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#let me say this scene was incredibly awkward and badly edited
crayonflop · 4 years
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HE’S ARRIVED
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leandrafoxxo · 3 years
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So I came up with a dream..
And it changes the scenes that I showed you earlier in a way that rather than editing what I posted I wanted to rewrite it. Most of it stays the same but there are significant changes now and I think it’s much better with the dream added in.. so here you go. ____________________________________________________________
"Hey, Chidori."
Junpei scratched his neck as he looked down a tad, but his gaze was caught by hers again, which was directed at him curiously, waiting for his response.
"Ah, I was just wondering, you know, whether you've got some time to spare.. like, on Sunday?"
She nodded in reply.
' I do.. why is it you ask? '
"Well, I thought we could.. you know, only if you'd like, but.."
- Ahw come on man, say it already! - he thought by himself before gathering his courage.
Under her curious gaze he finally managed to ask her.
"Would you like to uh.. catch a movie with me? They have some good ones at the theatre nearby.. Or anything you like, really, I'm not picky."
Just as long as he could spend more time with her.
Chidori kept looking at him for another second, then averting her gaze downwards, blinking, smiling a tad before she looked up to him again.
' I'd like that. ' she finally gave for an answer, which made Junpei smile alongside her in relief.
"Sweet! Sunday’s still okay, right?”
‘ If you don’t mind it being in the afternoon, yes. I wanted to go visit the old lady that keeps the flowershop, she wanted to have a cup of tea with me. ‘ she explained, seeming very happy that she would have so much good company.
“Ah, the old lady you’ve been telling me so much about? I’ve gotta meet her some time, too, she seems great!”
‘ She is. ‘ Chidori showed an earnest smile as she said that.  .
Junpei smiled back, getting a little more sheepish again. “So uh.. Wanna go back to the dorm again? We can think up something good for Sunday while we’re at it.”
‘ That sounds good, it’s getting a little colder again. I’m okay though. ‘ she said before Junpei could get worried. And so they carried on their conversation on their way back to the dorms. _____________________________________________________________
Chidori was sitting on that very bench next to the flower shop at the Port Island Station.
It was a little early for her to be sitting there waiting already, yet she sat there, at some point growing tired of sketching flower bouquets.
As beautifully arranged as they may have been, somehow she just felt tired in general.
And as she drew, her thoughts drifted off and the flowers became more and more abstract, as though she'd be seeking to capture something entirely different.
Like that she closed her sketchbook and placed it to her left, directing her gaze towards all those wind turbines, eventually losing it in the sky and drifting off to sleep.
At first she was sleeping calmly before slowly all of those pictures came up again.
Pictures she couldn't define, such that would only leave her with one feeling.
Longing for something.
But after a while all of those pictures faded into nothingness again and soon she drifted into a beautiful dream that brought her a kind of peace that felt so familiar and entirely new to her at the same time.
After a while she would wake up, the serene feeling staying with her, but.. no, it felt different now.
The sun stood much lower than before, but alongside that...
' Jun..pei.? '
Chidori found herself leaning against Junpei, closely cuddled up to him.
He seemed to have fallen asleep right there, with both of them supporting their weight onto each other.
Puzzled and a tad flustered she looked up to him.
However, as she watched him sleep serenely, something became clear to her. _____________________________________________________________
"Alright, alright.. You got this. You're da man. Just.. keep their advice in mind and don't screw this up, that's all." he mumbled to himself, on his way to Port Island Station.
As he got out of the train he adjusted himself and got down the stairs.
Like that he reached the bench, but..
He checked the clock.
No, no he wasn't late at all. Good. But still..
He looked over at Chidori, who was fast asleep right there in front of him.
To be frank, he didn't really know how to deal with this situation.
But, to be frank, he genuinely liked that sight.
And thus he kept watching her for another moment before he sat next to her, carefully, as somehow he just didn't want to disturb her sleep.
So he was waiting.
Then, after a couple of minutes she grew to be restless.
At first he thought she'd be waking up and he was already thinking up something to greet her with before he noticed that she was still caught in her sleep.. was she dreaming?
But he wasn't left alone long enough to finish this thought, as he saw how his lady shifted around a tad before her balance changed in a way that would've sent her lying flat on the bench.
That is, if Junpei wouldn't have given up on the polite distance he kept at first.
Like this she leaned onto him now, even snuggling up to him a little before she got calmer.
Junpei on the other hand gathered all his mental power to stay still, blushing a good tad as he thought about just how incredibly glad he was that he just took a shower.
So like this, somehow, he actually managed to calm down, though he was still incredibly stoked about the situation.
After all, it's been so long since he last...
Nah, he didn't want to overthink that, he just wanted to enjoy this moment with her.
Hence he carefully - very carefully - leaned onto her just a bit more to catch some of her scent, gently leaning his head onto hers, trying to push back the feeling of just how badly he wanted to hold her now, watching her just a little while longer before he closed his eyes.
In this serene moment, he drifted off to sleep. ______________________________________________________________
It's bright and wonderfully warm and the whole city spreads out below them. The many cherry blossoms that colour the city, her long froly hair, and the cloth of her dress are swept by a fresh but gentle wind as she looks around, mesmerized by the sight. As she turns to look back at him her eyes are shining and she is full of life, showing him a beautiful smile and the sight in front of him captivates him entirely until his body reminds him that he should breathe some more and he has to agree. He steps towards her some more and takes her hands into his, trying to put what he feels into words and failing hopelessly. He lets go of her hands gently, but only to pull her closer and into a tight hug that she returns after a moment of surprise, gently whispering his name into his shirt. And like that they stay for what feels like an eternity and neither one of them minds staying like this forever. ______________________________________________________________ ' Junpei.? '
Somewhere inbetween sleeping and waking he heard a gentle voice calling his name.
' Hey, Junpei. '
Someone was trying to wake him, and eventually she succeeded.
Amber eyes looked up to him as Junpei looked back at her, just studying her for a moment.
"Huh.. I'm not dreaming.. now am I?" he mumbled towards her.
Chidori smiled and shook her head, snuggling into him a little more.
He blinked for another second before he turned a lot more red, sitting up all straight before he started to talk really quickly.
"I-I'm sorry! I, you were sleeping and -" ' Hey.. ' "- I just really didn't want to disturb you but, you, you know, all of a sudden -" ' Hey, Junpei.. ' "I mean I didn't want you to fall and get hurt and -"  ' Junpei, please calm down! '
Despite calling out to him her voice was still gentle.
As she finally had a calmer Junpei next to her, looking at her in wonder, she began to chuckle at his sight, blushing.
And whilst his heart jumped a tad, she closed the distance that he’d put inbetween them as he was startled and patted his shoulder gently.
' Don't worry.. It’s okay, really. I.. I didn’t mind being with you like that. ' she replied, surprised how she was able to say that without getting terribly sheepish, but she really meant that.
His eyes got wide and he blinked at Chidori another second before he scratched his neck with a big smile on his face.
"Heh, you really think so?"
There she shared a bench with a genuinely happy man.
As their gazes met the moment was broken by a clock signalizing how time had passed on in the background. It has gotten late, as the night was not yet there, but the sun stood rather low.
"Ah- the movie!"
' It's almost over, huh? '
Junpei shrugged in reply, but then spoke up.
"Hey, uhm.. I know it could get later than we said, but, uhm, would you like to spend some more time with, I mean, doing something else.? Like, there's this nice cafe over at the mall. It'll probably get dark, but I'll make sure to keep all those thugs away from you on the way back!"
He tried to look all tough for her, trying to chase away the awkwardness, posing a little, which made Chidori smile.
And he couldn't say it wasn't part of why he did that, as he smiled back at her.
' Let's do that, then. ' she said, as she picked up her sketchbook, got up, and pulled at Junpei's sleeve gently.
She didn't need to tell him that twice, that was for sure.
They had to walk over there, but it wasn't that long and neither of them minded the other's company.
In fact something seemed to have changed.
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rosepetalmark · 4 years
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feelings mutual
↬lee taeyong x reader ↬1.7k words ↬this is short and written in one sitting/ barely edited but i hope you somewhat enjoy it!
relationships are tricky when you’re both too scared to share your feelings for one another          
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You were tired of the missed calls, the lack of texts, missing anything basic someone who was interested in you should be doing in order to grab your attention and show they care. 
And it didn’t even clue into that brain of his that not contacting you for almost a week was eating you alive, making you question every word and action you’d presented to him, wondering what you had done wrong.
Obviously nothing, since he continued to send you snapchats and post on his instagram story rather frequently, but knowing something was lacking on both of your ends but doing nothing about it really ate you up. 
All you wanted was for him to respond to the last text you sent him, even if it was five days ago, just to show that he still cares and wants to know how you’re doing. But you’re not a character in a Disney channel movie, and you can’t just wish for what you want to magically appear, so your only option was to grow some courage and contact him yourself. 
Terrifying, obviously, but you knew you couldn’t remain in this state of mind, or this state of unknowing for a period longer than it’s already been in, because in the end it won’t be helping anyone. 
Because you saw a beautiful, intimate future with Taeyong, and you needed to see if he was on the same page, and calling him seems like the only straightforward way you’d find out if he feels the same. 
Your fingers were trembling as they hovered over the call button under his contact name, nervously wanting to lock your phone and throw it somewhere you wouldn’t be able to find for hours, because the thought of him saying he doesn’t want to see you again makes you sick to your stomach. 
But somehow the gods of courage mustered up their magic and emitted it into your bones, because without even realizing you pressed “Call” and all you were presented with was your anxiety, and the ringing on his end, desperately waiting for him to pick up. 
Six rings in, you were getting restless, so close to hanging up, assuming he just saw your name pop up and decided he didn’t want anything to do with you anymore. So when you heard the ringing stop, you already accepted where you stood and were ready to cry a little and then move on with life, but the sound of a little cough and a groggy “Hello” had your thoughts do a complete one eighty. 
Fuck. You clearly didn’t think through what you would talk to him about, and here you are, your mind left blank. 
“Oh, um hi,” you whispered, not even sure if your soft voice was audible on his end, because you certainly didn’t know what jumbled out of your nervous mouth. 
Sighing, he took a few moments to say something, leaving the line full of tense air between the two of you. All you heard was ruffling, which prompted you to think you woke him up. It was almost midnight after all. 
God damnit, not only do you seem clingy for calling late at night, but an ass who has no consideration for others sleep schedules. 
“It’s late, I’m sorry,” you rush, biting your nails in the process because the thought of him getting upset at you right now on top of your anxiety surrounding your relationship status with him has you a mere four seconds away from crying. 
“No no, it’s fine,” he says, the grogginess once present in his voice now gone. “How’ve you been?”
Great. Now he’s asking questions rather than acknowledging the fact that there’s been a shift in your dynamic. 
“I’ve been okay I guess, just a little busy. How are things with you?”
You’re so awkward. You’ve suddenly lost the ability to hold a stable conversation without creating random small talk, and if you keep this up, you’ll be asking about the weather and ignore the reason why you called in the first place. 
And how will he even respond? Will he be upfront and acknowledge your feelings? Or ignore you completely and call it a night, block your number, and forget about your existence for as long as he lives. 
Damn, that’d be cruel.
But Taeyong isn’t like that. He’s polite, and warm, and always finds a way to make everything sound and feel comfortable. 
He always made sure you had a smile on your faces, and never interrupted you when you were telling dumb stories about your childhood. He was attentive and soft and such an incredible human being who you want to call your boyfriend so badly, but not knowing for sure if he wants the same is breaking your heart, little by little. 
“Pretty okay I guess, not much ha-,” he started to say, but your urge to know his thoughts and feelings took over the instant he opened his mouth. You couldn’t wait any longer.
“I have to ask you something, and please don’t bullshit your answer. I’m not trying to be invasive or annoying, but not knowing what either of us are feeling is eating me alive.”
“Shoot.”
Silence. All you could hear were your eyelashes blinking, and your rapid heart race now that you got his attention. It may be only you and him on the line, but it feels as if you’re about to pour your heart and soul out to all of the earth’s seven billion inhabitants. 
“Look, I like you. A lot. And I know we never explicitly discussed what we wanted or where we want things to go, but I was just wondering if you felt the same way too?” you blurted out, practically out of breath by the time the sentence left your mouth. 
Chuckling, he took a few seconds to respond, the gulp in his throat rather loud against his phone’s microphone and into your phone’s speaker. “You sound nervous”. 
“Well, yeah, why wouldn’t I be? I practically just told you that I like you and want to be with you but I don’t know where we stand because we never discussed what we are, let alone the fact that you haven’t contacted me the last few days so I assumed you wanted nothing to do with me.” 
“You’re funny.”
Was he serious right now? You wanted answers, not short, witty responses that only seemed to amuse him!
“And you’re being rude by not acknowledging my feelings and answering my question” you deadpanned, because if he was only here to waste your time, you’d rather it be short and to the point, rather than prolonged. The less detail, the less you’ll have to think about in case of the event of having to learn to move on. 
“I know, and I’m sorry for that,” he sighs, taking a breath before continuing on with his speech. “I like you a lot too, I just didn’t know how to express my feelings to you. Texting would be informal, over the phone would be nerve-wracking, and I guess I didn’t ask to hang out and tell you because I was scared you wouldn’t feel the same.”
“Wait, really?”
“Um, yeah? I know I have a handsome face but you’ve spent time with me, you know I’m awkward and don’t want to put myself in situations where I’ll get hurt. It’s dumb,  I know, and I should have told you instead of just going silent, but hopefully you’ll give me that chance to show you that I’m better than that,” he sighed, as if a giant weight had been lifted off his shoulders. 
You could tell he was being genuine, because everything he said to you was true. He hates confrontation, and only wants the best for others. He’s told you multiple times that he’s never really fully delved into the dating scene, and yeah that makes him less experienced than most, but he’s always trying his best to be attentive and understanding of what’s around him, especially you. 
And you know you can’t solely blame this all on his, because you too could have contacted him as well. Instead of sitting in your bed listening to sad music, or constantly checking your phone while at work or in class to see if he messaged you, you could have taken it upon yourself to do the same. Relationships are a two way street, and if neither of you are pulling your weight it simply won’t work. 
“Thank you Tae, I really appreciate it,” you say softly, wanting him to know that you truly understand and care for what he’s saying to you. “It’s okay though, I was just getting in my head and should have taken your thoughts and feelings into consideration as well. I also could have been the one to text you first as well, but I’m glad my emotions got the best of me and made me frantically call you.”
“I’m glad they did too,” he chuckled. “So we’re okay now?”
“Yeah, we’re okay.”
“Just okay?”
“More than okay. Good. I feel good about us, and where things seem to be heading,” you smile, because even though you know he can’t see it through the line, you know he’s displaying that wide, toothy smile that makes your heart flutter.
“Me too, and I’m beyond glad that you called me. I’ll see you soon, hopefully?” he questioned. 
“Most definitely. Now go to sleep, it’s late. Sorry for not using my brain and calling you in the morning instead,” you laugh, just now noticing that you’ve surprisingly been on the phone with him for roughly half an hour. 
“Any phone call from you is always worth it. Sweet dreams,” and with that, his voice faded out, and the line went dead. 
You weren’t ecstatic, nor were you disappointed. You were content. You were stable, and so was he. Things are going to work out, and you cannot wait to see what the future holds for the both of you. 
You like Taeyong, and Taeyong likes you. Now that you both have the confirmation your hearts and minds needed, you’re more than positive that it will only go uphill from here. 
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zalrb · 5 years
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I don't know if you've answered this before but have you ever disliked/hated a ship you eventually grew to love/appreciate or the reverse, loved a ship you eventually cooled off of or ended up disliking?
Oh sure!
Dislike-to-Like:
Dair
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I actually hated the idea of Dair at first. I didn’t think they’d work, I thought GG was running out of ideas and it was legit inconceivable to me but then I saw them interact more and more and I was like, oh wait, no, they make sense, they’re actually incredibly compatible. I have a comment on one of the Dair-centric promos on YT where I’m like, I can’t believe I’m saying this but I want Dair and I want Dair now. And I made this vid (omg it’s so badly edited):
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Micasher
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I didn’t want anyone in the Keating 5 to hook up. It was the first show I saw in a while where romantic boundaries between the main cast weren’t crossed and I liked that, I thought it was refreshing, I wanted to keep it that way and I really liked Asher and Bonnie and I thought Michaela deserved someone better, like I thought their sex scene in the bathroom was hot but I was like no, stop it, don’t do it and then they continued on with it and gave them a nice vulnerability that endeared them to me and then they had their next scene and I was like OKAY.
Bill and Sookie
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For the longest time, I was a Sooric shipper and then one day I asked myself, do I like Eric and Sookie over Bill and Sookie because I legitimately like the ship better or do I just like Eric over Bill? When I realized that it was about Eric vs Bill and not Sooric vs Bookie (what a terrible ship name) then I appreciated the chemistry of Bill and Sookie a lot more because it was intense af.
Like-to-Dislike
Jess and Rory
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I have said many times that Jess and Rory were my Delena and I admit if I ever, for some reason, rewatch Gilmore Girls and we get to seasons 2 and 3, the part of me that’s still 12 fangirls over their scenes because they do have the chemistry, they do have the banter, there’s a lot there I do like except for the fact that Jess was legitimately a shitty boyfriend, like he was terrible and he treated Rory like crap and I don’t think he ever redeemed himself for that, I talk about that more here: https://zalrb.tumblr.com/post/170656625800/on-gg-i-forgot-to-mention?is_liked_post=1 and when I was older I just let myself see that.
Steroline
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I went pretty hard for Steroline from seasons 5 to about the end of season 6. Next to the narrative issues with the ship, which I talk about here: https://zalrb.tumblr.com/post/160487885690/is-messy-and-develops-over-time-and-rooted-in
There’s also the chemistry: I think they were good at playing two people who couldn’t get on the same page but wanted to and Candice was good at playing that yearning but it worked because it was a dynamic that required Candice to be more assertive and raw and Paul to be reserved, that’s where the angst comes from, the minute they tried to do anything else I was like oooooh no this is awkward but I held on because I was deep into Steroline and then 6x21 happened and Paul and Nina, man, Paul lit the fuck up in that scene, it was easy, it was natural, it was chemistry just actual, honest-to-God chemistry and I was like … … … … this is why SC doesn’t work for me when they’re trying to do something that isn’t them being friends or isn’t them being on the wrong page, it’s just, they just don’t have it and frankly, if Paul and Nina had been around each other more in season 6 I don’t think I would’ve been as into SC, I remember being so conflicted about 6x04 because it was just Dobsley being Dobsley and I was like ………………………
Bamon
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I was a Bamon shipper for quite a while actually, it wasn’t until season 6 that I just admitted that it was a terrible dynamic for Bonnie and all I was really shipping was the chemistry between Kat and Ian. I talk about that more here: https://zalrb.tumblr.com/post/180150746700/i-know-you-dont-ship-bamon-anymore-but-when-you
Chair
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I was drawn to their story for the first three seasons, Ed and Leighton have fantastic chemistry, their scenes are compelling and rich and emotionally nuanced and I wanted them together really badly, even if I watch their scenes now, I get swept up in them, but then he prostituted her for a hotel, slut-shamed her and gaslit her and I was just done.
Bella and Jacob (books)
“Well, I'm so sorry that I can't be the right kind of monster for you, Bella.”
When I did read Twilight, I was Team Jacob over Team Edward and then I got older and was like lol the books are trash, BOTH romantic relationships are trash, it’s all terrible.
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murasaki-murasame · 5 years
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Thoughts on Fruits Basket 2019 Episode 11: “This Is A Wonderful Inn”
Funnily enough, an episode involving the characters literally soaking in a warm bath is exactly what I needed to watch after yesterday’s episode of Sarazanmai, lmao.
But this episode isn’t JUST pure fluff or anything. There’s a bit more going on with it.
Thoughts under the cut. [And spoiler warning for the whole manga]
Even though this episode ends at the same spot that episode 12 of the 2001 anime did, it ended up being a fair bit different in practice, as a natural consequence of how the last episode differed from it’s equivalent episode from the 2001 anime.
This episode adapted chapters 17 and 18 of the manga, whereas episode 12 of the 2001 anime just covered chapter 18, since it covered [parts of] chapters 15-17 in the episode before it. So instead of the hot springs trip being padded out into an entire episode, it only takes up the back half of this episode, and instead of being in the Valentine’s Day episode, Momiji’s story about the Foolish Traveler is in this episode. Which might be a bit odd to some people who just watched the 2001 anime, but this is a lot more faithful to the manga, and in terms of pacing I think it works a lot better.
For one thing, Valentine’s Day and White Day are a month apart, so the 2001 anime had to basically have a month-long time-skip in the middle of an episode since they crammed those two parts together, whereas in the reboot they’re separate episodes, so the jump forward in time is a lot more natural. And I feel like Momiji’s story has a bit more weight when it doesn’t get brought up in the exact same episode as Tohru buying everyone chocolate.
But even more than that, when I watched the 2001 anime for the first time a while back to prepare for the reboot, I thought that the hot springs episode was one of the slowest and most dull episodes of them all. It’s not a very eventful chapter to begin with, and padding it out into an entire episode was just . . . not great, especially since it involved them giving Ritsu’s mum like a thousand times more screen-time which pushed her way over the line into being obnoxious. Even in the reboot her whole brand of comedy still bugs me a bit, but at least there’s only, like, two scenes of it this time around.
And on the note of Ritsu’s mum, this episode reminded me that it’s kinda weird, in hindsight, how the English translation of the manga just has her straight up go ‘I hope you can meet my son one day, he’s a nice boy :)’, or something like that, considering that one way or another Ritsu’s gender is meant to be ambiguous. They even had Momiji refer to Ritsu with he/him pronouns in the scene afterward. I actually looked through both my English edition and my Japanese edition to make sure, and yeah the English version just adds in gendered pronouns and stuff that aren’t really meant to be there, and it leads to this really awkward situation later on where Tohru’s genuinely surprised to find out that Ritsu is a boy later on, which doesn’t make sense if you’re reading that translation, lol.
But anyway Ritsu as a character is a whooooole can of worms that I’ll get into when he comes up later on. If I remember right, I think the hint we got at the outline of season 1 from that one video Funimation posted implies that Ritsu’s intro will be in episode 17, so I guess that’ll be when that happens.
Anyway, even before the hot springs stuff, the first half of this episode is all about the Foolish Traveler story and how it relates to Tohru “self-sacrifice is my middle name :)” Honda.
It’s really funny watching so many new viewers be really thrown off by how dark the whole story is, and how it just ends with the traveler being a disembodied head with empty eye sockets. Though I think it feels especially creepy in this version of the story since it has such a unique and vivid animation style that really makes it feel like a dark fairy tale, which I loved.
Momiji pretty much spells it all out for the audience, but the whole point of the story, as it exists within the manga as a whole, is that while Tohru’s habit for self-sacrifice and selflessness is genuinely a character flaw that hurts her at times, it’s not something that should be exploited and belittled. It’s all about respecting how other people choose to express their kindness, and about pointing out how the people who choose to treat her badly are the ones who are in the wrong, not her.
I think the reboot in particular has been pretty good at portraying Tohru’s maturity and depth, but I hope this episode in particular makes it clear to new viewers that she’s not some cliche Mary Sue who’s super perfect and has nothing wrong with her. If anything, I’d say that part of the story as it goes on, even if it’s a small part, is about interrogating the way that we think about conventionally kind and feminine heroines in these sorts of stories. There’s a whole list of characters who have their opinion toward Tohru evolve as they get to know her and understand how she really is as a person, and the story also slowly peels back the layers on all of her repressed trauma and complexes that lead to her being this way in the first place.
It’s been really interesting how this reboot has inspired a lot of discussion from people who’ve been fans of the series for a decade or more, and how their feelings toward the series as a whole and Tohru as a character have evolved over the years. I’ve seen a lot of people talk about how they disliked Tohru when they were younger, because they thought she was stupid and annoying and overly perfect, but as they got older and looked back on the series with a more mature perspective, they realized how much of a genuinely good person she is. It’s kinda funny that stuff like this shows how different types of kindness can be misunderstood and disrespected by people [especially when it intersects with stuff like misogyny], considering that one of the first scenes that really shows Tohru’s true colours is when she talks about how her mother always told her that everyone has their own different type of kindness that they grow inside their hearts, and that those differences can lead to misunderstandings and conflict.
There also seem to be a lot of people who didn’t understand the point behind Momiji’s story when they were kids, and that’s basically the same thing. When you’re a kid, it’s easy to look at a person whose kindness is exploited by people with bad intentions, and to go ‘well they’re just an idiot who deserves what they get’. But that’s not really how it works.
It’s worth noting that in an interview you can find in the last volume of Yen Press’ collector’s edition of the manga, Takaya pointed out that after hearing Momiji’s story, Kyo decided to stop calling Tohru an idiot. It’s a really subtle detail that I know I definitely didn’t notice the first time around, but it makes sense, and it’s really cute. He’s such an incredibly Good Boy [tm] who’s trying his best to slowly improve himself and be kinder in his own ways.
Also the scene with them on the balcony with the sheets flying in the air and the neat direction trick where the shot of Tohru gets covered up by one of the sheets blowing in the wind and then when it moves away it shows Kyo was CINEMATIC POETRY and I am not emotionally prepared for when a very similarly framed scene is gonna happen way way later in the reboot.
The inn sequence was really fun and cute, but I’m really glad it was just half the episode rather than the entire thing. It’s not really enough material to carry an entire episode on it’s own.
It’s fun to watch new viewers get into legit shipping wars with the whole Tohru/Kyo/Yuki love triangle, lol. These early episodes are really leaning into the Tohru/Yuki ship-tease. I guess it goes to show how much they’re getting invested in the reboot, at least. I wonder how many new Tohru/Yuki shippers are gonna get disappointed over how their whole deal develops, especially after this episode.
I have a loooot of thoughts about the whole Tohru/Yuki situation in general, and it’s a bit too early to really bother getting into it, but I at least wanna say that it’s kinda funny seeing some Tohru/Yuki shippers who’ve read the manga be like ‘I’ll never be able to accept the idea that he just saw her as a mother figure! He was definitely crushing on her!’, since my opinion on the matter is somehow both more or less the same and also the exact opposite of that. Let’s just say that I have a lot of thoughts about Yuki’s performative attraction toward Tohru.
Anyway, I think that’s about all there is to say. Though I still think I ended up saying a lot more than I expected to. This wasn’t exactly the most eventful episode ever, but it was really fun and relaxing. It was a pretty necessary breather episode to have between episode 10, which was a fair bit heavier on the dark and worrying foreshadowing than most new fans probably expected, and the upcoming episode 12, which is probably gonna REALLY catch people off guard with how dark it’ll be, considering how well the reboot’s handled it’s more dramatic moments.
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jennycalendar · 6 years
Text
s3e5: homecoming
ao3
synopsis: as jenny pushes giles to pursue edward, things with willow and cordelia start to heat up.
INT. GILES’S BATHROOM — EARLY MORNING
Jenny’s brushing her teeth while Giles shaves, and they’re bickering (again). Faith pauses by the open door, watching.
GILES
—completely ridiculous!
JENNY
(through toothpaste)
I don’t know, Rupert, I think it’d be a good idea to expand your social circles beyond “Jenny Calendar and five copies of the same poetry book.”
GILES
They’re different editions. And anyway, it’s not like you have any other friends who you go out with on weekends—
JENNY
At least I actually talk to people.
GILES
I talked to Edward at the staff meeting!
JENNY
He talked to you first, and that was because he thinks you’re cute.
GILES
I am cute.
Jenny spits toothpaste all over the mirror and starts laughing incredibly hard. Giles, indignant, rinses his razor while glaring at Jenny. Faith smirks a little, then steps up into the bathroom, squeezing in between them to grab her toothbrush as Jenny starts brushing again.
GILES
(to Faith)
Did you finish that essay?
FAITH
It’s mostly done. I might try and check in with Willow at lunch or whatever.
Faith begins to brush her teeth. Jenny rinses and spits, then wipes haphazardly at the mirror with a nearby hand towel. Giles winces.
JENNY
You can always drop by my class if you need anything, you know.
FAITH
(awkward)
I gotcha.
Faith finishes a lot faster than Jenny, though this is mostly because she isn’t arguing while brushing her teeth. She rinses, spits, replaces her toothbrush, and leaves, all without looking at Giles and Jenny.
GILES
She’s… certainly something.
JENNY
She and I hung out and watched old movies last night. Did I tell you about that? It’s taken a lot to talk her out of patrolling, but I think she’s getting better at just being a kid.
GILES
You know she can’t stay with us on a permanent basis, though.
JENNY
“Us”?
GILES
(blushing)
I just meant — you’re staying with me until the damage to your house is assessed and the repairs are done, but I don’t know if three people can live in a one-bedroom apartment for all that long.
JENNY
I know that. But she doesn’t have anywhere else to go, and it’s not like there are any other adults who know about the supernatural scene in Sunnydale.
GILES
(thoughtful)
Edward stopped by the library to check out a book on vampires.
JENNY
Edward stopped by the library because he’s into you, and you put all the vampire books out in the open for easy access. It makes sense he’d grab the first thing he saw. And on the subject of what Edward should be grabbing—
GILES
There is a child in the house.
Jenny smirks, not unlike Faith, and exits the bathroom.
JENNY
(over her shoulder)
I’m gonna go change upstairs, okay?
Giles puts away his razor, looking at the badly cleaned mirror. He wavers — takes out a moist towelette from the medicine cabinet and starts properly cleaning the bathroom mirror.
INT. LIBRARY — MORNING
Willow and Cordelia are paging through books, pretending to look busy, but what they’re talking about isn’t of the supernatural.
WILLOW
I still don’t know if this is a great idea. Or even a workable one.
CORDELIA
Come on! There’s nothing more romantic than dancing under candlelight in formal wear. This plan is accident-proof.
WILLOW
What if Ms. Calendar doesn’t dance with Giles? She keeps on talking about that new English teacher she thinks Giles should—
CORDELIA
Please. Give a girl a hot date in formal wear and she’ll cave faster than you can say “You were totally right, Cordelia.”
WILLOW
But how are we going to get them to dance?
CORDELIA
That’s not your part of the plan, Willow, remember? Leave that part to me. All you have to do is make sure that they’re both chaperones on Homecoming night, and we’ll be completely good to go.
Willow looks doubtfully up at Cordelia.
WILLOW
Ms. Calendar and Giles are grown-ups. Setting them up for real is going to be harder than setting up me and Oz, or, or Buffy and Angel—
CORDELIA
Work with me, Willow.
WILLOW
I am. Against my better judgment, I might add.
CORDELIA
Hey, you haven’t walked out just yet.
Cordelia looks up at Willow and gives her a genuinely sweet smile, one that takes Willow a little off-guard. As Cordelia turns back to her book, Willow continues to stare, looking incredibly discombobulated.
This is when Giles and Jenny enter, in cheerful conversation. Willow hastily looks away from Cordelia, trying to compose herself.
JENNY
(to Giles)
Okay, just to be clear, no demons on the supernatural front this weekend, right? There’s this awesome bookshop I wanna hit up on Saturday, maybe bring Faith along.
GILES
Go anyway. You deserve a day off.
JENNY
Aww.
Jenny tugs on Giles’s scarf, pulling him in to straighten his glasses. Across the library, Willow and Cordelia exchange a look.
CORDELIA
Gratuitous.
WILLOW
Something should be done.
CORDELIA
(pointed)
Something should be done.
Willow takes the hint. Putting down the book, she steps up and over to Jenny and Giles.
WILLOW
Maybe this is totally out of line, and, and I know you guys probably have plans or something, but Homecoming’s coming up and I was wondering — maybe the both of you could chaperone? It could be really fun, and you’ll get to see Cordelia win Homecoming Queen—
Jenny and Giles both look interested.
GILES
Sounds… rather fun, actually. It’s been a while since I’ve been able to wear a tuxedo.
JENNY
I might have to go shopping for a new dress, but yeah, that actually does sound pretty cool. Thanks for the heads-up, Willow!
WILLOW
Oh… no problem!
As Jenny and Giles head into Giles’s office, Willow throws a not-so-sneaky grin to Cordelia, who grins back. Willow turns a little pink at that.
INT. DEPARTMENT STORE — AFTERNOON
Giles is sitting outside a dressing room with a large assortment of shopping bags and dresses, looking the very picture of long-suffering. He flips idly and a bit dramatically through a nearby magazine.
JENNY (O.C.)
We’re almost done. Keep it together out there.
GILES
I’m doing fine.
FAITH (O.C.)
Fine as in fine, or fine as in sulky ‘cause we’re taking so long?
JENNY (O.C.)
I’d bet on the second kind of fine, Faith.
FAITH (O.C.)
Me too, Jen.
GILES
It doesn’t take that long to put on a dress—
Jenny opens the door of the dressing room and steps out in a neatly cut tuxedo. She’s swept her hair up into a haphazard bun, and looks very pleased with herself.
JENNY
It does if you’re not wearing a dress.
(twirls)
How do I look?
GILES
(dumb-struck)
In the — with — well—
JENNY
It’s solidarity.
Faith sticks her head out, then steps out in a tuxedo of her own, looking a little shy.
JENNY
Faith wanted to wear a tux too, but she didn’t want to be the only girl there who was wearing one. I thought I’d ease her into it a little bit.
GILES
(somewhat breathless)
You wear a tuxedo better than me, Jenny.
It’s a helpless, hopeless attempt at flirting that Jenny doesn’t pick up on.
JENNY
(teasing)
I know.
(to Faith)
Let’s change out of these and get some frozen yogurt at that great place near the linen store—
As Jenny shepherds Faith back into the dressing rooms, she misses the way Giles is looking at her: big eyes, shy smile, desperately in love.
INT. CORDELIA’S BEDROOM — NIGHT
Willow and Cordelia are sitting on two stools, a table in between them, and Cordelia is very meticulously doing Willow’s makeup.
WILLOW
You didn’t have to do this.
CORDELIA
If we’re going to be a team, we’re going to look like a team, and that means our makeup has to match. And since I’m amazing at doing makeup, I need to make sure yours is up to par.
WILLOW
I mean, do I really need all this?
CORDELIA
(dismissive)
Honestly, probably not. You’re pretty enough as it is.
Willow’s lips part and she looks very pleased.
CORDELIA
Mouth shut!
WILLOW
(shy)
You’re pretty too, Cordelia.
Cordelia’s hand stills and she nearly Willow’s eyeliner. She covers it up by placing the pencil down, picking up a moist towelette.
CORDELIA
(awkward)
Um — thanks. I don’t usually hear that from a lot of people.
WILLOW
Really?
CORDELIA
Usually people just tell me how hot I look. Not pretty. That’s like—more your thing, you know? Lots of quiet wallflower-y charm.
WILLOW
You think I’m charming?
CORDELIA
Xander never shuts up about you! It’s kind of the worst.
Cordelia raises her hand to Willow’s face, dabbing carefully at the smudged eyeliner. A beat, and then Willow reaches up almost unconsciously, placing her hand over Cordelia’s. They both freeze.
WILLOW
(stumbling)
Sorry — I mean — I didn’t—
They stare at each other, eyes wide, neither of them moving. Cordelia’s eyes flicker to Willow’s mouth, and then they both pull back like they’ve been burned.
CORDELIA
Um, it’s, it’s totally fine or whatever, you know, because girls, girls who are friends, we’re like that. We touch and stuff. Totally normal.
WILLOW
Obviously! Totally normal girlfriendly touch stuff.
CORDELIA
Completely.
Nervously, Willow sits down.
CORDELIA
Your makeup doesn’t have to match mine. You look good enough as is.
It’s only sort of a compliment, and something of a brush-off. As Cordelia leaves the room, Willow watches her go, looking utterly lost.
INT. BRONZE — NIGHT
Faith and Jenny enter side by side. Jenny’s looking cheerful (and looking for Giles). Faith looks tentatively excited, and brightens somewhat upon seeing a dolled-up Willow.
FAITH
You’re lookin’ snazzy, Red!
WILLOW
(nervous)
Thanks. Um, can I talk to Ms. Calendar for a second?
FAITH
You got it. I’m going to go hit up that snack bar.
Jenny’s eyes follow Faith to the buffet table, where she notices Giles and Edward talking. Even from a distance, the conversation is clearly flirtatious, and Giles looks flustered but not uninterested. Jenny’s smile flickers.
WILLOW
Ms. Calendar?
JENNY
(composing herself)
Yeah! Yes. What’s up, Will?
WILLOW
(timid)
I think — okay. This is a rhetorical question, mostly, but — I mean, obviously you don’t have to answer—
JENNY
Are you okay?
WILLOW
Ms. Calendar, have you ever had feelings for someone you really shouldn’t? Like—they’re your friend, obviously, but telling them how you feel would put so much on the line, even if those feelings are, you know, hypothetically stronger than anything you’ve felt for any boy—
(fumbles)
Any other boy. And they’re not even, like, romantic feelings, mostly! It’s just like “hey, you’re really pretty and it’d be really cool if we kissed for a few minutes,” but it’s still way bigger than anything else—
Jenny’s eyes drift back to Giles and she swallows, hard.
JENNY
Yeah. Yeah, I’ve had feelings like that.
WILLOW
How do you deal with them?
The question catches Jenny off guard.
JENNY
I think — I think maybe you have to recognize those feelings and figure out what you want to do with them. Because if you’re this worried about what they mean, chances are that those feelings aren’t going to go away.
WILLOW
What are you saying I should do?
JENNY
(realizing)
I think I’m saying you should do what makes you happy.
(then)
I gotta go.
Jenny hurries away from Willow, weaving through the crowd to find her way to Edward and Giles.
JENNY
(to Giles)
Hey. You wanna dance?
GILES
I was—
Edward looks between Jenny and Giles, then frowns a little thoughtfully.
EDWARD
If you’d just give us a moment, Ms. Calendar? I’d like to wrap this conversation up properly. After that, he’s all yours.
Jenny nods a little jerkily and wanders in the general direction of the dance floor, still looking shaken by her talk with Willow. Edward turns back to Giles.
EDWARD
I get the sense that a relationship with you might mean competing against someone I’ve already lost to.
GILES
I’m sorry?
EDWARD
You’re a lovely man, Mr. Giles, and I would have loved to spend some time with you under different circumstances, but your attentions are very clearly with the charming Ms. Calendar, and it seems to me that hers are with you as well. I wouldn’t want to stand in the way of that.
Edward pats a floored Giles on the shoulder and heads back to the dance floor. Giles stands by the buffet table.
GILES
(calling after Edward)
I did think you were attractive, for the record!
(then)
Damn it. Damn it, Rupert, you idiot—
Hearing Giles’s accidental outburst, Jenny bites back a sympathetic smile, then hurries to the buffet table again, taking Giles’s hand in hers and tugging him out onto the dance floor.
JENNY
C’mon. Dance with me.
GILES
(low, deliberate)
There is nothing I’d like more to do.
Now that’s flirting Jenny picks up on. She looks a little breathless as Giles takes her into his arms.
A slow song starts. In the background, Cordelia steps up next to Willow.
CORDELIA
See? Told you it’d work.
WILLOW
(quiet, contemplative)
We make a good team.
Cordelia looks over at Willow with a thoughtful expression.
CORDELIA
I guess we do.
WILLOW
I’m starting to think — maybe I team up better with girls. Maybe.
CORDELIA
(gently encouraging)
Well, hey, whatever works for you. Me, I think I team up pretty well with girls and guys, but I’m strictly a Xander girl as of right now.
WILLOW
That seems pretty reasonable.
CORDELIA
Just for the record, though? I meant it when I said you were pretty. But I do have a boyfriend, so — kinda freaked out on you a little. Sorry.
WILLOW
No, it’s okay!
CORDELIA
There’s no shortage of cute girls in Sunnydale. I mean, look at Buffy.
WILLOW
I have.
CORDELIA
I know!
They both giggle, stepping a little closer. Abruptly, their smiles fade.
WILLOW
Where is Buffy?
CORDELIA
Oh, yikes.
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kegisaroused · 6 years
Text
The Last Jedi
I have a lot of thoughts. A lot of them are not good. Thoughts are under the cut in no particular order. Probably a little rambling/incomplete maybe I’ll write something more put together later IDK
MAJOR HUGE SPOILERS OBVIOUSLY
Okay so first, stuff I actually liked:
-Luke seeing the two suns in his last moments. One of the few moments with Luke’s character that didn’t feel totally off. 
-Luke handing Leia the bauble from the falcon and the old love theme stabbing me right through the goddamn heart.
-Finn and Poe having very few actual interactions and still managing to be gay as hell.
-I love the Porgs and the Crait foxes fuck all y’all. 
-I also liked Rose a lot and would love to see her actually get better character development. Her tasering Finn was fantastic.
-Rose and Finn’s little side jaunt has me so torn because despite it being totally out of place and gimmicky it also had some of the better character interactions/development in the whole movie? Not that that’s saying much
-Luke basically trying to get Rey to leave by purposefully being as much of a creepy old weirdo as possible. 
-R2 playing Leia’s original message. MY HEART.
-Laura Dern ramming the cruiser into the First Order at hyperspeed was really fucking cool. 
-Yoda being Yoda (when he WAS Yoda, but that’s for the next section)
-Leia using the force FOR ONCE (though the how was real stupid, but again... next section)
-Rey being happy to see Finn having a bond with Rose and smiling at it rather than being jealous or something stupid like that.
-Rey NOT giving Kylo another chance at the end. Like... mmkay buddy I tried but you made the wrong choice I’m shutting the door in your face now BYE.
-That said, I was really afraid of the stuff between Rey and Kylo because the shippers with spoilers had been making it seem like the romance angle was REALLY played up but... it wasn’t? At all? Don’t get me wrong, it doesn’t shut down that angle but the nature of their connection felt ambiguous. The music cues did not indicate a romance, and Snoke straight up SAYS that Kylo’s conflict and draw to Rey was something he was putting into his head so that he’d bring Rey to him. I also feel like Daisy and Adams acting choices were emphatically NOT hinting at a romantic dynamic. I was afraid the shirtless scene was gonna be some sort of awkward flustered Rey and instead it was her just being genuinely annoyed like STFU and put a fucking shirt on.
Now... on to THE BAD:
-The pacing. HOOOOLY HELL THE PACING. This movie was paced so badly. It felt simultaneously like it went on forever, but also moved so fast there was never breathing room. It felt manic and confused. Also the whole movie seems to take place over the course of like... a day. 
-EVERYONE was out of character at least half the time. Everyone either pulled shit that didn’t make sense for them to drive the plot or they completely rolled back their character development to rehash shit. TFA already dealt with Finn needing to stop running from his problems, why is he immediately trying to run away again? His attempted heroic sacrifice at the end would have been a good character moment... if we hadn’t already HAD that moment in the last movie. Poe was reduced to the “reckless hothead” archetype and not only had to learn a lesson that not only didn’t make sense for him, but he had to learn it twice. In the same movie. 
-The CGI gimmicks. It was treading pretty damn far into prequel territory with the unnecessary CGI animals where practical effects would have not only sufficed but felt much more organic. 
-I’m so happy they finally let Leia use the force but her floating herself back into the ship was SO STUPID LOOKING. I wanted to laugh and I am 100% sure that was not the intent. Carrie Fisher did not die for this. 
-Fake Luke at the end was stupid because it was immediately obvious. He was digitally edited to look younger, he was using a lightsaber that WE JUST SAW GET DESTROYED instead of the lightsaber he actually HAS, it was just... dumb. 
-Speaking of dumb: Luke’s entire motivation was stupid and made absolutely zero sense if you know anything about Luke Skywalker. You’re talking about the only person in the galaxy who believed Darth Vader could be redeemed. Like... that’s literally the WHOLE POINT OF HIS STORY IN THE ORIGINAL TRILOGY. You’re gonna have me believe that Luke Fucking Skywalker was so easily scared by the dark side that he (even for a SECOND) contemplated killing a teenager? No, no, no fuck right off with that shit. If anything it should have been REY who thought Kylo was an irredeemable monster and Luke convincing her to give him a chance. Even if in the end he throws away that chance. You can still make the point of “maybe not everyone can be saved” without committing character assassination on Luke. Like what the hell even was that.
-The dialogue was so clunky a lot of the time. Yoda for example: there were moments where he was perfect (him smacking Luke in the face and being like YEP FUCK IT BURN THE TREE WHO NEEDS IT were very in character actions) but a lot of his dialogue felt like someone doing a bad Yoda impression (important note: I’m referring here to his actual written lines, not the voice acting). Also his puppet was really weird looking I don’t know why but it did not look right at all. 
-Some of the jokes also felt very forced and unnecessary. Star Wars needs levity, but the tonal balance was just off and there were a lot of jokes that felt very shoved into scenes that did not need jokes.
-I didn’t buy the Finn/Rose romance. I don’t actually have a problem with that ship at all. Finn/Poe is obviously my preference but lets be real I’m not holding my breath and I’d be 100% fine if Finn/Rose is where they went. But it wasn’t developed at all? They had a couple bonding moments yeah and were definitely becoming good friends, but not nearly enough to make me believe THEY’RE IN LURVE. It was like they somehow thought her sacrifice couldn’t be meaningful if it was just about saving a friend instead of saving GUY I WANNA MACK ON which is kinda bullshit. 
-There was a continuous trend of showing HEY LOOK WE HAVE FEMALE CHARACTERS. LOOK AT ALL THESE LADY PILOTS AND GUNNERS only to kill them off immediately. Paige’s death I didn’t overly have a problem with as there was at least a reason and a point to it with her being Rose’s sister, and she was given a moment to shine and a heroic sacrifice at least, but with all the background characters it felt like they were so determined to be all LOOK WE HAVE GIRLS that we saw more girls die than guys.
-Also are Poe’s whole squad from the last movie just supposed to be dead now? Like... they got their own comic and everything and are fairly popular side characters. Are you really going to just say they’re all dead? 
-The fight choreography was really lacking. Luke fighting Kylo at the end could have been so cool but it was 90% stupid CGI and just felt silly. Especially comparing it to the Rey and Kylo (I refuse to type their names with a slash because seriously MISS ME WITH THAT SHIT) fight from the end of TFA which was so well done and just... ugh. Also Finn’s fight with Phasma was very anticlimactic and she was so underused.
-Finn and Rose’s side trip was completely pointless. Which is annoying because like I mentioned before it had some of the better character moments in a character-less movie, but it was literally pointless. I get that they wanted to set up some sort moral ambiguity or juxtaposition (OOOH THE ARMS DEALERS SELL TO BOTH SIDES SO IT’S A GREY AREA. OOOH THE POOR PEOPLE AND THE ANIMALS SUFFER FOR RICH PEOPLE’S ENTERTAINMENT. AM I DOING THIS RIGHT? IS THIS HEAVY HANDED ENOUGH?), but even if they had their hearts set on doing that (despite not needing to at all) there are a million other ways they could have done it without completely derailing the plot. Especially since in the end the plan didn’t even WORK an actually made things worse because if they never brought the stupid slicer on board the original plan would have worked and most of the resistance would have gotten away just fine. The slicer character himself was pointless and one dimensional.
-What is the First Order doing? They made sense in TFA because they were a fringe group who had been laying low and underselling their strength while they prepared to attack and overthrow the New Republic. But what are they doing now? Did they seize control and establish a new capital planet? Did they install a new governing body since they literally KILLED ALL OF THEM? What is their end goal? What is their motivation? There’s nothing there and there needs to be. 
-Why on god’s green earth didn’t Laura Dern just TELL POE THE PLAN? Why was she being needlessly cryptic and withholding? She wasn’t protecting anyone by withholding information and was actually making herself look really bad and incompetant for no reason? She didn’t even say she HAD a plan. It was so stupid and made no sense.
-Which leads me to a larger overall problem: the characters were not driving the story, the story was driving the characters. The characters did things because they had to to make the plot happen, rather than the plot happening because the characters did what they would naturally do. As a result almost all the characters felt incredibly stiff and there was pretty much no meaningful character development. 
-The movie wrote its self into a corner. I get that they wanted to push it into a more unsure ending ESB type situation but they went too far. The rebellion was in an unsteady place at the end of ESB but they still had, you know... a fleet? More than 10 people? They were also extremely inconsistent scene to scene with the number of resistance fighters left alive. They act like they’ve got almost nobody left, but then they have enough people to man the trenches on Crait? And a lot of those people clearly escaped back into the base but then when they’re escaping to the Falcon there’s like 5 of them? Am I supposed to believe that the 8 year old Rose gave a ring too is the savior of the resistance? None of it seemed to be done with any forethought to the future of the story.
-Where the hell is the rest of the Galaxy? I’ve never watched a Star Wars film that felt so isolated. Even with Rose and Finn’s B plot the galaxy felt empty and unpopulated. 
Overall the whole thing felt like a bunch of unfinished thoughts slapped together into a story without a proper narrating structure. The whole movie seemed confused about where it was going and what it was doing.
I’m hoping JJ Abrams can reel it back in with Episode 9 because it’s really gonna upset me if TFA was a fluke and the rest of this is just gonna be Prequel Trilogy 2.0
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itsthetrashfairy · 6 years
Text
Thoughts on The Last Jedi
Warning. Spoilers ahead. 
I wanted to make 2 lists. Things I liked, and things I didn’t like so much.  I’ll start with the things I didn’t like to get them out of the way.  1. The Casino. It kind of bored me, I’m not gonna lie. The set was beautiful, but I dunno, it just felt out of place. I’m well aware it was meant to be back story reveal for Rose, and where they pick up DJ, but maybe it could have been quicker?  2. Snoke getting killed off so soon. Who the fuck was he? Do I have to wait for a novel to know more about him? Is there an EA loot box with more info? I’m dying for back story here!!!!  3. The Leia space walk scene. It’s cool that she is shown physically using the Force, but that scene was weird.   4. Forced hetero love triangle between Finn, Rey and Rose is now inevitable.  5. I hardly felt anything when Holdo died. I wanted to like her so badly, but there was barely any screen time or back story for her unless you read Leia, Princess of Alderaan by Claudia Grey. Her death scene was pretty badass though. Ramming through the first order ship using hyper drive. Fuck yes girl.  6. Phasma appearing for like 10 minutes only to burn to death.  7. An offensive lack of R2-D2 and Chewbacca.  8. I didn’t find Finn as endearing in this film. I still love him, but I think his awkwardness from TFA made him more fun to root for. Maybe I’m just being picky. 
So, the list of what I liked about the film is much longer.  1. I know this is a very controversial topic to discuss in Star Wars groups, but I really liked what was done with Luke’s character.  Guilt is a heavy emotion to bare, even for Legends. Luke felt like he let everyone down. His Sister, his best friend, his students, his own legacy and especially his nephew. We expect characters to grow. To develop even further, and sometimes trying to come back from hopelessness is a way to further develop a character who has achieved a legendary status.  Luke came back in the end to save the day, just like he always does. He just needed a swift kick in the ass.  2. Luke and Leia’s reunion. This scene made me tear up. especially when Luke says “No one is ever truly gone” as he hands Leia Han’s gold dice.  3. Yoda being CGI, but looking and moving like the puppet instead of the graphical mess from the Prequels.  4. Porgs. They were used when needed, and never over stepped their comedic boundaries.  5. I thought I would get annoyed by the amount of humor, but I was pleasantly surprised by how much I laughed.  6. Kylo Ren became a surprisingly sympathetic character. I liked him a lot more in this film than I did in TFA. I genuinely feel for him. 
7. The reveal of Rey’s parentage. I don’t think I can even describe how happy I am that my original prediction was right, and that Rey’s parents were nobodies. Drunk, desert dwelling nobodies who sold her for booze. I. Fucking. KNEW IT. 8. R2 and Luke’s reunion. Oh the feels when that Leia hologram started playing.    9. Luke calling out the Jedi order for having their heads so far up their asses they let The Emperor waltz in and take over.  10. After Luke trolls fuckboi Ren on Crait as a projection, he’s sitting on a rock and looking out into the sky at a binary sunset. It was an incredible nod to A New Hope. Then he disappears leaving his cloak behind. 110% sure Force Ghost Luke will be a thing in Ep9. Hoping he haunts the fuck out of Kylo Ren because that would be hilarious.  11. Poe having a larger role. I love Poe.  12. The fight scene in Snoke’s throne room with Kylo Ren and Rey vs the Praetorian Guards. It was well done and so fun to watch.  13. The sets in this movie were so aesthetically pleasing.  I’m seeing it again in two days.and then again Christmas day, so I’ll edit this if I feel any differently. 
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wild-e-art-e · 7 years
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One more bet | Saint FFic Fest
After so long without writing (no, better say, finish anything) I’m happy about this; was funny to write, I like the characters and the topic! I hope you enjoy and comments are always welcome.
This time I didn’t have time to ask someone to hep me to check it orz so, any mistake, remember english isn’t my first langauge but I will glad to edit it later after exams.
UNIVERSE: StS Universe CHARACTER(S): Saori Kido, Dragon Shiryu & Cygnus Hyoga SCENERY: Saori’s piano parlour LENGTH: 2580 words CATEGORY: Friendship / Comedy (?? I don’t know, I hope you laugh)
                                                              The big windows of the alley helped to have some nice natural light. Dragon Shiryu smiled feeling the warm over his skin and realised that for sure his Goddess, Saori Kido, was feeling the same. 
                 After a small trip from China to Japan, in comparison the ones he had to Greece, Shiryu already left his baggage in the guest room he would share with Seiya and now was talking with her about the party of that night. Not a party exactly, just an elegant dinner for the Foundation who will help some students with scholarships. And Saori somehow thought would be good for the Bronze Saints to have a normal and calm night. Normal for her, and totally awkward for them.
                 “I’m glad you arrived at the time, Shiryu.” Saori smiled as both were walking towards the staircase, maybe to get ready for lunch time.
                 “Well, Athena, I didn’t want to disappoint you. You asked very nice for our help.”
                 “Shiryu, once again, stop calling me Athena. It feels weird being outside the Sanctuary.”
                 The Dragon Saints just chuckled and nodded.
                 “Too much time with my master. But, anyway, did someone else has arrived?” he asked curiously mostly for someone. “Did Ikki say yes to the invitation?”
                 “Oh, well, you know him better than I do. He hasn’t answer and there are chances he arrives or chances he doesn’t arrive. Shun, on the other hand, was very happy to come and see you guys. Seiya said will come later because of some matters in the Sanctuary.” Saori looked satisfied at least knowing four of the five were there. “And Hyoga, he arrived last night very late so maybe he must be sleeping.”
“Really? Oh… I hope he doesn’t sleep too much. But if Hyoga and Shun are in the same place, Ikki will come running.”
“Of course. One is his brother and one is his husband.” Saori giggled by the surprise of Shiryu, who just looked at her very serious of that last comment. “Sorry…”
“Let me guess, you talked with Shiva last night.” He sighed to then smile trying to don’t laugh about those two and their friendship.
“I would love she comes to save me from this boring dinner. But, in the other hand, she would be flirting with all the handsome guys that will come.”
Both kept in silence, Saori thinking about how much fun would be seeing Shiva around acting as the peacock he was and flirting shamelessly with the other men, while Shiryu was a bit worried to the fact Hyoga was still sleeping. The only good thing about those downs of the Cygnus Saint was that for sure Ikki would appear any moment.
“Well, I hope our old brother arrives and…”
A horrible, thunderous, incredibly annoying and high pitch sound suddenly. And the continuation of said noise was moving from high to low but still terrible. Shiryu and Saori, with both hands over their ears, saw each other; the Dragon Saints expecting an answer from the goddess herself and she was just trying to see if he could have it by any guess.
Quickly as they could, they ran to the source of such atrocity just to find the music room, the one that had a beautiful classical old piano where Saori learned to play when so young, as well some books she used to take breaks time to time. But, something was sure, that sound wasn’t at all her beloved piano.
Without waiting any longer, or the few minutes their ears could survive, Shiryu opened the doors just to find a very funny image. Even the same Saori couldn’t hide a snort and take her phone to try to take a picture, Shiva needed to see this.
It was so noisy, it was a torture for their eats, but then it would be the death for the same Cygnus Saint, he who was causing such apocalyptic sound. Hyoga was holding a bagpipe and his cheeks were red as he was pushing all the air from his mouth, without noticing that he was closing his eyes for the noise and that inflammation inside his mouth. Wasn’t till Shiryu decided to take the bagpipe that Hyoga stopped and realised those two were there, his brother with not such pleasant face and Saori still giggling about that last scene.
“Oh… hello, guys.” Hyoga said with a low voice.
“What were you doing?!” Shiryu asked giving him back the instrument. “It sounded like you were killing a cat… or a bag of cats.”
“C’mon, I wasn’t playing that badly.”
“Hyoga, it was horrible.” Explained Saori looking at him now a bit serious. “We were going deaf.”
“Don’t worry, the speciality of Shiryu is getting blind.” he laughed, being interrupted by a profanity in Chinese.
He didn’t look that happy as he crossed his arms.
“Did Ikki told you to make fun of me in the moment you saw me?”
“No… yes.” Hyoga smiled. “But I did it because I had the opportunity.”
Before a fight pitched began between the Cygnus and Dragon Saints, Saori decided to finished with just moving in the middle of those two.
“I don’t think I’m the one who needs to give you a talk about being respectful towards your own brother, but I would like to know what are you doing here and why playing that.”
For Shiryu wasn’t that hard to calm down and, at a certain point, he was used to hearing those jokes time to time, he even laughed at them, but the whole bagpipe thing just made him go to the border of his patience. Anyway, Hyoga decided to place said instrument over a table and tried to explain those questions Saori just did.
“Well, you invited us to the party.”
“That’s obvious.” Said Saori.
“There you go your answer.” He smiled once again, but the way Saori and Shiryu were looking at him explained they weren't very happy about that answer. “Fine, I was practising the bagpipe.”
“Practising?” asked his brother. “As in ‘I know how to play it so I will practice’ kind of way?” he chuckled a bit. “No, that was like ‘I don’t even know how to play it so let’s give a try’ kind of way.”
“Excuse me? I did take classes before today.”
“How many?”
Saori asked to then see how Hyoga took a pause. He looked around and then at his hand counting with his fingers. Totally, with one hand he could count them and even some fingers were left.
“Ok, maybe I didn’t take many classes but I know how to use it.”
“How to use it? Really?” Shiryu was trying to don’t laugh as he saw the bagpipe.
“Sorry, sorry, ‘Mr. Perfect’, but I still have time. I was thinking in play tonight.”
“Wait, in the party?” Saori asked feeling already the shame of said action.
But Shiryu just denied with the head.
“Don’t worry, his shyness wouldn’t even let him say his name in front of those people.”
“Exactly.” Hyoga nodded. “I just want to practice a bit before Ikki arrives.”
Thanks to this, the owner of the manor and the Dragon Saint looked, once again, at each other. It wasn’t totally needed to ask why in the underworld Hyoga wanted to practice before his brother arrived because their faces said everything. Even so, Saori wanted to let Hyoga know.
“Ikki?” she asked.
“Yeah, he will come tonight, maybe after the party.”
“At least we know he will come.” Shiryu smiled. “But why to play the bagpipes?”
The half-Russian smiled but at the same time looked a bit nervous.
“We did a bet.”
Of course, for sure. Those two ‘birds’ really liked to make those kinds of things. If they weren’t playing pranks around the Sanctuary, they would play them to each other or do bets. A big part of them beginning by the hands of the Phoenix Saint.
“What kind of bet? Let’s see who breaks Shiryu’s patience first?”
“Oh, no.” Hyoga laughed a bit because of this. “We did this bet the last time we saw each other, beginning the exactly next day. We need to learn something new and show it off today. To make it better, Ikki chose for me and I chose for him.”
That, in comparison with their pranks, was almost harmless. If it wasn’t because before open the doors, Shiryu and Saori suffered a bit. But now they were curious about what Hyoga chose for his best friend and brother.
“Crochet, obviously.” He laughed as it was the best idea in the world.
“You gave to one of the most dangerous Bronze Saints two big needles. Great.” Shiryu explained. “Weapons, in fewer words.”
“Anything is a weapon in his hands, anyway. But, here is my problem, I thought he wouldn’t do it because was too… you know.”
“Girly?” Saori said a bit serious.
“Ah… well… don’t tell to Shiva I said that because I didn’t even say it. But, let me explain.” He said pointing at the bagpipes. “I didn’t practice or asked for a teacher because I thought Ikki wouldn’t try it at all. Then last week he sent me a picture of a scarf he did!”
“Ikki is doing crochet?” Shiryu said with big eyes to then… laugh hard. “You must be kidding me!”
“What’s wrong about a guy doing that?” asked Saori a bit annoyed.
“Nothing at all.” The half-Chinese said being honest. “But Ikki doing crochet, that’s another story.  I mean, myself I know how to do cross-stitch because of Shunrei, but Ikki?”
Now that he mentioned it, Saori couldn’t indeed picture that in his head. For sure that man burned more than one scarf before the one he showed to Hyoga. And that’s why she laughed.
“Maybe he bought the scarf just to scare you.” She said in the end. “Don’t worry.”
For a second Hyoga thought about it and maybe she was right about it, Ikki would like to prank him a bit before seeing him. He sighed and nodded with a smile, to then being interrupted by one of the servants of the manor.
“Miss Saori?”
“Miss Saori?” another voice interrupted. It was Ikki, holding a bag pack and a suitcase. “Yeah, of course, ‘Miss’.”
“Nice to see you, Ikki.” She answered with a diplomatic smile.
“Brother!” the Cygnus Saint moved quickly to say hello to his brother with a bump fist while Shiryu helped him with the suitcase.
“How was your fly?” he asked.
“Ah, I could use my speed.”
“You asked a first-class ticket.” Saori interrupted.
“Yeah, but the same people of the economic class spend the same hours than me who was drinking a margarita.” Ikki explained.
“And why are you here so early? You said you would come after the party.” Asked Hyoga.
The older brother just placed his arm around his neck.
“The party don’t start till I walk in, bro.”
“It is a gala party, very serious, Ikki.” Said Saori.
The Phoenix Saint looked at her without expression to then chuckled.
“I will not go to that party. Hey, Shiryu, do you want to go to a bar with me?”
“No? Saori invited me tonight to…”
“Ok, ok, fine, then I will go with Hyoga. You both know he will be an awkward duck around those fancy people.” He sighed. “But anyway, I’m here and I’m hungry.”
“We were going to eat something… before your brother decided to put cats in a bag and blow to them.” Shiryu explained.
Hyoga laughed because of this as he removed Ikki’s arm from his shoulders.
“See? I did my part, Ikki.” He smiled a bit proud of himself. “You just bought a scarf.”
“No.” Ikki answered while taking his backpack to open it. “In fact, I did something for you and for Shun.”
Once again, Saori couldn’t wait to take his phone and send that picture to her friend. Ikki quickly placed a crochet hat over Hyoga’s head, one that looked like a white duck with an angry face and the same symbol the Cygnus’ armour had in the helmet. His young brother just saw it and realised that there couldn’t exist a shop that sells that, and much less the scarf that has some kind of chains as patterns.
“Well, I can play the bagpipe for you…”
“No!” said Shiryu and Saori in the same time.
Of course, this made Ikki be a bit serious as he didn’t understand why they reacted like that.
“Believe me, Hyoga did practice. He knows how to use it.” Smiled Saori. “I have a better idea, let’s get ready to eat something. C’mon, Hyoga, I will help you to place the bagpipe in… that… another bag.”
Hyoga felt a bit relieved with this and nodded to then follow Saori to the other side of the room to do as she said. Shiryu now was with Ikki alone and decided to ask him something else as he was speaking in a low voice.
“May I ask you something?” Ikki let him know that he could with a sound. “Why a bagpipe?”
“Why not?” Ikki moved his shoulders.
“Yeah but, why that bet? Lately, you both do weird bets.” The Dragon Saint began to think about it. “You challenged him to learn to cook, he failed a bit, to be honest. Then you had this weird bet about finding a job and now this? Why?”
The Phoenix Saint smiled and nodded.
“I can’t take care of Hyoga 24/7, you know?” he said, with a touch of sadness.
“Neither of Shun, but you don’t do weird bets with him.”
“And I don’t call him every day either.” Ikki said with a low voice as well, but strong enough to make Shiryu know that he was serious. “Look, I know that both of them are capable of many things and even more. My young brother is strong and Hyoga as well, but the difference is that sometimes, some terrible times, Hyoga doesn’t feel like that. So, at least he had his mind busy, don’t you think so?”
The other brother saw him with a smile and some proud and respect to then turn to see how Hyoga and Saori were fighting with that instrument. He sighed.
“I get it. But he needs another kind of help.”
“While he gets it, I will do more of those weird bets.” Ikki chuckled. “Maybe the next one will be doing an appointment with a psychologist, I don’t know, I just help as I can.”
“And that’s great, Ikki.” Shiryu patted his back in a friendly way as the others came close.
“What’s great?” Hyoga said to then remove the hat from his head. “Apart from this abomination of Swan.”
“Adorable abomination.” Said Saori. “At least that’s what Shiva thought.”
“Thanks a lot, you send her pictures.” Sighed Hyoga. “She will not stop bothering me now.”
“Quack, quack, mother fucker.” Smiled Ikki.
“Anyway, what’s great you asked? Ikki decided he will cook for us, right? Some pizza or maybe sushi or what’s on the menu, chef?” Shiryu joked a bit.
“Whatever you want, just give me the ingredients.” He quickly held Hyoga from the neck and placed the hat again over his head. “Let’s go, duck.”
“Oh! Just don’t hurt me!”
Those two began their usual fight as moving outside the room while Saori and Shiryu looked at them and just broke the silence for one single thing.
“Let’s hide that bagpipe.”
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meredithannebull · 7 years
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Strange Magic Tumblr Contest entry
It was November 2014, and I was folding laundry at my dad’s house when I first became aware of Strange Magic’s existence.  I saw a TV spot for it during a commercial break and…
I was not impressed.
There wasn’t a single thing I found to be the slightest bit interesting.  I was never into fairies to begin with, and what looked like a swashbuckling Tinker Bell movie without Tinker Bell did not appeal to me on any level.  Not even George Lucas’s name was a draw.  It just seemed boring, and every time I happened to see another TV spot over the next few weeks, I just rolled my eyes and ignored it.
Until February of the following year, I had forgotten all about it, but then one day, I came across something that caught my attention.  It was a leaked screencap of Bog and Marianne with a spoiler caption: they had kissed at the end of the film. 
That gave me pause.
I did remember seeing Bog and Marianne dueling in the TV spot, but due to the editing, there had been no hint to a romance between them.  Suddenly, my interest was stirred.  Beauty and the Beast tropes were my bread and butter, so I decided to do a little research.  Sadly, I found that the film had done terribly at the box office and had been torn apart by the critics, yet my curiosity persisted.  I was freshly out of school, so I used part of my new extra time to finally see Strange Magic for myself.
It was a Wednesday matinee, and I had the whole showing to myself.  And boy, was it something.  Can I honestly say I loved it after my first viewing? 
Eh, no.
The pacing, some of the dialogue, the sometimes-awkward song placement, etc.  It had me sinking down in my seat. 
But when I left the theater and sat in my car, I got to thinking:
Good Lord!  After not even two minutes in, it dawned on me just how badly this movie was marketed.  I quite literally had NO IDEA that it was a musical, let alone a jukebox musical, until the opening scene!  The TV spots were the ONLY advertising I’d seen for it!  And the ‘teases’ they gave in those spots were not even close to the actual plot! (e.g. Bog wanting to take over the forest? Say what?)  I had not been prepared for this film!
Then I took a step back and thought about the things I actually liked about it.  The animation? Gorgeous!  The characters?  Enjoyable!  The setting?  Cute and creative?  The humor?  When it was on point, it was on point!  The music?  The songs choices were great and all sung very well.  The story?  A bit rushed, but intriguing and sweet.  My favorite part?
Hands down, Bog and Marianne’s romantic flight!
For the life of me, I just could not get that scene out of my head!  It was just…flawless!  The cover of ELO’s Strange Magic gave me chills!  And that’s coming from someone who grew up listening to the original version; ELO was my dad’s favorite band in high school.  Plus, Bog and Marianne’s enemies-to-lovers relationship was just beautiful!  So beautiful in fact, I had to see it again.
And again.
And again.
And again.
Believe it or not, I saw the movie sixteen times on the big screen, twice at full price, the rest at the dollar theater over the next two months.  I had never EVER gone to see a film that much before.  And I couldn’t really explain why.  It was as if I under a spell!  All I knew was that the more I saw it, the more I liked it; the more of those things that initially made me cringe began to disappear altogether.  I soon got the soundtrack and was singing along to it in my car, I preordered the DVD, I took my friends to see it with me…
But it wasn’t enough.
I’d never really delved too deep into online fandoms.  Sure, I would read my share of fanfics and bookmark fanart, and I had written some fiction for Labyrinth, but for Strange Magic, I just had to see if there were other people out there who felt love for this film the way I did. 
And thankfully, there were.
The tiny, but strong and loving Strange Magic fandom was nestled on Tumblr, and for several weeks, I scrolled through the tags, reading all the amazing fanfiction and head canons, looking at fanart and gifs, getting more and more hooked, until one day, I took the plunge and joined the site close to a month before the DVD release.
I was even further amazed at how my desire to write came back.  I hadn’t written any fanfiction in over a year, but suddenly, I was inspired again, and remain so to this day!  Not only that, but I taught myself how to use simple editing software and was soon making my own gifs and even music videos! 
As for the fandom, my God.  What can I say?  What a blessing it has been to get to know so many kind-hearted, accepting, supportive, talented, incredible people!  To be able to call them friends!  I love each and every one of them.  And even though I only use my blog for Strange Magic content, this fandom is my virtual home away from home.  We may be small, but we’re a family, and slowly but surely, we’re growing every day.   
So, here we are in April 2017.  After all this time and all these changes, why do I love Strange Magic? 
Well…because Strange Magic is love.  I don’t just mean the story or the message.  I mean that its very existence represents love itself better than any other movie I’ve ever seen. 
1.) Intentional or not, the fact this film wasn’t marketed well made it seem more honest.  Just a fun, innocent romp, rather than a Hollywood cash grab.  
2.) Though I know the flaws are still there, I don’t even notice them anymore when I watch the movie today.  They don’t matter.  They’re part of what makes the movie what it is. 
3.) The film reawakened and is still sustaining my creativity.  It prompted me to try new things, to learn, to reach out.  And not just me!  So many others in the fandom could say something similar for themselves! 
Strange Magic was a simple, unassuming movie that nearly passed under my radar, but all it needed was one fair chance.  It has the qualities that I believe one would look for in, to the quote the movie: “real love”:
Love isn’t about perfection, it’s not gaudy, and it’s not trying to sell you something.  Love is about accepting imperfections, about bettering yourself, opening up to others.  And lastly, love is…just something you can’t thoroughly explain.  It’s magic!  I couldn’t possibly go through scene by scene and describe what makes Strange Magic so great to someone who hates it or has never seen it before.  Some people see it, others don’t.  Understanding love is different for everyone.  That’s life.  I’m just glad that my fandom friends and I all fall into the first category! 
On a final note, I’m happy that the film is gradually getting more attention.  Whether we show it to new people ourselves, or the Disney channel keeps airing it, that exposure is priceless.  Some reactions will be negative and rude, but that’s not important.  It’s the positive ones that make it all worthwhile because it means we’re ‘spreading the lofe’.  And anything that spreads the most powerful force on earth, is a forever and true masterpiece.     
 --- magically-strange
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