I thought…’

‘You thought what? That soulmates aren’t supposed to be brothers? That incest would keep you out of Heaven? I think we both know that ain’t true.’

Dean sipped his beer in silence, not trusting himself to say anything at all. He’d always known – or at least suspected – that the link between him and Sam went deeper than any bond normal brothers, or lovers, or even brother-lovers, shared – but soul mates? He remembered what Ash had said to him at the Roadhouse-Heaven, all those years ago – about soulmates having shared Heavens, and had he expected that he and Sam would share their own little piece of eternity?

If he was honest with himself, he’d never thought he’d reach Heaven at all, after his years in Hell, and all the other things he’d done, and now that Jack had reconfigured things so that everyone could visit each other – well, that meant the soulmate rule no longer applied, surely? And yet – the feeling he always had, the ache like he’d lost half of himself – dammit, like half his soul was missing – that had to mean something. He’d wanted Sam to have his own life – had finally come to terms with the idea that they had horizons beyond hunting, and that his baby brother might want to explore those horizons without him – and yet now – there was only one thing he could think about.

He had finished his beer, and was on the verge of getting up to get back behind the wheel (no issues with drink-driving in the Great Beyond) and go for a long drive with only Led Zeppelin for company. Perhaps he’d even see if he could go and visit John Bonham, and some of the other rock stars who’d reached the top of that Stairway a long time ago. Then something burst out of the bushes and came running up to the porch – a shaggy dog, woofing in delight and licking his hands.

‘Hey, Miracle!’ said Dean, petting his head. ‘You’re a good boy, arentcha, a good boy…’ his voice trailed off as he thought about something. ‘Wait, if you’re here, does that mean…?’

‘All dogs go to Heaven,’ said Bobby, and lifted his beer bottle. ‘Guess he ain’t on Earth no more.’

‘Wow,’ said Dean, his hands pausing in Miracle’s long fur until the dog nudged him to make him continue petting. ‘Did Sammy look after you? Did he give you a long and happy life?’

Miracle just barked enthusiastically, which Dean took as a Yes. He buried his face in the dog’s fur and felt, for a little while, just a little bit closer to Sam.

***

It took Sam a long time to accept that his brother was really gone. The bunker felt so empty, all the time, and as the hunts gradually dried up, he decided he needed to move out. The echoing underground spaces just felt haunted – not by Dean, Sam could have coped with a ghostly brother – but by his absence. He caught himself, several times, eyeing up a gun, or a bottle of sleeping pills, or a coil of rope, or a knife, and wondering how long it would take for him to be reunited with Dean. And he had to admit that, if it hadn’t been for Miracle, he probably would have gone through with it. The dog just kept demanding to be fed, and to be taken out for runs, and to be petted. He never gave up on Sam, so Sam couldn’t give up on himself.

Finally – on the day he got the call about the werewolf hunt – he resolved to leave the Bunker behind him. He knew that, once he turned the light out and closed the door behind him, he’d never be back again. So he packed up the trunk of the Impala with three boxes of possessions: one for himself, one for Miracle, and one for Dean. The last box was full of memories – shirts which still held a lingering scent of Dean, his old leather jacket, his watch, his most beloved vinyl records, his favorite weapons, a few photographs – and his necklace – the one with the amulet.

Sam had kept that necklace in his pocket for so long it had almost become a part of him, but he’d always thought of it as a part of Dean. Now, he lifted it up to the light inside the bunker, looked at that inscrutable face, and felt a powerful tug inside him – a tug of both sadness, and hope. He put the necklace inside the box with the rest, and for the first time since Dean had died, thought that maybe, just maybe, things might turn out right.

That werewolf hunt turned out to be his last hunt for a while. Sam drifted around, sleeping in whatever dog-friendly motels he could find, or on the back seat of the Impala when he couldn’t find one. He scoured the local news and the internet, looking for more cases, trying to throw himself back into the job. Yet it seemed that the monsters were thinner on the ground now, and soon Sam realized his heart wasn’t in it any more – the family business just wasn’t the same without the family.

He toured around for some time, checking in with old friends. He saw Jody and Donna and Clare and Alex. He saw Charlie and her girlfriend. He saw Jesse and Cesar. He saw Garth and his family – little Sam and Castiel were growing well. No Dean though – his absence was a constant pain, like the ache in a missing limb, and Sam felt it even more acutely when he saw other people’s happiness.

He kept seeking people out, further and further flung branches of the extended Winchester hunting family. He tracked down Lisa’s son Ben Braeden, now twenty-one and studying medicine, and looking just a little bit like Dean at the same age. He even reconnected with Amelia, now living happily with her husband Don and their two young children – and a big shaggy dog. He really regretted that particular foray into his own past – it just made him feel miserable, and as he drove away from their picture-perfect house, if it hadn’t been for Miracle on the back seat, he’d have probably driven the Impala straight off a bridge into the nearest canyon.

Finally, he worked his way back to Jody Mills, and as he sat in her house late at night, drinking her wine and eating her potato chips, Miracle gnawing a bone at his feet, she said something to him.

‘You know you need to see her at some point, Sam,’

He didn’t need to ask who she meant.

‘It’s – not that easy,’ he said.

‘Isn’t it? You know she cares about you, and I think you care about her.’

Sam sighed. ‘I do,’ he said. ‘I really do. But – me and Dean –‘

‘You had something special,’ Jody filled in for him. ‘She knows that too.’

Sam sighed again. ‘Something special’ was one way to describe what he and Dean had shared, he supposed, but how could he ever really convey the true depth of their relationship? How could he possibly tell someone – anyone – the way he and Dean had lived together, hunted together, slept together (and yes, they had slept together, but almost more significant was the way they had always huddled together for warmth and protection, neither of them ever able to sleep properly without the other). How they had been everything to each other – more than brothers, more than lovers, more than anything?

He looked up, and saw that Jody was smiling at him.

‘And I’m sure she knows how you feel without him. If you’re worried what she’ll think of you – don’t. Most hunters – we got something, some pain, we carry with us.’

‘We’re all damaged goods,’ said Sam, and finished the rest of the glass of wine with one big gulp.

‘What’s damaged can be mended, if you’ll only let someone try,’ said Jody, and took the empty glass from him.

‘I suppose you’re right,’ said Sam, and got his phone out right then to send a message to Eileen, before the courage could leave him.

They arranged to meet for brunch at a trendy vegan hipster café (which also accepted dogs) in New York City, where Eileen had settled now. Sam remembered how Dean had never wanted to drive the Impala into Manhattan, so he left Baby at a big parking lot in a commuter town and rode the train into town, Miracle on the seat next to him. And he remembered how his brother had always hated these trendy cafes with their avocado toast and their artisan coffees and their stupid plant milks. Meeting Eileen at a place like this felt like moving on – which felt both fresh and good and right, and gave Sam an aching feeling of guilt.

The café was noisy with both music and chatter – Sam felt glad that he’d spent a long time practising his signing beforehand, so that he and Eileen could have a silent conversation in the middle of the hubbub. They sat on a half-collapsed sofa, twisted sideways to face each other, while they drank their almond-milk lattes and ate their sourdough toast, topped with scrambled tofu, wilted spinach, and a sprinkle of dukkah. Delicious, and not a nitrate in sight. Dean would have hated this place.

After exchanging a few stilted words of standard greetings, Eileen asked Sam to describe what happened on his and Dean’s final hunt. He did his best to describe everything to her – and found that having to do so with his hands really helped, because he didn’t have to worry about his voice cracking. Then she asked him what he’d been doing since, and he told her that too – along with an apology for not contacting her sooner.

‘It’s okay,’ she signed. Then she asked him the killer question: ‘And how are you coping without him?’

How was he coping without him? ‘Not well,’ he signed. ‘If it hadn’t been for Miracle here – I think I wouldn’t have made it this far, to be honest with you.’ He pulled a face. It was the closest he’d yet come to admitting to anyone just how close he’d come to ending his own life, stretching out ahead of him like an endless highway, with nobody sitting by his side.

‘I’m glad you’ve made it this far,’ Eileen signed back. ‘It’s good to see you again.’

There was an awkward pause. Sam drained his coffee and then petted Miracle, just for something to do with hands.

‘So – what happens now?’ Eileen signed to him.

‘I think – you-’ Sam stopped, waved his hands in a clearing-away gesture, and started again. ‘I would like you to be a part of my life,’ he signed. ‘If you want to. However you want to.’

Eileen nodded, thoughtfully. Sam knew a moment of pure panic – what if she was going to tell him to get lost, that she’d already found somebody else and wanted nothing to do with him ever again? And that moment of panic told him that actually, no matter how close to the edge of despair he’d gotten over these last months, he did want something more out of life – he wanted Eileen beside him.

‘I would like to be a part of your life,’ she signed, eventually. ‘If you’ll let me in.’

‘I will try my best,’ Sam signed back to her. ‘But – you should know – me and Dean – we were much closer than most brothers. Without him – it’s difficult for me.’

‘I understand,’ she signed. ‘And I don’t mind.’

‘Really?’ Sam accompanied the sign with a pleading look – the kind of look Dean had always called his ‘puppy-dog eyes’.

‘Really. I like you, Sam. I like you a lot. You’re a good man. And if you’ve got baggage – well, I have trust issues myself. We can take things slowly, and I understand if you need time for yourself, sometimes. And maybe I’ll need some time for myself, too.’

‘Thank you,’ signed Sam, and meant it.

Eileen sighed then, and looked away, briefly, before turning back to him.

‘I want you to be honest with me, Sam,’ she signed.

‘Of course,’ he replied, although his heart sank at what she might ask him. Being close to a dead brother was one thing – actual Game of Thrones, Flowers in the Attic incest was another.

She didn’t ask him about the incest. Or at least not in a sexual way. That would almost have been preferable to what she did ask him.

‘Do you think you and Dean were – or are – soulmates?’

Sam blinked a few times, and had to ask her to repeat the question. She did, even saying that word ‘soulmates’ out loud for his benefit.

Well, he’d promised to be honest with her. ‘Yes,’ he signed. She just nodded.

‘I thought so,’ she signed.

‘Is that – a problem?’ he asked. ‘Do you – not want to be in life now?’

‘It’s okay,’ she signed. ‘Thank you for being honest.’

‘Is it really okay? Being with me, knowing I’m soulmates with – somebody else?’

‘Most people never meet their soulmates, or never have one in the first place. I’d rather be with you, knowing you’ve told me the truth, than somebody I don’t know if I can trust.’

Sam nodded, slowly. It made sense. Sort of. To be sitting here, with Eileen, talking about his dead soulmate.

‘Shall I get us some more coffees?’ Eileen asked him.

‘Please.’

***

He and Eileen did take things slowly, at first. Then it felt like they accelerated their life together. After Miracle died – the dog had already been old when he and Dean had found him – it felt like the last thing tying Sam to his old life had gone.

As he hugged the old dog to him in the vet’s office, he whispered to him: ‘You’re a good boy, Miracle. You go straight to Dean now, tell him I’ll be all right.’ Miracle just nuzzled Sam a little, and Sam felt the simple love in that gesture, hoped he could take the message to Dean.

He sat in the front seat – the shotgun seat – of the Impala for a long time after that, crying his eyes out. And yet, he no longer wanted to drive off a cliff. He wanted to stay alive, for at least a little longer. He messaged Eileen, and started driving before she’d even answered him.

When he turned up on her doorstep, she saw the absence beside him, and invited him in without a word.

Shortly after that, they got a house together, in upstate New York, parked the Impala in the garage, under a dust sheet, and started their new life. They got married, in a very low-key ceremony, only a few people – their old hunting buddies – present. Eileen got a job in computing – helping to design and test user interfaces to be suitable for the hard-of-hearing. And, while she didn’t say anything to him directly. Sam realized that, if they were going to settle down properly, he should really get himself an actual job. He hadn’t been a hunter for some time – he’d stopped without even realizing it. So he finished his legal training, and finally qualified as an attorney. It felt weird to be doing a ‘normal’ white-collar job at last, but he consoled himself with the thought that, with all the pro-bono work he did, he was still saving people – and hunting things, in a different way.

A few years later, although Sam had never really seen himself as a father – Dean was the one with the strong paternal instincts - they had a child. When they came to thinking of a name, Sam was filled with all sorts of suggestions – but Eileen shook her head, and signed at him ‘How about Dean?’

And Sam didn’t like that idea at first – it felt too much like revisiting the past he’d tried to leave behind – but the more he thought about it, the more he found he couldn’t think of his little baby boy as anything other than Dean. So Dean it was, and would ever be. He had another Dean in his life now, and he gave his son all the love he had.

He never forgot the other Dean – how could he? – but gradually, over the years, he accepted that he had other people in his life now, who were more important to him than his dead brother. At least for now, and now was the only time that really mattered. He got the Impala out very occasionally – one Halloween he even sat behind the wheel wearing his costume of an old Grandpa, complete with cheap grey wig.

Eileen and he rarely spoke about the car, or the old Dean. His life before her, and their son, became something packed away in a box that he only rarely got out looked at – like the amulet he still kept, tucked away, and occasionally took out. Whenever he did so, he admired the golden gleam of the metal, still untarnished after all these years, and let himself fill up with all the aching sadness that was normally stoppered up.

***

Time worked differently in Heaven. Dean knew that. It took him a while to get used to though – however long ‘a while’ was here. He kept expecting things to change faster than they did, or for people – and Miracle – to age and wither away. It was an adjustment to realize, gradually, that here things just went on and on – unless you changed them yourself. And Dean didn’t really want anything to change, not really. He wanted everything to go on as it was, until –

Until Sam arrived. Dean accepted that he shouldn’t wish his brother would hurry up and get there – they’d have eternity together, after all, and wanting eternity to start sooner made no sense. Not when he’d told Sam to live on without him. He wanted Sam to live a full life, to hook up properly with Eileen at last, get a job, wear some dorky sweaters, even have a kid or two. Enjoy all the apple-pie-and-picket-fence stuff that he, Sam, had always wanted, and he, Dean, didn’t.

Did he? Hadn’t part of him always enjoyed cooking for his little brother, taking care of him? Hadn’t part of him longed for Ben to be his son? Hadn’t part of him wanted to settle down and have a family?

Well, in Heaven, all things were possible. He could find somebody else – like Rufus had Aretha – and have a new life, for a while at least. However long ‘a while’ was, here. He didn’t know how to start finding someone, though, or who that someone would even be. Whenever he tried to imagine sharing his afterlife with anyone, only one person ever sprang to mind.

And then. One day – one moment – when he was standing on the bridge, enjoying the view over river and the forests, Miracle by his side. He felt, without being able to say how he felt it, that his brother was here. At last. Or – time worked differently here. Maybe not at last. Maybe he was right on time.

Eternity had to start sometime, and Dean guessed it was starting now. He smiled.

‘Hey Sammy,’

He turned around. And there he was, exactly as he remembered him. After however many years it had been for him on Earth. Sam looked a little tired – as if the last few months of his life had been a lot to bear. And – almost shy, almost as if he was worried Dean wouldn’t want to see him any more, that he might somehow have moved on, in the time before he arrived in Heaven. Well, for better or worse, he hadn’t.

‘Dean,’ said Sam, and met his eyes, and smiled.

They embraced, Miracle rubbing himself against both of their legs at once. As they did so, Dean felt something hot pressed against him, and when the drew apart again, he saw a light glowing from Sam’s pocket.

‘Is that…?’

Sam dipped his hand inside his pocket, and pulled out the necklace. The amulet. The only thing you can never buy in Heaven. It was glowing, as it had done in the presence of God, except now –

‘I think that means,’ Dean started to say, but then Sam cut him off.

‘I know,’ he said, and lifted the necklace to put it around Dean’s neck again. Dean ducked his head without even thinking, and felt the weight of the amulet fall into place once more. Once more – and forever. And finally, he felt whole again. He had been reunited with the other half of his soul, and he was now complete. And he always would be.

Sam and Dean leaned together against the parapet of the bridge, and knew they had eternity to explore all the vistas of Heaven. Together.

#wincest #forever wincest fest

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thanksjro · 4 years

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The Transformers #23- Chaos Theory Part 2: Everything Ever is Whirl’s Fault, and He Didn’t Even Do Anything This Issue

Before the war, Orion Pax is watching the news. Turns out Nominus Prime got blown up earlier in the day, as Blaster reports from the scene of the crime. We get our first mention of the Militant Monoform Movement as we take a gander at all of Orion’s awards.

Turns out Orion went to college. Wonder what tuition’s like at the Institute of Higher Programming.

An incoming storm messes with the reception, and in walk three guys looking for trouble Whirl. Whirl’s currently in custody, seeing as Orion doesn’t take too kindly to beating suspects within an inch of their life.

General rule of thumb: anyone calling Whirl “popular” or a “friend” is either trying to kill him, or has made the attempt in the past.

So these guys are trying to get Whirl out of jail, using the power of persuasion and being generally threatening. Orion Pax is too much of a good egg to be swayed by such tactics, however, so they’ll have to up the ante.

In the present day, Optimus is having a brooding session in the engine room- I’m only assuming it’s the engine room- and Ratchet checks in.

I suppose “frazzled” is a word we could use, Ratchet, sure.

Optimus feels as if his decision on whether Megatron should be executed or imprisoned for the rest of time is going to be biased either way. Dang, almost sounds like putting it to a vote with the leader of the Autobots would be a better way of handling this, huh Optimus? It’s almost as if you’re compromised here, and we need a little friggin’ democracy going on.

Ratchet asks why he hasn’t consulted the Matrix on this whole situation, breaking out the quotation fingers whilst referring to its wisdom, but Optimus ain’t too sure about all that either. When Optimus first got the Matrix shoved into his body, that shit hurt. It hurt a LOT, and he’d interpreted that as a sort of warning that carrying it was a huge responsibility. Way bigger than taking care of a dog. Now he’s questioning whether or not he actually wants the responsibility.

Hey, if you’re having second thoughts about being Prime, you ought to give Bumblebee a little more room to work and be the leader of the Autobots like you wanted him to be, and maybe consider handing the Matrix back over to Rodimus-

Oh who am I kidding? His martyr complex would NEVER let that happen.

Back in the past, Wheelarch and Springarm are waxing poetic about how cool their new boss Orion Pax is. He’s strong, and heroic, and making a difference in the world, and he’s got just the most beautiful blue eyes-

Anyway, they arrive back at the precinct to discover where all the criminal scum have gotten to- Orion already bagged ‘em.

You know, I think tying suspects to poles in the ground in the office section, packing the room so tightly they can’t even sit or stand comfortably… I think that might be a touch illegal, Orion. Unethical, if nothing else.

A bit later on, Springarm wants to know just what the hell that was all about. Orion’s been thinking about Megatron’s writing, and how he thinks the Senate is institutionally corrupt, and that visit from Whirl’s “friends” is starting to make him think that maybe the guy had a point. It bothers him.

Springarm turns to his faith when he’s feeling bothered by deep questions like whether or not the world government is is enacting a caste-system in an attempt to control the populace.

This just in, the future space pope is a goddamned atheist. Perhaps this is why interfacing with the Matrix hurts him- it relies on a mutual respect between itself and its Prime, and there ain’t nothing less respectful than thinking of the thing as a literal ornament.

Orion thanks Springarm for the advice, but he’s going to work through this without spiritual guidance.

In the present, Optimus meets with Rodimus, and asks a question he’s never been able to ask before: how did it feel to interface with the Matrix?

Well dang, Rodders, tell us how you really feel!

It should be noted that Rodimus does have some level of faith in the gods, the Matrix, the Knights of Cybertron, and several other Cybertronian legends and myths- which sort of makes the MTMTE Knight Quest look like a bit of a crusade, doesn’t it? Does believing in the Matrix let it bond more seamlessly with the bearer? Methinks it just might.

Back in the past, Orion Pax gets back from patrol to find the precinct has been broken into, and his two motorbike boys aren’t doing so hot.

Oh man, Valve’s going to be pissed.

Moving real stealthy-like, Orion moves to the holding cells, where he catches those guys from earlier trying to spring Whirl from jail. Well, two of them anyway. The third guy is behind him, and shoots him in the back.

Luckily, Orion’s old body-frame includes a backpack, and this move doesn’t kill him. He sweeps the leg of his assailant, shoots Whirl in the leg so he can’t escape, then runs to his trophy case to grab the fancy gun someone gave him. Wonder what it was for.

Alas! It’s not loaded. Which you ought to expect from an award gun, unless you loaded it yourself before you put it in the case. Which he didn’t, clearly.

Three versus one, and the solo act doesn’t have any weapons. What’s a guy to do?

This is deeply silly. I adore it.

Thinking quickly, Orion drags Springarm’s headless body into a closet. This isn’t necessarily a smart move, but give it a second. As the three thugs discuss murder-based puns, Orion prepares to enact a Roberts’ writing essential.

Corpse desecration.

Riding his coworker’s lifeless body through the precinct, he runs down his attackers, stabs one of them in the throat with one of his arm cannons in front of all the ‘bots currently in the cells, and goes to find Whirl.

Whirl, who knows to get going while the getting’s good, warns Orion that the Senate has eyes everywhere, and if he so much as touches Whirl his whole life is gonna get turned upside down and inside out, and not in a fun way. And he’d know.

Smash cut to the Grand Imperium, home of the Senate, where everything is blue and gold, fear tactics are at play on the political stage, and everyone is suffering from a nasty case of same-face syndrome. Senator Proteus is about to enact the Clampdown, a strict rule of martial law that will, under the guise of protecting the people and weeding out terrorism, in actuality allow the Senate to hoard power like a bunch of dragons.

Then Orion shows up, after fighting off the entirety of the Senate security force, while carrying a one-legged Whirl.

Got a nice shot of some bird ass, and Orion’s honkers are halfway out. I wonder if this particular chunk of fan-service was specified in the script, or if this is purely Milne.

Sentinel calls off the dogs, and Orion has his say. He throws Whirl on the floor, introducing him to everyone as the cause of every problem ever. Well, not really, but pretty close.

Orion, you can’t just say a guy caused two people to die and then not expect to have to deal with the repercussions of pummeling his psyche at some point down the road.

Orion goes on to mention Megatron, bringing up his writings and how they revealed to him the dark, ugly underbelly of the Senate that he’d been blind to until that point. This is still the guy who arrested drug addicts for using and tied them to a pole, by the by. He’s less than 48 hours into this Megatron kick, and still got a lot to rectify within himself.

Orion coins the term “Autobots”, reclaiming a friggin’ slur the other races in the galaxy have taken to calling the Cybertronians.

I wasn’t kidding.

The Senate members are starting to get rowdy about being called out on their bullshit, and have Orion removed from the building, but not before he can ask Megatron’s three questions:

1. In whose interests do the Senate exercise their power?

2. To whom is the Senate accountable?

3. How can the populace get rid of them?

No answers are given, as he’s taken away. He did use Megatron’s name, by the way. His full one, with the “of Tarn” attached and mentioned where he worked. Smooth moves, Orion. Now Megatron’s going to be targeted for politically-charged murder.

In the present, Optimus Prime’s made a decision on what exactly to do with Megatron- and his decision is to let Megatron decide his fate, because freedom is the right of all sentient beings, and part of that is getting to choose your fate.

Megatron picks death, like, immediately.

Optimus gets the Matrix back from Ratchet, who he left its care in- he wanted to be sure that he was still the person he had been back when he made that speech to the Senate. Glad your crisis of self went well, Optimus.

Back in the past, Orion Pax meets with a senator in front of the Ark-1 memorial, very secret-like. See this senator’s seen all the nonsense that goes on in the Senate, and he’s about had it. Forget what all Megatron wrote about, it’s way, way worse in reality. He can’t prove it, but the attack on Nominus Prime was an inside job, so that the Senate could get their hands on the Matrix and figure out how it creates life.

I know, it’s crazy.

Things will probably pop off very soon, so the Senator’s taken the liberty of modifying Orion Pax’s chest cavity while he was passed out receiving repairs.

So the guy made a little hidey-hole for the Matrix in Orion’s body, so that he could one day be Prime.

Hey.

Hey, Senator.

Consent is sexy, man. Don’t be like that.

#transformers #jro #the transformers 2009 #issue 23 #maccadam #Hannzreads #text post #long post #comic script writing #overthinking about robots

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yamamuragaku · 5 years

Photo

Excerpt: Novel IDOLiSH7 Ainana Academy

Novel: Sasaki Teiko

Character Draft/Illustrator: Tanemura Arina

Original Work: Bandai Namco Online

In the darkness, a phantom flower bloomed.

It was a digital art flower projected on a jet black wall as if ink was painted on it. In a space where there was nothing, a speck of emerald green light suddenly flashed. Shining young buds quickly spread, leaves flourished, and at the tips, seven flower buds--fleeting like the moonlight--grew.

As the flower buds grew, each took on a different color and soft flower petals gently unraveled.

Here was the recording studio of a web-distributed program.

The ones filming were the members of the budding idol group, IDOLiSH7.

It was the recording of the final episode of the mini drama "Ainana Academy".

"Ainana Academy" was a drama in which Yamato, who planned to control the school, joined with Sougo and Iori to confront Nagi, Riku, and Tamaki.

Bright lights were lit simultaneously. The camera crew was on standby.

At the cue to start shooting, against a background of faintly lit digital art flowers, Nanase Riku, dressed as a cheerleader in a white chouran with the sleeves tied with a red ribbon, raised his voice.

"I hate the darkness! I hate your darkness! That's why with the power of love, I will burn away all your hatred! I will not forgive you--"

A gentle and honest voice resounded throughout the studio.

At that moment, a warm and pleasant atmosphere spread all through the studio.

No fragments of hatred could be felt from the way Riku crisply shouted, nor his direct gaze. Instead, Riku was making puppy dog eyes.

Confronting Riku was Ousaka Sougo, who was wearing a cape like a vampire, and Nikaidou Yamato, playing a doctor in a white coat, whose face relaxed.

"...Sorry, Riku. I don't really feel hated by you. It feels like I'm actually being forgiven,"

Told Yamato, who was fiddling with the stethoscope hanging around his neck.

"Um."

"If you say it with more contempt, onii-san might feel it."

"Uh...um."

Yotsuba Tamaki, who was waiting behind Riku, snorted.

Riku stared at Tamaki who just made fun of him. Tamaki, a current high school student, looked really good wearing a uniform casually and stylishly.

He looked back at Riku and as if a switch was flicked, Tamaki began roaring with laughter.

Standing to the side, Izumi Iori made a face like he swallowed a bug. Iori was properly wearing a uniform buttoned all the way to the top, with glasses as accessories. Iori pushed up the bridge of the glasses with his fingertips, and sighed heavily.

However, the director could not be heard saying "cut." In other words, filming continued.

"I-I will not forgive you!!"

Quickly turning towards Yamato and Sougo, Riku said his lines once more, for good measure.

Right in the middle between Riku and Yamato, Izumi Mitsuki who was tied up and sitting with an apron on, looked over Riku with a nervous expression. Next to him was Rokuya Nagi, holding a glow stick and wearing a happi. Nagi crouched down, untied Mitsuki, and stood up.

"OH! Riku. Hatred doesn't suit us. Even if your partner is the leader of darkness. When our weapon is ready, you'll feel not hatred, but love. So, Riku--"

Nagi informed with a smile. Hair of gold and eyes of blue. Anyone would be fascinated by the beauty of Nagi, who came from a small country in Northern Europe.

"Let us sing."

"What?! A song?!"

Riku batted his big eyes.

"Yes. Because we are IDOLiSH7. Come on, music!!"

Nagi snapped his fingers.

Music began playing.

While they were acting out the mini drama, in the background, a paradise of digital art flowers started playing, each bud blooming.

"...I didn't hear anything. About this."

Riku opened his mouth flabbergastingly. It seemed that not only Riku but the other members besides Nagi didn't know to sing there.

Mitsuki was the first one to suddenly run off. He raised his hand in front of the camera,

"Does each person have a mic?"

And signaled to the staff. The members each picked up the mics prepared by the staff.

They automatically settled into their positions.

The intro ended, and Riku's singing voice resonated in the mic. His overwhelming singing ability and rich singing voice enveloped the entire studio.

At first there was a bit of confusion, but once Riku began to sing, everything was clear.

A sparkling singing voice that would drive away the darkness burst out, and Nagi said, "Good job," and gave a thumbs up with a smile, and took his turn.

While Sougo waved his jet black cloak, he made a careful step.

Mitsuki's petite body jumped according to the music, exciting the staff.

Tamaki's dynamic dancing drew everyone's gaze.

Yamato looked at Tamaki's dancing, and showed a daring smile.

The appearance of Yamato, who was twirling the stethoscope while casually singing, immediately conveyed that, "Come to think of it, this is a scene from a mini drama."

He made a gesture like he was acting in a play, and while singing and dancing, Yamato’s presence overpowered Riku and Nagi. Iori immediately reacted to Yamato's acting, and he forced his way in front of Yamato to support Riku. Yamato was instantly impressed with the ad-lib and smiled faintly.

The director's "cut" still could not be heard.

The studio was dyed in IDOLiSH7's color.

IDOLiSH7 was asked to appear on a web-distributed program two months ago.

The first member who heard about this was Iori, who heard it from Takanashi Tsumugi--a manager belonging to the talent agency, Takanashi Production.

Although Iori was an idol, he had confidence in his analytical ability, and assisted Tsumugi a lot. However, that Iori took on the role of Tsumugi's brain was a secret to everyone. There was fear as a current high school student, whether other members might show resistance to the youngest among IDOLiSH7 leading the group.

"A web-distributed program...?"

"Yes."

As idols, IDOLiSH7 was a bud that just sprouted. With hidden sparkling and shining energy, they are absolutely "real idols", but they're still rather unknown to the general public.

As for the reason they haven't made their break yet, it was obvious to Iori. They had too little exposure.

If you listened to their songs and saw their dancing, you would become a fan. That was the only ability and charm they held. However, there were almost no TV programs that invited the rookie idols IDOLiSH7.

During this time, an offer arrived at the agency for a variety program that would be distributed online, rather than on TV.

"That's right. I think it may be good to try this,"

Iori said, checking the terms of the request. However, Tsumugi made a surprised face.

"Eh? Really? But before, didn't you say you had a concern about doing online programs?"

While Iori discussed IDOLiSH7's future development with Tsumugi, she recalled what he formerly expressed.

"Yes. I said that. We are an idol group that attracted attention from online videos. The assumption that we are familiar with online distribution is correct. But..."

Because of an accident, IDOLiSH7 had to sing outdoors during a storm, and a video of that went viral and drew them a lot of attention.

Idols of the Internet age. The video circulated among people who liked and favorited it on social media. Spread without corporate promotion, the radiance of a new and fresh group called IDOLiSH7. That was one of our weapons, Iori thought.

But at the same time, he understood that this precarious position was a double-edged sword.

"On the other hand, if we rely too much on online distribution, there's a possibility we may develop an unwanted reputation. If I may say this freely--I don't want us to become 'cheap idols.'"

"Cheap...idols...?"

"Yes. It's a really subtle balance...but with one misstep, cheap idols will fail. Now is an era where anyone can post online. Amateurs can get popular by posting videos online, and they collaborate with companies to make videos. In that context, we must think of what it means to be professional idols. It isn't just about increasing exposure."

Tsumugi listened with a despondent face. Although Iori wasn't mad about Tsumugi's management, he sometimes caused her to make this kind of face. Her chest hurt a little.

"But...I think it's fine!! IDOLiSH7's singing and dancing are not cheap. You're the real deal. You're true idols. I know for a fact. I believe when people see you, they'll definitely understand!"

Tsumugi looked discouraged, but as soon as she bit her lip and took a deep breath, and her big eyes moistened, she turned to Iori and declared this.

Iori, taken aback, gulped. Because she said this with a puppy dog face without calculation--manager is scary.

"Of course,"

He replied immediately. Because Iori himself "knew" that IDOLiSH7 was the real deal.

The idol group that ran before them--TRIGGER--wasn't strong in variety.

Therefore, it was a good strategy to target the areas in which TRIGGER was weak.

Also--.

"This time, the web-distributed program seems to have a tight budget at this stage, so we need to tackle the project sharply. As for the film editor, a freelancer is better than a well-known one, but..."

He looked over the proposal, and checked the names of the staff along with the plan.

Before, Iori saw one of the names of the people involved with the filming in an interview online.

The name came up in a question about "interesting people lately" in the globally active, up-and-coming digital art group, Y-Classic.

He was a student who attracted attention in the art world for the stylish video he created as a hobby, which spread by word of mouth and became famous.

"I watched the video he made. In addition to his skill, his excellent way of showing the theme, the beautiful imagery, the quick tempo, and how it made you laugh, was understandably popular. If we find that kind of fresh talent and attract him to our program--isn't it okay to entrust ourselves to him?

Tsumugi stared in wonder and muttered, "I didn't know. There was someone like that in the staff."

"Our greatest weapon is Nanase-san's singing. If they hear our singing and see our dancing, the viewers will definitely understand that we are the real deal. Finally, if we make a corner showing our singing and dancing, along with the main point of the proposal, the mini drama ‘Ainana Academy’, I think the staff will surely challenge it and make something interesting. This job seems worthwhile."

"Understood. Then, I'll take accept this job!!"

Tsumugi responded energetically.

Five days later, the script for the drama arrived at the agency. A job for all the members of IDOLiSH7.

Within the group, MEZZO" already formed as a two-person unit, and Tamaki and Sougo had their CD debut, so their workload would further increase. Their responsibilities would grow, but even so, the two in MEZZO" were overjoyed.

In the first place, Tamaki and Sougo didn't have the slightest intention of only doing MEZZO". Rather, for the sake of debuting with IDOLiSH7 as seven people, they had been working hard to cut through as the advance guard, and clear a path.

It wasn't lip service; they were seriously acting with those intentions. Therefore, when the manager wanted to focus on IDOLiSH7's management and business, MEZZO" had a lot of work where it was just them alone.

At a small and weak agency, idols were being produced. They couldn't buy a car for exclusive use yet, so the two people in MEZZO" moved around by train. For the time being, they hid their faces with sunglasses and hats, and moved with their idol switch off. Even so, people who notice will notice, but they haven't yet experienced someone overbearingly talking to them and causing a racket.

However, Tamaki was disappointed in hearing "there's still quite a ways."

Tamaki stepped into the highly exposed entertainment world because he wanted to find his missing little sister. He had not revealed this reason to others yet, but he thought he always wanted to be more famous. He wanted to appear on TV a lot more. It would be good if his sister saw his existence.

Tamaki had his head in the clouds while he was riding the train with Sougo. They were sitting next to each other on an uncrowded seat. To the public, MEZZO" got along very well, but the truth was entirely different.

"Tamaki-kun, did you properly read the script?"

Sougo took the script out of his bag, and began reading it. It was also Sougo who put effort into remembering their travel times. He was serious. He was the type of person who thought what you ought to do today, you should accomplish today. It didn’t mean he was not serious. He always kept his eyes on the ball, which was why he was now only thinking of their next job.

"I'll do it later,"

He brusquely responded. Sougo slightly lowered the corners of his eyes.

It was unknown how many times it had been repeated.

The two have had similar back-and-forths many times.

Sougo looks very kind, and spoke with a gentle tone. With an atmosphere like warm spring sunshine, Sougo was basically always gentle and kind.

However--sometimes Sougo gave instructive guidance to only Tamaki. Tamaki was displeased with this.

"Since it's a job for the seven of us, we must do our best. We discussed this when the job came in earlier. The recording is the day after tomorrow. If we filmed separately, it would look unnatural, so we're doing it on a day when everyone can gather together."

It always felt like this. Sougo just gave Tamaki a lecture.

"Okay."

"To match our schedules, the staff hurriedly booked a studio. Everyone suddenly had to memorize their lines, and they were even individually practicing in the dorm."

"Soo-chan, did Mikkii tell you to be so loud?"

It was a mini drama about a school. Sougo was cast as a hot-blooded teacher.

Sougo was worried about how to act hot-blooded, so he consulted Mitsuki about various things. According to Mitsuki's advice, Sougo tried waking up the sleeping Yamato with a loud voice and took him along running, loudly interrupted Nagi who was proclaiming his love for ‘Magical Girl★Magical Kokona’, confirmed the schedule, and earnestly asked, "For the next job I want to raise my level of enthusiasm, so please watch ‘Magi★Kona’ with me. I will use it as a reference." Even if Nagi wasn't asked, he was always devoted to spreading the word of "Kokona's splendor". When Nagi realized, he had Sougo sitting in seiza in front of him while reciting "Kokona Love", while Sougo nodded with a serious expression vowing to "study a lot".

"What was that, practice?"

Sougo nodded with a troubled face at being seriously asked this..

"It was practice."

"It was noisy."

"...."

"Last night, Soo-chan was so loud, I lost motivation."

Sougo, deeply serious about "creating a hot-blooded role", approached Mitsuki for a consultation. At Mitsuki's advice, he gently laughed, said "I'll try," and straightened his posture. Afterwards was a rare scene of Sougo loudly waking up Yamato.

Sougo boldly challenged Yamato who easily brushes those things aside, and yelled from the pit of his stomach. Sougo did not usually raise his voice like this.

Yamato dodged with a, "Sou, are you drunk? Don't run around, sleep next to onii-san," and it ended in failure.

Mitsuki laughed at Sougo's failure and said, "Don't mind." Sougo replied "yes" with a serious look on his face. Riku, Nagi, and even Iori surrounded Sougo and let out a laugh at the gap between the endeavoring Sougo and the everyday Sougo,

At everyone's smiling faces, Sougo said, "Being hot-blooded is tough," and showed a bashful smile.

However, Tamaki could not laugh.

The inside of his chest felt prickly and unpleasant and hurt a bit.

When Sougo was around people other than Tamaki, he always gently laughed like a flower swaying in the spring wind. He did not get mad at anything Mitsuki said, and acted earnestly in accordance with Mitsuki's suggestions.

Sougo did not consult Tamaki, among other things. He did not rely on Tamaki.

Even though he knew he was unreliable, Tamaki still did not like it.

"Is that so. Sorry. So that I don't bother you, Tamaki-kun, I'll quietly practice in my room starting tonight,"

Sougo said with a troubled face.

He was bewildered by the apology. However, that wasn't it, thought Tamaki. Tamaki didn't want Sougo to apologize to him. But he also didn't intend to complain.

Even though he didn't say it was a nuisance--.

Did he mean to sound that way?

Sougo was good at extracting unpleasant words from Tamaki.

Tamaki got depressed at telling him to throw away his blunt words.

Sougo also got depressed being told that.

The two in MEZZO" were not good friends in the slightest.

Once again, the inside of Tamaki's chest prickled.

Sougo hid away the beaming smile he showed everyone from Tamaki, and the shutter in his heart made a loud sound and fell with a clatter. He pushed aside the feeling of "Today's smiles are out of stock. The store is closing now."

Sougo began reading the script fervently. Tamaki still felt like he wanted to say something, but he was irritated and without saying anything, he firmly pulled down the brim of his hat and closed his eyes.

So then, the recording of the web-distributed program started.

In the studio, each person was reading the script which was prior distributed, and Yamato who was wearing a costume, asked Riku,

"As I thought, isn't this look tight for onii-san? Wearing a high school uniform after all this time at the age 22 feels too much like a punishment."

One corner of the program was a mini drama--"Ainana Academy".

Somehow, Yamato was forced to wear a high school uniform. He wore a navy blazer, red necktie, and white button-up shirt.

"The size seems right. Yamato-san, it's a perfect fit. Where is it tight?"

Riku answered Yamato with a straight face, and looked over Yamato's school uniform from the front to the back.

Yamato didn't know what expression to make at being thoroughly examined, and looked to the sky.

Riku spontaneously burst out. Even if he explained his reason to Riku, he would not understand. Yamato pushed his glasses up and muttered.

"Mitsu, Sou, and even Nagi get to play teachers, so why am I playing a student..."

"Ah, I also thought something was strange. I wonder why I'm playing the youngest character. It feels weird that Iori and Tamaki are playing my senpais."

Yamato tilted his neck at Riku who was wearing the same school uniform.

"Oh. Rikkun is my kouhai?"

Tamaki, who was wearing a school uniform, asked Riku with the sense that he "just found out."

"Yeah. That's right."

"Oh."

"Yotsuba-san, incidentally I'm playing your classmate,"

Iori confirmed with Tamaki.

"Really? Okay."

Iori was also in a school uniform. He wore an armband that said "Student President" on his sleeve, and blackish green glasses. They were the type of frames that would look uncool depending on the person who wore them, but they fit Iori's fresh and neat look very well.

"Tamaki-kun.... You read the script properly?"

Sougo heard the conversation, and asked Tamaki worriedly.

Sougo wore a cool blue three-piece suit. The necktie was tied in a small knot, and he wore thin frame glasses. With silvery-green glasses adorning his serious-looking features, Sougo looked sharper than usual.

"Yeah."

"Not just read it, did you properly memorize the lines?"

Iori asked Tamaki to confirm again.

Sougo stared worriedly at the silent Tamaki. Tamaki, who was sensitive to people's emotions like an animal, noticed that Sougo was feeling anxious, and his chest prickled.

"Yeah."

Again, he made an uneasy face. Tamaki just made Sougo worry about him.

Mitsuki nonchalantly cut through the silent, awkward atmosphere formed between the two in MEZZO".

"Sougo's just like a teacher. Although he isn't hot-blooded. So math teacher-ish! If you were a calm and kind teacher, you'd be fine without having to practice for the role!"

Sougo made a troubled face at these embarrassing words.

"Mikkii is better than Soo-chan as a teacher"

Tamaki said softly.

"Really? Well, I'm also a teacher though. Of home economics"

Mitsuki's role as a teacher did not seem bad at all. He was wearing a necktie, but instead of a jacket, he wore a traditional knit sweater.

"...So why am I a student? Even if I wear a school uniform, I don't know whether I look like a student, so onii-san is really worried"

Yamato grumbled again. He was not seriously convinced.

"OH! Now that you say that, I am also really, really worried whether I look like a teacher! My elegance naturally flows out. My unparalleled beauty can't be thought of as of this world. I'm troubled about how to look like an ordinary teacher. There's no reality where such a beautiful teacher is in this school, so will any viewers complain?"

Nagi put his index finger against his cheek, and with a worried face, let out a sigh.

Was his wide-collared white shirt silk?

The sheen was clearly different from everyone else's shirts. There was no tie, and there was the impression that the suit was not ready-made, but an exquisite brand.

"Nagi's confidence is always impressive,"

Mitsuki had a distant look.

Nagi was pondering about something.

"It's fine because sometimes there are really beautiful and cool teachers,"

Riku said with sparkling eyes.

"It's fine if Nagi doesn't speak,"

Mitsuki continued.

"Really? But Mitsuki, I have dialogue too."

"Isn't it fine if you don't add OH or HEY to your lines, and avoid ad-libs and winks?"

Mitsuki sheepishly replied as if he had misgivings.

"But my role is a special English lecturer. 'OH' is in my lines."

"...OH......"

Mitsuki let out an "OH" from the bottom of his heart. Yamato laughed at the same time. Iori crossed his arms and furrowed his brows. Tamaki's expression did not change at all, while Sougo made a bewildered face. Riku grinned.

A girl ran towards them from the crowd of staff who were staring at them from a distance.

"...Um, excuse me. Can I take your picture? I want to take a group photo of you behind the scenes, and upload it to my blog for publicity."

"Yeah. ...It's fine, right? Manager?"

Mitsuki looked around, and asked for confirmation from Tsumugi who was talking to the staff.

After getting Tsumugi's approval, the costumed members of IDOLiSH7 turned toward the camera and smiled for the group photo.

On the other side of the camera, "kyaaa" could be heard from the women in the staff.

Nagi winked at the women.

Filming began. It was a scene where Riku, a transfer student who was late on his first day of school, was running to school with bread in his mouth.

Riku was running.

He was running--with a loaf of bread in his mouth.

Naturally a loaf of bread was not something you could just hold in your mouth, so he supported it with his hands while darting his eyes about. Looking like a small animal frantically putting food that's too big in its mouth, he put on a serious expression and filled up with motivation to run.

Everyone watching became rowdy. Even Tamaki, who was in a bad mood, burst into laughter.

"...Why is he running with a loaf of bread in his mouth? Is it this kind of scene?"

Sougo said incredulously.

"Sorry, it was my fault. It said in the script that it was a scene where he runs with bread in his mouth, so I bought some freshly baked bread,"

Mitsuki said.

Since it was freshly baked bread, it was not sliced.

"I thought about cutting it later, but I forgot.... It unexpectedly became an interesting scene..."

It won't block Riku's throat, right...?

In a sense different from being worried over his acting, all the members watched over Riku anxiously.

As Riku ran with bread in his mouth, he bumped into Iori at the street corner.

It was a clichéd opening scene.

Iori who was waiting across the street corner according to the script, looked considerably distressed at Riku's appearance, who was running at full speed with "a loaf of bread in his mouth."

Forgetting to act, Iori lost his bearings, made a surprised face, and came to a halt, and then Riku crashed into him.

Even though Iori tried to stop Riku who was protecting the bread, from falling, he bounced back, got his foot stepped on, and he pulled Riku towards his chest to support him.

The bread was sandwiched between them, and his face became mixed with astonishment and worry. Iori said,

"Isn't it dangerous? Why were you running with bread in your mouth without looking ahead? You--"

They were lines from the script.

"S-so...sorry."

Iori apologized to Riku, but they were positioned much closer to each other than it stated in the script, and although it wasn't a scene where they hugged, it looked like they were hugging.

In a panic, they suddenly let go of their hands. The chain of events reflected the odd innocence of a fastidious youth in the throes of puberty, and all the members watching the filming let out an "oh."

"Cut!! That was a good scene. Yup. You two were also good. It was different from the script, but your ad-lib was definitely effective. Let's go there. One take."

The director, in a good mood, clapped his hands.

#idolish7 #novel #translation #excerpt

164 notes · View notes

dragonnan · 3 years

Text

Author Interview Tag

Tagged by @aelaer a week or two ago, thank you!

Name: Tanya (among family I'm Nan or Auntie Nanny)

Fandoms: Sherlock, MCU, Psych, Prodigal Son, and a goodly collection of others

Where you post: For a number of years I posted on FFN but between the really shitty reviews and extremely cumbersome posting process I finally quit. I posed on Psychfic while still an active part of that fandom but that, too, has pretty much ended. I put a few stories on Wattpad but found it to be pretty meh. I now post exclusively to AO3.

Most popular multi-chapter fic: It's a tossup between “Fury” on Psychfic and “All Nighter” on AO3 – one based on comments and the other on Kudos. Frankly “popularity” is really subjective because there's also stuff like read count and with comments, at least nearly half are replies from me and read count also includes re-reads as well as every time I clicked on the damn thing to edit so....

You know I'm just really not sure how to properly answer this??

Favorite story you’ve written so far: Like others have stated you can ask me this on three different days and get three different answers and there will be more than 1 fic mentioned every time so.... Because I write in different fandoms I just absolutely can't list a single fic. The best I can narrow it would a fic from my top 3 fandoms.

Psych: Paint it Black. I had read a fic where Shawn was gradually going blind and had really been enjoying it and the challenges it presented. Sadly it was never completed. As has happened before I decided I would write my own damn fic if I couldn't get a completed story so that was the primary motivation to start this. What I most love about this is writing from Shawn's perspective as he navigates being blind and not knowing whether or not his condition is permanent. I did my best to honor the experience of blind and partially blind people and tried to look beyond the cliché.

MCU: I have so much fun writing these stories! In spite of the dumpster fire the film canon became I do so love this sandbox and employing various forms of unfucking it. So I'm gonna cheat a little and pick two for my faves here since one is a WIP. Sed Diabolus. I don't need to have completed it yet to know this will be my all-time favorite. This is the first fic that has been entirely plotted out and OMG I'm so excited for iiiit!! The second is Simple Math which seems like an odd choice given there's zero action – mostly just one character – hell, not even any whump. But there is something about that deep dive into Tony's mindset that keeps this as a fave even though it was the first thing I ever wrote for the MCU. I learned about Tony as I wrote this and I also worked my way through those motivations that bothered me regarding Stane. Even years later I still mentally go back to this fic whenever I write Tony because I feel encapsulates the essence of how I see him as a character.

Sherlock: Compared to other fandoms I'm still quite new to this fandom so I don't have nearly as many fics. But I still have a favorite! And, like with the MCU, it's the first story I ever wrote for this fandom; The Tiger and the Shark. Returning to a plot device I've employed in other fics, this one is built around a sexual assault and taking the character on a journey from that terrible event to the point where they rediscover themselves. PTSD ever being my favorite form of whump I employ that fairly a lot in this story and employ some kinda radical methods for coping with those memories.

Fic you were nervous to post: I mean until I start getting comments I'm a world of anxiety with every story I post. But grabbing a specific fic that hit my nerves – that Sherlock fic I'd said was my fave certainly qualified. Not only was it my first Sherlock fic – it also was charging out of the gate with a very heavy topic so yeah – I wasn't sure if people would absolutely hate it or find my characterizations totally off or what.

How you choose your titles: It varies a bit. In some stories, like Sed Diabolus, I actually consult friends on various ideas. Other times I'll consider songs or lyrics and my favorite thing is if I can alter the known title just a bit to make it more relevant to the fic (I did that a LOT with Psych fics which was the method the show also employed for its episode titles). One of my favorite Psych titles is “The Wizard Was the Wicked Witch and the Scarecrow Lost His Courage”.

Do you outline: Almost never – not until “Sed Diabolus”. That story, though, is so astoundingly complex that without an outline I'd be hopelessly lost. I am, though, trying to make a practice of outlining more because it helps SO much!

Complete: If we count every one-shot collection and challenge collection it likely is over 200 stories. Of course a lot of those are one-shots. My total completed chaptered fics number maybe around 34?

In progress: 16 – between Psychfic and AO3. All Psych stories are on long-term hiatus for the foreseeable future (some, honestly, I will never finish as they are many many years old and I've lost the inspiration for the plot). Several MCU stories are also on the back-burner while I focus on “Sed Diabolus”. I admit I get LOTS of story ideas and staying focused on a single fic is not something I've ever been greatly successful with.

Coming soon/not yet started: I meaaaan.... lots?? I have probably several hundred ideas and partially started fics across many fandoms. As to “imminently coming soon...” I don't think I currently have an active story that I haven't already posted at least a first chapter. Sadly I have zero patience for developing something for months before posting which is why I have so many WIPs. That said I DO have a Sherlock au that has been poking at me now and then involving the witch trials that started in Denmark and, eventually, made their way to Salem. The idea would be that Molly Hooper is accused of being a witch. She, of course, is innocent but cause this unfortunate attention due to her “uncanny” ability to heal the sick and injured (not so much uncanny as opposed to employing methods that aren't so reliant on superstition and folklore).

She is scheduled to be tortured and executed but is saved by Sherlock – a strange recluse primarily ignored and given a pass as he solves mysteries for people. He and his friend John save Molly from this awful fate. The twist is that Sherlock is a sorcerer (bit of marvel crossover-ish) and able to transport them to safety.

Do you accept prompts: I wish I could cause I love ideas but I don't have the time/energy to always work on what I already have and I'm awful at follow thru. Like I will never turn away an Ask wanting to share ideas but I can't promise that I can actually write anything.

Upcoming story you are most excited to write: As was the reply to a previous query – I have lots that are ideas that will linger in partial stages for sometimes years. If it's “upcoming” I've already posted the first chapter lol! But, again, I have several story ideas that whenever I poke through my folders I get excited about someday actually writing them. Here is a teaser for an MCU fic involving Tony Stark and Obie (I still feel this was never explored enough – certainly not in fic):

They were doing a retrospective, ten year anniversary kinda... whatever. Unofficial, of course. Certainly nothing Pepper would have dreamed up even at her most drunk (which, honestly, was never her scene. Tony had sorta owned that space well beyond the time it had started owning him). Whose idea it ultimately had been? Frankly Tony couldn't give a fuck. That he was asked to be one of the speakers was slightly more... awkward. Awkward was the right word, yeah? Nauseating was certainly another and possibly a bit more accurate.

Dead for a decade and Obadiah Stane still managed to fuck with his life.

But... it hadn't always been that way. At least, not as he'd believed back when the Walkman had been on every kid's Christmas list.

He'd thought it was bonding; at the time. His dad had never been one for just hanging out; shooting the shit; telling tales out of school. No, Pops, when he bothered to interact, led with questions. “You keeping your grades up?” “You still seeing that floozy?” “When are you going to pull your head out of your ass and grow the hell up?” “You do realize it's my name you're disgracing every time you go on a bender?”

With Obie it was just, easy. Obie might ask about school but it was always with approval and pride. He would discuss Tony's conquests as though Tony had climbed Kilimanjaro wearing nothing but underwear and a cape.

Obie was there when his father wasn't. Which meant that Obie was always there. The first time he got astoundingly drunk on his father's scotch, Obie was the one to help him hunch over the toilet and vomit expensive, aged booze into the toilet. Obie was also the one to replace the depleted bottle to keep Howard in the dark. For a fourteen year old kid still trying to gain his dad's favor, that had meant everything.

He saw his first porn with Obie; sex education ala Traci Lords, three months shy of his fifteenth birthday. That was the same time he was introduced to weed. Obie had cautioned him to use it sparingly; didn't want to fry that genius brain, he'd say, and ruffle his hair. The porn had made him uncomfortable. Obie had turned it off and told him they could watch whatever Tony wanted. They'd ended up changing the station to Knight Rider; smoking and munching Cheetos and laughing over their orange fingers.

It was Obie who was there, arm around his shoulders, after his parents died. He desperately didn't want to sob in front of the man. Things were so complicated with his dad that all he felt was blinding guilt... as though some part of him had caused this. But Obie had filled him with bourbon until the emotions got soft around the edges and he'd sat beside the older man, head tipping gradually to the right until he was held up by Obie's shoulder. Obie had just slung an arm around him and let Tony pass out while he rubbed a broad hand up and down his bicep.

It was strange, now, looking back with adult perspective. A perspective that included Afghanistan and his intended execution while Obie talked about legacy and responsibility while Tony's lungs slowly seized. He'd taken the time to sit there – arm around Tony's shoulders while one broad hand traveled up and down Tony's bicep – just like when he was a kid and Obie was the whole world.

He'd tried to remember if it had felt so... tainted... at the time. Or if he'd always believed it was love.

Obie had never quite crossed that line. Though hindsight offered a peek into that possibility with enough clarity Tony had fought with his cramping gut for nearly thirty minutes. He'd staved off vomiting though he was fairly certain his dignity had still been in tatters what with Bruce wandering in on his misery.

Upcoming story you are most excited about (this is basically a repeat of the above question so I decided to change it. Do you have a future story idea you'd like to write that is not yet beyond the vague idea stage? I love stories that put Molly in some sort of jeporady and I have a barely formed idea to someday write a “stalker fic” of some sort and not I don't care that this trope had been done on repeat – I still love it lol! I have a smidge of writing for it:

“I need your help.”

As afternoons at Baker Street went, this was a mundane request heard so often that Sherlock's typical reply, “Obviously, or you wouldn't be here”, could have been printed on flash cards. The detective had actually made the suggestion after a particularly full day at the flat and having heard the statement no less than twenty times.

Today, however, Sherlock merely blinked for a moment. Then, with an awkwardness rare to a man with a lethal sort of grace in his movements, Sherlock gestured to John's chair, JOHN'S CHAIR, before taking his usual seat.

Molly didn't exactly smile but her lips edged up a bit before she sat.

John cleared his throat before pointing a vague hand towards the kitchen. “I'll just go make some tea, shall I?”

“No, please, I...” The stammer in her speech was not uncommon; though John couldn't recall such obvious fear. Forgoing the kitchen he, instead, took the hard wooden chair facing the other two.

“Molly, what's wrong?”

Tagging: @kitcat992 @mizjoely @sgam76 @ariaadagio @hanuko @ceruleanmindpalace

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kali-tmblr · 5 years

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The Sisters: Parallels in the Relationships Between Yang, Ruby, Weiss, and Winter in RWBY

It's tempting just to run "Sister Stuff" on this space and be done with it, but the subject needs a bit more attention than that. Ruby x Yang and Weiss x Winter are not exact parallels. Winter isn't a straight-up Yang counterpart for Weiss. Yang and Ruby are two years apart. Winter and Weiss are six to eight years apart. Because of age and distance, the relationship Weiss has with Winter seems halfway between the relationship Ruby has with Yang and Qrow. Weiss relates to Winter more like the way Ruby relates to Qrow in Volumes 1-3 than the way Ruby relates to Yang. Weiss adores and idealizes Winter, but she really isn't that close to her in daily life. So while they are alike in some ways, in other ways they are very different.

Let's talk about the similarities first. We have two pairs of sisters. They come from families that have suffered trauma. All four girls want to be Huntresses, with the Big Sisters being further along with that goal, Yang by two years and Winter having gradated from Atlas Academy (a requisite for becoming a Specialist). Both Big Sisters are helping their Little Sister with her training, and are proud of her progress. Both Little Sisters show high levels of talent and dedication. Both Little Sisters adore their Big Sisters, but don't copy them completely. This is fortunate because both Big Sisters are emotionally damaged. Yang has PTSD from the Fall of Beacon, and Winter appears to be still traumatized from her childhood experiences. Having been in a similar situation I would not be surprised if she has PTSD as well.

There's a final set of similarities between Yang and Winter. Both women have tempers that have caused them grief in combat. Winter's signature move in Amity Arena, the one she opened her duel with Qrow by performing, is essentially the same one Yang was performing when Adam cut off her arm. Both women also start out with a tendency in battle to concentrate too much on their goal to the exclusion of their surroundings. This tendency cost Yang her arm at the Fall of Beacon, and Winter her duel with Qrow when she didn't realize Ironwood was right behind her. According to the information on her Amity Arena card, Winter had this tendency even before she enrolled at Atlas Academy, and has it to a greater extent than anyone else we've met except for Ironwood. Yang was able to overcome this tendency with the help of her mentor, Tai. Unfortunately Winter's mentor is Ironwood, who could use some help in this department himself.

But there's more contrast than there is parallel with these young women. Both families have suffered trauma, but the Xiou Long household has recovered and is healthier, in spite of the fact that it's the Schnee family that is "intact". Yang is an optimist, Winter seems to be a pessimist. Due to the difference in their ages, the way both Big Sisters relate to their Little Sisters is different. For Yang growing up with Ruby only two years younger than her, Ruby was her world. According to the Amity Arena card, for Winter growing up with Weiss born around the time she started school, Weiss was an afterthought. These two minor deviations combine to result in a significant difference in how the Big Sisters treat their Little Sisters. Yang is very protective of Ruby, whereas Winter vacillates between "tough love" and abuse, with an emphasis on teaching Weiss that she shouldn't expect anyone to ever protect her. I couldn't help thinking, at the end of Winter's introductory scene in Volume 3 that Winter's treatment of Weiss is not going to go down well with Yang. Honestly, I'm looking forward to that meeting as much as I'm looking forward to Winter meeting Weiss or Qrow.

(I understand that Winter is still reacting from her own abusive upbringing and that she is trying to do better, but she needs to work on it more.)

These differences are underscored in the Yang and Weiss character shorts from Volume 5. Both of these shorts have the same basic plot -- Big Sister gives Little Sister a training session just outside their house back before Volume 1 again. In the case of Yang and Ruby, this appears to be a clearing in the woods near their house. In the case of Winter and Weiss, this appears to be the courtyard of their house. Both Big Sisters state that they are giving Little Sister this lesson because Big Sister won't be around to protect them all the time. And that's about where the similarity ends.

Weiss' short opens with "Path to Isolation", the bleakest of all the Weiss songs. Weiss is practicing with her sword, killing wave after wave of Winter's summoned Beowolves, each preceded by a wave of very specific snow flurries on a cloudless night (a sign, perhaps, that Winter is the Winter Maiden?) while Winter watches from somewhere unseen. (Coincidentally, killing Beowolves is the same thing we see Ruby doing in the first trailer.) Weiss takes out about a dozen before losing her sword and going down. We learn that Weiss didn't perform well enough, but what we don't learn is what the target was. How many Beowolves did she have to kill to pass? How close did she get? Or was it a timed test, did she have to keep going for a certain length of time? You need to give that kind of information when you are coaching, otherwise the coach isn't doing her job. Expressing disappointment with no objective feedback can actually make the student worse. Curiously, Winter never touches Weiss, not even to hand her back her sword. Instead she sticks Myrtenaster in the ground and walks away.

Back on Patch, Yang's short opens with "Ignite", the cockiest of her songs. She is giving a very reluctant Ruby a lesson in weaponless combat. Hand to hand is Ruby's weakness, and while she she's content with that fact, Yang isn't going to let it rest there. Their sparring amounts to Yang attacking and Ruby dodging, until Ruby can't dodge a blow and uses her Semblance to run away. Yang looks for Ruby and finds an Ursa instead. Ruby comes back to find her sister locked in a tough battle with the Grimm that Yang eventually wins. Ruby is relieved that Yang won and distressed that she couldn't help Yang without a weapon. Yang hugs Ruby and, assures her that Yang will always have her back.

Both shorts begin and end with similar framing scenes revolving around runaways. Weiss is running away to Mistral hoping to catch up to Winter (who previously in a time-honored tradition among abused children, ran away from an abusive home by joining the military). Unlike the audience she is unaware that Winter has been recalled to Atlas, and her quest is in vain. Even so, her mood is more melancholy than hopeful.

Meanwhile, Yang is in Anima searching for Ruby, who has run away from home seeking answers in Mistral. Yang was too broken to say anything when Ruby left, but now she is well enough to follow. Her mood is hopeful and somewhat amused.

The major difference between the two stories comes down to expectations. Winter and Weiss have been taught not to expect people to help them unless they "earn" it by virtue of their rank and/or effort. The interesting thing about this assumed privilege is how Weiss uses it. We never see her try to use her status to get something after Blake shoots her down in their first scene. And while she does claim to have earned certain things by virtue of her hard work, the favors in question are all fairly ordinary things that anyone should be able to ask for by virtue of being a person. The most extreme example is when she questions Ruby's leadership position in "The Badge and the Burden Part 2". The question itself is legitimate, but premature, however Weiss is a teenager and "jumping the gun" is a common trait in teens. So it's interesting that in the first two volumes she thinks she has to earn the right through hard work to ask legitimate perfectly questions.

Winter emphasizes that she won't be around to save Weiss and that Weiss has to be able to save herself. This is true, but there's a big difference between being able to look after yourself and expecting that you will always have to look after yourself because no one will ever freely help you.

Ruby and Yang have a different expectation. As Ruby explains to Ozpin in their first meeting, she and her sister were taught to help people. This leads them to have two expectations. They expect that they will need to be able to look after themselves so they will be available to help others, and they also expect that other people will be willing to help them. This leads them to ask other people for help more often. Sometimes the people they ask to help them don't, with Raven being the most prominent example. But more often than not, they do. These different expectations are thrown into stark contrast when Weiss and Ruby run away from home. When Weiss runs away, she's on her own. When Ruby runs away, she takes Team RJNR with her.

(I'm not underestimating how difficult life is for abuse survivors trying to escape, just pointing out how it messes with your head over the long term. I'm over 50, and I still have trouble asking for help.)

Expectations lead to promises. It's interesting how Yang and Ruby approach promises. Yang promises Ruby that Yang will always have Ruby's back, and she keeps that promise to the best of her ability. This knowledge gives Ruby the confidence to push herself further. Does Yang always keep that promise? No, but it takes being maimed to stop her, and as soon as she can she is back to keeping it. In the meantime the confidence Ruby has gained from all the times Yang has kept her word has gotten her almost to Haven by then.

Ruby has promised Weiss that Team RWBY will be by her side every second in Atlas, and has acted to keep that promise at every step along the way. It's not a promise that can be kept forever. Eventually it's going to be broken. But by then the strength and confidence Weiss has gained from all the times it has been kept should help her go much further than she could have gotten on her own.

On a final note, the Winter we saw in Volume 3 might not be the Winter we meet again. As much time has passed for her as for the rest of the characters, and they have all changed. Weiss'disappearance may have shaken her, and she may either scream at her, or smother her with attention, or both. We shall see.

#rwby #rwby thoughts #rwby theory #rwby7 #winter schnee #ruby rose #weiss schnee #yang xiao long #rwby ruby #rwby roosterteeth

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multimetaverse · 5 years

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Tyrus in 3c

I’ve gotten a lot of asks about what might happen with Tyrus in the rest of the season and I’ll use this post to answer them all. We can already tell by the fact that they started this story line without the audience actually knowing that TJ is gay and that he and Kira only have 3 eps left that most of this plot is going to be subtextual and off-screen. Things have to end on at least a strained note for Tyrus in 3x15, the real question is whether they reconcile in 3x19 or if they only end up on good terms again as they confess in 3x21. The latter is always an option with Disney’s restrictions but there are some reasons to be cautiously optimistic that we’ll get the former and I have to blindly hope that TJ and Cyrus won’t be made into victims and will be allowed to be the heroes of their own stories. This will be a long post but tldr: what we know of Kira’s screen-time suggests that she’s largely redeemed by the finale, some sort of big gesture is likely needed for TJ to truly apologize to Cyrus like a rap or hug, it’s noteworthy that TJ’s scenes in 3x19 are all at school, and there are some interesting similarities between what’s going on with Jandi and Tyrus and noticeable differences between what’s going on with those ships and Muffy.

TJ and Kira have 3 eps left while Marty has 4-5 and Amber has 6 so already we can tell which story lines are most important. TJ disappears for three eps after 3x15 which is the longest he’s been away since he returned this season and the longest they seem willing to let the important love interests be off-screen. The gap is largely because the wedding is in 3x18 and TJ isn’t allowed to be there but eps 16-18 are likely to span at least several weeks in universe and suggests an opportunity for off screen growth and change on his part. Perhaps most importantly we know for the finale that Raquel was only on set for one day and that was the same day that all of the other main and recurring kids were on set so Kira is not going to get very much screen-time in the finale which along with the fact that she is even at the party suggests she’s already on good terms with Cyrus and TJ.

We know that Raquel was on set for only one day for 3x15 and it seems likely that Luke was only on set for a day as well during the filming of an outdoor basketball game with teen boy players; probably the same set up we saw in 3x13. This must be where Cyrus tries to talk with TJ but doesn’t really get anywhere, it will be interesting to see how angsty of a note they end on and if it’s meant to be something that sticks with us or something that they want us to forget about until 3x19. Fwiw it does look like TJ is wearing the same camo hoodie in 3x15 as he was in 3x07 so an angsty callback to’’ you’re the only person I can talk to like this’’ may be in the cards. Raquel never posted from set during 3x19 (presumably that’s when she appears though if she for some reason needed to have solo scenes with Cyrus she could potentially appear in 3x16 or 3x17). She wasn’t seen in any of the casts posts from that week so she likely wasn’t on set for more than a day for that ep either.

Three days of filming spread over 3 eps means Kira will be lucky to have more than 5 minutes of screen-time the rest of the season and that her redemption arc will have to be fairly quick. I have to hope that her redemption arc will begin in 3x15 when she realizes or is made to realize the hurt she’s caused TJ and Cyrus. Since Raquel confirmed that Kira knows what’s up with Tyrus I’d expect that the only way to redeem her would be for her to become TJ’s Buffy and support him in his sexuality as Buffy has with Cyrus which would mostly happen off screen but since they’re willing to let them have solo scenes could begin in 3x15, maybe with Kira offering to hear TJ out if he wants to talk. We need to see something from her that shows that she’s not an evil person and that she can learn to do the right thing.

I’d expect this plot line to look like a peer pressure/manipulation/being true to yourself plot line to little kids and the fear of homophobia story line it is supposed to be for older audiences. It looks like they’re trying to show a coming out story line where the fear isn’t internalized homophobia such as it was with Cyrus but external homophobia but I think that difference will escape much of the audience. We’ve seen TJ be so happy to hang with Cyrus at school or the park or at the spoon or at his work or with his friends so I wonder what little kids think of him suddenly being afraid to be seen matching with Cyrus.

Where does this leave Cyrus after 3x15? Again the audience has never had it confirmed that Cyrus likes TJ so that affects how the audience sees this conflict. Is he going to be allowed to talk about what’s going on with his friends or will this just be ignored until 3x19? Letting TJ be able to have solo scenes with Kira means that the show can wall this plot off from the rest of the show until 3x19 which is the route they’re going, I fear.

For Cyrus I think this will primarily look to him like TJ is ashamed to be close to him which is why I find it noteworthy that TJ is at school in 3x19 especially since before the re-shoots 3x19 was the last time the show filmed scenes at school. Cyrus feeling that TJ doesn’t want to be close to him would be devastating for Cyrus even if he’s not allowed to express it on screen. They had TJ say I’m sorry for the first time in 3x13 and he can say it again to Cyrus but I think TJ needs to show Cyrus that he’s important to him.

Jonah left Cyrus upset after refusing to wear their matching jackets in S1 and even though Jonah didn’t realize or care the hurt he caused Cyrus he did end up making it up to him by publicly praising him at the awards dinner and giving him a space otters jersey and a hug. I don’t think TJ’s apology would get anywhere near that level of attention but I think another rap is likely but this time it’s a more personal message from TJ to Cyrus. Or something like a hug or a callback to’’ He’s with me’’ from 2x08, something that shows Cyrus that he’s important to TJ. I’d imagine Kira would have to help out with whatever spurs their reconciliation so the audience at least doesn’t hate her anymore. I’m not saying TJ has to jump on stage and rap or hug Cyrus on stage but some sort of moment at the school in front of at least a couple of other people is needed for Tyrus to move past this conflict.

Luke was on set for two days in 3x19 and he and Josh had at least one wardrobe change so we’re probably looking at more than one day in universe. The potential Jandi and Tyrus scenes at the game could be very important as I’ll get in to in a bit. It also looks like TJ may have scenes with Buffy and Cyrus and Cyrus has a scene with Gus in the theatre which suggests Cyrus is getting more focus than usual and could be set up for a callback to 3x13 where Cyrus was miserable on stage but in 3x19 he’s happy.

So far in S3 Tyrus has been cycling through all their big moments: muffin, swings, dyscalculia, and somersaults. If the pattern holds we should get a look back in 3x15. I do think the audience needs something to show that TJ is gay and has a crush on Cyrus if this plot is to have any hope of succeeding. It mirrors something that @cyrusgoodboye noted after S2 aired; that in 2x12 Andi listed all the things Jonah had failed to do in what she thought was their relationship and then in 2b Jonah did all those things in the order she listed as they rekindled their relationship.

One thing that really caught my eye in 3x13 is the out of nowhere Jandi/Tyrus parallel they threw in with both Jonah and TJ letting down Andi and Cyrus (though for obviously different reasons). All of the GHC have a thing for sporty white guys but Andi and Cyrus have a more specific type: green eyed captains with hidden depths and secrets and poor coping mechanisms; which is why the both liked Jonah in S1. Andi and Cyrus are more alike than they are with Buffy just as Jonah and TJ are more alike than they are with Marty. Jonah and TJ have been written as foils from the beginning of TJ’s arc and the show even invented a past for them and has now established them as friends.

In contrast things are going much smoother for Muffy. The show could have dug into Marty icing Buffy out but the show blamed Buffy and dismissed it out of hand. That’s not to say they won’t have drama and angst but ‘’the boy I like has a girlfriend’’ is an order of magnitude less than the issues Andi and Jonah and Cyrus and TJ are facing. What’s also interesting is that Muffy is the only endgame couple that are together by the wedding. We know that Machel sinks in 3x17 as Marty is at the wedding in 3x18; he’s not there as Buffy’s platonic plus one. But obviously Tyrus doesn’t canon until 3x21 and Jonah singing You Girl to Andi isn’t until 3x20 which seems like that’s the big Jandi get back together moment. So both Jandi and Tyrus having scenes together in 3x19 shortly before they canon is very interesting timing and opens up the potential for more endgame parallels.

Another reason I think there may be another rap is that Terri does like to recycle her work and Cyrus realized his crush on TJ during the first rapology and during the second he could realize that TJ likes him back; it’s like poetry it rhymes. It would also create another parallel between Tyrus and Jandi as both of their love interests make a big gesture.

That’s not to say that Tyrus will get anywhere near the attention Jandi or even Muffy gets, it’s far too late for that, but it is interesting that the writers seem to be linking Tyrus with Jandi more so than Muffy; it does suggest a certain ambition on their part even if those ambitions are frustrated.

There are lots of interesting paths for the show to take in 3x19, but as always when it involves Cyrus’ story line, it’s a question of what they’ll be allowed to do. We have Andi and Jonah and Cyrus and TJ in the same scenes for only the 3rd time in the show and the first time they’ve been at the same game since 2x18. There’s potential for Jonah to call back to his ‘’are they friends’’ line and they’ve gone out of their way to make Jonah and TJ friends, will there be any pay off to that? Jonah knows that Cyrus is gay and knows what a look back means, Andi knows that Cyrus is gay and suspects TJ has a crush on Cyrus and is only allowed into Cyrus’ sexuality story line rarely, Buffy would be at the game and she knows that Cyrus is gay and suspects that TJ has a crush on Cyrus and has always been Cyrus’ staunchest supporter, hell Cyrus even has scenes at the spoon with Amber who knows what look backs mean.

The posters we saw in 3x07 spell out the endgame of all this; for TJ to take pride in who he is and for Kira to learn to respect others. Does TJ resuming his openly affectionate ways give Cyrus the confidence to decide to come out to him? The narrative is asking TJ to in a fairly quick time span be okay with being out to the whole world; something it has never demanded of Cyrus. With Andi, Buffy, Jonah, and Kira all knowing about them does that mean Cyrus and TJ will be allowed to act coupley in front of everyone at the party after they confess or can only those four other characters know? Does TJ even have scenes with Marty and Amber? Bex and Bowie are at the party and Bex likely knows that Cyrus is gay from their talk in 2x07 and both of them know who TJ is from 2x18, are they allowed to be the supportive adults who congratulate Cyrus or must they be kept in the dark as well? I can only hope that Terri managed to convince Gary Marsh to let her pull off a satisfying arc in these remaining eps

#Andi Mack #Tyrus #TJ Kippen #Cyrus Goodman #Kira #Jonah Beck #Buffy Driscoll #Jandi #Muffy #Andi Mack Meta #Andi Mack Season 3

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easilydistractedbyfanfic · 4 years

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What do you think of the critics of murven being ableist (coming from a chronically ill person who considers it such)?

First of all, I think that we all bring a different perspective to fiction - and ships - based on our own experiences. So we have biases and preferences that sometimes we’re not even cognizant of with regard to what we are drawn to or what we are repulsed by. But I also think it’s important to listen to other perspectives, especially minority voices, and yes I do know that there are those who are strongly against the Murphy/Raven ship because they feel it discriminates or does carry an ableist attitude. And yes, I have read some of those takes out of a desire to understand it.

Before I add my own opinion, let me start with two caveats. First, I am not disabled and I do get that because of that, my understanding (or lack thereof) of this topic is going to be influenced by my own dearth of personal experience/only having an outside view. Second, whether it matters or not, I did start shipping these two characters in 1x10, which is before Murphy shot Raven and she received her permanent injury from it. I don’t suggest this lets me off the hook for my opinions, and in fact I still clearly ship them even knowing Murphy DID cause this injury - I’m just pointing this out because I do happen to know the exact moment I got into this relationship and I am quite aware of why I like their dynamic and what draws me to them.

So that said - it happens to be my personal opinion that this relationship is not ableist from the way that it is portrayed in the show. And yes, I understand that what is ableist/not ableist to me, a non-disabled person, may certainly be different than what an actual disabled person may see. But this question seems to be seeking my justification for shipping this ship, so I am going to offer it under the cut.

I think that t100 has done a great job with this particular storyline - portraying Raven as very adversarial and angry towards Murphy, both because of him shooting her, of course, but also because of her anger over the whole Finn/Trikru Village mess. Not long after he shoots her, Raven lures Murphy into a sort of trap with the intent to give Murphy to Trikru instead of Finn, and while I can’t say it’s fully revenge for her leg, nor is it fully just to save Finn either, IMHO. Both of these things influence her. Ultimately her plan doesn’t work, and it happens to be my opinion based on the scene that Raven is aware that she is doing wrong, but regardless of personal interpretation of this storyline, it is canon that Raven is angry at Murphy and this is ongoing from after he shoots her and well into S4. No one suggests that her anger is misplaced, no one pushes for her to “get over” him shooting her, and for the most part when they do interact (they had no scenes together in S3), Murphy mostly just takes her ire like it’s his due - he does not resist it or push back as he does with others, which to me always suggested that he felt like he deserved her anger - which he does.

At the time that I was watching live, I was aware my interest in Raven/Murphy as a ship was far-fetched in 1x10 (when I first liked the idea of them), and I absolutely admit Murphy was still a jerk then, even before he shot her. I just liked the possibility of what I thought they could be, and I found Murphy far more interesting for Raven than Finn. After the shooting happened, I figured there was absolutely no chance of them ever getting together or being friends after that, especially with no interaction between them in S3. But then S4 happened and for me, possibilities were renewed. I could go rather in depth about it, but I think things started to change for RAVEN after Murphy stole that medicine for Adria. She was angry with him over it, even though in a way he took that burden off of her shoulders. She made the choice to say no medicine for Adria, with the odds being likely that it wouldn’t save the child but without 100% certainty. Murphy stealing it meant that the death of the child was no longer on Raven’s conscience. I don’t think Raven grasped this initially, but when they get to Becca’s Island in S4 and she is shown to still be angry with Murphy - calling him a dick, saying he shouldn’t have come - but then he helps her run from the drones when she can’t keep up, and canon portrays her as being perhaps surprised/shocked/perplexed by this because she didn’t expect it of him, but then she CHOOSES to thank him for it of her own volition. And when she is talking to Luna and trying to convince her to stay, Raven says that Adria was worth taking a chance for - which is a change in Raven’s initial perspective of not allowing the medicine for Adria.

It was and is my interpretation of the show’s canon that this was something of a turning point in Raven’s head, a softening towards other people as more than just numbers or statistics. Raven has never been a cruel character but at the same time, often she previously showed empathy more towards someone she loved or knew, and tried to react with logic or without emotion when it came to others - understandable in order to make life or death decisions, sure, but often making her seem cold, like what Abby accused her of when Raven wouldn’t give the medicine. During their time on Becca’s Island in S4, Raven works together quite a bit with Murphy. They can be antagonistic, which is no surprise, but we also know that Raven is also being affected by Becca’s code still in her head. We see them working together - sometimes quite well or even joking - and we see Raven thank Murphy again for his help. We see Murphy taking steps to be the bigger person where Raven is concerned (ie after their big fight he’s actually trying to learn Luna’s words to calm Raven down and it’s Murphy that sucks it up and comes back to the lab after the fight). We are shown that Murphy does not fight back against Raven physically (just tries to protect/defend himself), shows concern for her well-being, and in his own way, tries to help. (I can cite examples here but this is already wordy). When Raven decides to die on her own terms, she shows this change of attitude again when she offers Murphy forgiveness when she tells him it’s not his fault. There was no pressure on Raven to do this, no outside influence other than her own CHOICE. Murphy did not beg or seem to expect forgiveness from her at any time in S4 (or prior), and is in fact really shell-shocked when she offers it.

To me, THIS is why I don’t view the Murven ship as ableist. There is no subtext that suggests that Raven needs to or should forgive Murphy. There is no scenario where Murphy refutes or tries to justify what he did to her. Murphy is not put on some kind of redemption arc with regard to Raven or what he did to her, she’s not in a storyline where she is seeking to be “fixed” so much as she’s seeking to escape the pain, and we see her have an ongoing struggle with it so it’s not like it’s all just forgotten or water under the bridge for her. While Raven does seem to think the injury is something to overcome at first, we are told and shown that it won’t ever go away, and we do see her struggles as she comes to terms with this. The show doesn’t portray her as inferior because of her injury, though. Raven is always seen as a valuable member of the group by others even when she herself doubts her worth. In fact, people regularly try to save her at the risk of themselves. Raven as a character makes a personal choice - and we could certainly dive into the reasons for it; I love characterization stuff! - but she chooses to forgive Murphy and move forward and whatever Murphy does or does not do isn’t specifically what brings this about, I don’t think - to me it’s much more about what Raven wants for herself before she thinks she’s going to die. This is key for me because Raven never loses autonomy where Murphy is concerned - something in her wants to forgive him and for me, I can only respect this choice as something the character actively seeks.

And if I dig a little further into it, I can add that after Raven forgives Murphy and then he is part of the group that comes back to rescue her/they go into space for 6 years together, at no time are we shown anything to suggest that they are anything other than friends. In fact we can infer that they’ve only gotten to be better friends, especially because Murphy not only decides to stay behind for her (and it’s made clear that it IS for her, because why should she always be the one to sacrifice), but he also isn’t shown raging and angry or blaming her when he finds out there’s no escape pod. He puts himself at risk multiple times in S5 & S6 for Raven and/or for Raven as part of his friend group, and she does the same for him. If there was still resentment here, we as an audience would know it and this isn’t what has been happening. In fact, in S6 I’d venture that Raven shows Murphy MORE understanding than she shows other people, which stems from not only the two of them being alike in some ways but also is evidence that she cares for him (you can read as romantic or as friends, either way they both care).

Now all of the above isn’t to say that I can’t see how someone else could be turned off by this ship, and I can certainly agree that in real life, if someone shot me or someone I care about, it’s probably going to be impossible for me to get close to that person or want to spend time with them. However, the fictional world of The 100 is a very different sort of place. All of the characters have basically tried to kill each other or cause harm to each other at some point - even the ones who love each other (romantically and otherwise). I can think of tons of examples! Raven and Murphy got stuck on a spaceship for 6 years together - if they didn’t find a way to get along, think how horrible that would have been not only for themselves but for the other five people there.

I don’t ship these two because I think it’s admirable that Raven forgave Murphy, or because I think some weird karma tie formed between them where he owes her some kind of life-debt or something. To me their dynamic (romantic or friendship) has grown far past him shooting her and that’s now a part of their past that is outweighed by what positive things they’ve built between them. Yes, part of why I think I can move past the shooting is because at the time, Murphy did not know he was shooting RAVEN - he thought it was Octavia. If he had wanted Raven specifically to die, maybe my shippy thoughts of them would have evaporated, I don’t know. But that’s not the story. The story is that Raven was an innocent bystander to Murphy’s rage, and they’ve both grown a lot since that happened. The overall story of The 100 spends a lot of time debating whether people can “do better”, whether we’re destined to repeat the same mistakes all the time, who is ‘worthy’ and who isn’t, and who matters to you and who doesn’t. I do have an understanding of forgiveness outside of this show, and why people choose to forgive to begin with. Often it’s for themselves - not for the person that caused them harm. I’m sure that perspective comes into play for me as well, with regards to why I don’t see this relationship as ableist - whether viewed as romantic or as a friendship. To me, this ship isn’t centered on the shooting. Maybe that in itself is where I’m going wrong from the perspective of those that disagree with me - because I don’t hold the shooting up as the sole important thing between them. It’s a part of their history, yes, and it’s not ever going to be forgotten, and I don’t suggest it should be.

But to ME, intent comes into play, their history and present beyond the shooting matter too. And they’ve each learned a lot of lessons since then about love, loss, friendship and who they want to be - and who they don’t. And I’m super intrigued by all of that and lots, lots more.

So per usual, this is lengthy even though I didn’t really touch on the parts of their dynamic that really got me into them. But I made an attempt to explain my own thoughts on the question and I hope that provided some insight, whether or not you or anyone else agree with my perspective. I am and always will be a proponent of “ship and let ship”, and I fully understand there are a lot of complexities to what we like and what we don’t. At this point, “I Am Become Death” 1x10 aired in May 2014. I’ve been shipping them ever since and I don’t expect that to change any time soon. Raven & Murphy as a romantic ship isn’t going to be everyone’s cup of tea and I get that. It just so happens that they are definitely mine.

#my inbox #asked and answed #murven #murphy x raven #ship justification #since I can't think what else to call this as it's not speculation or meta

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wickymicky · 5 years

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a month ago i watched every Twice video in order, some of them for the first time, because Twice was finally clicking for me and i was “getting it”. i wrote a little thing about which songs i liked and which i didnt, and i wanna expand on that cause my opinions have gotten more fleshed out over the last couple weeks of listening to them, and also some of them have changed. i just really like reviewing things, i hope that’s okay lol

so here are two or three sentence reviews of every Twice title track, in order

Like Ooh Ahh: i think this is one of their best songs, personally. it’s not as much of the bubblegum stuff they go for after this, but it’s extremely catchy lol, the “i just wanna fall in love!” and the “ha~~ ooh-ahh hage!” gets stuck in my head a lot. i just love the way this song’s instrumental sounds too, the aesthetic of it

Cheer Up: um okay so from hot to cold... this is my least favorite Twice song. i’m listening to it right now as I’m writing this, and I’ll listen all the way through, but i haven’t listened to it all the way through very often. i think the chorus feels out of place, so does the “be a man, real man” thing. i don’t like that. that ruins the song for me lol. i also don’t like the chorus much haha, it sounds like theyre saying “chore up” cause they went with 치얼업 (chi-eol/eor-eop) instead of like... even just “chireop” or “chi-eo eop”... they dont usually have ㄹ for an english r sound at the end of a word...

TT: ah okay nice we’re back on track lol, this song is fantastic and totally deserves to be their most popular song (at least in terms of music video views). when i first heard it i didnt like it cause i didnt like anything Twice lol... then when I listened to every Twice title track in order as i was beginning to “get it”, i liked everything except the “i’m like TT, ahhh, just like TT, ahhh” haha, i thought the fact that it was about the emoticon was weird and didnt fit the video, and the “ahh” was goofy haha. but now? god its so catchy lmao i always whisper-sing along to this part when i listen to this song haha. i love the echo-y reverb-y synths in the verse, and the instrumental in the chorus when paired with the vocal melody just makes it one of the best choruses in kpop lol. i think TT is their best song. the rap break doesnt feel like a rap break, it fits sooooo naturally in with the song, it’s so impressive. this song is so impressive

Knock Knock: initially i liked this song a lot, and i still do, but... this would be another group’s best song, easily, but for Twice... it’s a bit overshadowed haha. the guitar plus the synth is really cool though, its rare to hear a calming, sort of mellow, soft song with as high a BPM as this haha. one of the writers, Mayu Wakisaka, also was a composer for Loona’s Hi High and Fromis 9′s Love Bomb... and you can totally see that lol. all of those songs have high BPMs and are wildly catchy. still, idk, i like this song but i dont have a ton to say about it

Signal: this song is weird in a good way, i love really unconventional instrumentals. it sounds as alien and outer space as the music video haha. at first the “sign-eul bonae signal bonae” kinda annoyed me, but i got more used to it. i don’t listen to this song much, but i should change that, honestly. though another thing is that the music video has a lot those things where it adds sounds from the video that arent in the regular song, and has an intro i gotta skip every time lol, but like thats not a huge problem, i can just listen to the song elsewhere haha

One More Time: this song sounds like something you’d hear at a hockey game lmao. i dont even know really what i mean by that, i dont go to hockey games lol.... anyway. i like this song, but again, it’s kinda overshadowed. if i’m in the mood for the vibe this song has, there are other Twice songs that have it that i like more. it’s refreshing every once in a while though.

Likey: this song is so good!!! it didnt stand out at first, like, there’s not really a huge gimmick like some of the others... “likey likey likey” is kind of the same sort as the “just like TT” and “knock knock knock on my door” and stuff from other songs, but for some reason it feels less prominent in this song. i dont think this is their most iconic song ever, and its not genre-defining or one of the ones you’d mention first when talking about Twice, but it’s just a really solid song. one of my favorites

Heart Shaker: yeah, heart shaker is alright. it was apparently just a couple months after likey, and it feels like a similar concept? maybe it’s just the music video giving me that impression. it’s alright. the music video has the longest part with the distinctive way Twice shoots dance scenes... in that very nauseating way lol... but i don’t mind it lol i’m used to that by now

Candy Pop: so like, was this song sorta made for kids specifically? i guess i’m mostly just being influenced by the music video cause i’m watching it while writing this. i dont like the video much lmao it’s like a pokemon ripoff complete with Officer Jennies and Jin-young Brock. the song’s not bad though, it’s catchy but it’s a little too sugary sweet for me (which makes sense given the concept i guess). i like a lot of ideas in the instrumental though... because it was also written by the people who did Knock Knock, including the writer of Hi High and Love Bomb.

What is Love: this isnt their best song ever, but it’s undeniably one of their most solid. i listen to it a lot haha. the music video has a cool concept, i like when groups do this kind of thing (interpreting scenes from movies or famous music videos or popular culture). i don’t have much to say other than that i like it a lot, it’s one of my favorites i think

Wake Me Up: okay here we go, this is another one of the three Twice singles I just don’t really like. it’s a fine song up until the chorus. i just can’t get over the shift upwards in.. uhh.. scale? octave? pitch? one of those lol, or something else, i dont really know music terms like that very well haha. yeah though i just find it offputting.

Dance the Night Away: it’s alright. i’m pretty neutral on it. i was put off at first but i’ve gotten used to it. though still, i’m not that into it. i get that its a dance focused song and the choreography does look a lot more intense than their other choreos, and thats cool, but that doesnt make me like the music in and of itself. it’s a summer-jam type of song, and i’m not as into those anyway. there’ll never be a better kpop summer-jam than Red Flavor anyway lol

Yes or Yes: this is the other Twice that i don’t like haha. i just think the constant “you only one choice: yes or yes” thing is kind of annoying haha. also the chorus is catchy in a way that i dont think its especially exciting... it’s an earworm because i think it’s slightly annoying, not because it’s satisfying. of the songs that i’ve said i don’t like, this is the one i could see myself getting into the most. this might not always be in my “bottom three”. it is right now though

Fancy: this was the first comeback they had since i’ve been into kpop, and even though i wasnt into Twice at the time, i wanted to try it out just to see if it would change my mind, and it did somewhat.... sorta. it got the ball rolling for sure. it came out on my birthday, the same day as the Loona Fire dance cover haha, that was a good birthday. yeah this song is great, i think it’s better than any of their 2018 comebacks, personally. the concept isn’t all that different from normal Twice, it just appears that way cause the video is so lavish and elegant. it didnt convince me to be a Twice fan on that day it came out, but I liked what I thought made it different from the other Twice songs I’d heard. but now? what I like most about it is how very Twice it really is. the thing is, I wasn’t into Twice probably because the only songs i’d heard were Yes or Yes and Cheer Up, and those songs are still my least favorites lol. Fancy doesnt sound that out of place when you take into account their whole discography! i looove the video and i loooove the chorus so much, this song is great and i wonder if they’ll be able to top it if they have another comeback this year

Breakthrough: okay so in the last one i said i wonder if they’ll be able to top it this year, i meant in terms of Korean comebacks lol. cause in terms of just songs in general, if i include their new Japanese comebacks, they’ve already topped Fancy. this song is the one that finally won me over. this is the song that made me a Twice fan. now, this one is a little outside their typical concept, but they’re really really good at it nevertheless. i wonder if Twice is going a bit more in this direction? at least maybe half the time, alternating between the two styles now? cause Breakthrough continues a bit down the path that Fancy set for them. in any case, i love basically everything about this song, I’m so glad it got me to finally love their music

Happy Happy: so you know how I said that Breakthrough was a change from the bubblegum fun-fun style they’ve had and that move is what got me to finally be into Twice? well that made me think I’d like Happy Happy less haha, but actually I listen to it way more than I listen to Breakthrough, I like it more overall. this is a very Twice-style song, and that’s fine because it’s fantastic. this song genuinely makes me happy

oops didn’t i say i’d try to keep it to two or three sentences?

anyway yeah my favorite Twice songs are TT, Happy Happy, Breakthrough, Likey, and Like Ooh Ahh in that order i think

#twice #long post #kpop review #i'm sorry if i said anything you strongly disagree with lol #o

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oghoneytryst · 6 years

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feline.

where y/n isn’t very fond of harry’s surprise

A sense of uneasiness has taken over her mind at the registration of his devilish words. In a fairly opposite tone than what she has learned to expect from Harry, he makes an announcement on the doorstep: “I have a surprise for ya,” and he says it rather plainly. Such a statement should be made from him with exuberance, but instead he portrays a hesitant behavior prior to allowing her on the other side of his comforting home.

If that is a warning to y/n of what she can expect in a mere moment or so, she does not even waste her energy to consider it. That is her first mistake.

His plump bottom lip is caught in a pinch between his index finger and his thumb, a subtle gesture that makes y/n’s blood run a little colder in the crisp air. It is a habit of his, a tell-all tick, one that most people dismiss as a flirtatious deed from the charismatic man instead of further perusing what it can mean. She saw him do it during their first date, which has led to her observing him every time he has done it thereafter.

Her darling, quite simply, is stuck in a cloud of swarming thoughts, flustered by the limitations of 26 letter combinations belonging to that of the English language. What is it about this surprise he speaks of that makes him so nervous, searching for a way to properly express what is waiting for y/n behind this towering door of his?

Y/n gives him a face, a strange and curious one. “Am I going to like it?”

Surprises are 50/50 for her. In her opinion, speaking solely on past experiences, surprises can go either delightfully well or terribly wrong. Harry’s current demeanor has her on the edge of a metaphorical cliff, the abyss below being the latter of the two most probable options.

“I would really like ya to,” he admits, but isn’t as excited as his words should seem.

“Then I will.” Y/n shrugs, as if it is that simple.

Harry knows that it is not.

Still, the smile she offers her lover of a few months is timidly warm, and it doesn’t take much force for him to reciprocate it. Their relationship is still so fresh, which means that the two souls are still in the phase of getting to know each other. They pick up on each others ticks, as she has done with him, and recognize the insecurities that consume them from time to time. Their interests, their mannerisms, their beliefs, their views—all of it unravels slowly, similar to a rose in steady bloom while the world spins them around the universe.

“I don’t think that’s how—” Harry begins, trailing his eyes to the ground below. “This isn’t...”

It is difficult for y/n to watch him stumble upon his words before they are thwarted by his dragged-out sigh. She grimaces at the scene, the secrecy of his surprise making her all the more anxious.

“It’s a good surprise, my love,” he assures her, placing a kind hand on her shoulder. “Promise. It’s just going to take some getting used to on your part.”

“On ... my part? What does that mean?”

“Trust me on it. C’mon.” Harry tilts his head in the direction of his foyer, signaling her to follow him inside the warmth of his home.

She does as he indicates, feeling her face heat up at the hand that drops down to her lower back. Her curious eyes peer around his spacious living quarters and they observe no difference in the familiar painted walls or polished furniture.

It is habit of her own to instantly think of colorful streamers and an overcrowded mess of helium balloons whenever there is a surprise in store. She doesn’t think any of her previously received surprises have ever followed such a rule, but it is just something that her mind perceives when speaking of the infamous eight-letter word.

She might have preferred to be engulfed by a raining shower of confetti, or say, a piñata in the shape of an adoring cartoon character from her childhood. She might have preferred no surprise at all. At this moment, anything seems favorable in comparison to the black-and-white feline calmly prancing over to them.

Harry can’t help the soft chuckle that escapes him when his girlfriend makes a beeline to the space behind him. His 6-foot figure is her protection from the harmless kitten purring at their feet. Y/n’s hands clutch tightly at his shirt, stretching out the fabric and marking it with wrinkles, but he doesn’t seem to mind. If anything, he finds this situation rather amusing.

“She’s not gonna hurt you, m’love,” Harry states as a matter-of-fact. Y/n’s once curious eyes are now laced with a faint fear, peering over his shoulder with the balance of her tip-toes. “Really, baby, she’s actually been quite—”

“Harry, that’s a cat,” she whispers, stating the obvious in hopes that it might all just be some strange illusion. “W-Where did it come from?”

“Me mum adopted her while I was on tour,” he answers proudly, bending down to scoop the beautiful creature in his arms. “Isn’t that sick?”

Y/n doesn’t answer. Quite frankly, she can’t focus on the information of the so-called surprise because all of her attention is on getting as far away from the tiny creature as possible. She makes an attempt to circle around Harry, who cuddles the kitten with the kindest smile she has ever seen, but ends up backing into the entryway table. She nearly knocks over the vase encasing Harry’s favorite flowers, a lovely fact that she has learned only two weeks ago.

Him, however, he has known about her irrational fear for some time now. He has known about it since before they had come to terms with their feelings for each other after hanging out with their mutual friends so long. It is a fact about her that she knows he has not forgotten and probably hasn’t been able to forget upon learning it.

It makes her sound like a horrendous person, but there is something about animals that raises the tiny hairs on her skin. It isn’t as if she has an utter hatred for the soft and cuddly things. She thinks they’re rather adorable, but when it comes to meeting one in person, she can’t think of a more terrifying situation.

With Harry being the kind, pure, animal lover that he is, she should have known that this subject would come up eventually.

“No, please,” y/n begs, stretching her hand out to keep Harry from stepping any closer to her. “I don’t — no, I don’t like this, Harry.”

“C’mon, she’s all soft, just have a little rub. If you pet just behind her ears, she’ll make the loveliest purr you’ll have ever heard.”

“I’d rather not.”

Her frightened state should be enough to convince him that perhaps going about this in such a spontaneous manner isn’t the best idea, but he is determined to make her fall in love with the critter that has absolutely stolen his heart.

“Alright, fine, I’ll do it, but just listen, okay?”

Y/n swallows harshly as she watches her boyfriend rub his fingers right where he says the cat likes it, practically an expert with her species. A dimpled smile is created from his features when the animal does as he said, purring softly in his knit-sweater arms.

“Y’know a cat’s purr can heal?” he casually mentions to her, his step towards her going very much noticed. “It’s medically therapeutic. Isn’t that just wonderful?”

He makes a risky move by allowing his long legs to carry him to y/n’s side in a quick second, which has her backing away and further into the house.

“Harry, stop, I’m not kidding!” she frowns, cautious of the apparent magical healing cat.

Though she is in her own state of slight panic, y/n is still aware of the disappointing look etched across Harry’s face, overshadowing the toothy grin he had before. It makes her frown even more knowing that she has been the cause of his dismay.

“I know. Guess I had a feeling this wouldn’t work out. Just had to give it a try.” Again, a dragged-out sigh from him, a grimace from her.

“I’m sorry, H. I know you love her.”

“It’s fine, really. I’ll just ... have to find her another home. A nice one, at that.”

“What? You don’t have to give her away. We can just ... maybe have movie nights at my place from now on.”

Y/n nods to herself, assuring herself that she can live with that much. From what she knows, relationships rely heavily on compromise and honesty.

“I don’t want t’make this difficult for you, baby,” Harry says, though his hand never ceases from softly petting the cat’s fur. “I love having you around here.”

“But you love having her around here, too.”

Harry nods, forcing a smile. He can’t disagree with her on that.

He doesn’t mean to, but the damned expression on his face makes y/n feel so guilty. She’s not asking him to choose her over his pet like some child, but it is his enormous heart that wants to make sure y/n is always comfortable in their situation. It is his compromise, although y/n doesn’t seem to think that’s fair, even if her skin has been nonstop crawling since stepping into his home.

No, it is her that has to find the middle ground.

A shaky exhale escapes her, and she shakes the nerves out through her arms. Harry doesn’t notice when she begins to steadily make her way over to him, but when his eyes catch onto her boot-clad feet right in front of him, his head shoots up with surprise.

It makes his heart falter for a short second, but he notices that as well.

“Where’s the,” y/n starts, swallowing down her fear, “the spot you said? Where she purrs?”

“Behind the ears,” he answers quietly, the corners of his mouth raising at her building courage.

She’s thankful that he has stopped rushing her to make a move, and in the calmness of it all, she can see the features of the feline quite clearly. She has a white fur base, but with large patches of black around her, spreading all throughout her tail and covering most of her head. She even turns in Harry’s arms, peering up at him which lets y/n see the little black dot under her mouth.

It seems as though ages have passed before y/n hesitantly brings her hand up, rubbing her fingers in the same manner she had seen Harry do. Her lips purse together, waiting for the purr to vibrate from the cat’s body, her limbs as stiff as ever.

“Am I doing it right?”

“You’re doin’ it perfectly,” Harry encourages her, amazed by the sight he is seeing. More than that, he is grateful that y/n is willing to face one of her fears simply because she knows it is one of his many loves. Perhaps she can even learn to love it too.

“Does she have a name?”

“Yeah, it’s Evie,” he responds, unable to contain his emotions as he leans down and pecks y/n’s cheeks with his pink puckered lips.

Y/n nods, sensing herself feel a little solace in the way her fingers seem to bury in Evie’s fur. “Well, Evie, looks like we’re going to be spending ... a lot of time together then.”

It is then that the feline gives one of her lovely soft purrs, which makes the couple giggle to themselves as if Evie had understood y/n’s statement and decided to agree with her.

“You’re really wonderful, hope you know that,” Harry whispers against his lover’s temple, his mind coming up with all of the wonderful cuddling sessions he can now have with his girls. “How’s about you hold her?”

“Ever heard of baby steps?”

a/n: hello! I’ve noticed the Evie hype and came up with this little piece. I also want y’all to know that I start school next week, so while requests are open (I am currently working on one now) I will be very busy and it will take a while to get to them. I’m a slow writer, sorry. :-) but thank you for the love!

#honeytryst

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biscuitreviews · 5 years

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Biscuit Reviews Kingdom Hearts III

Kingdom Hearts III, a title that many fans have been waiting to get their hands on for 13 years. Granted, it’s been 7 years since an installment into the series, but it’s been this one that fans have really been waiting for. Now that it’s here, many fans are combing through every inch of the game to find how the Dark Seeker saga will come to a close. Now, when it came to reviewing the other games in the Kingdom Hearts series, I tried to avoid spoilers best I could, sometimes it was unavoidable and other times it was. For the purposes of Kingdom Hearts III, I’m going to go into full spoilers. I’m going to spoil the previous games, I’m going to spoil this one and yes, I will also be talking about the ending as well.

“But Biscuit, how can I avoid the spoilers from your review?” I hear you asking. Well it’s easy. Normally I would have a “Keep Reading” link shortly after the intro of review, but this go around I’m going to put it right before I get to the spoilers so you can go through your feed or the tag if you just want my thoughts on game itself as well have a brief description of the plot. I’ll throw in another reminder for when spoilers are coming.

Score wise is going to be different as well as I’m going to be displaying my score for the game before I get into the spoilers. I do want to mention that said spoilers do have an impact on the score so if you’re wondering why the game is scored as is, you’ll find more details in the spoiler section of the review.

The game begins right where Dream Drop Distance left off, with Sora going to Olympus Coliseum to not only continue his training to obtain the “Power of Waking” to save Terra, Aqua, and Ventus, as well as stop Xehanort from starting plunging the universe into darkness. This opens up with not Kingdom Hearts III, but rather “Kingdom Hearts 2.9” because I guess Square had to get one last joke in on how long fans had to wait until Kingdom Hearts III proper.

Many of the Disney worlds you’ll travel too actually revolve around the CGI Disney movies and Pixar movies. You’ll travel to worlds featuring: Toy Story, Tangled, Frozen, Monsters Inc., and Big Hero 6. Returning worlds include the previously mentioned Olympus Coliseum, Twilight Town, and Pirates of the Caribbean.

As far as the art style goes, I’ve been vocal on not being the biggest fan with it. I’m still not. Although it complimented the majority of Disney worlds, it still clashes with the Caribbean, but it’s not as jarring as it was in Kingdom Hearts II, it’s still obvious and bad though with a clearly anime looking Sora interacting with realistic people. But, what is perhaps the most jarring of them all is the Olympus Coliseum. Hercules was not meant to be a CGI-esque model and it shows. With the art style of the previous game and the movie proper. The look of Hercules was able to compliment everything to keep a cartoonish look. Now, everything just looks like oddly shaped, realistic blobs.

Like all previous entries in the series, each of these Disney worlds has its own story and problems that Sora will help solve. Some are an abridged version of their respective Disney films, or a new original story within that world. I found that I had preference of the worlds that had their own story, this included: Toy Story, which took place between the events of Toy Story 2 and 3; Monsters Inc., which took place after the first film; Big Hero 6 which takes place after the movie and actually has Sora help Hiro deal with something that occured at the end of the film, something that I hope does become canon if the Big Hero 6 sequel does go into production; Olympus Coliseum to some extent retold the ending of Hercules, but there was enough events altered to where it could have been its own story; finally, Pirates of the Caribbean, although the events of the world take place during “At World’s End” Sora is not actually present for the majority of those events, in fact he’s mostly fighting a member of Organization XIII as the events of the movie play out away from Sora.

Other worlds, such as Tangled and Frozen, told abridged versions of their films. I found that both these worlds did good retellings as both incorporated elements of the main Kingdom Hearts story to keep it interesting. My only complaint is the Tangled world, Sora actually doesn’t contribute to the films events. He’s just simply in the background watching the events be played out. Nothing he does changes anything, unlike the Frozen world where Sora’s presence does cause an alteration in the films events.

The world design was a bit of a mixed bag. You had some worlds that truly felt like a a big world, Toy Story, Big Hero 6, and Pirates of the Caribbean are prime examples of this. Then, you had the rest of the worlds which were nothing but a giant hallway with Disney decorations. It was a bit disappointing that Square took that direction when they could have done so much more.

So what about the combat, the gameplay of Kingdom Hearts III. Like the other numbered entries, it’s great. We got a taste of it in Kingdom Hearts 0.2 and I really loved the little bits that was shown in that game, regular attacks, special attacks, grand magic, it’s all in Kingdom Hearts III and it still feels really great to just fly around in the air or glide around the battlefield hitting things with your Keyblade.

Some Heartless enemies now have elemental weaknesses that can hinder them in battle giving a little layer of strategy in your fights, but not very much, that’s the only thing you’re going to really be keeping in mind when you fight.

There’s also a new summoning ability known as “Attraction Flow Summon” where you can summon a Disney World inspired ride to do some serious damage. Some are better than others, but overall I actually liked them. Regular summons are also available in the game and their fine for the most part, but you won’t really find much of a use for them like in Kingdom Hearts II, it’s just an ability that’s there. One of my favorite new additions is how drive forms are handled. It’s not Sora that changes, but rather his Keyblade as it takes a form of a different weapon that has additional properties that can unleash devastating finishing moves after filling up the hit meter.

The Gummi ship also makes a return and this is perhaps my favorite approach to the Gummi ship. It made the worlds feel like their own planet and the Universe more expansive driving you to explore space as you fly through it shooting Heartless and collecting prizes. Approaching a world feels amazing as you approach a giant place that feels like you’re about to step on another unique planet.

Now, there’s something that Kingdom Hearts has always been known for, the secret bosses. These bosses always challenged your knowledge of spells, game mechanics, and reaction speed. In the case of Kingdom Hearts III, there’s only one secret boss, Dark Inferno, and it’s not hard. In fact, you don’t even have to be max level with the Ultima Weapon to even stand somewhat of a chance to face this boss. I was level 55 when I faced this boss and although I did die a few times it wasn’t because of lack of level, but rather reacting to an attack at the wrong moment. There’s no unique difficult Heartless, no Sephiroth battle, no extra Final Fantasy character battles, no Data battles, no extra Disney villain fights, no extra boss to tease the future of the series, nothing and it feels really lacking compared to previous entries. Granted the original vanilla versions of Kingdom Hearts I and II, didn’t have that many extra boss fights, they still had a few challenge bosses for those that wanted to prove themselves.

That’s not to say there isn’t plenty of side content, there is, it’s just the extra combat side content is severely lacking in terms of challenge and variety and that was one of my favorite side activities in Kingdom Hearts was attempting them. Again, if you haven’t finished the game and don’t want story spoilers. My score is this:

Kingdom Hearts III receives a 2 out of 5

Keep in mind that the story did have an impact on my final score so click on the “Keep Reading” link for the story discussion to see what else contributed to the score.

I hated the story.

There were some great touching moments, but overall I did not like how many of the events played out. The first issue I had was Vexen. He did something that many people will see as a break in character. He’s always been a seeker of knowledge and has been willing to gain it no matter the cost. However, we see that suddenly, we wants to atone for his actions when the story approaches it’s climax. Granted it does get explained why the sudden shift happens in a Secret Report, which you won’t be able to get until you beat the game, it’s still a jarring shift. One that could have easily been dispelled if we saw a scene of Vexen going through that change.

Then we have the Black Box that Maleficent and Pete are looking for for the entire game. Sora and the gang know that Maleficent is trying to do this, and knowing that she’s looking for an item that could potentially grant her power. So what does Sora do? He just ignores them the entire game. What’s in the box? Who knows, the game didn’t bother telling us, it only used the Black Box to tease the future of the series.

Next is the fight with Aqua, or Anti-Aqua if you will. This was perhaps an emotionally charged fight for me. The scene preceding the fight and the fight itself was perhaps the most emotionally charged moment in the entire game. You have Sora, who wants nothing but to save Aqua from her despair and depression. As you’re fighting Aqua, you hear her whisper during the fight. “I wandered the shadows endlessly, no one ever came.” “I waited for so long.” “You shouldn’t have abandoned me.”

Although this may have just been a cool fight with emotions on high, there is a deeper meaning to this fight, rather it be intentional or not and that is how this can be an allegory of battling depression and abandonment. When depressed, we might often stew in our self created darkness, possible blaming circumstances or people for putting us on this state. Sora, Riku and Mickey in this case, represent the light to help you out of that depression as they have ventured in that darkness to help get you out of it. As for the abandonment, again Sora, Riku, and Mickey, showing that she was not abandoned, as they were looking for a way to help her the entire time. Again, I’m not sure if this was intentional on Nomura’s part, but it does give the fight a more impactful meaning outside of the core story.

Another enjoyable moment was a scene that I’m sure many people, including myself have been waiting on for years and that Sora and Kairi having their moment. Before the final battle, they exchange some heartfelt words and do something that has been teased since Kingdom Hearts I, share a paopu fruit. This small scene has been building up for years and to finally have this moment delivered did make the wait worth it.

Next, is the concept of death. Kingdom Hearts has always been a series that has been a bit of an enigma when it came to death. That’s not say death has happened in the series, for it has, see Master Eraqus in Birth by Sleep and Strelitzia in Kingdom Hearts Union X. The series established that just because someone loses their heart, doesn’t mean that they themselves die, rather a piece of themselves is lost until it’s found again. Kingdom Hearts takes the concept of death and basically just burns the book, throw it out the window and take away any impact it could have had to the overall story.

That’s right, I’m talking about Kairi’s “death”.

Before we get into that, I want to talk about the Final World. This world, is essentially the afterlife. Keyblade wielders find themselves here if their heart and body have been destroyed in a state that they cannot return. However, Sora was able to break out of the afterlife because of Kairi’s power, which in turn allowed him to use the Power of Waking to revive his friends who also died for them to continue their fight with Xehanort.

When Xehanort struck Kairi down to where she was completely obliterated, this not only shocked me that Nomura was willing to do this to one of the core three, but also how it impacted Sora. He wanted nothing more but to defeat Xehanort and to avenge Kairi. This could have been a powerful moment that stayed rooted in the final entry of the Dark Seeker saga. However, after defeating Xehanort, Sora begins a new journey, to save Kairi.

Because of the connection Sora and Kairi share, Sora believes he can use the Power of Waking to bring Kairi back, however it comes at the cost of Sora himself. Everyone even warns Sora that he’s abusing the power and will disappear if he brings Kairi back. This would make sense as Kairi’s Heart and Body have been obliterated to a state that she cannot return. But hey, Sora discovered he can use the power of waking to go into the afterlife to revive people and you know what, that’s what he does. He goes to the afterlife, revives Kairi and then disappears for abusing the power. Doing this to me ruined the impact this moment could have potentially left for the finale of the Dark Seeker saga.

There is however one more point I would like to discuss with the story before finally closing this review. How the story felt.

I felt it was half baked. I think Nomura wanted to move on to a different idea he had for the series, but he couldn’t as he had to conclude the Dark Seeker Saga first. It’s partly why I feel Kingdom Hearts III is rather empty, because I don’t think Nomura’s heart was in the conclusion. I feel he only did this to finish the story and to give the fans the title they wanted, Kingdom Hearts III. A good portion of Kingdom Hearts III, even sets pieces up for the future of the series, rather than act as a wrap up. Which is fine, if you want a loose thread to have the idea and possibility for a sequel open, but I felt Nomura didn’t give Kingdom Hearts III his all and felt restricted with what he could do, because he couldn’t tell the story he really wanted. Again, I don’t know Nomura, I’m not in the guys head, but to me that’s what it felt like.

As for me, I think this is where my journey will end for the series. I don’t see myself following this series anymore and I’ll probably let the new generation of fans inherit the series. It was fun while it lasted and I’ll most likely continue to play the previous entries of the series, but the future entries, I think I’ll pass.

Thank you all for sharing this journey with me. The core gameplay is enjoyable and although there are some wonky bits, it’s a still a good game for long time fans of the series, just not the grand finale that I’m sure many people were hoping for and expecting. The score was something I was wrestling with for awhile, but at the end of the day, I feel that this is what I would give it.

#Kingdom Hearts III #KH3 #Kingdom Hearts #Sora #Riku #Kairi #KH3 spoilers #KH3 review #video game review #game review #gaming review #Biscuit Reviews #ps4 #Xbox one #Square Enix #Disney

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snugglyporos · 5 years

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So! I decided to watch Super Sentai Jetman. I’ve seen a bit of sentai before, specifically a lot of Fiveman, but I’ve never watched Jetman before. Jetman came out in 1991, and the series that followed it Zyuranger, was adapted to Power Rangers. Now, I love me some cheese, and I’m a huge fan of foreign media from this time. I love this sort of weirdness, and even the stuff I don’t like, I can appreciate.

But holy shit guys, I was not expecting the trip this series starts on. Let me make something clear, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a series that crammed so much insane shit into 18 minutes of footage.

Like, within thirty seconds of the start, we have two characters, and there’s a robot shooting lasers everywhere, and then suddenly we’re on a space station, and a woman is tossing her baby up in the air, and our two main characters independently catch the baby and press a button which stops the robot from shooting lasers everywhere. Also, the male gets shot like four times and is fine, so I’m not sure why this required ninja police? But also the woman catches the baby, and I’m not sure if that’s sexism or not. The weirdness of living almost thirty years after this was made in another culture.

Anyway, you might think that this man and woman are our main characters, because they’re immediately brought up to the space station to be turned into super heroes, using ‘birdonic waves’ which is wonderfully silver age comic for me. I’m all about stupid weird science stuff that doesn’t need to be explained, and a giant plexiglass tubes that glow and shoot lighting to give super powers.

Anyway, the woman rather wisely asks ‘is this going to mess us up’ which is something comic protagonists should learn about before signing up with military outfits to get super powers. I immediately began suspecting something was up when they started mentioning like four times how these two never want to be apart and given this was 1991, this woman might as well have been wearing a giant sign saying ‘DEAD’ in big bold letters.

Well anyway, then some guy with half a cone face shows up and broadcasts himself across the world. Not just with like, illusions in the sky, no that’s not extra enough. Guy fucking broadcasts through people’s coffee cups and stuff. Like bro, all they can see is your eye, why are you broadcasting through there?

Anyway, which you should get used to, because this entire episode is basically ‘anyway, scene transition,’ suddenly he blows up the space station! Oh no! It only had two days till retirement! But also, the girlfriend of our protagonist doesn’t just die, she gets like, horribly sucked out a fucking air lock into space. The protagonist is understandably broken up, and our chief character punches him in the face and carries him to a plane and they fly out back to earth.

Also the chief is a woman. Don’t know if I mentioned that yet. She’s a badass. Also, she beats up our protagonist like three times because he keeps wanting to go find his love who got sucked out an airlock. Anyway, apparently destroying the SCIENCE! machine caused waves to go hit random people, and now they also have powers?

So it’s off to find them! Now we get our varied cast! Which begins with the pink one, which is fine, who is apparently like, a closeted housewife character? But she immediately goes disney princess on us and is like ‘I’m so glad I can save the world because my life is so boring!’ and I’m like shit you realize you’re signing up to fight aliens and shit, right? Well, alright then! I’m not sure I like her. Though I do like the fact that she keeps calling what they’re turning into ‘gentlemen’ and not ‘jetman.’ Also, I’m pretty sure she keeps saying ‘gentlemen’ in english for some reason.

Then it’s off to find the yellow guy, who at present might be my favorite character. Red is a bit too emotionally distraught constantly, and chews scenery like you wouldn’t believe, and Pink at present seems like her character isn’t geared towards me. Yellow meanwhile is a slighty overweight farmer, who literally does not give a shit about saving the world. Like this guy has his rake, and his vegetables, and the world can fucking burn for all he cares, he’s got farming to do!

Red immediately gives up on him. Like, no second attempt, just is like ‘welp he said no, guess it’s pointless!’ Pink on the other hand is like ‘I think I can handle this.’ Which I for one give her props for, because she’s clearly used to winning people over. Yellow and Pink go eat some of Yellow’s cucumbers, which apparently are very good. So farmer Yellow over here is pretty good at farming. Good to know.

This is where I realized that Yellow is my favorite so far. He mentioned in no uncertain terms that he hates violence and doesn’t like fighting. he’s just a humble farmer who wants to farm his crops. Well, apparently for whatever reason, I assume because the plot says so, the bad guy sprinkles some foot soldiers onto the guy’s farm. Also, the bad guy brings out monsters and foot soldiers by super imposing his hand through reality and then like, sweats onto the world, I think?

Anyway, seeing the foot soldiers ruining his precious vegetables, Yellow immediately forgets that whole ‘hating violence’ thing, picks up a rake, and starts going to town on alien foot soldiers. Just like ‘I was going to let the world be taken over by extra dimensional alien horrors, but then they ruined my vegetables, and now it’s a blood feud.’

Now the fight scenes are... weird. Mostly because there’s a lot of green screen. Also there’s an untransformed explosion where it looks like neither of the actors were prepared for the explosion right behind them. In any case, this is perhaps the first time where I realize yet another difference between sentai and what they adapted for power rangers.

So there’s this trope in the west with super powers where like, you have a normal person who can’t fight, and then they get super powers, and then they can fight. Not in this series. They toss yellow and pink off a god damn cliff, and then they morph, and then yellow just straight up face plants into a fucking tree. Like that’s his first entry into being a hero, just straight face checks a tree and I laughed so hard because it was entirely not what I was expecting. I fully expected the trope, and no, there’s no trope.

Also, the red guy, the only guy who actually has any training, is the only one who fights, while the other two basically try to survive, because again, they took two untrained civilians and tossed them into combat, and the expected result occurred. Remember in power rangers where they went to extreme lengths to show that they all had like, basic combat training? Yeah, fuck that. These two got nothing. And it’s actually... endearing? Pink acts like you would expect an upper class woman who just got thrown into a melee would act, and yellow survives by virtue of him being himself. At one point he accidentally hugs one of the foot soldiers, and like, stares him straight in the face, yells, which causes the foot soldier to yell, like neither of them were entirely prepared for any of this shit.

Meanwhile, Red is off kicking everyone’s ass. Because he does that. Also, he’s got like, major problems with the interdimensional alien david bowie fanclub. So he fights the monster solo, and for some reason the bad guy gets scared and... saves his monster? That’s new. Usually villains don’t give a shit about their monsters. This guy goes ‘oh no! Mild resistance! quick, grab him and take him back!’

Also this guy is apparently eating people. Including children! That’s new.

Anyway, then we cut to disapproving female boss who looks like she is eight kinds of done with all of this, likely wondering how the hell they’re going to make this work, and also if the other two are going to be as big a pain as the current two.

Then we cut back to the david bowie fan club, and introduce our villains, who are all introduced by having the camera be at weird angles. Also, I’m pretty sure the one called ‘Maria’ is the Red guy’s girlfriend that got sucked out the air lock. Just a theory.

And that’s episode one. All of that happened in 18 minutes. That’s insanity. I’ve got 52 episodes to get through. We haven’t even met Black and Blue yet! I’m honestly a little surprised about how much they play up the fact that basically only one of them is at all useful. Like he’s gotta fly a giant flying bird, and I’m just imagining the rest having to go through flight training on top of combat training and just...

Man this series starts well. This is everything I love about weird ass silver age comics in a tv show. It’s madness and it just works.

#ooc #this was a trip

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