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theheartlandsblog · 3 months

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hello @neonxdecay ! i remember you! i WAS in the middle of drafting an answer for you, but it turns out that if you save a drafted answer for later on mobile, then the ask just gets straight up deleted, as does the draft. 😑 so here's where the answer is going to be now, and sorry about that!! thank you for your kind words.

i'm also SUPER glad you asked. i love talking about history. i got wordy (I CANNOT OVERSTATE THIS, IT'S HUGE) so it shall be underneath the keep reading/expand post prompt. this will all be about the 19th century, ya know, cowboy times, just FYI. just let me know if the hyperlinks work. 🤎🤎🤎

i'm going to talk about my russian history first! undeniably, the very best sources i've ever come across are these two books - EAST OF THE SUN by benson bobrick, and THE FAMILY ROMANOV by candace fleming. they're both nonfiction books about russian history, but not textbook-y - instead the authors have written an actual, compelling *story* of the history. these two have taken me a LONG way.

EOTS spans the entirety of russia, begins in antiquity and ends in the 1980s/90s - the book itself was published 1992. it talks about everyone and everything - the native people of eurasia, the immigrants, the europeans, the wildlife. TFR, on the other hand, focuses on the ruling family of russia, when they still had kings/queens and such (the romanovs!), and their impact, both good and bad, on the country. combined, they're a fantastic perspective on pre-revolution russia, which is the russia that existed in RDR's timeframe, which i've found really hard to get since interest in pre-revolution russia seems so slim - ESPECIALLY here in the states. it's profoundly difficult to find conversation in the USA about russia that isn't heavily biased and stereotyped. i'm ukrainian from my dad's side, so it's a passionate matter for me. i enjoy every second.

i also study the russian language! just knowing about what people speak helps you understand them. i've been working through it on duolingo for a little over a year, and i know duolingo isn't fantastic (and neither is my russian), but it is all i have access to at this moment. i'll watch movies in russian, videos of RDR gameplay where the game is in russian, i'll literally go to r/russian on reddit and just read the discussions there. i like to read wikipedia articles on timely occasions like the construction of the trans-siberian railroad, or what traditional clothing for the poorer population was like, and even what the plant life is like.

i think the key ingredient is ravenous, ravenous curiosity. i do all of this for my russian characters in HOMEWARD. i am so compelled to tell stories, and from whom they originate hardly matters to me. i love history!! i am a nerd!!

now, onto my american history, which is thankfully a lot more easy to find when you live here, and is a little more accessible than books and language programmes! for this, i am extremely happy to report that youtube is my go-to and is a delightful way to learn.

i started with studying CLOTHES. i have an enormous playlist full of videos on history of anything, from all about the world, and 19th century american clothing remains the overwhelming majority. literally just studying clothing will by default teach you more than simply *clothing* because then you have to learn about what materials they were made from, so what was grown or what animals were raised for that, and then you learn about who the people were in charge of making them, and what culturally influenced aesthetic, modesty, wealth, etc, etc, etc... i know it sounds a bit wild, but if you're gonna study any history, choose someone's clothes! ♡

channels like bernadette banner, the sewlo artist, nicole rudolph, and abby cox are treasure troves of information about historic attire. i love these women!!! studying history is a lot easier when you find someone passionate about it. don't go dragging yourself through a college textbook to try and learn, unless you're passionate about that.

but you know what? let's go deeper than that. let's start getting even *more* niche into history. i guarantee to you that it's out there. here is a playlist by a channel called real pixels which describes in detail how historic relevance and accuracy relate to RDR2. here is a video by a henry films, showing off the real-life counterparts to RDR's towns. here is a video by a channel called early american (this entire channel is a GOLDMINE) about what it was like to do laundry! here's a video by a lost leadville, about old western accents! i've watched all of these, and i watch them often, again and again and again, and i watch them as i write, and i watch them for fun, and THAT is how you learn.

but you mentioned and asked for books, and boy, do i have some american history books for you, too! here's two - WALDEN by henry david thoreau, and STATIONS WEST by edwin d. culp.

WALDEN is an autobiographical account of the real mister thoreau, who voluntarily lived alone in a little cabin he built on the shore of the real walden pond, in concord, massachusetts. evelyn miller from RDR2 was based on him! the book was published in 1854, and is an irreplaceable source of what it was like to live in young america, not-yet post-colonial, that wary, small culture, sometimes even that abject poverty, that wilderness. STATIONS WEST is a little different. it's half pictures and half text, and though it's focused on a fairly niche subject (trains!), it's proved a fascinating collection of primary sources for 19th century living in the united states. newspapers describing accounts of travel, pictures of railroad maps that people scrawled on, ticket stubs with prices of 10, 15, 20 cents. i heavily referenced a lengthy newspaper story from there just to emulate how english was written back then, for the letter that reverend swanson wrote to arthur in chapter 4 of HOMEWARD!

you have to get creative with it! to me, nothing is enough - names and dates aren't enough - pictures aren't enough - sometimes, even whole books aren't enough. i ask myself how can i apply this history? how can i bring life back into it? how can i use it in a context that is not words and static depictions on paper? how does it make me happy? where do i see it echoed today in my present day life?

FINALLY, i also read historical fiction - as in fictional stories that were published in the time period - and i think that step is literally just as important as reading nonfiction. i could go on about this one for ages, but my god, i already have, so i will leave you with this: storybooks from then are delightful on their own because they're books (who doesn't like that!!), and doubly so when you're approaching them to research, because they provide cultural context to when they were written, examples of how written english has changed, and sometimes they're a little more accurate to life back then than a period piece is now. here's two - for my russian fix i'm working my way through WAR AND PEACE by tolstoy (published 1867), and i've just finished TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA by jules verne (published 1870), this is a ✨️french one, but was (and is still) loved around the world.

so, holy bejeezus, i think i'm done showing off some of my sources and explaining how i use them. if THIS doesn't answer your questions then i have no idea what will. thank you for asking such an engaging question, this was a lot of fun! 💐 ⸜(｡˃ ᵕ ˂ )⸝♡ here's one of my cats sitting on my books while i got them out, as a treat.

#admin #asks #theheartlands fanfiction #SCREAMS BANGS MY HEAD INTO MY CARPET #i lost control 😭😭😭😭#added some paragraph breaks for ease of viewing

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spikeinthepunch · 1 year

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Repacking Games & Horses

You can also read this article on my website!

A bit ago, I was playing an old horse game when looking for others... and I ended up falling down a rabbit hole- discovering it had been a repackaged version of a game the year prior- nothing impressive from any of these games, sure. But I found lots of interest in why they did this, and how there were various technical differences between them too despite being the same game!

In this article I go into the story of Saddle Club: Willowbrook Stables, and its lesser known origins as Willowbrook Stables; Search for the Golden Horsehoes.

*this article does not go too much into my own experiences playing this, and there sure was some interesting stuff when exploring bugs etc! i can talk about that another time if anyone is curious.

For those who never grew up as a gamer girl in the early 2000s or more specifically, an animal loving gamer girl, its likely you didn't get the experience the slew of games directed at these kinds of kids. While no longer a girl, I was raised one, and I loved animals. But at that time, the most you could get in the way of animal games were usually... horse games. The horse girl crowd was big, and it was much more marketable than say, a game where you play as a dog or a cat. I remember always seeing loads of horse media- whether it was books, movie, or video games. I didn't want that, personally. But it was the best thing I could get in terms of being an animal in a game, so I ended up playing quite of few of these kinds of shovelware horse games.

While many have been lost to my memory, if you've followed my video game adventures before, specifically my speedruns- you'd know I have played a few of the Barbie horse adventure games. These were ones I grew up with, and reconnecting with them in the last years was mostly out of nostalgia and curiosity. While I may not be a horse girl, I love old media- especially video games. Even more, I love ones that arent widely covered online... obscure games that slip through the cracks. Surprisingly, Barbie games do fall into that category, perhaps out of the assumption they are a big name and must be documented, or just the fact that most gamers don't have interest in a brand like Barbie.

But this article isn't about the Barbie games. In fact, I found myself more and more intrigued by other horse games when I got into speedruning Barbie games. I love digging up information, and had fallen into bit of a rabbit hole with series like Star Stable, after finding out the developers of Barbie Horse Adventures Riding Camp made that series too- which becomes obvious with its many similarities to the non-MMO Star Stable games. Plus, with incredibly massive library of medicore horse games spawning in the early 2000s, I knew there must be more in there worth seeing. Even if the games were shitty, the history could bring something interesting. Plus, I had always had these memories of a horse game I played, and I had yet to find it. So it seemed like a great chance to go hunting for the mystery game in my memory.

While scouring the internet for videos and clips of the game that fit my description, I came across a youtube channel that is full of playthroughs for horse games. With hundreds of videos, I began to look through their playlists in hopes of finding a game I recognized, or just something interesting.

SADDLE CLUB

The Saddle Club: Willowbrook Stables came out in 2002, and is based around the tv show and book series also called The Saddle Club. The show was Australian-canadian and aired from 2001 to 2009. This is not a show I ever watched, but I recall the covers of the books in my elementary school library. The series follows three main characters also present at the start of the game, but the game takes place in a completely unique location from anything in the series. This is a point I'll come back to later...

As I stated, the game is a bit different from most horse games at the time- many horse games were heavily focused on caring for the horse and the stables, while focusing on competitions and other equestrian activities. Most times even the game if open world, doesn't have much to do outside of races and world is hardly the focus. Even a series like Star Stable still have a good amount of focus on typical equestrian lifestyle outside of its magical plotline. But Willowbrook stables is basically an open world with story.

The game starts with a opening cutscene, where the three main girls receive a letter to go off to a island horse stable. Only one can go, which means that you get to pick which girl you want to play as. You find out from the owner Agnes, that a property developer is going to buy the island and get rid of the stables. You learn that if you can raise enough money, you can save the stables from being bought. After exploring the islands, you learn from Agnes that there are rumors of 'golden horse shoes' that she read in a journal, and that finding them may be the way to get money to buy the land. From here, the game will lead you on a quest to find four golden horse shoes, by handing you hints through NPCs and needing to solve puzzles and riddles to find out where they are.

Aside from the story, the game takes place on a very large open world map where you can run into various landmarks, locations, and NPCs. The world has a subtle day-night cycle, in that it will become sunset and characters will start to go inside. You can then pass the day by sleeping in your bed, and this is sometimes required for progression. You do also get to care for your horse by putting on tack and cleaning the stables- but cleaning the stables seems optional. While you get notified when to do so, I never had an issue just ignoring it. There are 'points' given or lost for this (and various other things) but I don't recall it ever being an problem during the game, they don't do anything.

So with that described, lets step back and look at the game again. Its a pretty unique game for a game apparently based off a tv show. It has a pretty large open world, with a totally unique original setting and characters... but, a little extra digging would reveal that this game isn't really supposed to be for the Saddle Club. This game was made by IR Gurus Interactive, who had made a few other horse games before this one. Specifically, the far less talked of source of Saddle Club: Willowbrook Stables... Willowbrook Stables "Search for the golden horse shoes".

REPACKAGED

If you're familiar with horse games of the early 2000s or late 90s, you may be familiar with other works of IR Gurus without realizing it... this includes the well known Equestriad. In this case, The Saddle Club release of Willowbrook stables certainly out-shined its original version, and its not uncommon at all for games to be repackaged with a more well known brand name- for example, a series I grew up with became notorious for this after being acquired by Ubisoft, the Petz series. Many Petz titles that looked incredibly different were repackaged games from other countries, bought by Ubisoft and given the Petz title in other places in order to be recognized and thus sell better.

But this case is a bit more... weird to me, in the fact that IR Gurus released the original only a year prior, and it wasn't due to the game being released in a different country where said brand would have been more recognizable. They are an Australian company and have released horse games in the Australian horse scene- Saddle Club as mentioned is also an Australian show. So it seems that the re-release of Willowbrook as a Saddle Club title was more like a good money opportunity for IR Gurus and the owners of Saddle Club. Just fix up a game you already made, it'll be far cheaper, even thought it came out only a year ago! Everyone benefits and if anything, it probably did better than the original release anyways due to the Saddle Club name being slapped on so money spent on the re-release paid them back enough.

Aside from the listings that prove these are two separate games, there is loads of other evidence that this game just had Saddle Club slapped on top of an already existing game once you have the context. First off, the menus and start screen literally have flowery clip art that is pasted on top of an existing gritty mine themed layout. I didn't regard it much when I first played and thought it was just poor design... but knowing the game wasn't for Saddle Club, makes you realize just how out of place it looks. Additionally, the music in the game is totally different in Saddle Club's cute and upbeat tones, as the original's soundtrack a bit more mysterious and dark sounding- fitting its aesthetic.

Outside of the obvious aesthetics, there's even more that points to the drastic thematic difference between the two. The music changes the mood alone, but with the context that this game written for Saddle Club becomes more clear as you progress through the game and find things like... a graveyard, a gun in a church, the dark mines and traps, character death being the plot of the story, a strange abandoned castle, and so on.

There are some more unexpected additions to the Saddle Club version, however... and it actually extends to the point where you realize the Saddle Club version is almost like a big upgrade or patch to the original, even when many things don't fit. The obvious change would be the fact that three different players characters were added to the game- representing the main characters of the TV show. You only go to the island as one character because thats how the original was made- it was not written or built around 3 girls. The story wasn't made for it. Also for the Saddle Club version, the old lady who owns the stables exists as a character with a model and greets you to explain more of the story whereas in the original you simply arrive with a letter explaining things and that is it. Some changes don't make clear sense- like the boy at the stables says more or less in each version of the game, sometimes giving less information in Saddle Club than in the original. Why??

Overall, the Saddle Club version presents things in a more immersive way and forward way. Especially with the introduction given by Agnes, you get an idea of whats going on, and then you meet other characters in ways that just make more sense. In the original, you're just there already and it assumes your ability to solve things. Within the first two days you meet characters with incredibly stiff dialogue and awkward triggers to their meets, and its hard to know direction in that original version.

But that's not where the changes stop- and the deeper I dug the more I found in regards to patches for this game. First off, from the Wayback Machine I was able to find the old website which hosted patches for both games. Even though the patch got the original a bit more up to Saddle Club's standards, certain controls in the game still felt totally different. One thing my friend and I mess with HEAVILY was the "unstuck" button. This was something we read in the readme.txt file which contained loads of information we didn't know about the game (such as the fact that the game took 18 months to write!) This button is used to get unstuck, and in Saddle club it pushes you in a certain direction... through walls, and can be abused very very heavily. However, in the original game it doesn't exactly do that. It moves you differently and doesn't allow the same kind of clipping to occur. For some reason this changed between games, and clearly the devs went and altered some of the functions to work differently. Somehow though, it is less broken in the original version, and more broken in the later release...

The patch provided for the original adds a few functions already within Saddle Club- including the option to automatically gear up for a ride on your horse. Sadly the patch notes are basically nonexistent, so notes like "story related fixes" aren't explained in more detail to know what they really did unless we go through both step by step to compare. (This game is honestly horrible to play, its very strict in how you must solve things. No skipping around as far as I know. So it wouldn't be fun to play twice)

With covering all those technical changes to the game- theres a bit more, of course!

The original Willowbrook Stables game comes with a little more physically which makes it interesting as well. For one- the game was released without any kind of rating system applied, thus no logo in the right bottom corner.

It also came with a manual and a large map of the entire game's world- which can be downloaded from the old website's snapshot too.

The game's original box art and design show that strikingly different design and tone compared to the Saddle Club version, and I find it so interesting to see a game not built for Saddle Club at all getting rebranded into it. Most repackages of games don't tweak much (Petz games, as mentioned before), but Willowbrook was a story based game, things written for its own world stayed the same but other things had to change. Additionally, its always interesting to see the original ways of the devs trying to patch and fix games. Patches for games were not released like they are now- the fact they used a repackaged version like some kind of update, with no indication they were technically different, is odd!

All this is to say- Willowbrook Stables may be a crappy buggy horse game, no matter the version... But if I hadn't noticed various details in the readme.txt or the game itself I never would have realized this was the case because the original is hardly documented. IR Gurus is now Transmission Games, and the wikipedia page only lists the Saddle Club version of the game from 2002, not the original in 2001. There are a few web pages that list the original, but its certainly gotten buried under its repackaged form due to name and popularity. Despite the seeming obscurity they have gained traction for games unrelated to horses, you can even read an IGN article about the studio in 2006 here. Even so, the horse games are mentioned as some "off-beat, niche titles" compared to their other games regardless of it being their origins.

Its important to me to dig up some of this stuff- you never know where it may go, and the rabbit hole for obscure titles can go in places I never expected. Especially for titles such as these- the "girl games" - most find little value in them. But the history behind them, the people who made them, shouldn't be left to vanish forever. IR Gurus had an early part in the development of numerous horse games... good or bad, its interesting to find that there was an identical version of Saddle Club that was easily forgotten simply because it was labeled with a big name.

#coffini outlet #crosspost #horse games #saddle club #willowbrook stables #ir gurus

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123ghj37hyf6dg · 3 years

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Can’t Say It.

Aizawa x Reader

Word Count: 3,541

A/N: Fluff, dragged out but it’s a happy ending. One shot. Age difference (9 years) Reader is 22 while Aizawa is 31. Mentions of alcohol.

Reader is a young teacher at UA who has a unique relationship with Pro Hero and coworker Eraserhead. After a while of getting to know each other, will they realize their feelings? OR will they let self doubt get in the way.

CHARACTER REPORT

Position: UA SCHOOL ADMINISTRATION

Job Description: Quirk Analysis and Evaluation Processing.

Name: (L/N), (F/N) Power: 2/5 D Intelligence: 4/5 B

Birthday: (5/10) Speed: 2/5 B Cooperativeness: 5/5 A

Age: 22 Technique: 5/5 S

Sex: Female (She/Her)

Quirk: Analysis

-(Y/N) is able to instantly analyze a person and their abilities after observing them, familiarizing themselves with their qurik. This also includes evaluating/predicting situations with higher than average accuracy. With this ability, she can use this information with or against a subject. She can keep up to three peoples' worth of information perfectly memorized at a time. Anymore, her analysis starts to create more errors and her accuracy decreases.

Ever since (y/n) started working at UA, everyone knew that Aizawa’s single streak was in danger.

While the scruff chined 1-A homeroom teacher taught his bustling young hero course, she supported the admin staff! Specifically falling under processing and evaluating every student's quirk and how to help progress their potential. This means every homeroom teacher ran their notes and evaluations about their students through her every quarter, possibly more depending on how active and intense their training has been. She and her small team are a key to the school’s successful hero and support course. No matter how a quirk was used, they would find the best way to help them improve it.

Classroom 1-A currently holds the record for most updates and changes to analysis (surprise). With an increase in updates, (y/n) has spent more sleepless nights making sure her work was perfect than she originally thought she was going to. Not that she minded of course! She was young, and found that it helped drive her to improve her passions and skill. Besides her administrative work, she also works as a substitute teacher for English, and Hero Strategy lessons twice a semester. If needed she is more than happy to help with summer lessons.

Aizawa has had more than his fair share of interaction with the young lady, more than others if one was keeping track. After the hero noticed (y/n)’s sleepless nights because of his students, he offered to stay and bring her coffee. When (y/n) noticed extra heavy bags under his eyes, there would be a nicely wrapped lunch on his desk with a cute thank you note in return.

Over time a unique relationship developed between the two that anyone looking in could clearly see. Including the students.

“Mr Aizawa! Your lady friend left ya another lunch, you’re so LUCKY.” Denki and Mineta whined without hesitation.

“Why don’t we get cute lunches made by cute girls?”

“Shut up! That’s Ms. (L/n) you’re talking about, not some side chick you dumbos. I think it’s really sweet.” Mina cooed alongside some of the other girls.

Their homeroom teacher could only sigh, carefully tucking away the lunch box into his work desk as he partially ignored their scattered comments. “Lucky or not, you all should have your notes out and study. Your test scores from last week clearly tell me I haven’t given enough in class work time. Do I have to cut down on our outside training hours?” The instant shuffling of paper and pencils brought a small smirk to his face. Nothing got his students off his back faster than less training hours. As he took attendance and organized his schedule, the small peeks at the lunch box reminded him about his last encounter with his….coworker.

“Midoriya is such a strange boy you know? I’m surprised his quirk doesn't instantly tear his body apart every time he uses it. I’m glad he’s getting a handle on it, I hated seeing him hurt himself so often.” You were sat cross legged in your office chair, typing away at your laptop underneath a bright desk lamp.

“I agree, he needs to learn how to use his body with his quirk.”

“Exactly!- Well, it looks like his rate of injuries compared to training has decreased. Based off of Recovery Girls records, his quirk usage deteriorated his arm muscle effectiveness. This means he’s got to either limit his usage on his arms, or learn how to use the rest of his body to compensate.” Rubbing your eyes shifted your reading glasses off of your face, exposing the bags that were starting to grow underneath them.

“You shouldn’t be getting such heavy bags under your eyes like that, you’re too young for those (L/n).” He always notices them, no matter how well hidden.

“Ya, okay GRAMPS. You’re not that much older than me and YOUR eyes are just as bad, if not worse. And call me (y/n), we’re friends aren't we?”

Rolling his eyes, Aizawa gets up with a huff to pour some coffee from the nearby coffee pot. “Midoriya is your last report tonight right? Go home, you’ve got Hero Strategy classes tomorrow.” as if on cue, he hands you the cup of warm coffee while you reach out for it with a quiet “Thank you”.

The way you hold the cup in your hands and let the warm steam brush against your face leaves him staring at you with a soft look.

“I guess I could leave a little earlier than I thought....” blowing cool air onto the coffee, you slowly take a sip of the warm beverage. Every time you see that look on his face, you can’t help but wonder what he’s feeling.

After a short while, you both clean up and close the office up. It’s 1 AM and both of you are more than ready to get at least a few hours of sleep in. Like usual, he walks you halfway to your home before bidding his own goodbye.

“Goodnight (L/n).” As Aizawa turns to walk away, he feels a small tug at his sleeve.

“I uh-” Turning to look around, he sees you with pinker cheeks underneath a streetlight. How do you always look so...nice? No matter the light you always look nice.

You slowly slid your hand down his arm to gently hold onto his hand. It was so soft, not just the hold but your skin. You couldn't even look at him but your voice was clear as day.

“Thank you, for staying with me. I know how tired you must be too….so I feel honored that you decide to spend your important time with me- er, to help me. You’re a great teacher and man Aizawa. Good night.” Just as quick as the moment had started, your touch was gone and you made your way home.

He was alone, yet he could still feel your touch on his skin. Aizawa stood there for minutes, looking at his hand in awe and strange curiosity. His coworkers and friends told him multiple times, “You two aren’t a thing?”, “It’s obvious that you fancy her Shouta.”,

“She has to feel the same, you don’t see how she looks at you when you aren’t paying attention.”

The school bell alerting the start of their first class was what pulled Aizawa out of his mind, looking up to see (y/n) walk into the class with your information tablet. ‘Ah, right. Hero Strategy.’ “Good Morning class! Great to see you all again.” She was chipper as always, her makeup easily covering her endeavors from the night before. The young teacher wore simple black tights with her training sweat jacket, everyone murmured in excitement because this meant that there would be out of class training and demonstrations Rubbing his exhaustion from his face, the black haired male stands up to go stand near (y/n). “You all have ten minuets to change and get to the field. Any longer and you’ll be stuck in cleaning duty for the week.”

Iida is quick to stand and grab his fellow classmates attention. “Quickly but in order, please gather your things and head to the gym! No RUNNING!” As valiant as his efforts were, everyone rushed out of the class in fear of being put into the cleaning crew while it was out of their turn.

The small smile he saw on your face was sobering, calmly following behind you as you made your way to the gym.

Usually, Aizawa would sneak into his sleeping back and nap during other teachers' lessons. These ones were different for him. He would sit off to the side and observe how you worked with the kids.

While some students could take simple suggestions and immediately apply them, others needed physical examples. You were more than happy to adapt to all their needs as they all trained with their new plans and teachers notes. While Tokoyami nodded and talked with Dark Shadow about your observations, Uraraka carefully mimicked your moves as you slowly countered her attacks explaining how they affected her opponent's momentum even more.

He knew you were a natural when it came to children and hero work. The obvious proof was right in front of him. That and he was nine years older than you, yet you both were doing almost the exact same job. That's where everything starts to blur for him.

After a quick practice round with Shoji, a rundown with Bakugo about his quirk usage along with Midoriya and the rest of the class, their first class of the day was over.

The rest of the day went normal, and (Y/n) left to finish the rest of her lessons while Aizawa did the same.

After a long week, you were more than happy to have the weekend to yourself, or so you thought.

Incoming Call: Keigo <(‘v’)>

“Keigo?”

“Hey tiny, sorry to bother but I felt like I should call in and see how you were doing.”

“I’m fine, just getting ready to watch some movies and order take in. Had a long week. You?”

“Gonna be heading out to an event soon! Glad to hear you're doing good. Any luck with your crush on the office grandpa?”

You roll your eyes as you wiggle yourself into more blankets, clicking through the different documentaries you could find on YouTube.

“I don’t have a crush on Aizawa, and even IF I did he is NOT a grandpa. He would probably want someone closer to his age anyway. The whole life experience gap and everything.”

“Yeah okay, whatever. Don't get mad at me when you realize I’m right and you're missing out on not being single anymore.”

“You’ll be the first person I call when you’re actually right. ” “Ouch-”

“Pfft, talk to you later Kei. I have an hour long video about the origin of heroes and it’s calling my name.”

“Bye bye!”

No matter how relaxed you were or how interesting the documentary was, you couldn't get you know who out of your mind. Could you have a crush on Aizawa Shouta? Silver Fox hero of the night? Grumpy man who likes taking naps in the middle of the day? You couldn’t lie, he was attractive and his personality was more than pleasant to you at least. It always felt like something was there between you two..between late night talks and having lunch together sometimes. It felt like there was a connection, and the only thing keeping you two from connecting was a waterfall of hesitation and doubt.

“Whatever…”

“WoooOO! Staff Party, this is gonna be a blast Listeners! Present Mic here to keep your evening thrilling with an amazing music selection!”

Upbeat music with minimal words played through the old speakers of a rented out ballroom. It was the end of the first semester staff party, everyone was dressed semi formal with their hair done nicely and makeup to match. The decorations were nice, and tables were laid out with food, drinks and chairs to relax and chat.

Aizawa was one of the first to show up since he and Yamada came together like usual. Although he socialized with other teachers as they passed by, he stayed closer to the walls and talked with Kayama most of the time. He was dressed fairly well, a simple fitted dark g suit coat with normal slacks. The usually wild and wavy mess of locks was neatly tied back into a very clean half knot that showed off his handsome face.

“No date Shouta? I was sure that pretty young thing would be with you tonight. (L/n) Right, she’s such a lovely girl.” Kayama’s hair was curled beautifully around her, a long fitted dress with a deep V cut showing off her lovely charm. Aizawa only rolled his eyes, sipping on his Champaign class to avoid talking even if it was just for a second more.

“It would make more sense for her to come in with someone closer to her age or with a friend. She is the youngest person on staff you know.”

“Age this age that blah blah BLAH. I know love when I see it-”

“Not love, this isn’t some romance film Nemuri.”

With a small and understanding smile, Nemuri reaches out to gently pat her dear friend's shoulder. “Someday, you’re going to realize that the things that are holding you back are nothing but a reflection of your own worries. I know you’ll figure it out. You both will. Now try to have fun-” Her attention was stolen away for a moment, a glint of excitement in her eyes clear as day. “If you’re worried about how she feels and how she’s doing, why don't you go show her around and make sure she feels welcomed?”

Turning around, the first thing Aizawa see’s is you. A cheesy thing to say, but he almost feels his heart skip a bit.

You wore a black turtleneck underneath a midnight blue spaghetti strap dress that fit you just right. Knitted knee high socks and stylish black heel boots finished off your look along with a beautiful pearl pendant necklace. Your hair looked soft and styled in a way he had never seen it before. Your eyes were done up just enough in a way that made them shine even more than they usually do.

He’s trapped, and he is slowly realizing that he never wants to be set free.

When your eyes scan the room for anything familiar, they finally land on a set of eyes that are looking right back at you. You have to stop yourself from visibly gasping, why did his eyes feel so intense? What was he thinking as he made his way across the room to you.

Like Moses and the sea, everyone carefully parted to let you both have your moment. They all knew the chemistry between you too, and were more than happy to leave you alone as they carried on with their conversations and laughter.

“You look beautiful.” His voice was low, and held a sense of hesitant tenderness even he was unsure of. You knew he meant it.

“And you look very handsome, you even shaved for the party.” With a small laugh you gently ran the back of your fingers across his shaved cheek. This wasn't new, you had done this exact touch multiple times before when you made fun of his stubble yet- it felt more intimate than it ever had before. Aizawa knew he didn't mind it.

Carefully sliding his hand into yours, he lifts it up to press a soft and long kiss to your knuckles. “It is a special occasion. Would you like to join me tonight?” He was never a man who cushioned his words, straight to the point and expressing just how he felt was never an issue. You were different.

Accepting his offer, you move to accept his offered arm. The night starts slow as you both walk around and chat with other faculty members you work with. With Aizawas help you were confident that you were able to make some new friends, maybe going to this party wasn't so bad after all.

Everything else almost felt like a breeze. Laughs were shared, drinks were drank- and barriers were being broken down. You and Aizawa found yourselves slowly standing closer and closer together, close enough to where your fingers would brush against each other when one of you moved. All of Pro Hero Eraserhead’s friends could only watch with warm and excited smiles for him.

Like always, nights must always come to an end.

While some people left to retire for the night, others stayed longer to help clean or help more than drunk coworkers make it home safe. “I’m helping Nemuri make it home Sho! You gonna be okay making it back tonight?” Yamada had Nemuri balancing into his side, laughing as she drunkenly waved some of the others goodbye. “Oh! You all can head back home together if you’d like. I’m just helping clean a bit before I head back home.” you politely cut into their little chat, holding a medium sized black trash bag in your hands.

Taking a moment, Aizawa starts to shrug off his coat as he takes the garbage away from you. “I’ll stay behind to help clean. If you’re alright with it I can walk you home.” with wide eyes, the younger teacher could only nod before she turned away to hide her reddening cheeks to pick up more trash and plates.

“No worries, now get em TIGEr. RaaArW-” As Kayama tried to cheer her friend on, Yamada tugged her away with an amused laugh of his own.

Not even an hour later, everyone was out and the sky was as dark and it could be. The only stars you could see were the large ones as the light pollution shrouded out the smaller and weaker stars.

This time around, Aizawa's coat was wrapped around (y/n) shoulders, her head resting on him as they linked arms on the walk back to her house. Instead of splitting off halfway, he walks her all the way up to her front door. It was silent for a moment, the events from tonight silently washing over them.

“Thank you Aizawa, this...was a really nice night. I don't think it would have been as enjoyable as it was without you.” (y/n) broke the silence, turning to face and look up at the man she knew she would never look at the same again. Rubbing his mouth in thought, his eyes flicker between the young woman standing in front of him and the road.

“I want to thank you as well. I-.” He paused for a moment.

“I would like to kiss you, but I understand if you wouldn't. I think after tonight you know what my feelings are for you. I didn't even know about them fully until tonight. Kayama- Midnight was right. I was letting my worries hold me back when I should have been forward like I always am-”

Time freezes when he feels your hands pull down his face, your lips eagerly pressing into a kiss with such raw love and desperation. Instantly his arms move around to gently lift you up into him. One minute, two..three. You both only break apart for air and your warm breaths mingle against each other. “I’ve wanted to do that for a while now I think. My friend was right haha...maybe I do have a crush on you. I was just worried because I had no idea if you would even be interested in a relationship, let alone with someone as...young as me. I feel like a high schooler again haha.”

The fact that you were able to laugh the way you did and still hold him in your arms brought flutters to his chest. He knew now that he more than just saw you as a coworker or a close friend. He wants to be more. “I know what you mean. Who would want to be with someone as old as me? I would never want to make you feel like I was holding you back.” He would never admit it, but he felt like a young adult experiencing love for the first time...it was a bit embarrassing (in a good way.)

“You make me feel so helpless sometimes you know that?” pulling his head down again, (y/n) presses another soft kiss to Aizawa’s forehead. “What am I gonna do with you Aizawa?”

“Shouta.”

“Huh?”

“Shouta, call me Shouta if you want.” Thankful that it was dark out, he could feel himself heat up at the intimate suggestion.

With the way your eyes sparkled while you said his name, he knew he was hooked. There is no going back. “What am I gonna do with you, Shouta?”

“You’ll figure it out eventually. I’ll help you along the way as long as you’ll help me too.” The shared silence was an unbroken promise to do the best you both can.

After sharing your final kiss good night, you watch Shouta walk down the street and out of view before returning into the comfort of your home. The jacket around your shoulders smelt strongly of the stoic man you now called yours. Enjoying the warmth and comfort his coat brought you, kicking off your boots you hop over your couch and settle into a comfortable position.

Calling: Keigo <(‘V’)>

“WHY are you calling me at….2 in the MORNING. You gave me a damn heart attack-”

“You were right.” your voice was soft and held no regrets.

“Right? Right about what?”

“You were right, I did have feelings for Shouta. I said you would be the first person to call if you were right. And well, you were right.” The next hour was spent catching your best friend up on everything that happened tonight.

On the other side of the story, Aizawa finally made it home and had no problem finding sleep that night. He felt as ease knowing that things weren't going to turn out as bad as he thought it originally was going to be.

He can't say it, not yet.

But he is in love.

And so are you.

#bnha #oneshot #bnha imagines #aizawa x y/n #aizawa shouta #aizawa x reader #bnha x reader #pro hero x reader #aizawa fluff #shouta aizawa #bnha fanfiction #eraserhead x y/n #my hero academy fanfiction #my hero academy x reader

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aspenflower17 · 3 years

Text

Finding You (Part 12 of ??)

Hi hi! I’m hoping this update finds you all well and happy. I have a lot more time this coming week to write, so I hope I can get on top of my WIPs and get the next chapter out not late on a Sunday.

Anyways, for his chapter itself, I wanted to try something a bit different. When Mc was composing her song, I had a very particular one in mind, and so when the song comes up, I’m going to put a YouTube link there that you can click on and listen to the song while you’re reading. For people that have problems reading while listening to music, it is all instrumental and you definitely do not have to click the link. I’m just trying to get more across in my fics than I would otherwise :) I will also have a link at the end of the update that will link you to the original scenes where the two parts of the song are from.

I should also note, there might be spoilers in this for people who haven’t read very far in the main story in game.

For anyone who hasn’t read the rest of the updates, here is the link to Part One if you would be so inclined to read :)

Tags!: @simpingforsatan @naimena @hachimochi @wrathandgreed @magi-minminxiii @rensphilia @a-dream-at-night @chloelikesobeyme @getbehindme-satan @theuglypugling @oofthelazyweeb (as always, if you would like to be added to the tags list, just comment down below or send me a message about it!)

Satan / F!Mc

Words: 2,404

Trigger warnings: None that I can think of, though if you had a bad experience with the movie the song is from, that could be a problem...

“Sorry to intrude. I just heard your playing and had to find out who was making such gorgeous music,” Satan was leaning against the doorway, a soft smile on his face, “Is that one of your compositions?”

“Oh,” Mc looked down, a little embarrassed, “Yes, but it isn’t finished yet.”

“It’s still beautiful,” Satan said softly, hoping she would allow him to stay.

“Thank you,” Mc answered softly, matching his smile.

Satan cleared this throat and looked down, blushing, “So, how long have you been working on this piece?”

“Honestly, a while now,” Mc sighed slightly, “It’s something I composed in the Celestial Realm, though it never sounded right. It’s only on the piano’s here in the Devildom that it’s sounded… right,” Mc looked up at Satan at that, and he nodded, his hand resting on his chin thoughtfully, “Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to get further in the piece.”

Satan cleared his throat, “Well, if you play it again, I may be able to help. I have done some composing before, though not as much as you… Anyways, only if you want to. I would hate to impose…” he was blushing furiously now, wondering why he’d even offered.

“That would actually be lovely,” Mc admitted, her heart fluttering a bit at the prospect, “A fresh perspective might be just what I need.”

“I’d be happy to assist then,” Satan said, walking over to stand behind her.

Mc looked up and smiled at him, “Thank you.”

Satan’s heart stopped for a moment, fragments of memories flying through his mind of Mc looking up and smiling at him. He swallowed thickly, and gestured for her to play, not trusting his voice.

Mc was a bit confused, watching the sadness well up in his eyes. Despite the sudden emotion, she turned and started playing when he gestured. (This song)

Satan was transfixed by the music from the first note, wondering if this was the loneliness Mc had mentioned to him so long ago, put into the notes ringing through the air. If that was the case, he had to wonder why the Celestial Realm had kept her from him. He would have cured her loneliness, no matter what it took. If she had needed companionship, he would have provided it. If she needed kind words, he would have provided it. Absolutely anything she would have needed would have been provided. She would never have had to know such pain.

In that moment, he wondered what would have happened if Mc had come to the Devildom instead of the Celestial Realm. He knew she would have been grabbed from the upcoming souls, if not by him, then one of his brothers, Diavolo or Barbatos, her ties to the realm more to do with love and friendship, not sin and corruption. Assuming she had still wanted him, he would have followed her in wherever she would have wanted to go and helped her accomplish anything she would have wanted to do. If she had wanted to move out of the House of Lamentation, he would have made it happen, and if she never wanted to leave, he would gladly put up with whatever antics his brothers felt they needed to inflict upon him. He would even have put up with their constant flirting if it made her happy. If she had wanted to become a demon, he would have helped her, making sure any adjustment she would have gone through were as quick and painless as possible.

He imagined they would have been happy together, seeing as how his wrath was more contained and muted with her around. She had shown him what love was, helping him realize not only that he loved her but that he did love his brothers and they him, though they all showed it in very weird ways. She had helped him cut through all his self doubt, making him feel less like a monster on a self inflicted leash, a shadow of the power and man that had created him, and more like an individual with his own thoughts and feelings, valid and special in his own right. No one had ever been able to do that for him, and he doubted anyone ever would again.

When the music changed, calm and desolate, he knew this was her loneliness without a doubt. Some part of his brain also recognized she was nearing where she hadn’t composed yet. Without thinking, he sat on her right, watching her practiced hands play. He felt the inspiration for the rest of the song start to well up inside him. He also felt his anger at the situation they now found themselves in burning behind it all as well. They had been happy together before her mortality had ripped them apart. The angels knew this, and yet they had kept her from him, even though she had obviously been suffering. She hid and dealt with it well, her art a testament to that, but she had suffered needlessly. He wanted to let Mc know she was not alone and he would help her. Even if she never fell in love with him again, this was her plea for help and he would not allow it to go unanswered.

The first couple lines he played were just repeats of hers, an attempt at solidarity.

Mc was surprised by his actions, though they spurred her on, the song actually continuing past the point she had composed. She had never actively composed with someone else, and she found the action calming in a way. It was if he could read her mind on what needed to happen in the song.

Satan suddenly started playing furiously, a bit of a call back to earlier in the song, though with more gusto. Mc couldn’t help but watch as he glared a bit at the keys as if they would provide the answers to the rest of the song. She felt inspired, playing the bottom hand as he played the top. She felt more connected to him than she ever had with anyone, the composition coming together better than she would have thought possible. Their hands even touched a couple times, as they fought for use of the keys they knew would help express the magic that was happening.

Mc started a chromatic scale, lost in the moment, adding flair as she went up. She didn’t realize what she was doing until she was at the top of the keyboard, trilling between two notes. She was leaning a bit into Satan, their legs and shoulders touching as she had scooted over on the bench to reach the notes. He was watching her, their faces extremely close. He was smiling softly again.

She pulled back into her own space, a blush dusting her cheeks though she felt happy, “Pardon my enthusiasm.”

Her blush and smile made him feel like he had accomplished something, “I like your enthusiasm,” he said, his voice only coming out in a whisper.

She smiled at him, “Well, I’m glad,” then, “Oh, I almost forgot. This is for you,” she pulled a letter from the air, Satan’s eyebrows raising in interest, “It’s a reply to the one you gave me.”

He took the letter and tucked it into his jacket pocket, “Thank you. That was an interesting trick you just did.”

“Oh, I’ve known it for ages now. I left a particularly embarrassing poem out once, and another angel read it out loud in front of a lot of other angels. It’s safe to say I keep all important things hidden now.”

“Glad to know you think this is important,” Satan half teased, making Mc flush slightly.

“I didn’t realize you were such an accomplished piano player,” Mc said, trying to move the conversation in a direction that wouldn’t make her heart race.

“Oh, well, music has been fundamental in helping to develop and understand new emotions,” Satan admitted, knowing Mc was the only person he’d ever openly admit this to.

“New… emotions?” Mc, remembering the conversation between Michael and Diavolo, she tried to keep the intense curiosity from her voice in an effort not to upset Satan or scare him away from the topic.

“Yes. I… How much do you know about my birth?”

“I… I’ve learned more about it since coming here, but I still don’t know a lot,” Mc admitted, trying to keep her voice as nice but neutral as possible.

“Well, I was born from Lucifer’s wrath. In the beginning, all I could feel was anger, though it wasn’t really directed at anyone. I knew why Lucifer was angry but most of that didn’t seem to matter much. Those acts had not been directed at me; why should I care? I was just angry, because that’s all I was. The first time I think I remember feeling anything besides rage was at Lilith’s memorial.

Huh? Who’s Lilith?

“I remember Lucifer sitting at the piano, pouring his grief into the song he was playing. Though I remember music from Lucifer’s memories, it was my first time experiencing it as an individual. The song had been Lilith’s favorite, though the piano’s of the Devildom and the slow tempo Lucifer played it had made what was usually a very happy song into a funeral march. In that moment, watching all my brothers with tears in their eyes, many openly weeping when the song started, I felt a twinge in my heart, and I teared up. I remember wiping them, staring at the liquid on my finger,” he looked down at his hands at that, completely caught up in the memory.

“I thought about that moment a lot. I rolled it around over and over in my head trying to figure out what it was I had experienced. It was at this time that I asked Lucifer to teach me how to play the piano. I thought the key was in the music itself, and I practiced a lot. Lucifer is not a forgiving teacher, so I was constantly striving for perfection, but from my own expectations of myself and his. Still, even as I became a better piano player, I still couldn’t get the emotion I wanted from the instrument, though I didn’t know that’s what I was looking for. It was the most wooden playing you could imagine.

“One day, I was very angry at my inability to play the way I wanted to. I was throwing things around in my room because Lucifer made it very clear I was never to destroy the piano just because I was upset, when Beel decided to look in on me. Most of my brothers, Asmo aside, give me a very wide berth when I’m upset, though I think they do it now more out of respect for my privacy than fear. Anyways, Beel came in and asked me what was wrong. I ended up screaming about how frustrated I was at not being able to play like Lucifer did at Lilith’s memorial. He was a bit confused as to why, and I explained to him that I needed to explore the strange sensation that had made me cry. After a bit more explanation, he smiled sadly and explained that what I had felt was probably either sadness or grief. He then went on to explain the emotion in the most blunt, truthful way I’ve ever heard out of anyone, and I’ve read a lot. It wasn’t flowery or dramatic. It was someone honestly and truthfully expressing how they felt. It was a lot like when someone puts so much emotion into their music and you can’t help but understand them. His words did the same thing for me that Lucifer’s playing had done, and that twinge came back. Experiencing it in the moment allowed me to be able to ask his confirmation on what I was feeling.

“Looking back on the whole encounter, I’m ashamed of how I acted, but I’m glad Beel came in and helped me when he did. It helped me understand myself a bit more, and recognize I can feel things that aren’t anger. Without his help, who knows how long I would’ve been floundering around in the dark. Ah, but you didn’t ask for my personal history. You were just asking about my piano playing,” Satan rubbed the back of his head, looking sheepish, “I’m sorry if I made you uncomfortable.”

“Oh, no, it’s quite alright!” Mc answered, louder and more forcefully than she intended. He looked at her in shock, and it was her turn to act sheepishly, “I just… I’m glad you told me. I feel like I understand you a lot better now.”

“I’m glad,” Satan said, smiling.

“You’re at the piano huh? We were wondering where you’d gone off to,” a voice interrupted, making them both look over, “Lucifer wants you to come back because dinner’s almost done. I’m guessing you should probably head back with us,” the strawberry blonde smiled at Mc.

“Oh, you’re Asmodeus right?” Mc asked, proud of herself for recognizing him.

“Oh, you know who I am darling? Oh, who am I kidding? How could you have not heard about me by now?”

“Right…” Mc laughed a bit uncomfortably, “I also remember you from when you dropped off Satan’s letter to me as a child.”

Asmo’s eyes widened a bit, “Oh, I thought it might be you. I wasn’t sure though.”

“You weren’t sure? You had an idea though,” Satan’s voice was flat as was his expression.

“Oh, Satan, calm down. I didn’t want to say anything in case I was wrong. You can understand why, right?”

Satan sighed, “I suppose so. I guess it doesn’t really affect anything in the long run.”

“Glad you understand. Now, we really should get back. Are you coming with?” Asmo directed the last part at Mc.

“Sure. I should be joining Luke and Michael anyway,” Mc said, sliding off the left side of the bench, walking towards Asmo. Satan pushed the bench back when she was clear of it, and walked over to Asmo too.

Asmo grinned mischievously, “You know, you two make a cute couple!”

Mc flushed at the comment and looked down.

“Oh no need to be so bashful Satan. I’m only stating the obvious. If you have a problem with it though, I’d be more than happy to steal her away.”

Steal me away? What’s all that about?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hi! So, the song I linked above is actually two different songs combined into one. It is from Corpse Bride a claymation film from Tim Burton. From that, you should be able to decide if it’s something you’d like to watch. I do think it was pretty well done and would recommend it.

The beginning is called Victor’s Piano Solo (Scene here) and the second part is The Piano Duet (scene here)

Part Thirteen

#obey me!#OBEY ME #obey me! swd #obey me swd #obey me satan #obey me! satan #obey me mc #obey me! mc #obey me! f!mc #obey me asmo #obey me asmodeus #corpse bride #the duet scene is just so romantic!#i couldn't help myself #my writing #aspenflower17 #finding you

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mysmedrabbles · 4 years

Text

RFA in Quarantine

requested: by my last braincell

a/n: .......lmao I’m back i guess, hope everyone is staying safe

warnings: coronavirus and depression mention

-on the brink of insanity mod alex

Jumin

-of course he realizes the extent of the issue with the virus, but he’s one of the last employers to give his workers paid leave.

-even so, he’s prompt to send everyone down the chain of command specific instructions for their departments and strict deadlines that they must adhere to

-this is the only thing keeping him from going insane

-hates it at home, he hates the solitude, hates being trapped, and not even Elizabeth the III is enough to keep him company

-tries to see this from a logical point of view, and uses this time to learn new things, pick up another language, take online enrichment classes... as trivial as they seem to him he still insists on doing something, anything to keep his mind sharp

-reads a lot

-starts to pick up cooking (due to his staff being under quarantine), but his cleaning skills leave something to be desired

-you can slowly start to see him slip up in the rfa groupchat, acting seemingly more relaxed...or maybe it’s closer to insanity

Jaehee

-she’ll never admit it to anyone, but she prefers being at home, even with her same amount of workload, maybe even more, but getting to set her own working hours has her smiling more, letting her take her time in the morning

-home workouts, you can’t convince me otherwise

-also reads a significant amount more! everything from dumb YA novels to nonfiction and classics, she takes full advantage of online library services

-she doesn't know what to do with herself after a while

-doesn’t like staying inside, but knows it’s important to do so in order to keep not only her but everyone around her safe

-she’s the one that’ll yell at the other members if they dare to step foot outside

-finally has time to take care of her previously struggling plants, and they start to thrive within a short amount of time

-grows her hair out- she knows she’ll have to cut it again once this is all over but she enjoys waking up and messing with it, feeling not only joy but also pride when her hair gets long enough to tie back into a ponytail

Yoosung

-you’d think this would be a gamers paradise, not having to go outside and being able to focus on LOLOL alone

-wrong

-detests online classes, trudging out of bed and into his living room with muttered complaints as he logs into his schools server, ready to video chat with his teachers. Falls asleep the second class is over, most of the time falling limp to the ground in exhaustion

-self isolation... not good for him. not only does it make him more anxious than ever the threat of his parents and sisters safety on the line, but being alone for so long only capitalizes on the fear of abandonment he had felt after Rika’s death, and not getting to see his friends plunges him into a pit of depression

-struggles to do more than aimlessly do his homework and log onto LOLOL, the stress of coronavirus keeping him up and worrying

-h..he....an-he p-hhhh-animal crossing

Saeyoung

-while there has technically been no change in his physical lifestyle, there definitely has in his mental health

-how is he supposed to protect the RFA from something he can’t even see?

-this thought sends him into a panic, and his helplessness is only furthered by his lack of knowledge in general medicine. he wasn’t trained for this.

-starts to isolate himself from the group, and bury himself in more work than ever before

-however, less people on the streets, less human activity... less clients... less victims

-for the first time in what seemed his whole life he finished everything he had for work, and this realization brought him to a crashing halt. with nothing to occupy his mind he found himself more alone than ever before, old memories and feelings from his childhood returning, flashbacks seemingly around every corner.

-however, like Jumin, he knows he needs to keep his mind sharp and working, and finds himself talking to the man more and more as quarantine goes on, an unlikely friendship blossoming where nothing seemed to exist.

-slowly he starts to integrate himself back into the RFA, and comes out the other end with a stronger bond with everyone.

-occupies his newfound time with finally getting to work on his cars, even starting to build a few from scratch

-his only other serious pastime is his challenge to himself to watch the Bee Movie every day for as long as the quarantine lasts. (that and watch every sci-fi film on Netflix)

-starts to learn how to cook... without honey buddha chips and doctor pepper

-he’s shit at it but at least he tries

Zen

-instagram live

-he feels guilty, everyone that had bought tickets to his upcoming show had to get their money refunded, the show being cancelled until further notice.

-just out of curiosity, he tries his hand at writing down ideas for a play, a mashup of two things he’d done in the past

-what started off as a curiosity to see what would happen if he let his own imagination run with an idea instead of letting the idea run his imagination, became a hobby, writing short skits here are there, nothing more than

-he...he - djhfks- hhhheee he tiktok he... he tiktok

-does mostly original content, using it as an outlet for his creativity, and finds it simpler than youtube (he’s not much into the production side of filming as much as he is with the creativity side of it)

-he really likes the dances though! he finds them fairly laggy and too simple in their movements, but they give him an excuse to work out and awe the lads and ladies all in one

-is forced to order a treadmill, his lack of exercise getting to him. it doesn’t make up for the fresh air he misses so dearly, but it’s something

-it takes all his strength to stop drinking, fear for his shape and physical condition stopping him from becoming a borderline alcoholic

-as much as he hates to admit it, quarantine is isolating... as it should be of course, but to him being cut off from the rest of the world was something he could barely handle

-skyping jaehee and doing home exercises together

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luv-esabella · 3 years

Note

N, R, B and I LOVE YOU🧡🧡🧡🧡🧡🧡🧡

AWW I LOVE U TOO ARA !! :D Sending u lots of these~ 💗💗💗 and this! 💗🐣💗 lol

💕 N- If you want to know how I treat my friends

I adore all my friends 💗 Like there’s literally nothing I wouldn’t do for them if they needed me. That being said I know the primary source of communication is texting and stuff (which I suck at) but they accept me and love me for who I am so whenever I’m online they’re happy to see me. Irl/facetime is different since I could hold long convos about everything.

I adore things they give me or if they reach out. Like I keep so many trinkets of them. Even a napkin my friend drew on for me when we were eating together at a boba shop (it’s clean and crisp don’t worry. It’s in a collection box smwhere in my closet) I think about them a lot at a reference I remember too. Like if I see something on the streets I’m like ‘my friend would’ve liked to see that cat’ or ‘hey that’s the movie my friend talked about the other day!’

If they’re busy and need space I understand that too. Like I know we don’t have to text everyday to know we care about each other. Or sometimes life keeps us busy and we drift apart. I still appreciate them for the memories we had and I know in the future down the road we’ll meet up again. I also reminisce past friendships a lot. I don’t ever remember ending something on a bad term (maybe one in elementary but we made up again). I think about them probably way more than they think.

This also goes for moots! I don’t talk to some as much anymore but I still consider them a moot. I just kinda remember things and treasure them for a long time. (I’m pretty sure it’s my Cancer moon lol)

💕 R - For me to tell 10 of my curiosities

1 - For ask games I tend to think out my answers a lot to the point that I over answer stuff lol (I realized this when I looked at my long answer for N)

2 - I was such a big Taylor Swift fan when I was younger. She was what inspired me to play guitar and sing a lot (when I found out about her cap stellium and cancer moon too? I swooned) She also high fived my hand at a concert I went to (tbf tho she did that with most of the fans in the row)

3 - I attended swim class when I was younger at this place that gave ribbons for awards. I was so determined to gain all those ribbons!! They were so colorful :D (When my sister went to the same place they changed the ribbon system and it was less colorful then. I think I cried cause I was so sad)

4 - I have two dogs who I adore 💗 They’re both maltipoos and they’re brothers but from different litters. (I’ll make a post about them soon if I get a good pic lol)

5 - I’m thinking of an Olivia Rodrigo song rn. But this made me think of the first time I saw her in the American girl movie Grace Stirs up success! I just thought it was fun seeing her grow up in her acting career.

6 - I’m closer to my mom than I am my dad. (Also got sun square moon in natal) I could tell my mom anything, she’s the best :D (also I love her placements. She has a Virgo moon which matches 2 of my bsfs lol)

7 - I got into astrology cause of a post I saw about these youtubers I follow as well as their friendship synastry. And then I got into a fandom discord server and the astrology chat was a goldmine of learning! And then I found out about astro tumblr lol. The rest is history :D

8 - I can’t handle horror movies. It’s different with horror stories tho, altho I still try avoid reading those too. However if horror is involved with plot (when it’s not primarily horror? If that makes sense) I’d still love to read it!

9 - I visited Disneyland a lot as a kid. I basically grew up with Disney. Favorite characters as a kid were Chip n’ Dale. I got the Dale stuffie, and my sister got the Chip one. We watched the original cartoons for them too cause we loved them so much. They’re literally our childhood 💗

10 - I’m into Harry Potter yet never read the series or saw most of the movies (the ending of the last movie was on tv and my dad played it cause he knew I liked hp. I don’t think that counted) Plus I watched the first movie in middle school which I don’t really remember. I got into the fandom thru tumblr and seeing fanart + fanfics. Doesn’t mean I’m not an actual fan tho. I know a lot of trivia and hp terms and plot. Also have ravenclaw merch and my friend made me a wand and a box! Literally it’s beautiful 💗 For my bday gift she painted the box to be from the shop Ollivander’s (the shop Harry got his wand from) and she made a certificate and wand and everything!! All handmade 💗 and I adore her for that! Shoutout to Nika!! She’s one of the most artistic and creative people I know

💕 B - Who the last person I talked to on the phone was

My grandpa lol. I was walking my dog and called him saying that we were coming to visit him :D He had a hard time hearing me tho cause of the wind and stuff. We have a family dinner every Saturday 💗

Edit: I realized I answered R wrong whoops!! But I’m too lazy to change anything so we’re sticking with that! Altho I am curious about white strawberries grown in Japan. Why did my brain think of that first? No idea.

#thanks for sending this to me ara 💗#asks #luv-Esabella post #more about luv esabella #this ended up longer than I thought #I hope u don’t mind me giving long answers #I really like to think these things thru lol #I really hope I haven’t made any grammatical or spelling errors #whenever I look back and see them I literally get so irritated at myself #it doesn’t last long tho. it’s just a little thing #anyways I adore answering questions like this! thank u luv 🥰🌻✨

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tarunsaravana · 3 years

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BRAINWASHING CHILDREN THEORY

Now I’m warning you the next theory is pretty dark and probably one of the most unsettleing ones we have talked about in this Blog.

This theory starts with subliminal msgs in kids shows.

SUBLIMAL MESSAGES

By far Spongebob square pants has the most messages that are clearly hidden in grown ups.

There’s jokes about prison “Don’t Drop Them”

Patrick licking sand.

Those are all just jokes, clearly hidden for adults

But there are lot of jokes, some involves suicide.

In a 2001 episode , squidward is being sad the entire time. There is scenes of him walking around dazed stage. There is a scene of him putting in a oven. By far the most darkest moment of them all is sponge bob looks after him thinking his okay. And then he’s says “at least we know he’s alive”. Yeah that might be the darkest line I have ever read in a kids cartoon show. There are plenty of suicidal messages left in other episodes. As I was looking more into it , I found out suicide was in a lot of cartoon tv shows. The ending of looney tunes.this one really gave me chills down spine, in one of the cartoon characters from looney tunes jumping off the bridge shouting “IM FREE”. Once again glorifying suicide. And its not just these clips. Bunny , Daffy Duck, woody woodpecker, daisy and a bunch of cartoon characters ending their life with gun for no reason. the strangest of them all how they made it look exciting to kids.There is a cartoon where mickey gets depressed over Minnie. In that cartoon 3 ways of killing yourself is shown gun, petroleum and for some reason jumping off a bridge. Now I’m not saying this to scare you or not to watch cartoon. These are all just theories none of them are “facts” and they are not meant to hurt anyone/anything. I mean the daisy cartoon where daisy is shown depressed , in that cartoon almost 5 ways of killing yourself is shown and poured into youngsters mind. Gun, grenade ,knife, hanging and bomb.

THEORY(just speculations)

Now why would they put suicide on younger generations brain some people think control of over growth of population, some people think to keep society weak and depressed and fearful state. Because the more younger you are between 1 - 5 years your brain develops and everything you see on your favourite cartoon shows killing themself and also make it exciting. The more society, the more power control over weak society. Think about it kids are depressed , we’re medicating them and putting them on pills and sitting in front of TV while their watching their favorite cartoon character kill themself and also making it seem exciting to kids. I mean the global antidepressant market is estimated over 11.6 BILLION dollars. The government and the economy love depression. We also glorify things like money, fame, success. And of course if we can’t afford things we were told it will set us “free”. That’s why back of our heads teens think suicide is an option. YES , people have severe depression,OCD ,suicidal thoughts me too included in the past. But it is wondering who started all of these negative energy. Think about it your child entertainer Logan Paul filming a dead body in the suicide forest. The nickelodeon shows who show unessasacery content to kids.it involves talking about feet a lot. Even think about the board game which targeted to us as kids.

“THE GAME OF LIFE”. The goal is to succeed or you’ll lose. To win the game of life you need to make money. You should be better than those who are playing against you. Literally the commercial says “Be A Winner in the Game of Life”. I MEAN , COME ON. And the original version of the game of life in 1860 ,created by Milton Bradley ,it literally had suicide on the board as a option. Now its not just suicide being poured into kids pure brain.there’s darkness in every single form. I mean think about the games we used to play as kids. I mean just google “Ring around the Rosie meaning”A rosy rash, they allege, was a symptom of the plague, and posies of herbs were carried as protection and to ward off the smell of the disease. Sneezing or coughing was a final fatal symptom, and "all fall down" was exactly what happened. Again a another event where people die and has shown as exciting to kids. London Bridge. A song about a huge bridge falling down.“London Bridge is Falling Down” could be about a 1014 Viking attack, child sacrifice, or the normal deterioration of an old bridge. But the most popular theory seems to be that first one. More specifically: the alleged destruction of London Bridge at the hands of Olaf II of Norway sometime in the early 1000s. There’s even a darker line singing iron parts will bend and break , bend and break.

Ouija board, a game that makes fun to contact evil spirits in your house.Twister , a game that is marketed to tight teenagers up and down. Imagine the creepy uncles wanna play the game at thanksgiving.and then we have the darkest of them all Hangman , game where you have to choose the correct word or your little stick figure gets hanged. And the darkest part of them all is that , this classroom game is actually based on real life game in the 18th century, prisoners that were sentenced to death by hanging should guess the word, the exicutioner will give and if they guess the word right they’ll live or if not death. The most messed up part of all of this ,that almost all of the prisoners were illiterate which means they didn’t have a chance , that game was to just publicly humiliate them before they died.

NURSERY RHYMES

And it’s not just games which have a darker turn , what’s the first thing you remember as a kid, nursery rhymes. rock bye baby , a song which a baby’s cradle is in the branch of a tree and the branch breaks and the baby falls to the ground. Humpty Dumpty , he sat on a wall and suddenly “had a great fall” and nobody can save him because he’s dead.”its raining and pouring” a song where a old man hits his head on the wall and then dies, “he couldn’t get up in the morning “

Now one of the most disturbing is Peter peter pumpkin eater. A song about a guy who he’s wife doesn’t want him and puts her in a pumpkin and again, song which normalizes holding women against your will. I mean looking back at London bridge there’s a reference to something along the lines of “LOCK HER UP,LOCK HER UP” “LOCK HER UP,LOCK HER UP “(lyrics from London bridge).

INTERNET

Now on the internet kids start watching YouTube kids but don’t worry there’s bunch of dark messages hidden there. Murder,suicide, violence and for some reason lot of vomiting. Then when you’re a teenager you watch plenty of violence movies, tv shows and now internet challenges like momo challenge and blue whale challenge.

DISCUSSION

Everyone on society questions how much evil, death, hatred, depresssion, destruction but do we even have to question it? By looking back at our childhoods what was being put into us and right in front of our eyes. So what’s the overall theory ,”the way to keep a society in large is by fear, chaos ,the only way to make vote for them is to through destruction”” the only way to unite is through tragedies.”

“The only way to keep people happy , is by showing constant realistic expections that don’t really matter”” money, success”. The society that’s peaceful is not a society that can never be controlled.

CONCLUSION(spreading awareness)

So ,what do you do to make sure that chaos doesn’t appear continuously , well make sure to SHOW children how scary and dark the world is at very young age.

News

A mother bought a toddler this princess wand in the dollar store. Imagine the curiosity , shock and surprise when the child carefully peeled the foil to find a image of a another little girl cutting her wrist full blood.

“If you looked close enough its not a joke ,its actual image of a child slit her wrist, I want to know , what they think,how that’s suitable for a child.

Tarun

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chicken-review · 3 years

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I am Not a Serial Killer - Dan Wells: Review

“True terror doesn’t come from giant monsters but from small, innocent-looking people.”

I am Not a Serial Killer follows the story of John Wayne Cleaver, a teenage boy living in a small town in America. John has an obsession with serial killers and true crime. Coupled with his clinically diagnosed sociopathy, John has a strict set of rules he follows in order to not become one of the serial killers he learns about. When killings start happening in his town, which appear to be the doing of a serial killer, John’s curiosity gets the better of him and his rules start to crumble.

I mostly enjoyed this book, there were a lot of interesting themes that were discussed throughout, that were quite thought provoking, where your own set of morals is called into question. Despite it being a testament to Wells’s good writing and character development, I found that parts of the story were uncomfortable to read, which stopped me from enjoying the novel as much as I wanted to. However, there are many good, bad, and fascinating parts of the book that are worth discussing.

I originally discovered this book when I saw a snippet of the movie adaptation on YouTube and thought it would be worth a read, as at one point I had been interested in true crime as well. That being said, the clip I had seen spoiled a plot point that was revealed about halfway into the story. The serial killer ends up being a demon who’s stealing body parts in order to survive. Every time the old man, Bill Crowley, had an organ or limb that started to give out, he would kill someone and take their equivalent organ or limb. Despite the fact that Crowley was a demon was spoiled for me, it allowed for me to pick up on some of the foreshadowing seen during the build up to the big reveal. This was evident in the animalistic nature of the killings, particularly seen when John visits the crime scene of the first victim and mentions he “imagine[d] swift claws”, referencing the demon’s claws, the murder ‘weapon’ in all the killings. John also called the serial killer a “demon” in the lead up to the reveal, where one would just assume he was talking figuratively rather than literally.

John’s mother and aunt are professional embalmers. In the first chapter, the reader is introduced to the profession, through a detailed explanation of the embalming of an old woman's body. Whilst I’m not nearly educated enough in the topic to know whether the information is accurate or not, it was interesting to learn more about how the process works, as well as John’s memories associated with the occupation, all explained as he helps his mother.

The most interesting part of the book, is the character development of John. He starts out as a relatively charming character but as the story progresses and he starts breaking his rules, his character becomes quite unlikable and some of his decisions and actions were uncomfortable to read. For example, the scenes where John stalks and watches his female classmate Brooke, as well as, his cruelty toward his friend Max, and the abuse of an elderly woman, Kay. During the degradation of his character, he develops a perverted sense of love, where it’s built off of the fear of the other person, in a power hungry, god complex-esque dynamic. There’s a scene where he threatens his mother with a knife and upon sensing her fear, he thinks “this is what love must be like”. Since this started from John disobeying his rules in an attempt to kill a serial killer, it poses the question whether or not ends justify the means. John did end up successfully killing the demon, however was it worth the entire corruption of his character? Moreover, it’s also questioned whether John actually wanted to help prevent the killings, or if he just wanted an excuse to kill.

Throughout the novel John calls his Id (or darker, instinctive, inner thoughts) his “monster”, and everyday life is a battle for control between John and the “monster”. Whilst this is supposed to act as a separation between the ‘good’ and ‘bad’ parts of John, for me it appeared that John was dissociating as a way to avoid responsibility for his actions. Every time John does something that’s morally ‘black’, it’s immediately blamed on the “monster”. Moreover, he also shifts blame onto others for not keeping him “normal”. An example of this comes from Max’s line, “don’t you dare blame me for you being a freak!” a direct realisation of John’s inability to own his actions.

Despite all this, John is still portrayed as the hero at the end of the book. It’s implied that since John managed to get rid of the serial killer, and cry (when he was unable to before, due to his sociopathy), that he’s a ‘good guy’ now, as if it completely negates all the evil (and criminal) things he did. Furthermore, he is praised for having all the ‘symptoms’ of a serial killer but never actually becoming one. Ultimately John celebrated for doing the bare minimum, when other characters, like his mother or his therapist Dr Neblin, should have had the spotlight for their kindness. As far as I’m concerned, John isn’t a hero at all.

Juxtapositions are raised between a sociopath that hasn’t done anything wrong (which is debatable) and a serial killer capable of love, as well as a contrast between a human's inhumanity and a demon's humanity. In this way, there were parts of the story where I liked Crowley, the serial killer, more than John. All Crowley wanted was to live with his wife for the rest of her life, which is admirable if one does not consider that his method of doing so includes killing innocent people. Thus, one’s morals are called into question. How many of Crowley’s actions are justifiable? Similarly how many of John’s actions are justifiable? Are they both characters who are performing evil actions for the sake of a greater good? In moral grey areas like these, it’s hard to tell.

Ultimately, I am Not a Serial Killer is a relatively good book. Many interesting concepts and questions are raised. Most of the problems I had stemmed from the corruption of John’s character. How much one would enjoy the book largely depends on how much one can stomach more of the darker, evil themes.

3/5 Stars

#i an not a serial killer #dan wells #tw murder #tw abuse #tw stalking #book review #i am nor a serial killer review

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blacklakeinavalley · 4 years

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Reylo confessions / TRoS personal review upon first watching

"You opened yourself to the dark side for a pair of pretty eyes” - in retrospect this pretty much sums up how my obsession with the Star Wars Sequel Trilogy came into being. I was here for Reylo, Bendemption, and most of all Ben Solo since around TLJ. I could and still can relate to this character’s struggles and find him physically very attractive. That’s basically how it went down.

I had only once watched the OT, a few years before TFA came out. Then, in 2015, friends dragged me to watch TFA (I was like “meh, blockbuster” aka a snob at that time). I was pleasantly surprised though when I found the movie very well-made and entertaining. I did NOT get the Reylo-vibes then but remember strongly identifying with Rey’s fear at the beginning of the interrogation and Kylo’s line “You know I can take whatever I want“ making me shiver. I cheered at Rey for beating Kylo up on Starkiller Base and (joke’s on me for the worst take ever) legitimately left the theater believing him dead because of the explosion of the planet. That didn’t make me sad, but satisfied.

I did not think about Star Wars again until January/February(?) 2017. Another group of friends planned on watching TLJ together and and I browsed the Internet for some critics to read in advance, just out of curiosity. Somehow I ended up watching the interrogation scene on Youtube again and again, the sexual tension between the two I now clearly recognized finally taking my breath away. I discovered skysilencer’s/chandrilasky’s wonderful blog (which doesn’t exist anymore) about Rey’s and Ben’s relationship and generally started reading as many metas on this topic as I could find.

I fell in love with the pairing, and especially the portrayal of Kylo / Ben. Getting to watch TLJ in the theater was a bit disappointing for me though, after having read so many raving reviews on tumblr beforehand. At that time I could not really appreciate the changes in pacing and all the depths and nuances. By now I love this movie. Strangely, I never watch it in one go, only in smaller portions. Maybe an unpopular opinion, but I like TFA just as well. Ironically, the fight on Starkiller Base is still my favorite Reylo scene ever - because there’s so much more going on than “Rey beating Kylo up“. For me, TFA definitely is a lot easier to watch, mostly because of the more conventional pacing, I guess.

Therefore I was quite happy when I heard that JJ Abrams was going to direct episode IX too. I actually never doubted that he had planted the seeds for Reylo in TFA / episode VII. Sadly, TRoS, which I finally went to see with my sweetheart yesterday, left me pretty untouched for the most part. After roughly two years of really looking forward to, actually longing for this day, seeing it was not the experience I had hoped for. This is not to say that the movie per se is only bad.

TRoS spoilers ahead!

I am a sucker for “grounded” speculation and have difficulties to keep away from spoilers. And I’m really invested in Ben Solo’s fate. This led to me reading JediPaxis’ leaks weeks ago and hanging around on this site pretty much non-stop shortly before and since the premier of the movie. When the realization that Ben Solo actually dies (or does he?) kicked in, I went through some kind of mourning that included having difficulties to concentrate, the urge to cry, listening to sad music, and definitely crying a lot while watching a camrip of him finding happiness and then dying in a loop.

And maybe that’s one of the reasons why I couldn’t enjoy the actual movie more. I already knew the whole plot, had seen lots of gifs and had already kind of processed the emotionally challenging stuff, at least to some extent. So I just didn’t feel much, neither surprise, nor joy or grief while watching. Again, joke’s on me for getting myself extensively spoiled and reading about other people’s (negative) reaction to the movie. I didn’t even look forward to seeing it anymore, tbh.

My boyfriend on the other hand, who has seen TFA once and TLJ twice in his life and went into TRoS openmindedly after only a very short recapitulation of what had happened in the previous films, actually really liked it. He found it very entertaining, even surprising and well-made, especially the camera-work. He was all for Rey being a power women, for example when she prevented the transporter Chewie was presumably on from leaving by Force powers (Chewie then being on another transporter, not the one that got destroyed, was a cheap move and sort of a plot hole for him though). He generally sees the whole thing as an action adventure and advocates for not intellectually dissecting it or expecting too much depth out of a Star War. He likes the OT as a casual fan (he was the one to show me the original films in the first place), didn’t like the Prequels at all, was not a fan of TLJ and found TFA okay. We are going to watch TRoS again early in January with friends and he’s looking forward to it. So for him, episode IX is the best sequel film.

What I personally liked about TRoS:

- the very beginning - because Kylo and all the voices in his head, the nightmarish setting of the Sith temple as a representation of (mental) darkness, hopelessness and loneliness ...

- the overall feeling of the Pasaana festival (joy! color! coming together to celebrate!)

- the Poe and Zorri dialogue on Kimiji, because FINALLY a quiet and somewhat thoughtful moment AT LAST

- Finn and Jannah bonding over being former Stormtroopers being another somewhat quiet moment in the movie

- Ben seeing Han in memory actually made me feel SOMETHING

- the scenes of the last battle to end all battles (both Rey/Ben vs Palpatine and Resistance vs First Order) were sort of okay

- somewhat unexpectedly, I also really sympathized with Poe during some moments of the final battle

- the Rey and Ben Solo stuff after his final turn to the light was beautiful and heartbreaking (side note: I like to think that all the Jedi were talking to Ben too as he was rising/climbing from that pit)

- Kylo Ren / Ben Solo is already an icon, thanks to Adam Driver’s amazing acting skills and admireable dedication to this role. And that’s also true for TRoS.

- I actually liked the Resistance base scene after their victory, their immense relieve was so palpable

- the overall visuals of the movie are fine

What I did not enjoy:

- Everything felt so rushed. There’s too much happening in too little time, especially during the first half. The movie just doesn’t take any time to breathe, the effect being that you don’t really get into the story - the exact opposite of what the fast pacing was supposed to accomplish. Maybe less would have been more. Or the movie lasting for 15 minutes longer.

- Probably the worst thing: Most dialogues/lines, especially in the first half, are just super cringey ... TFA and TLJ dialogue never felt like this - or have I just gotten used to their text script over time? I have the small hope though that everything will sound better (at least to me) in English (we had to watch TRoS in German). Kylo Ren talking through his helmet was the worst in that regard, because Adam Driver’s voice is so distinct to me by now that the German voice-over felt 100% out of place and got me super irritated. It was downright painful.

- Very personal opinion: Upon closer look, both TFA and TLJ seem to be about Ben pretty much all the time, and I am all here for it. I did not get the same impression out of TRoS. But maybe that’s just a “recipient as co-creator of a story“ thing and I might be able to construct such a reading also for TRoS over time, after getting to know the movie better.

What really matters to me in the end:

- I am still invested in the character and story of Ben Solo. A movie (TRoS) made me mourn a fictional character, which IS something, even if said character was built to a great extent in previous movies.

- As said before, I enjoy theorizing, analyzing and the quest to better understand stories. And I just don’t want to be mad at the creators already. Ben’s death was painful, but I understand this pain as an invitation to delve deeper into all if it. If in the end the script and plot keep making little sense (which is a real possibility), I will keep to cherishing the parts I liked.

Conclusion:

Yes, I found TRoS very disappointing upon first watching, script-wise way below TFA and TLJ. Very likely it will always feel rushed and badly written to me. Maybe I'll like it even less after watching it again in about a week from now.

But, for the reasons mentioned above, I will probably still give it multiple (undeserved) chances. Because there certainly are good parts in it.

---

Kudos if you’re still here! And sorry for any language mistakes. Please comment, if you feel like it.

#tros review #reylo #ben solo #the rise of skywalker #reylo fam #blacklakeinavalley #personal

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lavenderslemonade · 6 years

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Denki X Reader - Boyfriend Does My Hair and Make-Up Challenge

There is no request page, if you have a request please message me! Also know that I am open to write smut!

“Seriously, only a thousand views?! This sucks!” Mina groaned as she stared at the YouTube in front of her. About four months ago, the girls of Class 1-A thought it would be a fun idea to start a vlogging channel, due to the influence of Mina. The channel quickly became popular, which surprised the group, but it made since. Their videos mostly consisted of their shopping trips together, a few fighting techniques they had learned throughout their childhood years, that mostly children watched, to dinner dates together, sleepovers, etc. However, as of recent your views had for some reason plummeted.

The last video you had posted had been a baking challenge. You, Momo, Tsuyu, and Jiro tried to take it seriously, but Uraraka and Mina thought it would be more fun to start a flour fight instead. Mina continued to scroll through the comments and felt irked as she came across one. “Not as hot as I thought it’d be.” It read. “Mineta, I’m going to kill you!” Mina growled as she turned to stare at the small boy. With a unashamed smug look he replied “I mean, yeah it was hot, but I was expecting clothes to be ripped off or something.” He stated. “We’re not that kinda channel Mineta, we’re not that thirsty for views!” Mina growled.

“Mind if I take a look at your videos?” Kirishima asked with Bakugou, and Denki behind him. Mina handed over her phone and watched as Kirishima scrolled through your list of videos. He clicked on a few every once and awhile. “Why’s it all girls?” Bakugou asked unamused. “Yeah, there’s none of the guys in here.” Kirishima stated a bit hurt. “It’s a girls vlogging channel, duh.” Mina took her phone back as she pouted. “Still, it’d be nice if you ladies had some male fan service.” Denki winked, which made you all roll your eyes. “Actually, that may not be so bad. There are plenty of people that are interested in the boys of Class 1-A as well. Maybe we bring one of them on for a video or something?” Momo suggested.

“That’s not too bad. There are a lot of videos of boyfriend and girlfriend challenges, Denki what if you and (y/n) did something together?” Tsuyu suggested. Denki and you shared a look of curiosity towards each other. The two of you were never the couple to watch cheesy couple videos on YouTube, or even see romantic movies. Instead the two of you preferred concert dates, horror/action movies, doing more natured themed activities, as well as sometimes visiting your local music store and buying CD’s to listen to together. “I don’t know, what would we even do?” You asked as you scratched at your cheek curiously.

Uraraka started scrolling through her phone as she hummed. “Right now, the ‘Boyfriend does my hair and make-up challenge’ is pretty popular.” She held up her phone to show the list of videos. “I don’t know, I’ve never really done a girl’s make-up before.” Denki stated as his cheeks began to heat up. “That’s fine, it’s the fun that you two will have together that’ll make people want to watch! However, it’d also help if you didn’t make her look completely like a clown, so maybe look up a few make-up tutorials before we video?” Mina requested as she sweat dropped. “I’m probably not that bad!” Denki groaned offended. You blinked and placed your hand over Denki. “Don’t worry Denki I trust you.” You gave him a reassuring smile “But please look up at least two tutorials.” You whimpered.

Denki sighed “Fine.” He grumbled and leaned his head against your shoulder as he hugged you close. A few seconds later Aizawa opened the door and walked in “Everybody take your seats, class is about the begin. Kaminari, (l/n) no PDA.” He sighed as he took his spot at the front of the class.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

“Okay, so this is all that we have for you to use. All the girls went out and bought some make-up in (y/n) skin tone, and Momo is letting you borrow her flat iron and hair curler.” Mina pointed everything out to electrification quirk user. He blinked slowly at everything. He had looked up a few tutorials on make-up and hair, but he still felt unprepared. “Now, all that you need to not do is burn her hair off with any of the irons or make her look terrible.” Tsuyu requested as she set up the camera. Denki felt his palms starting to sweat as he looked at the camera and then back down at the irons in front of him as well as the make-up.

You walked in with Jiro and Uraraka and stared at your nervous boyfriend. “You okay?” You asked curiously as you went to sit down beside him. You decided this time to shoot at Momo’s house due to having a rather large bathroom with good lighting. “Don’t worry, if you feel too nervous or sick the toilet is right there.” Momo stated as she pointed towards the toilet for Denki. He gulped and gave a nervous laugh as he watched them leave. You watched as Tsuyu turned the camera on before following the girls out and smiled. You introduced yourself along with your boyfriend he gave a small nervous smile and wave towards the camera.

After stating what the two of you would be doing, Denki started looking over at the make-up for the foundation as you started pulling up your hair. With the last video you and your friends had posted, you told your subscribers what you had planned on doing and to comment questions for you and Denki to answer during the challenge. Once you finally got your hair up, and Denki found the foundation he needed you picked up your phone and started to scroll through the comments. “Where did you first meet?” You read out as Denki leaned over to start putting the foundation on your cheeks.

“We actually met during the entrance exams, but we didn’t actually start speaking and getting to know each other till around the first week of school.” You replied. Denki grabbed the small sponge beside him and gently started spreading the foundation. Once he was done you looked at another comment. “Who asked who out first?” You read once again. Denki perked up at this. “Ah, it was me. I asked you out after the sports festival since it made me feel more relaxed after the whole villain incident.” Denki started looking over at what he needed to contour your face with. “I’m not going to lie, I was actually tempted to say no at first since you had tried flirting with the girl from Class B, you stated in embarrassment. Denki gave you a small look of disbelief and hurt. “But I decided to give you a chance since I knew you’ve always had a flirtatious personality.” You quickly held your hands up.

He gave a small sigh of relief as he started contouring your face. “Okay, does your boyfriend get any back lash from his quirk since you’ve mentioned he’s an electrification type in your recent video. We just found out my brother inherited our father’s electrification quirk, but he left when he was born, and we don’t really know how it’ll work for him since I inherited my mom’s quirk.” You read out, feeling the question tug at your heart a big. You put on a small smile and looked over at Denki asking him with your eyes if he wanted to answer.

Denki gave a small nod of understanding and smiled at the camera as he started applying the high lighter a little way under your eyes. “Well, if I over use my quirk too much I kinda go a bit stupid for a while and fry my brain a bit due to using too much power. However, it’s not dangerous for electrical types, it just means we just went past our limits. Maybe start out small by teaching him and having him apply his quirk to things such as light bulbs, small electrical toys, and a few other things that electrically can easily be applied to. That way it’ll help build his quirk up slowly.” Denki instructed.

“Speaking of stupid, I may end up giving a demonstration later on in this video.” He gave a small nervous laugh as he stared down at the irons. You placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder and gave a gentle squeeze. “Next question, please spill make-up on your girlfriend’s shirt so she’ll take it off.” You read out unamused. Denki stopped what he was doing and just stared at you. “Mineta?” He asked with a hint of amusement, in which you simply nodded. Playfully he picked up the liquid foundation and started to tip it towards your chest, in which you playfully smacked his hand away. Denki laughed lowly as he picked up the mascara and requested you look up. Taking a break from the questions long enough for him to apply the black liquid.

Once Denki started looking over the many choices of eye shadow, you picked your phone back up to read another question. “What was your first date like?” You read out, and both you and Denki shared a look before both giving an awkward laugh. “So, to be honest, it was a disaster.” You felt your face heat up as you started to laugh harder at the memory. Denki rested his forehead against your shoulder as he laughed with you, trying to keep his laughs muffled. “It was terrible.” He laughed out. You ran your fingers through his hair playfully as your laughter died down a bit and he leaned back up, picking a color of eyeshadow that matched your hero costume. “B-but you tried.” You giggled out as you close your eyes allowing him to apply the eyeshadow. “So our first date, I had originally planned to take (y/n) to dinner and a movie, but I had allowed Mineta to talk me out of it. He stated that it was too cliché, and to try something different. So, I had followed his advice, and so I took her out to play mini golf, and I ended up electrocuting myself.” Denki started to laugh again and pulled the eyeshadow away from your eye, so he didn’t mess up. You started laughing again and fanning your face so the tears that started welling up didn’t ruin Denki’s hard work.

“He had tried to cheat and use a bit of electricity to make his ball go farther, but it back lashed and went up the metal of the club.” You laughed loudly at the memory of how your boyfriend derped out in the middle of the date. He continued to laugh along with you and placed the make-up down so he wouldn’t drop it. He grabbed the blush and applied it to your cheeks while the two of you finished laughing, and finally started to quiet down as he grabbed the lip liner. You remained quiet as he applied the lip liner and watched as he picked out a peachy color of lipstick. He applied it to your lip gently, and once he was done you rubbed your lips together. “How does it look?” You asked. “Looks beautiful, but you got a smudge here.” He stated as he leaned in to wipe it from your lips but gave you a quick kiss instead.

Your face felt like it was on fire as he gave a small laugh. “How does it look on me?” He joked as you stared at his now slightly peach colored lip. “Makes you look handsome.” You joked with a smirk as you wiped it off his lips with your thumb. “So, is it done?” You asked anxiously with a large smile. Denki gave a thumbs up and handed you a mirror, in which you stared at with surprise. “Okay, so not trying to sound like I had no faith in you, but this actually looks really good.” You stated and watched as your boyfriend perked up happily. “Now onto the hair!” You clapped your hands together excitedly and started to take your hair down. Meanwhile, your boyfriend stared in fear at the irons. He had only watched make-up tutorials, he had completely forgotten about doing your hair!

“Denki, you okay?” You asked curiously as you started to section out your hair. Your boyfriend jumped at the sound of your voice before giving you a nervous smile. “Don’t burn her hair off.” Tsuyu’s voice echoed in his head as he plugged the flat iron in. “Okay, let’s do this.” Denki stated proudly as he picked up the iron. However, due to his nervousness a small amount of electricity escaped his fingertips, and collided with the electricity in the iron, causing it to electrocute him, causing him to fall out of seat. He had dropped the iron back onto the counter during the fall, and you stared in shock, as your boyfriend now derping out on the floor.

Slowly you reached for the iron and started to flat iron your hair as you stared down at your boyfriend. “Sweetie, you okay?” You asked as you worked on your strands. He continued his babbling nonsense, and you simply gave a small giggle at the camera.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

“We’re back in business ladies!” Mina announced as she held her phone proudly in the air. Your views had sky rocketed due to the challenge, putting you back on top. Though a good bit of the comments, were asking to see more guys from class 1-A, which you were not afraid to do now. “So, it did well? That’s great!” Denki came up behind you and hugged you close. “Any comment about me?” He asked curiously, which made you bite your bottom lip to stifle your giggles. “W-what’s so funny?” He gave you a look of worry. Tsuyu took the phone from Mina and read one of the comments. “One of the commenters posted ‘Pikachu went boom in the end.’” She gave a small laugh herself. “S-seriously!?” He groaned and felt his face heating up in embarrassment.

“Most of them are pikachu puns and jokes.” Uraraka stated as a few giggles escaped her as she read more of the comments. “Come on (y/n), it wasn’t that funny was it?” He looked at you with pleading eyes. All you could do was look back at him with a smug smile. “Pika pika.” You giggled. He groaned in embarrassment and buried his face into your back.

#sfw #denki x reader #kaminari denki #bnha #boku no hero academia #x reader #my hero academ #fluff

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violethowler · 5 years

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What the Kingdom Hearts Series Means to Me

Holding the physical copy of Kingdom Hearts III that I pre-ordered and paid extra to have delivered on release day is a surreal experience. It feels like a dream in all honesty. Kingdom Hearts III used to be a formless thing. A cryptid that fans hoped to catch a glimpse of but didn’t really believe existed. To put it into perspective, Kingdom Hearts II first released when I was in third grade, and I’m currently approaching my graduation from college. Six games have been released in the last decade and a half to expand on the series’ lore and set up the major pieces for the next “main” installment, but only now are we getting Kingdom Hearts III. This franchise has been with me through middle school, high school, and college. It’s a big freaking deal.

I had never been passionately into video games as a kid. My first game system was the Nintendo GameBoy Advance, and the only games I was interested in playing were movie tie-in games that adapted the plot of a specific movie. The Incredibles. The Polar Express. Ice Age: The Meltdown, Madagascar. The only other game I can remember that wasn’t an adaptation of an existing film was a weird 3D Pacman game, but I don’t remember ever playing it as fervently as I did those old movie games.

Even after receiving a PlayStation 2 for either my birthday or Christmas in 2006, the only games I would play that weren’t movie adaptations were the NickToons crossover games like Battle for Volcano Island or Attack of the Toybots. But I only played them because they featured my favorite TV character. I was never interested in the storyline. That would change one day in late-summer/early autumn 2007, when, after seeing an advertisement for it in my old Disney Adventures magazines, I rented a PlayStation title I’d never heard of called Kingdom Hearts II.

In the beginning, I didn’t pay attention to the story. I just skipped through the cutscenes and focused exclusively on the gameplay. But as I got to the more difficult portions of the game, I started to watch the cutscenes and pay attention to the story. And the more I did, the more I fell in love with it. Once I had fully digested the story of Kingdom Hearts II, I wanted more. I went back and played the original Kingdom Hearts, then I bought Chain of Memories for my GBA. I was hooked. I started buying and reading the manga adaptations of the games. I bought a couple of collectible figurines. I. Was. Obsessed.

I spent much of my computer time in those days scouring the internet for every scrap of information I could find on the next games in the franchise. Kingdom Hearts III wasn’t in the cards yet, so I focused my attention on the three titles that I vaguely recall being collectively referred to at the time as “the handheld trilogy”: 358/2 Days, Birth by Sleep, and Coded. I searched with a fine-tooth comb on websites dedicated to gaming news in general and Kingdom Hearts specifically, hoping to find out more about these next three games.

In many ways, Kingdom Hearts helped me take my first tentative steps into the wider community of fandom. My search for news on the next games in the series unearthed funny fan-made comic strips about my favorite characters. Even though Kingdom Hearts III was still a fantasy by that point, I found people using Photoshop, or whatever image-editing software was popular around 2008 or so, to create ideas for what the cover art would look like. I found detailed fan art of potential new outfits for all the major characters. I found theories and ideas and the ever-raging bonfire of speculation that grows larger with each new game released. I found fan-made music videos and fanfiction to sate my hunger for more content between games. I wasn’t as involved in fandom to the extent that I am today, but my experience with Kingdom Hearts helped me dip my toes in the water, so to speak, as I started to engage more with my favorite media beyond simply consuming it once and then going back to watch/play it again when I needed something to do.

And what makes this day so much sweeter is how much effort Disney is clearly putting into promoting this game. Almost a decade ago, and the most advertising any Kingdom Hearts title got outside of dedicated gaming magazines or events was maybe a single tv commercial per game. The only way to know a new game was coming otherwise was if you were actively following the development of each title before they even locked in when it would come out. In the last six months of waiting for Kingdom Hearts III, there’s been a concert tour, multiple commercials and advertisements on both TV and social media, and even ads playing before the previews at movie theaters. After years of trying to share my love for this series, only for a handful of people to have ever heard of it, it’s a tremendous thrill to see the games I love finally getting mainstream recognition.

It’s because of this series that I even consider myself a gamer in the first place. Before Kingdom Hearts, I just plowed through every game I had, treating each level as just another puzzle or challenge to complete. But Kingdom Hearts II exposed me to the possibility of video games as a medium for storytelling, and it was through my engagement with the Kingdom Hearts storyline that I found myself seeking out other games with their own compelling stories. Final Fantasy, The World Ends with You, Horizon: Zero Dawn… These are some of the many games with stories and worlds that have enthralled me as someone who loves to both experience stories and create them. And without Kingdom Hearts, I would probably never been enough of a gamer to know or care that they existed.

When I was younger, I was only interested in games if they were available on the systems I had. But Kingdom Hearts wasn’t limited to only one console. In the early years of the franchise, the series was spread across the GameBoy Advance, PlayStation 2, Nintendo DS, PlayStation Portable, Nintendo 3DS, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, and smartphones. So, whenever my research uncovered that the next title would be on a console I didn’t own, I would go out of my way to get it, either by putting it on my holiday wish list, or by saving up the money for it myself. And usually, I would buy these platforms years in advance of the Kingdom Hearts game I’d got it for came out, so I would search for interesting games to play on it while I waited. And unlike before, now I was actively looking for things to play.

When it was just my GameBoy, PlayStation, and a handful of movie/TV show tie-ins, I didn’t go out of my way to look for new games. I relied on advertisements in my trusty Disney Adventures magazine to tell me what games that were out that might interest me. Nowadays, I annually watch live coverage of E3, the entertainment expo where game developers show off the status of their current projects or unveil their next main title. And I keep my eyes out for every title that looks entertaining from both a gameplay and story perspective, whether I see ads in a magainze, footage at E3, a trailer on YouTube, or fanart online.

Before I realized that animation was what I wanted to do as a career, my first dream job was to be a game designer. And if your first guess as to why I wanted to pursue that career path isn’t Kingdom Hearts, then in the words of one of the franchise’s original villains, “You have come this far, and still, you understand nothing.” While I ultimately realized that animation was my true passion as an artist, it was Kingdom Hearts that set me on the idea of turning my art skills into a career. Without Kingdom Hearts, I might not have ended up where I am today.

Most of the fandom knows that Kingdom Hearts III isn’t the end of the road for the franchise. Even aside from its immense popularity, series director Tetsuya Nomura has spoken about the fact that the series will continue beyond III, but that this represents the conclusion of the current story arc that has been going on since the original Kingdom Hearts game back in 2002. It’s fitting that this arc of the series is ending the same year that I graduate from college. This series has seen me through multiple chapters of my life. Middle school. High School. College. And in May, I’ll be a college graduate looking for a job. Each time I moved from one stage of life to the next, it always felt like the end. But it never is. But life goes on. The story will go on, but this chapter of it is over.

You can imagine, then, why today is such a big deal. This series has been with me for more than half my life. These games, and other media I obsess over to a similar degree, mean so much to be precisely because the story and characters connect with me on such a deep emotional level. My opinion on storytelling in any medium is that the ones that put your emotions in a blender and take you from screaming in anguish to crying tears of joy in the span of a few hours or less are the ones that deserve to be remembered. The best stories should leave you wanting to know more, not just out of curiosity over what happens next, but also for the satisfaction of knowing that the characters you’ve grown to love will be alright.

Kingdom Hearts has consistently checked every single one of those boxes for me for as long as I’ve been playing it. Even the prequels and midquels that ended in tragedy and heartbreak still had a note of assurance that there was still hope. Even if the games that inevitably come out post-KHIII hypothetically don’t have the same emotional impact on me that the pre-III ones did, I will never be able to stop loving the series I grew up with. I’ve been invested in it for so long that it feels like it’s woven into my DNA. This series has grown over the last eleven years just as I have, and whatever the future holds for the franchise, good or bad, I will never regret the time I’ve spent with this incredible saga.

#long post #kh fandom #kingdom hearts 3 #personal anecdote

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kristenslullaby · 5 years

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meet me at twilight

I was eight or nine years old when twilight alongside its actors rose to stardom.I did not belong to the screaming teenage fans who devoted their lives to the series.Heck,the only fictional books I owned was the Geronimo Stilton book series.My primary source of entertainment were Disney and Nickelodeon TV shows and movies.Clearly,I was not interested in joining the bandwagon in watching movie adaptations of infamous fictional books.It was extremely weird for me when I first watched twilight through a cheap pirated dvd.Hey,not everyone has the luxury to watch movies at the theatre.I watched the movie with my family but I was left with mother during the other half of the film.When the film finished,I thought to myself “ok,cool vampire meets human” and that was it.I just picked up my original dvd of the high school musical series and basically just forgot about twilight.Over these years,I would occasionally watch twilight and its 2 follow up films,new moon and eclipse.Just like my first experience,I just literally watched out of boredom or maybe I just didn’t want to engross myself in the series.I’ve seen it happen to my friends with harry potter and other famous fictional stories.OR maybe I just didn’t want to be made fun of for liking twilight.I’ve seen a lot of memes about it.I occasionally joined in making fun of it by reposting memes.Honestly,I never really understood the movie and just based it on the judgment of the people who made memes out of it.So,twilight for me was one big meme wherein Bella Swan doesn’t express any emotion.Fast forward to 2011,Breaking Dawn was about to be shown in theatres.I was like twelve when it was shown.I admitted to myself that I wanted to see it even though I did not understand the entirety of it.I just knew the gist of it --- a human girl falls in love with a vampire.I mean,it’s not that hard to understand,right?Coincidentally, my mother wanted to watch the movie but there was one problem - the movie had a PG-13 rating and I was only twelve years old.My mother literally went to find clothes from my aunt’s cabinet to make me look older.Her plan was a success because I got to watch the movie or maybe the security guard just didn’t care.I enjoyed the film but I enjoyed the audience’s reaction more.It was obvious that they were big fans of the franchise and they didn’t hide their squeals and screams whenever something intriguing happens.All I know is that I was intrigued when Bella’s opened her eyes and they were crimson red.I knew I needed to watch more and how dare they finish the first half of the movie like that.I was frustrated because I knew that I had to wait for a year for the second part.I knew the easy answer to my problem and that was to read the books.I didn’t get to read the books because first,I didn’t really have money to buy the books and the school library only had one copy and there was a long list of people wanting to borrow it.I ended waiting for a year for the next movie.When I we finished the last film,I was glad I got the series out of my system. Well,that’s what I thought.

Fast forward to 2018,I was watching glee videos on youtube when a twilight clip appeared on the recommended section.Out of curiosity,I watched the clip and watched another and then another one..... I looked at the clock and it was four am.I’ve been watching twilight clips at an ungodly hour in 2018.What was happening??? I ended up binge watching the whole series and not caring that I my final exams was fast approaching.I watched the whole series countless of times already and each experience was different.I ended up changing my icon on twitter with kristen stewart’s face. I mean as a confused teenager, watching kristen stewart for an unhealthy number of times confirmed my bisexuality.Talk about big pussy energy.I started subtly tweeting about twilight since I know that the series still had a lot of haters or closeted fans.My seatmate at school actually told me that she watched the whole twilight saga because she saw my kristen stewart icon. Wow. I just laughed and had a full on twilight conversation with her.

I don’t know what happened.I’m now suddenly into a series that happened ten years ago.I guess it’s because I didn’t get to enjoy twilight during its prime years.I’m actually glad I didn’t because now I’m enjoying reading twilight fanfiction and headcanons. I have found this secret and safe place for me to enjoy and have a good laugh.This 2019,I hope it’s not too late for me to show twilight the love it deserves.

I REALLY DON’T KNOW WHY I WROTE THIS. IM SO EMOTIONAL.

#twilight #bella swan #kristen stewart

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justanothercinemaniac · 7 years

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Epic Movie (Re)Watch #222 - Ghostbusters (2016)

Spoilers Below

Have I seen it before: Yes

Did I like it then: Yes.

Do I remember it: Yes.

Did I see it in theaters: Yes.

Was it a movie I saw since August 22nd, 2009: Yes, #437.

Format: Blu-ray

Disclaimer: In a perfect world I would not have to write this, but the world is not perfect so here it goes. If anyone replies or adds a comment to this post (via reblog) that is hateful or misogynistic, you are getting blocked and reported. There’s a difference between NEGATIVE opinions (ie: “This movie isn’t funny.”) and HATEFUL opinions: (ie: “Women aren’t funny.”). Also, no racist comments about Leslie Jones either. Now that we’ve established that...

1) The prologue at Aldridge Mansion.

I have mixed feeling about the prologue. It is not the BEST representation of the film’s humor so in that aspect it is not the best foot forward to start on. However, it does establish the film’s spooky tone well. There is a genuine sense of macabre-ness to when the ghost-stuff starts happening, which is where the film excels. I think this movie is very funny, but just not in this scene.

2) Kristen Wiig as Erin Gilbert

I think Erin is the main character of this film. She’s the protagonist. Yes, the team of four Ghostbusters is great, but it is Erin who goes on a wonderful journal throughout the film. She starts out trying to keep an aspect of herself - the ghost focused aspect - down, but when her beliefs are confirmed later in the film she is just ecstatic. Erin as developed as a character as the film goes on and on, with important character details revealed throughout. Erin is also the character who strives most for recognition out of the team. Abby is more concerned about being able to do the work but it is Erin who is fighting for the recognition she and her team deserve.

Wiig is incredibly charming in the part. She makes Erin wonderfully dorky and plays the insecurity well against growing self worth. Each of the four Ghostbusters in this film are master comedians who blend acting chops with humor beautifully and Wiig is no exception.

3) I’m a guy. I benefit from male privilege. Having said that I like the number of scenes in this film which (as I interpret them) take shots at the bullshit sexism that plagues western society.

Harold Filmore: “Oh, and about your clothes?”

Erin: “Yes?”

Erin: “Too sexy for academia?”

4) Even though Harold Ramis died before filming (even getting a dedication in the end credits), he still makes a cameo. Sort of.

5) I’m Benny.

Abby: “Erin.”

Erin: “Abby.”

Benny: “Benny.”

6) Melissa McCarthy as Abby Yates.

What makes Abby so interesting is that her character (and the way McCarthy performs her means she) is dripping with conflict. And I mean that as a good thing, because conflict is interesting. She’s not going to take shit from anyone. She sticks to her guns and is proud of her work, even when others seek to shame her because of it. Clearly dedicated to her science, McCarthy is great in the role. Able to give a multifaceted performance through Abby’s brashness, passion, eagerness, and relationship with Erin. The fact she calls a ghost, “beautiful,” is incredibly telling of her character. McCarthy (and I’m going to start sounding like a broken record by the time this post is over) MAKES the character. Watching her rekindle an old friendship with Erin is incredibly fun to watch because they ARE working past their differences. It even leads to the film’s climax, but more on that later.

7) Kate McKinnon as Holtzmann.

Kate McKinnon is the ULTIMATE scene stealer of this movie. She plays Holtzmann in an exaggerated way, with a wonderful amount of sheer bizarreness and energy. Also an element I call Kate-McKinnon-ness, which is basically a not so fancy way to say only McKinnon could play the part this way. Especially because she doesn’t make Holtzmann a joke herself. Sure, she’s funny and leads to most of the best humor in the film, BUT you understand she’s as intelligent as any of her contemporaries. She’s just able to be freaking hysterical too (much like Bill Murray in the original film).

8) This film has some early pacing problems early on. It takes a little while to get going, but once it does it REALLY gets going. It’s just…did we need TWO training sequences to show off the technology? Especially when the first one is so brief and the second one is SO funny?

9) There are few characters I have so immediately related to other than Jillian Holtzmann. This line is why:

10) The encounter with the Aldridge Ghost.

It is from this point moving forward that the film gets a handle on most of its pacing problems. This is the threshold. The rules are established to a degree: ghosts are real! The scene is incredibly interesting to watch not only because the spookiness of the ghost is handled well, but the way each Ghostbuster reacts/is fascinated by her brings in the audience’s interest. It’s a brief but powerful moment of both tension and fun.

11) In reference to the disclaimer above about misogynistic comments, this is what counts as a misogynistic comment.

Erin [reading a YouTube comment on their video]: “Ain’t no bitches gonna hunt no ghosts.”

12) Leslie Jones as Patty.

Patty is way stronger as a character than she could have been, something I greatly appreciate. Upon our first meeting with her the audience understands she’s not the cliché “I hate my job worker” while getting a early sense of her curiosity. Because that curiosity is defining for the character of Patty. She’s the history buff, meaning that she is in many ways equally intelligent as the other three Ghostbusters. Her intelligence just isn’t in science, so she brings a unique skill set to the team.

Patty: “You guys know a lot about this science stuff, but I know New York.”

I know New York could’ve easily equalled some cliche street smarts, but Patty is more than that. She’s more than a cliche and Leslie Jones plays her as such. The actress freaking shines in the part, being able to make Patty unique of all her performances INCLUDING her work on SNL. She’s still doing what she does strong with occasional big humor, but she’s able to play Patty as a character and not a sketch. That’s not a skill all comedians are able to master, but Leslie Jones proves that there is not a weak leak in this quartet of heroes.

13) Rowan.

Ugh, a whiny fuckboi who thinks he’s better than everyone else because he got shit as a kid. What a perfectly hatable villain. They even observe later in the film that the four heroes, “get shit on pretty much all the time.” So yeah, it’s easy to root against that guy.

14) I like that the film puts the team in a Chinese restaurant instead of the firehouse right away.

The struggle these character have in getting recognized is much more important than the first film. Yes it was there, but the guys were more easily bale to shrug it off than these women can. The first team didn’t really care about being respected or treated well, they just did their shit. With this team it is a greater struggle because they know they DESERVE the recognition and won’t just get it handed to them for doing a good job. They have to fight for it. My personal interpretation of that its almost representative of how guys just get recognized because of male privilege but women have to fight for what they deserve more (but again, privileged white dude, I could just be mansplaining here).

15) Chris Hemsworth as Kevin.

Kevin is in this film for two reasons: to be in danger and to look pretty. You know, like most women throughout the history of big blockbuster movies. But the difference is the film KNOWS that. They’re making that joke on purpose, which means they’re able to make Kevin completely freaking hysterical. They juice him for every bit of humor he has and Chris Hemsworth absolutely DESTROYS it in terms of comedy. He’s in a film with four modern comedy heavyweights and is able to hold his own. And everyone’s surprised he’s so funny in the new Thor movie? Thor ain’t got nothing on Kevin.

16) It’s funny because it’s true.

Patty [after a ghost ends up on the subway]: “He’s going to be the third scariest thing on that train.”

17) Erin’s ghost story.

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This is the freaking beating heart of the movie. Right here. Its pulse can be found int his one scene. Everything that motivates Erin’s character, that speaks to her study of ghosts, can be found in this heartbreaking childhood story. It is an intense human element which helps elevate the story above cash grab reboot, especially when all of Erin’s current friends reassure her that they believe her.

17.1) Wait…could the scene where Erin tells her friends about how no one believed her when a creepy person came into her room every night but her friends do now be representative of sexual harassment stories? Maybe it’s because of all the allegations coming forward now but, I wonder…

18) I try not to compare this film to the original Ghostbusters too much, but then you have the cover of the theme song by Fallout Boy & Missy Elliott. While the cover HAS grown on me, it doesn’t touch the original.

19) The Stonehurst Theater scene.

First of all, Patty is again awesome. I cannot tell you how long I waited for a character in a scary movie to just be like, “Yeah, no,” and walk away. But I digress.

There is a nice sense of tension throughout this scene (although it could benefit to slow down from the scene), upping the spooky factor greatly. The following concert scene is also crazy fun and perhaps has the greatest concentration of awesome Patty moments in the film. But it is this victory, this triumph where the Ghostbusters actually catches a ghost, is the moment when I fall in love with this team. I was rooting for them before, but now I’m REALLY rooting for them.

20) Bill Murray’s cameo.

Most of the cameos in this film are ones I like (except Dan Aykroyd’s, more on that later though), but Bill Murray is more than just a crammed in cameo. He is a new character. He’s a problem the team has to face. The representation of everyone who doubts them and wants to keep them “in their place”. He is INCREDIBLY different from Murray’s previous character Peter Venkmann, which in the end just makes everything better because we know this isn’t some version of Venkmann. This is a new character for a new film. Also, this fucking line.

Bill Murray (yes, I’m calling him Bill Murray): “Well I guess the graciousness has ran out.”

YOU BARGE IN ON THEIR PLACE OF WORK, CONSTANTLY CRITICIZE AND BELITTLE THEM, AND EXPECT GRATITUDE! This is the equivalent of, “People would like you more if you smiled, sweetheart.”

21) The Mayor’s Office.

I see The Mayor in this film as basically the system looking to discredit and keep the women down in this film. He says the Ghostbusters should step aside because, “These gentlemen are on it,” when they are very clearly NOT on it, before noting that they are, “drawing a lot of attention to yourselves,” just by telling the truth (again: sexual harassment metaphor?). Then later they call the Ghostbusters just doing the right thing and being competent a, “desperate attempt at fame.” It’s handled well but very purposefully irritates the audience.

22) Once ley lines come into play the film transcends fun comedy with spooky elements into much higher fantasy elements. The stakes rise considerably, adding a whole new dimension to the movie.

23) Hey, it’s Annie Potts!

Moving on.

24) The scene where Abby gets possessed is really great. There’s a nice tension and build up to it while McCarthy is able to play evil Abby as wonderfully creepy. It’s the most REAL danger the characters have had. It’s not ghosts, it’s their friend choking them out and bashing on shit. THAT is why it works.

25) I think casting Chris Hemsworth as Kevin was so he could fulfill two roles: cute dumbass and fun villain. When Rowan posses Kevin, Hemsworth acts as the film’s final act antagonist. And he does it REALLY well. Kinda charismatic actually, while still being an excellently punchable douche bag.

26) I love this line.

The Mayor: “Never compare me to the Jaws mayor. NEVER!”

27) Ugh, Dan Aykroyd’s cameo in this film is so forced in. Bill Murray, Annie Potts, Ernie Hudson, and Sigourney Weaver all fill natural roles either the story demands or the characters have. Dan Aykroyd? No. He’s just there. Ugh.

28) Obligatory Slimer cameo.

While it is fun and appreciated, this Slimer appearance, I kinda wish he was a practical effect and not CGI. Granted, that’s a note I have for this film in general. I’d appreciate a little less CGI.

29) I like the brief Stay Puft Marshmallow Man cameo in this film because it’s not exactly what you would expect. You wouldn’t think, “Parade Balloon,” cameo but it works.

30) The big ghost fight scene.

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Let me address the little things I don’t love about this scene: the CGI is a little much.

That’s it, now let me talk about what’s good here!

An incredible amount of humor

The action flows well between the four main Ghostbusters

HOLTZMANN FUCKING LICKS HER GUNS! YAS QUEEN!

31) I really love this film, but I will say I hate this line.

Abby [insulting Rowan]: “Come and get your virginity out of the lost and found!”

Dude, you were doing so well. What’s wrong with being a virgin?

32) The giant CGI Rowan ghost is actually really interesting take on the film’s logo come to life. Not to mention the way he composed is interesting. His skin is very fabricy/baggy which is an interesting decision. I dig it.

33) ERIN JUMPS IN AFTER ABBY! OH MY GOD YES!

This is why I love their friendship. It’s so deep, so defining of both the characters and the film. It’s not even a question of IF Erin will go in after Abby it’s a question of HOW Erin will go in after Abby. And then you have the music and the…the…“I wasn’t going to leave you twice.”

34)

Holtz [after Erin & Abby come out of the portal]: “It’s 2040, our president is a plant.”

A plant would be preferable at this point.

35) A friend of mine observed that - when Erin and Abby have their hair dyed - the hair colors of the four Ghostbusters kinda match the colors of the “Ghostbusters” cartoon from the 80s.

36) Holtz’s toast about family is surprisingly sweet and I love it.

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(Quality of the video isn’t great here but still)

37) See, Ernie Hudson and Sigourney Weaver have REALLY nice cameos in this movie. I like it!

38) And the film ends in the most perfect way possible: the Ghostbusters get the recognition they deserve!

39) I. Want. A SEQUEL!

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I freaking love the 2016 version of Ghostbusters. While the original is a classic, I am greatly appreciative of this film’s massive human heart and its story about recognition. The four women who lead this film are incredible on their own and together, with Chris Hemsworth being pretty damn funny too. It’s just wildly enjoyable and I get such a massive kick out of it. There are people who hate it, but I’m not one of them.

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visitationrpg · 6 years

Photo

Congratulations, DOROTHY! You have been accepted for the role of Marco Vasile. You have 24 HOURS to send in your account, and don’t forget to look over the CHECKLIST!

Note from Admin Maddie: So, Marco was definitely supposed to be my angst bomb skeleton, but your application really made me feel a lot. Your third headcanon destroyed me? I also loved seeing the origin of his love for film, how it directly relates to the loss he experienced. More than that, I can clearly see the layers you added to him, that he’s a lot more than just angst. His character came so alive in the questionnaire, and I can’t wait to see that on the dash.

Welcome to Visitation!

OUT OF CHARACTER:

NAME/ALIAS: Dorothy

PRONOUNS: She/Her

AGE: 23

TIMEZONE: EST

ANYTHING ELSE? (hi, if the adoption thing is a bit of a stretch, it can be adjusted. I just kind of liked the idea of Angel being the pillar of the family because of the fact that he was their ‘Angel’ or miracle child, and yeah okay)

IN CHARACTER:

WANTED SKELETON: Marco Vasile

GENDER & PRONOUNS: Male, He/Him pronouns

BIOGRAPHY: The story of your character. This section can be formatted however you’d like — bullet points, a full biography, an analysis of the character. There is no maximum amount, but we would like at least 400 words minimum in second or third person, just to get a real feel for the character you’ve created, and to know you have a good grasp from the skeleton!

You spend your days shooting, splicing, and stitching together endless hours of recorded footage, perfecting the visage of a seamless production, wishing for a moment that your life could be edited just the same. If you could just wipe the memory files from your childhood, omit the expressions from your parents faces as they stood over Angel’s casket, jump cut to your retirement, and roll the credits onto a blank screen, you would. But life is not a movie, no matter how hard you wish it could be. There’s no skipping straight to the end, no synopsis you can read that will sum everything up, no way to bypass the suffering through each and every painstaking moment until you reach the happily-ever-after. The finality of it all is something that you despise, hoping and praying nearly every day for your M. Night twist, a moment that seems to never come.

Life at home wasn’t like the coming-of-age movies you and your brother watched most nights when your parents left you alone with the babysitter. You weren’t shy, your brother loved you and treated you kindly, and your parents made an effort to appear interested in your life and aspirations, though you wouldn’t be quick to say they went above and beyond. They met later in life, right as your mother was developing an inability to conceive children. But they made it work, and nearly two years later your brother was born. The procedure was brutal, taking quite the toll on your mother, and your older brother Angel nearly died on the hospital table. He was too weak to breathe on his own, but after nearly three months in the NICU and several operations later, your parents finally had their own baby boy. For a few years they were content in their threesome, finding that raising a child this late in their lives was much harder than they’d imagined it to be, but content they were nonetheless. It was your father who suggested adoption after months of hearing your brother complain of boredom and loneliness, and your mother didn’t require much persuasion before she agreed. They’d always been humanitarians, hoping to change their world through their actions, trying daily to leave a positive impact on the world. And that’s where you came in, fitting precisely into their lives as one of their own.

You never felt out of place growing up, always made to be just another part of the family, always given the same amount of love as your brother was, and for this you were grateful. As you grew up, you looked forward to spending time with your family, as the four of you always made time to play games together or sit down and watch movies. It was through these weekly Friday movies that you began to develop a love for films, consuming nearly any movie you could get your hands to reach as your father’s DVD bookshelf stood from the floor to the ceiling (and he’d learned to keep the more adult movies juuuust out of your reach). Your brother had his sports and his music, neither of which you performed particularly well in, but films – the glazed look in your eyes as you’d pass by a video store, the giddy smile you’d wear as you unwrapped DVD cases on Christmas, the home movies you’d cut into nearly short length feature films – they were your escape. While your parents had wished for you to put your focus into your school work, they weren’t the type to discourage you or your brother from your passions, and even went as far as investing good money into a proper camera and editing software, something you never thanked them enough for as a child, but can’t find the strength to say something now.

Fate had always been a major theme in many of the films you watched, and you loved watching characters deal with unruly circumstances being thrown at them, watching them as they adapted, thanking God that nothing bad had ever happened to you like that. But fate had other plans, ones no one foresaw, not even the gang members who shot your brother by mistake as he walked home from school, a brand new movie in his bag waiting to be watched by the pair of you. Graduation was not even three weeks away when he died, his life all too quickly ripped out from under him like a tablecloth and your life shattered like glasses during a bad magic trick. The funeral was held days later, a closed casket ceremony, which took away your ability to say goodbye. Angel had always been there right next to you growing up, he’d been your rock and closest confidant, someone who taught you the ways of the world in ways your parents couldn’t, and his death tore you into pieces you’re not sure have been fully put back together.

Family dinners were never the same after that week. The silence that now filled the once noisy house was more deafening than you could’ve ever imagined, the stares of your parents nearly burnt a hole in your head as you kept it hung low at the table. They tried to speak to you, to level with you, and include you in their lives as best as they could while trying their best to mend their own hearts as well as yours. But nothing was ever the same, and you could tell that while they were speaking to you, they were wishing it were Angel. You found yourself uninterested in talking, finding that no one but Angel had ever truly listened to you in the first place, so why entertain everyone with pleasantries when you could just… not? Your parents hated it, you could tell, as they began to speak to you less and less as you finished high school, withdrawing yourself to the art room nearly every chance you got, it being your only place of solace besides your own room. And when you were accepted to film school, you left without even a second glance back. Angel had been on his way to Julliard studying music, and you knew that in order to give his life any sort of credit, following your own dream would be the only way.

You spent four long and tiresome years behind a camera, not allowing yourself to truly ever come from behind it, which led to quite the lonesome and quiet life, though you don’t mind. Your craft is your company, the one thing that can ever truly understand you, sometimes even better than you can understand yourself. Though graduate school was just the next step for you, it took some time for you to realize that in order to truly excell, you needed to network or get involved in a project, one that might open doors in the future. Visitation was just the thing you needed, and it came at just the right time. Though you’re not a firm believer in the paranormal, you can’t help but find yourself invigorated by a fresh curiosity, the subject matter keeping you alert and intrigued, which is refreshing after all these years. You’re not sure where the show is heading, but you’re going to go along for the ride as long as you can. After all, Youtube is becoming a great leeway for creative minds to have a platform, and you’ve never been one to turn down a good opportunity.

ANYTHING ELSE? This section is optional, but feel free to put any extra headcanons or writing/musing here!

His never mentioned it to anyone, but Marco can’t help but hope that he can someday make contact with his brother. While skeptical of the paranormal, something in the back of his mind constantly pulls him to these thoughts (the need for closure, the estranged feeling of guilt Marco carries even years after Angel’s death, and he does his best to rid himself of them by frequenting the off-campus bar.

Marco made it his mission after Angel’s death to watch a movie every day of the week, as in consume 365 separate movies every single day. He started with Angel’s favorites, one’s he’d dismissed when Angel was still alive, finding solace in them, before moving on.

He deleted his parents numbers from his phone when he graduated college, though he still has the number memorized by heart. Sometimes he gets calls from the area code from where he grew up and his heart skips a beat, hoping it isn’t the call he’s dreading the most, that one of them has passed. He’s not even sure if he’d go to their funeral, but at the end of the day, they were his parents, and as much as it pains him to admit it, they always will be.

QUESTIONNAIRE:

Please answer the following questions in character. Format for this section is, once again, up to you! Feel free to set the scene as if it were an interview and answer each question individually or perhaps write it as an internal monologue from the past; it’s your choice, just remember to keep it in third person, please! This section is just to get an idea of your character’s voice.

DO YOU BELIEVE IN THE PARANORMAL?

“I don’t prefer to commit myself to any one idea or way of thinking,” Marco answered honestly. It was rare for him to answer interview questions, but watching his other co-stars and crew members answer, he’d been rather intrigued on what they had to say and felt inclined to share as well. After all, he’d been labeled as “the brooding one” of the bunch, which hadn’t really bothered him, but he knew he could cut himself some slack and give the audience a bit of what they wanted from him. “That being said, I’m not opposed to the idea of paranormal entities or activity, but until I experience an event that can give me concrete proof of their existence, I can’t say yes or no.”

HAVE YOU EVER HAD A PARANORMAL ENCOUNTER?

He raised his eyebrows at this question, though it hadn’t truly struck any sort of chord within him. He wasn’t a good actor, trained behind the camera and not in front, so his ability to conceal his true emotions weren’t as atuned as other members of Visitation, which is why when Lillian sent a look his way he knew immediately to change his face. Letting out a soft laugh, Marco shook his head, but took a moment longer before answering. “Personally, no. All I’ve had to deal with are a few soundbites and thermal images, but nothing I’d consider and encounter.”

IF NO, WHY NOT?

This question puzzled him, and took him another moment to answer. “I’m not sure…” He said, though some may have mistaken his statement for a question, as he carried out the words to their end slowly, as if he was trying to deliberate something. It seemed the interviewer was waiting on the edge of his words for more, something to conclude his portion of the interview, but more words never came, and Marco’s eyes shifted from their gaze to the floor.

EXTRAS: N/A

#accepted #marco

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