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pixie-cocaine · 4 years

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ATEEZ reaction to: Their S.O. getting other Male Idol's attention

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A/N: angel, stfu before I shoot you with a love gun, I WILL DO THIS!! Oh and, I'm sorry it took like, 5 fuckin years or something to finish this. Bb has been really busy with Jiu-Jitsu classes and trying to perfect the moves, I hope you understand 🥺❤️

Songs Listened To: shower water lol (yes, I do write in the shower), Rachael - She Wants Revenge, Mind and Body - Ayelle, Streets - Doja Cat,

(also, very explicit/mature, so read at your own risk!!)

Hongjoong ♡:

• you don't wanna brag, but you'd been gaining quite the following from most male idols ever since your debut

• you, of course, would be very happy that your group, Mania, would be blowing up, but pretty iffy about the countless idols and fans shamelessly flirting with you

• it was always in the back of your head as you did radio shows and variety television

• the fact that your boyfriend was watching all of it

• it was pretty obvious with the way he gushed about how good you did once you got home to your apartment

• but, unsurprisingly, it got to a pushing point

• one day, while you were MCing for an awards show

• Johhny, one of NCT's rappers, had thrown a couple suggestive comments your way, playfully of course

• if only he knew about the narrowing eyes of Hongjoong who watched your surprised giggle through the screen

• oh bOY

• you'd get home, as per usual, and start taking off your makeup after changing into a simple shirt and shorts set

• after a minute, Hongjoong would appear behind you in the mirror

• after asking you the same questions about your day, and you giving the same old answers, you'd feel Hongjoong push his chest into your back and wrap his arms around your waist. His finger would be caressing the skin from beneath your shirt, and the noticeable nuzzle of his nose against your ear would pull your attention from drying your face.

• "Baby, is something wrong?"

• "Would you pick any other idol over me?"

• the question would catch you off guard of course, and you turn to face him with a frown

• "I wouldn't hesitate for one second. Joong, Is this about Johnny?"

• silence, your only answer being him pressing his face to your chin and forcing you to turn your head

• "Maybe..."

• y'all would end up fuckin on the counter haHAHA

• but afterwards it would be very cute and cuddly

• "It was a test, I knew you love me too muchhhhhh"

• bitch would be all over you lol

Seonghwa ♡:

• and y'all thought Joong's was long

• you always had that trait that drew people to you

• so it was no surprise that all attention was set on you once your group, Rougé, debuted

• it was overwhelming at times, you'd admit, but you grew to enjoy the attention, at least to a point

• and with the newfound fame, came the more frequent compliments from fellow idols

• male idols, to be specific

• handsome, male idols

• it still caught you off-guard when, while attending award ceremonies, you'd be seated next to yet another boy group

• and one of the members would smile your way, wait for you to throw a wave before looking away, and proceed to subtly check you out

• you'd be like, complete Pikachu face when your members would bring it up later

• but you'd always worry about how Seonghwa would feel about it, because his group was literally always just behind you

• he'd never really said anything about the way idols would shamelessly point out how short your skirt was that day, or compliment the sultry exposure of your collarbones

• just snickered to himself as he watched the episodes with your appearances

• he knew he had you wrapped around all five of his fingers, no questions asked

• but it was always a tic in the back of your mind

• gnawing at your conscience

• nonetheless, you began to, admittedly quite slowly, relax at the idea of playfully flirting with other male idols

• you'd dipped your toes in the water, while keeping an eye on Seonghwa's reaction

• calm water

• well..

• until the idols got a bit.. physical

• every once in a while when you made a joke, they'd feign obliviousness to how they fell into you as they laughed

• even you caught on that no, some of your jokes were not worth doubling over and putting a hand on your shoulder so that they didn't collapse

• it was one night after you'd gotten home from a weekly idol episode featuring ONEUS, did Seonghwa begin to show his steadily growing distaste for the way they so openly showcased the desire to bend you over the nearest surface

• You'd barely grazed the shower floor with your big toe when you heard the bathroom door open and close, signaling that someone, most-likely Seonghwa, had entered the room with you

• it was occasional that Hwa joined you in the showers without so much as a warning, not that you minded

• you were comfortable around Seonghwa. He made sure if it, especially with the way he encouraged you wearing revealing clothing so it would boost your self-esteem

• one glance to your right, through the patterned shower pannels, and you saw Hwa already discarding his clothes

• he slid in behind you without a word, as per usual, but almost immediately pressed his chest to your back, nosing along your shoulder and wrapping an arm across your waist

• "Do you like that other guys flirt with you?"

• you'd be really caught off guard

• like did he really just ask that lol

• you didn't really know what to say, so shocked at the question, only able to open and close your mouth like a suffocating fish

• he'd push you against the wall of the shower, a hand snaking between you to grip the back of your neck as he pressed his forehead against yours, not breaking contact

• "Answer me when I'm asking you a question," he'd utter, words teetering on sounding like both a growl and a hiss

• "Of course not, Seonghwa. You really think I'd throw our relationship away for some pretty boys?"

• your knees would almost buckle at the smirk that replaced his once stone-cold face, thumb moving to glide across your lower lip before being replaced with his own

• you'd melt into the kiss, sighing into his mouth at the way he nibbled at your lip playfully

• he'd pull away when you were literally about to risk it all lmao

• "Mm, that's my girl," he'd say, licking his lips

• and begin showering like nothing happened

• ugh this man

Yunho ♡:

• Ever since you'd started dating Yunho, which was approximately a year ago, you'd become someone you never thought you would

• he pushed you to do things you would normally scoff and roll your eyes at

• and that's how you ended up in your freshly blossoming girl group, Eclyps.

• yes, being the visual of the group was hard, but the positive reactions from media and new fans was enough to overshadow any pressure

• too bad that didn't apply to the visual uncomfort of your boyfriend when other male idols began to take a particular liking to you

• the attraction was always there in every glance they sent your way, and you'd have to blind to not notice the way they subtly licked their lips whenever they caught a glimpse of you bending over slightly when it came to physical games

• one night, you'd been cuddled up on Yunho on the couch as he flicked through the variety shows

• he'd stopped and watched the one you'd been in that day, a new episode on Hello Counselor, and of course it had to include a member of Stray Kids

• halfway through, a counselor asked the member of Stray Kids, Minho, what his ideal type was

• he explained not the appearance, but the qualities of the type he liked, and when he was finished, everyone began to say that he pointed out all the traits you had

• he didn't deny it, but he also tried to steer the conversation away from him

• it was an awkward situation for you at the time

• you'd been spacing out for the most part as Yunho kept watching, but one glance up, and you could see the tension in his shoulders

• you shuffled closer to bury your face in the crook of his neck so you could get his attention

• he'd give it to you, but something in his eyes told you he needed reassurance, something to let him know that he was the one you wanted

• slowly, your hands cupped his cheeks, warm beneath your fingers, and you'd lean in to kiss him

• The kiss spoke for you

• all the times he'd woken up to catch you staring at him with such soft eyes, endless amounts of such adoration in the way your pupils dilated at the mere sight of his gorgeous features. The night's he came home stressed and eyes droopy from countless hours overworked, looking for you as soon as he walked through the door, then finding you waiting by a drawn bath, complete with bubbled water and steam. And how could he forget the beautiful memories of cooking breakfast together? Your beautiful laughter ringing throughout the house and filling his chest with a golden light that had him grinning from ear to ear.

• he was yours, and you were his. That was something that would never change

• when you pulled away, he'd tenderly caress your side with gentle fingers

• "I love you," he'd mumble

• you'd melt at the way he was full heart eyes at you

• "I love you, too"

(so soft UwU)

Yeosang ♡:

• mmm, yeosang eh?

• ok, this might be kinda off, but that's because I've never rlly seen our droneboy mad or jelly. Imma just go off of guesses 🤷🏽‍♀️

• it took you and your group a minute to actually get a following, but after the hours of tears and sweat, it paid off when you were put on the latest episode of King Of Mask Singer

• you were all the rage at the time, and like fresh faces do in newfound fame, you got some attention

• especially from the male idols

• it was a couple idols in particular that made it a point to try and talk to you whenever you saw them at award ceremonies and such, and because of it, dating rumors began to arise

• of course you denied them, and it helped a little bit, but there were always people who would tease you about seeing EXO's Chanyeol

• in turn, it began to make you anxious about your actual boyfriend, who you knew would occasionally look up the shows you appeared on

• it never really seemed to bother him, you realised

• if anything, he kind of encouraged the idea of you getting more positive attention of all kinds, as long as you showed no discomfort

• you kept on worrying though, until one morning, before you left to go to yet another variety show featuring your group, LUKKI, and a boy group, VIXX, you brought it up as you got dressed

• Yeosang sat on the bed in front of you, scrolling on his phone and shifting his position every once in a while

• you looked at him through your closet mirror

• "Yeosang?"

• he glanced up, "Yes?"

• "Does it... Bother you that other guys try and flirt with me?"

• he smiled, trying to hold back a laugh, but failing when he saw you pout

• "It's not funny! I'm serious"

• and that's when he'd sigh before getting up to stand behind you

• you were wearing a dress at the time, so it was quite easy for him to tug at the black strap at your shoulder and let it fall, doing the same to the other and watching as the silky fabric slid from your body with an odd grace

• you held your breath, staring at him in the mirror, and almost letting out an audible gasp when you saw the way his gaze bored back into yours

• you felt one finger trace the underside of your brassiere

• he drew a line from your right breast to the column of your throat, then it finally rested against your bottom lip

• "No other lips will touch these ones as long as I'm here," he mumbled

• he continued back down to your chest, cupping the soft flesh in his palm and squeezing it gently

• "No other hand will touch this chest"

• then to your hips

• "No other arm with wrap around these hips. Especially not this waist"

• and before you could predict what he'd do next, his hand moved to the inner of your thighs, then very slowly, tapping at your heat through your panties

• "And no other pair of eyes will ever see this beautiful delicacy of mine, hm?"

• he flicked at the top, hard, making you jolt and suck in a breath

• "So no, I'm not too worried about it. You're mine, and you know that. If you ever forget, I have no problem reminding you."

• a shiver ran down your spine, earning a smile from Yeosang before he backed away and reclaimed his spot on the bed

• "Anyways, you're running late"

• "SHIT!"

San ♡:

• San had always been one who was protective over you

• had a weird look in his eye whenever someone he didn't particularly like hugged or touched you in any way

• so when your group, Helix, debuted and almost immediately launched off in the kpop scene, he began to remind you that if anything happened, that he had no problem curb-stomping people

• you'd reassured him that even if something did happen, it wasn't worth going to jail for

• he'd reluctantly laid off since

• but he still liked to watch reruns of episodes with you in them together and point out how cute you looked

• he would always get quiet when someone flirted with you, though

• always

• as time passed, your own concern ate away at you, and eventually, you caved

• "San, you've been acting weird. What's wrong?"

• you twisted in his hold so that you were facing him

• it felt like all the air drained from your lungs

• it was like staring danger dead-on. His eyes held an unidentifiable emotion, icy as they focused on you. His jaw clenched, and you'd be damned if his teeth didn't crack under the power of it.

• your mind seemingly blanked of all it's previous knowledge on the English language, and you gaped at him like you'd just seen a ghost

• you flinched when he began to sit up

• "Turn around."

• was all he gave you

• you don't think you've ever moved so fast in your life

• once your back was facing him, you could feel his hands take purchase on your hips as he lifted you into his lap, making sure to spread your thighs in the process

• "Now," he began

• his index finger traced the waistband of your shorts, raising goosebumps across your skin in it's wake. Slowly, he hooked a thumb inside both your shorts and underwear before yanking them down, over your knees, and off

• he splayed his hand across your stomach, just above your center, and leaned in to trace the shell of your ear with his nose, slowly, with delicate, measured brushes.

• "I want you to tell me how it feels when other men flirt with you. Can you do that for me, baby?"

• your head nodded frantically upon hearing the request, "Yes, San."

• San cooed, massaging the bump of flesh above your panty line, admiring the softness of your tummy before trailing down further until you could feel him swirl a digit around your clit, making your shake slightly

• "It makes me feel w-weird," you stumble over your words slightly when San presses harder against your heat

• "Keep going," he encourages

• you'd take a deep breath, and go on to tell him that you'd get a big clammy and nervous. How each time it happened, you'd be silently screaming at yourself that San was watching, and that you felt awkward. You'd stutter this out, all the while San began to rub you into ecstacy, making you cum for each time Idol's would flirt with you

• ahhh, what jealousy can result in

Mingi ♡:

Sorry if this is short, I'm low-key running out of ideas lmao

• Mingi was your biggest cheerleader

• that much was clear when he threw a mini party for you when your rookie group, NΣRO, debuted and got a boost of Fame from one of your covers of a song

• so of course he would be the one to vote for your group in award shows, cheer you on when you went to practice or were performing, and everything else you could ever imagine in a supportive boyfriend

• the only thing that put him off a bit, was the way you'd gotten closer to some of the other idols

• well..

• other male idols

• he wasn't about to accuse you of cheating just because you'd befriended other guys, but it did make him uncomfortable when they began to get more affectionate with you

• of course you noticed this

• "Mingi-ah?"

• two big doe eyes looked up at you from under the blankets, the familiar tuft of fluffy hair peeking out as the fabric slid off of his head slightly

• he stared at you, waiting, and you realized this was his way of acknowledging your beckon

• "What's on your mind lately?"

• your hand idly moved to the tresses of his hair, watching with a fond gaze as he lowed his chin back onto your stomach

• "Nothing much"

• "Nothing much? How about my appearances on TV?"

• you knew he shrugged by the temporary raise of the covers, sighing through his nose when thinking about it

• "Baby, if you aren't comfortable with the flirting, I have no problem subtly shutting it down," you spoke softly, eyes trailing over the smooth contours of Mingi's face. God, he was beautiful

• "I don't want you to think you can't have fun, I don't mind playful banter," you waited for him to cough it up, "but I don't like when they touch you."

• you smile at the way his red lips form into an unconscious pout

• "What you want, is what you get"

Wooyoung ♡:

• honestly?

• he couldn't care less

• the relationship you two have is damn-near impenetrable

• literally you guys are solid as a rock, nothing can break it

• and because you have such a strong bond, things like flirting with other people without any intention of getting to know them truly, doesn't spark jealousy like it would for others

• you weren't the jealous type in general. You thought it was pretty pathetic to get pissy over boys. After all, if they didn't bother to ask what you were and weren't ok with in the first place before going and flirting, why waste your time?

• Wooyoung would smile when he saw you wink at the other members of your group, Q2

• wouldn't necessarily enjoy seeing you play around with other male idols, but would understand it's nothing more than a friendship at most

Jongho ♡:

•my heart's gonna burst 😭

• so, babie, in general, is a very unsure boy

• he doesn't know how to put himself out there, and he's shy a lot of the time if we take away the people he's comfortable around

• he's insecure about how well of a boyfriend he is to you, and it shows when you tell him you love him

• you never meant to have to do a variety challenge with Jinyoung (got7) but that's just how it ended up happening

• it was a game of pepero, and he was automatically chosen for you, much to your hesitation

• he got halfway before you pulled back out of panic, and even as everyone began to tease you for it, all you could think of was Jongho's hurt face

• you were right to be worried, because when you got home, he was already nestled up in bed

• he never went to bed without you

• "Jongho?"

• he stirred, but stayed asleep

• you only attempted to wake him up after you'd slipped beneath the covers as well, and by then, he'd already cracked his eyes open at the sound of your shuffling

• "Baby, look at me"

• he would

• "I know you watched my group's episode on Idol Room"

• his eyes flicked to the pillow you rested your arm on

• you scooted closer to him so that his face was mere inches from yours, hand coming up to caress the fullness of his cheeks, which he couldn't help but melt into, even if his attitude said otherwise

• "I want you to know that it was just a matter of playing the game, baby. I had no say in the situation, and you know that"

• he nodded slowly before curling his head into your chest

• the two of you didn't address it again, and you know that he didn't say anything because it was his natural way of dealing with anxiety

• he loves you, and you love him. He knows that UwU

(can you tell I gave up lmao)

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madyxtothemax · 3 years

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The Pit Stop - Part One with @MyArrowBends

Atticus:

-After a few days, the roads and sights began to blur together. Each truck stop was the same. The coffee all tasted the same and the bathrooms were all equally disgusting. I had enjoyed the solitude at first, but was now beginning to get a little stir crazy, and despite having bought a thicker foam for the bed, it still wasn’t the greatest sleep I’d ever had.

As I crossed into California, I found myself craving human interaction, and more important than that, I had decided one way or another I would be sleeping in an actual bed tonight. As I gassed up at another same looking, shitty coffee making gas station, I didn’t bother checking google for any nearby hotels, figuring I’d stop when I grew tired and see what was close at that point.

The hours passed and the sun was inching down toward the horizon with a speed that my van couldn’t seem to match. Dusk had settled and on the horizon I could see a cluster of lights that belonged to a city. I wasn’t sure which one it was, it didn’t matter. I had stopped paying attention to the names at this point since I didn’t really have a destination in mind. I would know when I was ready to stop and until I felt that feeling, I’d keep driving west.

As the city lights grew closer, that same feeling of from earlier in the day returned. I was ready to find a motel for the night, maybe even somewhere I could grab a drink and a greasy burger. The potential for brief human interaction had a grin pulling the corners of my lips up.

Still, I avoided searching something out on my phone, wanting to see what I could find on my own. Exiting off the freeway, and making my way toward the city, my eyes searched the buildings as I passed them by. Disappointingly, nothing much seemed to be open...at least nothing that grabbed my attention or sparked any interest. I wanted to find something local, I wasn’t interested in any kind of franchise. Those places were not geared toward any kind of interaction, speed and efficiency was their purpose.

Finally after a few turns bringing me deeper into the city, I spotted a neon sign. The bright OPEN flashing in the door was the only invitation I needed. Admittedly, I wasn’t paying proper attention because I was still needing to keep an eye on the road, but as I pulled my van over to the sidewalk and looked up at the sign to fully read it, I couldn’t stop my laughter as it filled the quiet around me.

A tattoo shop.

I was not a collector of skin art, even though I liked it, I had never really felt a desire or pull to permanently mark my body with any sort of image. But I could see people inside, and I could go in and look around. I could get that human interaction I was craving even if I had zero intentions of getting a tattoo. Yeah. I could do that.

Twisting the key in the ignition to turn off the engine, I unbuckled my seatbelt and made my way toward the door, noting the time on the door before opening it. I paused to check the time on my phone...they weren’t too far from closing. Perfect. Just enough time to have myself a casual conversation with someone about something I’d never follow through on before finding myself some food and a bed to sleep on.-

Madyx:

<I’d woken with it, the unshakable intuition alerting me that something was on the way. Something for me to attend to. Something significant. Someone to benefit from my unique abilities. Something to shake up the doldrums of a monotonous wave of months.

As the hours in the day had passed like any other with a few window shoppers, bookings and not much more, whatever I had been anticipating hadn’t materialized. My intuition wasn’t normally so off, in fact I momentarily wondered if I’d pissed off the wrong people and lost my privileges. But, nah, I couldn’t shake it, even as the hours ticked down to less than fifteen minutes before the neon went dark.

Having just finished with the people who’d shown up to book a session with Jordan, I was relegated to the idea I’d served as a glorified personal assistant for the day. Hell, I hadn’t even done a single piercing, let alone expressed anything in ink. At least Jordan would be pleased with what I’d lined up for her; a lot of people looking to lose their memories and oh-so-many willing to accept whatever consequences came with those choices.

I had my back turned as the group of three left, the bell chiming their exit. Oddly, the shop didn’t feel empty; I wasn’t alone after all.

Turning, I was unsurprised to see a guy had wandered in just as the others had left. First impression was strong: he looked road weary, like he’d been places, but he wasn’t weighted by fatigue - nope. He wore whatever travels he’d been on with an earnestness. He wasn’t unkempt, but it looked like he hadn’t had a shave in a few days, and there was nothing that could have been done to conceal that he was damn gorgeous. I’d need to see more skin to know if there was any ink hidden under the clothes, and there were no visible piercings… visible being the operative word…

Right.

I detoured my thoughts from veering in the direction of the gutter and noted the feeling that surfaced during the day had morphed into something more tangible.

Well then.

I walked his way, which conveniently enough, was in the direction of the sign that was about to go dark. He, whoever he was, already had an unspoken invitation to stay as long as he liked.>

Hey man, anything I can help you with?

Atticus:

-As I stood at the door, hand gripping the handle while sliding my phone into my back pocket, I looked up in time to see three people headed my way. I swung the door open and held it for them, offering an easy smile as they passed and spoke with an excitement I suddenly realized I wanted to feel. Seeing it on others left me no choice but to notice that I was heavily lacking that type of emotion in my own life. Sure, I had bought my van and felt the excitement and when I hit the road, it was there. But it was surface level excitement.

I wanted to feel the rush of doing something impactful in my life. I still wanted to have some kind of human contact, and while my opinion and lack of desire to ink my skin hadn’t changed in the thirty seconds it took for me to hold a door open and walk inside the shop, I was definitely more open to suggestions.

The guy who was working had his back to me. That was fine, he was busy and I had all the time in the world to wait to be noticed. Rather than doing something obnoxious like clearing my throat, I turned and began to look at the flash on the walls. Each page was neatly framed and hung with obvious care. Not a single one was off kilter. It made me smile. Anyone who paid this much attention to detail truly cared about what they did. I was envious of their passion.

I didn’t even have artwork that had hung on the walls in my office back in New York. Maybe if I had, my attitude toward being stuck behind a desk all day would have improved. Likely not.

As I scanned a page filled with anchors, ships and pinup girls, a voice was directed at me. I had been so lost in my head, I forgot my entire reason for stepping into a shop I had no business being in. Turning my attention on the guy, I paused at his question. Shit. Instant attraction. I couldn’t remember the last time that had ever happened. My dick twitched as if to say, SURPRISE I still work! I felt completely disarmed. A fraud. An imposter. I couldn’t help the laugh that was two parts guilt and one part eagerness.

“...anything I can help you with…”

Was there anything he could help me with? ...yes there certainly was, but I really didn’t want to admit that or what my initial reaction to him had been. My eyes searched his face first and then his gaze as it remained on me. His eyes were warm and welcoming the way my beloved hoodie felt each time I put it on.

I was taking too long to answer but he didn’t seem to mind considering I was one of those assholes who showed up 15 minutes before closing. Remembering my entire reason for coming in here, to have a conversation with someone, I lifted my hand to the frame on the wall I had been looking at and grinned lazily at him, one side slightly higher than the other as I answered his question with one of my own.- Do you know who drew these?

Madyx:

<The closer I got, the better my last call was looking. He appeared to be admiring what he saw on the wall which was a lift to my confidence after a day of nada. I was starting to pick up on the energy he was throwing off, and it was coming through strong. He was rife with a quiet excitement, like he was flirting with epiphanies and on the edge of taking chances. I was feeling it on a vibration much higher than my norm. Instant clarity. I relaxed into myself after his arrival helped me shake that unrequited anticipation I’d battled all day.

When his eyes flicked off the art on the wall to me, I was ill prepared. His steel-blue irises were rimmed in navy, and subtly backlit; his gaze flecked with mischief. The cut of his jaw was a visual temptation outfitted with an infuriatingly attractive amount of scruff. His laugh broke me out of my preoccupation. It was telling, but only thanks to my extra sensory skills.

His grin though… that was what slayed me where I stood. Crooked and slow, even stretched his lips were full and fetching. Literally, I couldn’t have hand-picked the features of my non-type type more perfectly. He was exactly what I liked in a guy, at least physically.

The lift of his hand to indicate the frame on the wall brought up my stare. A confident grin preceded my answer.>

That would be me. But those are some of my more generic samples. I’ve got a book you can check if you’re in the market. Unless you’ve already got something specific in mind?

Atticus:

-The weight of this guy’s stare left me feeling some kind of way. At first, I thought I might be getting one of those he’s into you vibes, but then he answered my question and doubt began to creep back in. Maybe he was one of those people who were far too perceptive and he could smell the scent of wannabe all over me.

No, I didn’t have anything in mind. I wasn’t interested in getting a tattoo, which was how I felt before I opened the door. I just wanted to have a conversation. Seemed the only way for me to do that without him getting annoyed that I was wasting his time so close to the end of the day was to keep looking at his work. I could do that, wanted to, actually.

I shook my head, answering as honestly and non-committal as possible as his gaze hit me with a pointed once over. All right. I knew that look. I had given it out a time or two myself. I felt more confident as I found my voice again.-

No. I don’t have anything specific in mind. I’m not exactly the type to just fill my skin with ink. -I paused and considered how my words sounded then quickly added to it so as not to insult the guy who clearly had no problem filling his own skin with ink which I suddenly wanted to check out every bit of.- I mean, not without research, that is. I’d love to see your book.

-As he guided me to where a few different books sat on top of the glass countertop, I noticed each one had a different name on the spine. The one he gave me said Madyx. I grinned at him again and flipped open the cover. There were pages of photos of tattoos done on people. Some pages had drawings, too, and I took my time looking at each one. The silence between us was comfortable and easy. When my eyes landed on a particularly colourful image that took up someone’s entire back I paused to study it.- Wow. This one must have taken quite a while. Your work is incredible, Madyx.

-I chanced a glance his way as I said his name so he knew I wasn’t just blowing smoke up his ass, before looking back down and flipping another page. I was beginning to feel like I was leading him on knowing I wasn’t going to be in town long enough to commit any kind of time like that, even if I did want ink. Which in the three minutes since I last asked myself, still hadn’t changed. I couldn’t pull the trigger on something that permanent. Plus, a tattoo that large would have taken more than one session, I knew that much. As I shifted from foot to foot, trying to figure out how to let him know I was sorry to have wasted his time, the light caught something below the glass counter. It was a showcase of sorts filled with what I assumed was body jewelry. My stomach lurched and adrenaline surged through my veins. I’d always been interested in getting a piercing, maybe...it was far less permanent than ink and wouldn’t take even a fraction of time.-

Do you only do tattoos? -Sliding the book to the side a little, I checked out the display of hardware with more than the curious interest I had previously given to his artwork.-

Madyx:

<Gorgeous seemed to be stalling. I sensed a reluctance I couldn’t quite define. I was starting to think it was definitely his first time, or maybe he was just feeling out the idea. BULLSEYE. He admitted as much by answering that he wasn’t the type to fill his skin with ink, but I wasn’t offended, nope. His eyes seemed to reflexively land on my own collection of pieces, and I wanted to invite him to gawk with those blues all he wanted.

I didn’t care if he didn’t want any work only that it might end up in him leaving sooner rather than later. I was not down with that. I almost missed when he caught his self-perceived fuck up, but was nearly punch-drunk when he took me up on the offer to check out my book. Normally I wouldn’t waste someone’s time if they weren’t actually intent on letting me scratch my artistic itch, but he didn’t seem in a hurry to leave and, duh, same page.

I handed off the book and he seemed to be truly checking it out. There was an excitement for me, one I hadn’t quite tasted. It was a thousand flavors, custom made...meant for me. Yeah, this was hitting way below the epidermis, into the bone, and below the belt, too. When he stopped on the page he did, my gut twisted in the best way, he just so happened to land on the favorite piece I’d ever laid down in ink. It had been inspired by Klimt’s “The Kiss” per the patron’s request, but with several liberties worked into the artistic elements. Instead of an obscure male and female, it was clearly two males. It had morphed from a symbolist piece to something more sci-fi and steampunk. There were three dimensional aspects and an inordinate amount of intricate details, like any provoking piece, it begged look after look. In total it had taken 36 hours in six sessions. I would have got lost thinking about it if something else hadn’t caught my attention - my name. The intention in his tone was unmistakable. Now we were getting somewhere.

I didn’t even care that we didn’t discuss that tatt he’d stopped on, it was logged into the distant past when his attention shifted to the display of body jewelry. I walked to the opposite side of the counter, light shining up from the backlit case, we were closer to face to face and hell-to-the-yes; I saw the change in his posture. We were REALLY getting somewhere.

I handle the piercings, too. <clearing the space of the books for the full view> But before we get to that, we need to level the playing field. Got a name or should I just call you gorgeous?

Atticus:

-Generally speaking, I was not always very quick to pick up the cues when someone was flirting with me. It usually took a couple of are they or aren’t they moments before I caught on and then properly joined in on the exchange of the flirting game. Tonight it only took me two of those moments. First when I caught sight of him looking me over and then again, just now when he called me gorgeous.

My grin at Madyx was instant and interested as I answered, holding out my hand to him for a shake, as proper dudes do.- Atticus.

-When his hand slid into mine, I gave it a solid squeeze, and chanced a light brush of my thumb over the back of his before releasing it. His hand was warm and slightly rough on the palm, not at all unpleasant, the kind of hand that knew how to do hard work and wasn’t afraid of it. Not at all like my paper-pushing, then couch lazing hands. The most work mine had been doing lately had been flicking a signal indicator for left and right.

As I returned my attention back to the display of body jewelry, I briefly thought about the other places I might enjoy the rough grip of his hands and damn near groaned. My dick was more than on board and before I could pitch any kind of tents of embarrassment, I considered piercing the damn thing just to get it to go back down. As far as ideas one might think about to initiate a cooling down effect on their body, this one should have worked for bringing my semi back to completely flaccid. Should have.

It didn’t.

The more I imagined Madyx jamming a needle through my most sensitive flesh, the more my pulse quickened and the more I discovered that I liked the idea. Fuck. Guess my body had decided for me. I now only needed to man up and tell the guy what I wanted. Vocalization time. If I couldn’t ask for the damn piercing, I did not deserve to have his hands on me, and that, judging by the sinking pit my stomach had just become was not at all what I wanted.

Given how everything else I had done since rolling into this town has been on impulse decision making, I let my mouth run without much consultation with my brain, and hoped for the best.-

I’d like to be handled. -Welp. That was a wide open innuendo of his own words that couldn’t be taken back now. Guess I wasn’t going with my usual subtle approach, then again, nothing about this encounter was close to my usual.- A piercing, maybe two? Do you have time tonight? I noticed the sign said you were closing right away. I can always come back tomorrow if you need to close up and get out of here...

-I wouldn’t keep him if he had somewhere else to be, but I really didn’t want to wait until tomorrow, I was too afraid of losing my nerve or even worse, waking up having decided I suddenly wanted an entire back piece devoted to body piercings. I shuddered at that particular thought before shaking my head, waiting to see if he was game for some over time before I even broached the topic of where I wanted him to pierce me.-

Madyx:

<There was the grin again, but this one drew me in like it was baited with something addictive. I wanted a taste. I also wanted to hear him say my name again, that was until he told me his.

Atticus.

As if I wasn’t already in deep shit with the grin, he had to go and share a name with one of my favorite literary characters. I wanted to roll it around in my brain on a loop, then say it out loud so I could see how it would feel in the slide off my tongue. I swallowed thickly and dropped my hand into the one he offered for a shake, setting off a chain reaction I had in no way expected.

Our hands fit like they belonged to each other, his warmth matched mine but his skin was smoother, more pliant. My eyes hit his just as I felt the subtle stroke of his thumb on mine. The hair on the back of my neck stood on end, and an electrifying buzz scaled my spine, then split and radiated north, east, south and west. My heart started to race in an erratic beat against my rib cage. When heat balled in my gut and prickled along the underside of my dick, it finally registered what was going on. Pleasure had always been my gift, but I had only played delivery boy and spectator so I hadn’t immediately recognized my receptivity. And it was specifically something about him…. I could feel his desire commingling with mine, the energy and tension between us behaving like a magnet...SNAP.

Shit. For the first time in my life I was on the other side of the glass I’d always looked through. He was human, it shouldn’t be possible, but his singular, innocent touch had been undeniably thrill inducing. My mind and body were both fully engaged. If it wasn’t for the loss of his hand and his next words, I probably would have stood there in silence like a mooning asshat…. Lost in his eyes and all that.

But, HELLO, he wanted to be handled. I crossed my arms casually over my chest and couldn’t suppress the sideways smirk that came on quick. I’d handle him all he wanted, and with curiosity layering on top of the attraction to him, I wasn’t going to be shy.

I kept getting hit with solid signals from him, they were unlike anything I’d ever felt, and somehow I knew he was also outside of his norm, but completely natural. My attention perked when he brought up piercings and something about coming back tomorrow.

Time to perish that thought.

Shaking my head, I dropped my hands in a wide sprawl on the display case, leaning towards him.>

I’ve got the time and my place is just upstairs. So what do you want, Atticus? <The question was meant to be overt and open ended. And if I loved learning his name… saying it packed a thousand times the punch.> And for the record, I’d love to handle you. <It was shameless and I was not at all sorry.>

Atticus:

-He lived upstairs...I laughed at the immediate thoughts that came to mind then shook my head slowly, speaking quickly before he could get any kind of insulted.-

Seems for the moment we are neighbours, Madyx. -The hand that had just held his, because of course I would now be differentiating my hands by whether or not they had touched him, lifted and I thumbed over my shoulder to my van parked out front. As his eyes moved to where I had indicated, I stared at the way his lips curved up at the corners and my fingers twitched at my sides wanting nothing more than to touch him again.

Since it was generally frowned upon to yank a guy I’d just met over the counter and kiss him without giving him any kind of forewarning or chance to stop me, I cleared my throat and attempted to redirect my wayward thoughts back to what we had been talking about. He’d asked me a question and the proper thing to do was answer it. What did I want?

I knew what I wanted… HIM. But that wasn’t what he’d been asking no matter HOW suggestive his voice had sounded to my ears.

In my early twenties I had looked into piercings, researched all the types and varieties a guy could get as a means of using the knowledge to impress this one chick I had liked when I overheard her talking about how hot guys who had them were. It even worked, up to a point. Turned out, simply knowing about piercings was much different than actually having them, and when she discovered I didn’t actually have any, her interest in me wavered and she quickly moved on. At that point, I didn’t see the need to get anything done since I had started out wanting to impress her, my intentions had been shallow, and lacked the intent to follow through. But now...now, my intentions were less fueled with wanting to impress someone I was attracted to and more about self-discovery.

Tonight, the idea of getting a piercing made me feel more alive than I had in years. It was the right reason to pull the trigger on this. The gut churning excitement was the same I felt when I had called the number on the FOR SALE sign that had been hanging on the window the day I decided to buy my van. I was immediately grateful to the chick of my early twenties for having inspired me to do all that research, even if her rejection had been a blow to my fragile, immature ego.

Was I being impulsive now? Absolutely. But I already knew I wouldn’t regret this which was why without any uncertainty colouring my voice, my gaze found Madyx’s and I grinned confidently as I told him exactly what I wanted.-

I’d like the first two rungs of Jacob’s Ladder.

-I knew what I was asking for, and I hoped like hell the nickname for frenum piercings hadn’t changed in the years since I had done all that research. If it had, I fully expected him to laugh in my face and tell me to get my wannabe ass the hell out. I held my breath, and counted the thuds of my pulse as they wooshed in my ears feeling less and less confident in my answer as the seconds passed by that it took him to speak.-

Madyx:

<There were several impulsive words trying to fly off my tongue, but I was biding my time. I glanced past him when he indicated he was my neighbor, noting the tell tale silhouette of his VW bus. Currently nomadic, likely sleeping on a less than comfy mattress in the name of experience. The mentality someone must possess to live on impulse was a turn on, and it worked in my favor. Without knowing it, he was feeding me information and arming my artillery with all kinds of weapons to extend the night…because without explanation, I just wanted more with him. More time. More touch. MORE.

Atticus was setting off signals like flares in a moonless night, the attraction was undeniably mutual. I knew it, but did he? He would, I wasn’t letting him out of my company without shooting my shot. . My sensory grid was lighting up in a bright spectrum of greens, this was something fae only experienced in the rarest of circumstances. I knew what it meant but couldn’t delve into all that mythology on the spot.

Fuck that. I was just going to go with it.

And then he said it. What he wanted.

I knew there was more by the way his eyes flicked over my lips and the unequivocal energy that told me he was using restraint.

My brows shot up in reaction. My grin stretched a little wider. My dick bucked in my jeans clearly in support of this development. I toed the line of professionalism in my day to day operations, but this was beyond that. I couldn’t stop thinking about getting his cock out of his pants. With a casual swipe of my tongue between my lips, I opened the case, pulling out the options so we could get down to business. I knew he wasn’t going to run. I’d bet on it.>

You have piercings I can’t see? Or do I get first honors?

<fingering a few of the barbells to draw his eyes down, even though I loved the heat of them on me> Are you thinking the same size for each? Or a descending size? Grooved balls? <I smirked, couldn’t help it> Smooth?

We’ll get to gauge when I see what we’re working with, Atticus.

Atticus:

-Just as my lungs were beginning to burn for fresh oxygen, he spoke, and I exhaled slowly, controlling myself from letting out a sigh of relief so as not to let on how unsure of myself I had been feeling. There was no laughter or smirking from him that told me I had used an outdated slang. Excellent. I was starting to feel less and less like a poser with each follow up question he asked. He was very clearly taking my request seriously though I was not blind to the less than subtle moments of flirtation he was allowing to slip out with each exchange between us. And I was about to let him see my dick. I almost laughed. I held it in. Barely.

It was my turn to speak. Right, he needed answers. I could give those. With a grin and a rub of my hands together I chuckled as I got the first question squared away.- No. I don’t have any other piercings. You’re my first, Mad.

-My eyes dropped down to the tray of hardware he removed from the display case, ears working overtime to hear each of his rapid fire queries that I was delayed in noticing I had already shortened his name from Madyx to Mad. Both suited him, but if he was about to get face up in my junk without it being sexual I figured it was all right for me to shorten his name without expressed permission, that was how nicknames were supposed to happen anyway.-

Size. I hadn’t really considered that when I went and got overzealous with my request for two piercings. -Laughing low, my eyes moved between the various sizes of barbells he was showing me before making up my mind with ease.-

I want them to be the same. As far as accessories go, I’m a bit of a minimalist and the idea of gradually increasing seems a bit pompous if not arrogant to me. I can only imagine the size needed at the base if I went and got the great idea to complete the ladder. FUCK. -A shudder of regret for future me shot down my spine then ricocheted straight into the tip of my dick. All previous arousal swifty vacated my body and in a hurry. Decision made.- Yeah. definitely the same size. And smooth.

I also know enough from my research ages ago to know I won’t be looking to stretch out the gauge, either. No matter how fast these particular piercings tend to heal, I don’t want my dick to become a branch of a Christmas tree, sagging under the weight of a too heavy ornament. God, can you even imagine?! -The mental images that began to fill my mind had me laughing again.- Otherwise, any other decisions needing made, I will heed to your expert opinion.

Madyx:

<I caught his exhale and something about it felt like he was relieved, as if he’d just confessed a long held desire for the first time, and maybe I wasn’t so off the mark as he answered that I was his first. I didn’t have time for a smart ass remark about popping his cherry because of what he said right after.

Mad. He called me Mad. The hair on the back of my neck stood up, as if a hand had ghosted upwards, calling it to attention. The sensation carried up into my scalp, and even to the tips of my ears. How was it that something so damn simple was so affecting with him? It wasn’t the first time since he walked in my shop, and the longer he stayed, the more I was convinced there was more of it in store.

I took him in as he weighed his options out loud, none of his choices surprising me. I figured he’d want something understated, but I didn’t want to assume out loud and then have him reveal his elaborate plans for a rainbow ladder with alternating barbells down the back of his cock. That would have been a grave mistake!

I laughed my ass off when he referenced a Christmas tree sagging under the weight of a heavy ornament from sizing up the gauges, unable to stop myself.>

If the piercings look like too heavy ornaments and your dick a limp tree after piercings, then someone doesn’t know shit about shit when it comes to proper technique.

You’re in good hands, Atticus. I promise you that. <I flicked my eyes up to hopefully catch his, and thankfully I didn’t miss my target.> First, proper frenum piercings need to hit at the right depth to avoid that unfortunate look. Second, and counterintuitively, because of the skin, we’ll want to use a heavier gauge. With a lighter weight, during the healing process, it would push towards the surface, also resulting in the wrong appearance and a damn inconvenient dangling effect that could lead to unfortunate zipping incidents.

<Laughing, it was a feat to drop my eyes from his as I started selecting options to suit his taste>

You’ll want to consider width dependent on your head. Sight unseen, I think this brushed steel goes with your vibe.

You also have options when it comes to the size of the balls. <smirking, I laid a few out> You don’t have to decide standing here, we’ll bring them over to my station and you can see what looks right to you.

You ready? Need a beer? Something stronger? <My mouth on your cock to ease any nerves? I kept that last one on lockdown, lifting a brow, as I anxiously waited for his reply>

Atticus:

-My previously lost arousal was swiftly returning, and reaching tenting trouble territory when Madyx promised I’d be in good hands. Wouldn’t I just love to be in his hands. I stared at them while he sorted through the barbells, selecting some he thought would work. Long fingers, nimble and sure in their movements. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Now was not the time to learn I had a kink for hands, I’d never felt that way before, maybe they were just his hands I was lusting after, particularly when paired with this whole conversation that felt heavy with an undercurrent of attraction. I couldn’t deny it was flowing in both directions. He was making it pretty obvious, where I would have normally brushed it off as him being friendly in the beginning, I’d have to be blind to not see it now. I was damn sure seeing it.

Things were about to get very awkward if I didn’t get control over my body. I was a magnet drawn to a piece of metal, desperate to move closer, to obtain that satisfying click when the connection was finally made.

What was my life right now?

How could, of all the places I decided to stop on a whim have this guy right here, and have this kind of mutual attraction happen so effortlessly. I couldn’t remember the last time I had felt that way toward someone and have them return it. Years, for sure. Many years. My eye was not exactly particular, it checked out chicks and dudes equally, but it took a lot to make me want a second glance.

Then he had to go and talk about ball sizing while smirking at me. I was starting to suspect he was playing with me. Cat toying with a mouse. Taunting my dick with his innuendo, coaxing it to come out of hiding and play his game. Did I want to? DUH. There was no denying how much I wanted to do just that.

But how does one go from piercing consultation to...Hey, you give me a boner, wanna hook up? Yeah…..no. He was hot, and there was no doubt in my mind that he was hit on all the time. Likely every day. I was certain of it. I didn’t want to be just some lame customer who was looking for an after hours special with the good looking tattoo shop guy.

Could I be any more of a cliche. I prided myself on being nothing of the sort...well I kind of was with my current on trend living in a van and travelling lifestyle. The only points working in my favour there was that I hadn’t documented a single moment of it outside of the memories in my mind. I wasn’t the next Van Guy with the Instagram worthy morning shots overlooking the ocean while holding a cup of coffee and casually displaying my abs for more likes. A thirst trap, I was not. I had higher standards than that.

Questions were being sent my way. Was I ready? What a loaded thing to ask, I laughed and hoped it didn’t sound as choked off to him as it did to my ears.- Yes. I’m ready. I’m good on the beer, for now. I think.

-I laughed again, this time it felt a little looser passing over my lips and I looked down at the tray of jewelry once more then looked back up at him, eyes finding his. Before I could stop myself, words tumbled out without much control over the content or how they’d be received, now was not the time to have shame or embarrassment, I needed to know if the situation in my jeans could be salvaged.- I once read that when getting dick tattoos, you had to be hard the whole time. Is the same true for piercings?

Madyx:

<The energy smacking me around was nothing I’d ever come across. Fuck. It was inexplicably intense, like we were plugged into each other and exchanging a charge. I was still mind-blown by what he was putting out. His subconscious and deep-seated pleasures were stimulating mine, as if they were dependent on one another. When I caught moments of him looking at me, my body reacted and my heart was thumping, driven by the physical and not so physical. I shut-up the internal analysis as much as I could and focused on what was in front of me.

Atticus was definitely anticipating, his excitement laced with nervousness inciting my extra fae receptors into overdrive. He covered pretty well, but his flustered laugh made me want to drop my jeans on the spot. I was stoked he’d declined the drink, especially since he’d slipped with the “for now.” Bingo. That was enough to confirm he wasn’t looking to bolt after I got up and personal with his cock.

The jewelry out, I let my attention land squarely back on him while he entertained what I’d displayed. It gave me a chance to scope the strong, lithe line of his back, and the sharp cut of his scruffed jaw. Hell, with every fresh recognition of his attributes, his hotness was intensifying right along with my craving for a thorough taste. While I had this fuck-me revelation, he was quiet, probably thinking about the dual-punctures I was about to put through his cock. I knew something was coming but the smirk that happened when he asked his question could not be helped.>

I’d like to see someone keep it hard through an entire inking. It only needs to be up for the stencil portion of the tattoo, after that there are creative ways to stretch a dick for the shading. As for you… <pursing my lips then rubbing them together> I’ll get the job done either way, as long as I can pinch the skin, I can pierce it. Generally, there’s more to work with when it’s not at attention. Chew on that and follow me.

<My smirk widened just before I broke eye contact and grabbed the tray of jewelry. Cocking my head in the direction of my station and the chair that would have him slightly reclined when he planted ass in it. I set the tray down and waited for him to get situated while I snapped on my gloves. When I turned around,shit, my eyes went straight south where it was hard to miss what was happening behind his zipper and before I could blow it, my eyes shot back to his. I couldn’t seem to stop doing that. I also couldn’t repress the urge to set him at ease and give him something to grab onto during this prelude to a pierce.

Playing it cool, casual, intent on finessing my approach, I took a seat on my stool, which kept us at eye level with one another. I knew he wanted this in my bones, but I was feeling the nerves from the risk of it. I stepped over the edge and took the cliff dive, the words passing over my lips as I felt a rush from the free fall.> How about you don’t leave after we’re done with business. <It was a question, but the way it came out sounded more like a statement. Unintentional. Organic. Assured. I dropped my eyes to his cock before they raked back up his body...to his suckable throat...his full lips...and back home to his grey-blue eyes.>

Atticus:

-“Chew on that and follow me.” Shit. He knew. He had to. There was no way he couldn’t tell I was already sporting wood. When he turned his back to me and headed to his station, I tried to chill myself the fuck out. Naturally my eyes landed on his ass and the fire that was in my veins ignited to an inferno and I knew there would be no way to get the blood to vacate my cock. This was going to be embarrassing for at least one of us in a couple of moments.

Did it matter though? I was just passing through town, at least that had been the plan when I entered the shop. I came in here looking for a conversation with another person and now I was about to leave with some metal accessories. I shook my head as I took a seat on the chair he wanted me in and took a few deeper breaths trying to slow the thundering of my heart.

I wasn’t shy about my body, never had been, but damn if I wasn’t worried about how he’d react when he took notice that I was more than eager to have his hands on me. Could I explain it away with a joke about being a masochist? Maybe, but it wasn’t true, not by the definition of the word.

As I spent precious time fretting in my mind he had turned around from setting down the tray and...YEP. I watched as Mad got himself an eyeful and like the professional I already figured he was, his gaze moved right past my crotch and straight up to my face.

He didn’t laugh. Or smile or even make a comment. The flirting that had been so natural halted. I didn’t know what to do with that. I was suddenly feeling overheated in my hoodie while worry about insulting him began to cycle through my mind, of course that was when things started to chill out for me in trouser tent town. I reconsidered the whole masochist angle again just to try and break the silence but shook my head to myself. It wouldn’t matter in a day or two or a week. I’d carry on with my drive and he’d have a story to tell his coworkers tomorrow. I was fine being a laughable story.

Before I could find something casual to say, he sucker punched me with that line of staying after he was done and I briefly wondered if he was trying to throw me a bone because he felt sorry for me. I didn’t think so. The tension between us had been palpable from the start. I nodded at his non-question.- Yeah. I’d like that. Though we both know you already know that I would.

-I laughed low as his eyes did another sweep and the previously cooling jets fired right back up again. Jesus. When did I become a thirteen year old boy seeing his first dirty magazine. I reached up behind my neck as I sat forward in the chair and pulled my hoodie off over my head, draping it on the arm of my chair, leaving me in my well worn white tee that was underneath.

There was no point in trying to hide shit, the elephant in the room had been noticed, spoken about and well acknowledged, not to mention Mad was about to shake hands with the trunk. I blew out a breath, feeling all embarrassment sliding away as easily as I had taken off my hoodie, and grinned at him.- Let’s get to you shoving some needles through my family jewels so we can have that beer you mentioned.

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dindjarindiaries · 4 years

Text

Bittersweet - Chapter 2: Pancakes and Perpetrators

summary: You join Marcus back at headquarters to watch over the mission—and to see him fall further and further into the Lisbon rabbithole.

warnings: there’s an f-word in here (i usually make that rated r but there’s only one hehe), angst, food

rating: T

word count: 3.918k

previous part ⟸ masterlist ⟹ next part

chapter 2: pancakes and perpetrators

You wake up in the early afternoon feeling much more well-rested than before—thanks to your dreamless slumber. With a yawn, you roll over and reach for your phone on the bedside table, pleased to see that there’s no notifications except for some random social media ones. You unlock your phone and instantly pull up your conversation with Marcus.

me: naptime’s over!🥱i’m about to head in.

You’re about to lock your phone again and freshen yourself up, but then you see the three bubbles pop up immediately, and you wait with a smile that you can barely bite back as you wait for his message to appear.

marcus🥞: Rise and shine, Sunny!☀️ You won’t believe what’s going on over here. Get ready for a long night.

You release a heavy sigh at the idea of having to stay at the office for an ungodly amount of time tonight yet also can’t help smiling wide at the appearance of your nickname. You’d been surprised when Marcus hadn’t used it earlier. He’d started calling you Sunny—short for “sunshine”—not too long after you started working together. Marcus had insisted that your fiery presence was like the sunshine bursting through the blinds in the morning, and the nickname had just caught on. You figure he hadn’t used it earlier thanks to your less-than-sunny attitude when you rolled into work this morning.

me: great. nothing like a sleepover after a nap.🥴 need me to bring anything while i’m out?

You lock your phone as you finally get out of bed, freshening up by brushing your teeth again and touching up your hair and makeup. You’ve just exchanged your work clothes for a fresh set thanks to the wrinkles you’d made in them when you hear your phone buzz again, and you pick it up to see Marcus’ response.

marcus🥞: I’m good for now, partner. Thanks, though. I’ll get us some takeout later.

me: alright. i’m heading over now, be there in a fewww🚗

marcus🥞: No rush! Drive safe.

You can’t help smiling at his concern for you—despite the fact that you know it’s just a part of his kind nature. You grab your belongings and make your way back down to your car, arriving to headquarters in record time. As soon as you step on your floor and into the art department, you see Marcus sitting at his own desk, looking up at you with a raised brow and a small smile.

“That was quick,” Marcus observes. “I thought I told you not to rush.”

You shrug as you place your bag next to your desk, practically falling into your chair. “I didn’t,” you insist. “Traffic was just really good, surprisingly.”

Marcus gives you a skeptical eye, chuckling to himself as he turns back to whatever he’s looking over on his desk. Despite the fact you just sat down, you get back up and walk over to him, leaning over his shoulder as you see the file laid open on his desk.

“Are these the perpetrators?” you question, raising an eyebrow as you see the pictures paperclipped to papers of personal information. You assume Marcus went and printed them out—he’s a visual person who likes to have things physically laid out in front of him, not just on a computer screen.

Marcus looks up at you with slight amusement. “What, did you sleep my entire briefing away, Sunny?” He adds a playful scoff at the end.

You close your eyes and give your head a shake, as if you’re jogging your memory. “Right. Sorry.” You gesture to your bag that’s still on the floor. “I’ve got my notes in there, too.” Marcus just nods, releasing a gentle sigh as he gathers the papers and fits them back into his manila folder. You cross your arms as you lean against his desk, facing where he sits in his chair as you wait for him to completely fill you in. “So, what’s the plan?”

Marcus also crosses his arms, gaze still piercing through the file on his desk before it shifts over to you. “We’re camping out here for the night with Agent Wylie, helping him oversee things while the homicide team moves in. Abbott’s gonna rein in our henchman with the help of Cho at a bar, and they’ll head to a party at the house where Jane and Lisbon will be waiting with some of our stolen art from the basement—hoping that’ll get our henchman to call in his leader.”

“And then we’ll get them there?”

Marcus shakes his head. You raise an eyebrow in confusion. “That’s what we’d do, yeah. But that wouldn’t prove that this guy really is the one who killed that man—according to Jane, we need him to lead us to his lair somehow. He thinks he’ll try to come back and steal the stolen art we have set up at the house, and that’s how we’ll trace him back to his place.” When you continue looking at him with confusion, Marcus just releases a curt chuckle and stands up from his chair. “I don’t know, there’s a lot of complicated shit that I honestly can’t keep up with. I’m just trying to do what I’m told.” Marcus nods towards you. “I advise that you do the same.”

You scoff playfully. “And why wouldn’t I?”

Marcus tries to hold back a smirk as he shrugs at you. “No reason.” He then walks past you and towards the rest of the floor, stopping to look back at you. “I’m gonna go check in with the team. If you need more info, you can check the folder.” Marcus gestures towards the manila folder he’d been looking over earlier before he continues forward. You sigh as you pick it up and bring it over to your desk, taking a seat and pulling out your notebook with the details from the briefing.

As you’re copying down some of the information, you can’t help overhearing the laugh that unmistakably sounds like Marcus’, and you look up to see him standing with Lisbon just outside the doorway of the breakroom. You can’t help releasing a troubled sigh, twisting your lips and trying not to stare. When you look away, you also notice Jane turning around from a conversation he’s just been having with Abbott, also spotting the same sight with a similar grimace on his lips.

You shake your head and look back down to your work, knowing you’re in for a long night.

The afternoon drags by, and later you find yourself sitting beside Marcus at Wylie’s desk, watching his computer as he hacks his way into the cameras at the bar where the first perpetrator’s waiting to be lured. You’re digging into styrofoam containers full of takeout, trying to drown your exhaustion, frustration, and stress in the food Marcus ordered for you. There’s a lot of crazy things going on in the scenes you’re watching—fake fights, overdramatic flirting, and some pretty damn good acting, if you’re being honest—and it almost feels like you’re watching a TV show. Meanwhile, Marcus asks Wylie question after question, trying to figure out their methods and how each of these moves is going to help them in the future.

Often, Wylie will look at Marcus with a shrug and confess, “I don’t know. Jane will probably tell us later.” You and Marcus share a look that says everything you want to: obviously, he’s the one who’s running things over there in the homicide department.

Which makes you worry even more for the fact that Marcus is not-so-subtly developing a crush for his longtime partner.

You’ve probably been too observant—no, you’ve definitely been too observant, but what the hell—whenever Lisbon’s appeared on the screen. She’s donning a nice dress that fits her very well, which Wylie explained was hand-picked for her by none other than Jane himself (shocker). You always look out of your peripherals to see Marcus looking a little too closely himself. Often, he’ll cup his hand over his mouth, a habit that you’ve learned well thanks to all the time you’ve spent with him. He does that when he’s trying to hide his reaction to things.

Well, he’s doing a shit job at it.

You want to scream that at him, to warn him not to go down this road—but you still know, who are you to tell him that? Marcus has been unfairly dragged through the mud once, and even though you don’t want to see it happen again, you know he’s been feeling pretty lonely ever since and he’d likely be more than willing to put his heart on the line. Again. For Lisbon. Even though you’d been standing here the whole time, waiting for him to give you the chance.

“Sunny?” Marcus’ voice suddenly rings in your ears. You blink a few times from where you’ve been staring into space at one of Wylie’s screens, looking to Marcus’ gaze. “Don’t die on me yet.”

You snort and shake your head. “Sorry, Pike,” you sigh, closing your empty takeout box and setting it on the floor beside you. “I just got a little lost up here.” You point with your finger to your temple.

Marcus raises an eyebrow in slight concern. “Everything okay?”

You nearly scoff at that. No, actually, it’s not, you want to say, because I’m scared that you’re breaking my heart and I’m even more scared that you’re gonna end up breaking yours again, too. “Yeah, I was just thinking about all… this,” you answer instead, gesturing with a hand to the set up you’re seated in front of. Marcus chuckles a bit as Wylie releases a laugh along with a nod.

“Understandable,” Wylie says. “Jane can be a tough one to follow, especially in the mind.”

You swallow hard and try to hide your concern. Great. You’d assumed that, but now—thinking of Marcus possibly trying to woo the woman Jane’s obviously been going after—you’re even more afraid of what could come for Marcus. You’re sure Jane would have no shame in letting Marcus get his heart absolutely shattered if it meant getting Lisbon for himself. You pinch the bridge of your nose and let out a deep sigh. You can almost feel another headache coming on.

It’s late in the night—or, rather, early the next morning—when the team tells you that you’re free until the morning. You and Marcus both nearly cheer with delight, rising from your chairs and helping Wylie to clean up the space you’d gotten much too comfortable in this evening. Marcus agrees to call Lisbon with the updates on who’s lingering in the perimeter (of course) while you start to pack your things up for the night. While you’re stuffing things into your bag, you can’t help looking up at Marcus every now and then, trying your best to read his lips—a skill you’ve mastered since working for the art department.

Pancakes. That’s a word that you catch, and you wonder why the hell Marcus is talking to Lisbon about pancakes. You know he has a favorite place somewhere down the road from here, but you can’t imagine why he’d bring that up to her now. Unless… he was offering to take her there. But, she was in the middle of a mission, she couldn’t—right?

You groan with frustration to yourself, pulling out your phone and opening your conversation with Andy.

me: please help me. i’m making myself suffer, here.🤦‍♀️

Almost right away, she responds. You roll your eyes. Of course she does.

andy💞: what is it now, miss thing? is it that lipton girl you were talking about earlier?

me: lisbon, andy. teresa lisbon. not the damn iced tea 🙄 and yes… kinda. i think.

andy💞: relax, ma’am. i’m sure you’re all in your head rn, okay?🥺 wait until marcus actually says something.

me: you’re right. i’ll let you know if—

“Looks like they’re all set over there,” Marcus announces, walking into the room and nearly making you jump at his sudden arrival. You lock your phone and shove it in your pocket, hoping you don’t look too suspicious as Marcus collects his things at his desk.

“That’s great,” you respond, forcing a smile as you hoist your bag onto your shoulder.

Marcus looks back up at you once he’s done the same. “Listen,” he starts, voice soft as he takes a few steps closer to you. He doesn’t know it, but you want to melt into the floor at such a tone and movement—especially with that charming and kind gaze he’s giving you. “I know it’s late and you’ve had a hell of a day, but would you wanna stop for a quick stack of pancakes at the diner before we head home?” Marcus gestures with his thumb to the glass windows behind you.

Pancakes. Maybe he’d been telling Lisbon about his plans with you, after all. You smile genuinely this time as you nod. “That sounds… really nice, Pike.”

Marcus smiles back at you. “Great. Meet you there?”

You nod again, walking with him out of the building as you talk about what could possibly be waiting for you tomorrow. Jane didn’t fill you all in on the details, so you’re basically left to do whatever he tells you, which makes you pretty worried. Marcus feels the same way, which makes you feel just a bit better about it all. You agree that working with the homicide team isn’t exactly your favorite thing in the world before you split off to your cars, getting ready to head to the diner. Before you start driving, you take your phone back out and finish your text to Andy, first deleting whatever you had written there before.

me: you’re right. now, he’s taking me to go get pancakes.🙃

You bite back a smile as you set your phone aside, focusing on the road as you fasten your seatbelt and follow Marcus’ car down the street. The diner’s completely empty at this hour, which doesn’t come as much of a shock—even if it does have twenty-four-hour service. Before you get out of the car, you see a notification from Andy on your lock screen.

andy💞: HE’S DOING WHAT NOW??🗣 do you know what time it is? you better tell me all about this later.

You tuck your phone in your pocket as you grab your wallet and keys and get out of the car, walking up to where Marcus is waiting on the sidewalk before you enter together. You sit in a both and get your order in right away, both of you opting for water rather than coffee as you wait for your shared stack of pancakes. Marcus releases a sigh as he looks at you seriously. It makes your heart race a little faster in your chest.

“I’m gonna be honest here, Sunny,” Marcus begins, causing you to almost choke on a sip of water as you nod at him. You can feel your hands beginning to tremble a bit, wondering if this could be a pivotal moment for you. “I need advice.”

You raise an eyebrow at him, willing yourself to keep your cool. “Of course, Marcus. What for?”

Marcus takes a sip of his water, his fingers dancing along the side of the plastic cup as he exhales deeply. He looks back up at you. “It’s about Teresa. Lisbon. You know.”

Your heart instantly sinks. Of course. You knew this was coming. The trembling in your hands is now from disappointed and suppressed frustration rather than intense hope, and you force yourself to swallow back every word your mind wants to scream at him as you instead nod.

Marcus goes on. “I just think she’s—well, I think she’s a really great woman.” Obviously, you do. You always think the best of everyone. You need to stop doing that. “I think I might even… ask her to go on a date.” Marcus is obviously nervous to confess this idea to the open air, and his brow wrinkles together rather awkwardly as he continues to look at you. “With me.”

You genuinely chuckle at that before taking a deep breath. “Wow. Marcus, that’s… would that be the first time since—?”

“Yeah, it would.” Marcus obviously doesn’t want you saying his ex-wife’s name. You don’t blame him for it. In fact, seeing the look in his eye when it even comes up makes you want to cut this shit and comfort him. “But, I don’t know, Sunny, I just… I got a good feeling about her.”

You want to frown, but you won’t. You can’t bring yourself to. Yeah, you wish Marcus was saying all this about you, that you make him feel safe enough to put his heart out there again, that you give him good feelings, but you still feel happy that he’s feeling good enough about something.

You’d been right there through what happened to him before, and it was terrible to watch him go through. You brought him a countless amount of meals because he wasn’t able to think of cooking for himself, and at work, you had to cover his ass quite a few times because he was much too distracted to be paying full attention all the time. Now, he’s finally on an upturn, giving love another chance—and even if it’s not with you, that makes you happy for him. No matter how much it hurts.

So, you shrug, giving Marcus a small smile as you do so. “I think you should do whatever you feel is best, Marcus,” you say honestly. “You know yourself well. If you really think she’ll be good for you, then go for it. What’s holding you back?”

Marcus shakes his head, pausing to thank the waitress as she brings over two plates and the stack of pancakes, setting them on the table in front of you before walking away. He speaks again as he lets you serve yourself and then does the same. “I don’t think anything’s really holding me back,” Marcus confesses. You swallow back the pain that statement brings you. “I just want to make sure I’m not being too—y’know, eager.”

You grimace a bit upon hearing that. You know that’s how Marcus’ ex-wife phrased things when she spoke about the divorce. It still angers you because you know you’d do anything to be on the receiving end of Marcus’ “eager” affections, to feel like you’re the center of his world, to make him feel the same—.

“Is it, Sunny?” Marcus presses, his dark eyes filling with concern. “Do I sound too eager?”

You chuckle at him and shake your head, also trying to clear your previous thoughts from it. “I don’t think there’s anything ‘too eager’ about asking someone on a date, Pike.” Marcus smiles himself at that. “If you really want to, and you think you’re ready for it, then do it.”

Marcus keeps smiling at you as you distract yourself by eating another chunk of pancakes, trying to ignore the way his expression sends an entire group of butterflies fluttering inside your stomach. “Thank you, Sunny. Really. I think I will.”

You smile back—this one not being as genuine as the others—and give him a reassuring nod. “You deserve it, Marcus.” He raises an eyebrow at you, wordlessly asking you to elaborate. You stumble a bit on your words. “To, uh, y’know, have someone again. Like that.”

Marcus nods in understanding, smiling yet again at you. “Well, thanks, partner. That means a lot.”

There’s still so much you want to say. You want to warn him—to tell him about Jane and the way he’d looked at them before and the rumors about him and Lisbon and the way that you feel about Marcus and how you’ve been here the whole damn time—but instead, you let it go. You let Marcus redirect the conversation and you even let yourself get lost inside of it with him, sharing many laughs as you finish off your midnight “snack” together. Of course, Marcus insists on paying, and before you know it you’re heading back out to your cars.

“Thanks again for joining me, Sunny,” Marcus says, his tone soft and genuine as he looks over at you. “And thanks for your advice. It means a lot.”

You smile at him, keeping it as genuine as you can in this moment. “Anytime, Pike. You know where to find me.”

Marcus nods, offering a little wave of his hand before he gets back inside his car. You do the same and release a heavy sigh, waiting for Marcus to pull away before you lean your head against the steering wheel for a moment. Everything’s just gone horribly wrong: this midnight breakfast of yours turned out to be an opportunity for you to first hand witness Marcus’ pining for Lisbon, while you had to sit there like an idiot pretending you don’t have feelings for him and encouraging him to do exactly what you don’t want him to.

“Isn’t that love?” Andy asks you later, when you’ve gotten back to your apartment, got into your pajamas, and practically cried out the entire story to her. “Letting him go?”

“Yeah, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t fucking suck!” you wail, letting your face fall onto the pillow you’ve hugged onto your lap.

“I know, Miss Thing, I know,” Andy sighs. “God, I wish I could be there for you right now. But… who knows, maybe his feelings aren’t reciprocated.”

“Then he’ll be heartbroken,” you mutter, your voice muffled by the pillow, “again. I don’t want that for him.”

“I know you don’t. You big softie.” Andy takes another deep breath. “Listen, girl, I know this sucks. I know it hurts. But you’ve got to do what you can right now as his friend. Then, maybe later, the universe will reward you and finally get you to where you wanna be with him.”

You finally lift your head back up at that, rubbing your eyes with your hands to dry them as you nod at her. “I know.” You scoff. “That seems to be our phrase tonight, huh? So many things we know but I really don’t know what the hell’s gonna happen with those two.”

“Exactly. So, don’t worry about it for now. Who knows—it could be a little fling.”

You nod at her. “True, true. You’re right, Andy. How can you be so wise sometimes?” Andy laughs and shrugs at you while you stare at the clock, realizing it’s now past two in the morning and you’ve got to be back at the office pretty early. “Damn it. I gotta get to bed. Thank you for hearing me out, Andy.”

“Don’t even thank me, ma’am. That’s my job.” Andy gives you an encouraging smile before she bids you goodnight, and you hang up before resting your phone completely against your bedside table and reaching for the lamp there. You release a deep breath as you settle in your bed, staring at the dark ceiling and closing your eyes restlessly.

You hope that you’ll wake up and this’ll all be a bad dream—but part of you knows that you’re about to wake up to a true nightmare.

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jinruihokankeikaku · 4 years

Note

hi! i would love to read a seer of space analysis 🥺 thank you!

Hey anon!! thanxx for the ask!! Here’s what I’ve got for our second Space player, the…

Title: Seer of Space

Title Breakdown: One who passively understands [teaches, is taught by, studies, interprets] Space [physical space, expansiveness, beginnings, growth/birth]

Role in the Session: The last class we covered was the Witch of Space; here we have the opposite Class of the same aspect. This is also, I believe, the first Passive Class we’ve covered here, so before I begin my analysis proper, I think I’ll duck into a brief tangent re: my take on the Active-Passive dichotomy. There are a couple of contending fanon interpretations here – basically, one school suggests that the Active classes control or otherwise directly exert an effect upon their Aspect, while the Passive classes subtly influence and are themselves influenced by their Aspect. The other school posits that while both Active and Passive classes can interact with their Aspect in both Active and Passive modalities, what truly distinguishes them is that Active classes utilize their talents for their own purposes, while Passive classes utilize them for the benefit of others, or even in service to the Aspect itself. I think both schools of thought contain a grain of truth, and since I’ve yet to propound my Unified Theory of the Active-Passive Dichotomy for the moment we’ll focus on the distinction between this particular Passive Class and its Active counterpart, the Mage. The way I would describe the dichotomy between the two Understanding classes is that while a Mage experiences their Aspect firsthand, and ultimately leverages their experience for control or influence, the Seer is instead taught of their Aspect through and intermediary, and ultimately carries that education on to others.

Seers often take on a sort of “prophetic” role when it comes to their Aspect and their Session in general, preferring to, at least at first, “commune” with their Aspect from the sidelines and convey their knowledge to their team. However, the Seer of Space is, by virtue of their Aspect, bound to play at least one critical “active” role – that of course being the breeding of the Genesis Frog and the creation of the new universe at the game’s end. This grand goal parallels one of Space’s broader themes – birth, creation, and expansiveness. The Seer of Space will, as their title suggests, have a unique ability to see across vast distances, which will eventually develop into an ability to see through the veil of Time itself to witness the inception of things. The downside of the Seer’s clarity of vision is an increased susceptibility to the whims and wiles of their Aspect, which can, if not properly managed by the Seer and their team, develop into disillusionment with their Aspect and ultimately role inversion (a process that is never exactly a good sign for a session when it happens to any player, but which for the Space player could well lead to the Session’s doom. A healthy Seer will allow their Aspect to work through them while refusing to allow its currents to erode the Seer’s independent sense of self.

In addition to the all-important task of frog-breeding, the Seer of Space will also likely be called to serve as a “grounding force” within their session. They’ll allow their companions to “see…the beginning” of things, and in so doing (hopefully) call their companions’ minds back to their true purpose, reminding them of where they’ve started no matter how far they come. By drawing this through-line from the session’s start across its winding course, the Seer of Space will be able to “zoom out” and see the game in bloom, both demonstrating how much has been accomplished and how much remains to be done. Seers and Active roles tend to mutually benefit one another, and a Seer of Space could be the kind of grounding influence a volatile role like a Knight of Rage might be. Also, because of the sort of natural progression from Space to Life (with Space representing birth and Life representing Youth/Growth), a Seer of Space could work in tandem with a Witch of Life to restore and rebuild in the aftermath of some catastrophe, with the Seer acting as the architect and the Witch as the builder.

Opposite Role: The Witch of Time (interestingly also a canon role, although not nearly as well-developed of one). The Witch of Time ranks right up there with the Prince of Rage and Thief of Hope for “most radically Active roll”, while the Seer of Space probably falls somewhere near the opposite end of that spectrum. Because of this, there’s going to be real conflict should the two ever meet; of the two, I’d place my bets on the Witch initiating this conflict. The Witch of Time is almost certainly going to have Big Plans and Grand Schemes, which Plans & Schemes are unlikely to develop in synch with the interests of the team as a whole. The Seer may well struggle to get the big-picture (of winning the game and creating a new world, presumably) across to rather single-minded Witch, and because of the difference in their fundamental view of the Universe (Time viewing it as a chain or system of discrete moments, Space viewing it as a self-encompassing totality) there probably won’t ever be straightforward communication on these lines. However, when it comes to communication there’s nothing I’d really put beyond the capacity of a well-developed Seer – it’s just that in this particular case, with such polar opposites, it’s likely to be a difficult task regardless.

God Tier Powers

Seers aren’t usually as big on the “flashy powers” thing, but here’s a few concepts…

Telemetric Chains: While holding an object, the Seer can, visually or through another sense, perceive the object’s journey through Space from its creation to its inception. They’re unlikely to be able to scan through this journey frame by frame, as it were – rather, they get a zoomed-out image of the object’s entire path, from raw material to finished work to the various changes-of-hands it went through before it finally met the Seer’s. It’s possible that, with some effort, this could be used on people, but that might be veering dangerously close to Time’s domain.

Palantir: The Seer will almost certainly acquire the ability to “see through Space” – it’s right there in the title. While there are many forms that vision at a distance might take, considering Space’s intrinsic physicality and the other powers on this list, I like the idea of a Seer of Space’s being able to see through the eyes of an object they’ve touched, wherever it happens to be at its present moment, and ultimately stretching beyond that location in a radius limited only by the Seer’s focus and determination. Once the object has been destroyed, or fundamentally changed, it goes dark; similarly, the Seer’s vision can only transcend physical boundaries, and won’t be able to see across timelines, beyond death, or into the Furthest Ring. Nonetheless, a canny Seer is bound to find all sorts of potential uses for this sort of thing, as a Seer needs their knowledge like a Knight needs their sword.

Perceive Potential: This power functions as an inverse or corollary to Telemetric Chains, sort of. Although it doesn’t allow the Seer to see the object’s future, it does allow them to see the broad-spectrum of potential future forms the object might take. The spectrum would be limited to forms that the object might be induced to take by ordinary means; as it doesn’t actually include any portion of the timeline other than the present moment within its scope, it’s functionally limited to divining the forms an object might take by way of alchemy or ordinary craftsmanship. This ability would become especially beneficial in the realm of literal architecture or engineering, as with the ability to see so many possibilities laid out before them, a Seer could divine the most efficient construction for a particular set of circumstances rather quickly.

Personality: A Seer of Space will manifest both a Seer’s introspection / contemplativeness and a Space player’s overflowing, if somewhat unfocused, creativity. I could see the Seer of Space drifting in the direction of yr typical hippie / stoner stereotype, but this obviously isn’t a necessity, just an image that came to mind. They might also be the sort to sketch out countless diagrams for projects – sculptures, structures, machines – that they’re unlikely to have gotten around to actually constructing just yet, and it’s hard to imagine their room not being scattered with something. The Seer might have a great many interests about which they’re passionate, and into which they’ve invested a great deal of research, accumulated over the course of their life. While they won’t focus on these interests for very long, they’ll never forget any of them, drifting back and forth as they feel so guided.

The Seer’s interpersonal relationships are unlikely to be especially fraught, but also unlikely to be especially lively – they’ll have friends with whom they’re open, and close, but they’ll probably tend towards introversion, preferring to ensconce themselves in their various ideas and imaginings than tie themselves too closely to any particular person (or notion thereof).

Songs: A couple that came to mind…

Moon Over Goldsboro, our Mountain Goats song for the analysis ;3 (It’s big sad but idk I just got some Seer vibes from it, and I imagine object correlatives would be Space players’ jam lyrics-wise)

Telescope by Cage the Elephant

I hope you enjoyed this analysis; I wrote Just A Bit more than I was planning too, so I hope it didn’t drag on too long. As always if u have any questions please do ask!! Asks and requests remain open :3

#Homestuck #classpect #classpect analysis #Space #Seer #seer of space #anon #ask

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miraculouscontent · 5 years

Note

Three words: Animaestro. Thoughts. PLEASE.

Not a fanimaestro of “Animaestro.”

[Positives, I Guess]

Just real quick, might as well get the very few positives in.

Firstly, Marinette in her bun. She’s cute and she tried so hard.

Secondly, Jagged. Just… Jagged in general. He is so supportive of Marinette and praises her like she’s his own kid. I enjoy seeing him just about any time he’s on screen because he’s dramatic and emotional about everything.

Thirdly, and this one I say through gritted teeth, but the Adrimi in this episode is nice. I’m going to complain about certain parts later, but I do like how Adrien cares for her, how Tomoe isn’t overly critical, and how we actually see Kagami flustered for once.

Fourthly, Chloe’s face when Kagami’s about to sit down on the cake. She looked like she was in heaven and I snorted really loudly.

Fifthly, Animaestro’s powers are… fine, though I feel like weird visuals don’t work as well on people after the insanity of “Chris Master.” This episode just can’t stand up to that.

Sixthly and finally, I know what it says about Gabriel as a person, but… I’m sorry, I just burst into laughter as he left his lair WHILE STILL HAWK MOTH and then de-transformed in his office before rushing out the door in a panic. Seeing Gabriel in a hurry was hilarious.

And… I think that’s it. Just little moments sprinkled throughout the episode; nothing substantial.

Now, onto what most people probably want to actually see!

[This Movie Doesn’t Move Me]

Let’s get the obvious out of the way. Now, I get the slip-up with the fact that this movie obviously couldn’t be made in the time that Ladybug and Chat Noir have been around. I’m all for the idea that the movie started as something else and then had Ladybug and Chat slapped onto it to get more attention.

Would’ve been nice to have that confirmed, but I digress. That’s not my issue here.

My problems lie in two things: one is the movie’s existence in accordance with the timeline, whereas the other lies in the trailer.

This movie existed all the way back in “Sapotis,” but Chloe directly references Queen Bee. This already makes things confusing because the cover on the movie in “Sapotis” is a screenshot of the trailer, so it’s not as if two movies exist that have the same style.

Moving onto the trailer itself, talks about how Ladybug is afraid of cats and how she’s powerless without Chat Noir.

Marinette says that’s not true… adding that she’s not afraid of cats. It’s not “That’s not true, and I’m not afraid of cats either!”, it’s, “That’s not true… I’m not afraid of cats!” which implies that the ‘powerless’ detail is something she doesn’t argue with. The same thing happens later as Ladybug and Chat face off against Animaestro, where Ladybug asks about the line concerning her in-movie fear of cats.

I also have an issue with the fact that Adrien plays Chat Noir if this is how they present the trailer. Obviously, Adrien didn’t know how the trailer was going to turn out, but if Ladybug being “afraid of cats” and “powerless without Chat Noir” (both untrue) are things that are large factors in the movie, Adrien would have every reason to transform into Chat Noir and “subtly” show up to say “hello” and ask for details on the movie so he can comment. It wouldn’t be an issue at all if Adrien made it clear at some point that he didn’t actually like the movie himself or had problems with some of the choices, but that’s not what happens.

It makes one wonder how Adrien really sees Ladybug and their partnership, especially when he doesn’t take Ladybug’s side and agrees with Animaestro immediately about slamming the trailer before the movie’s out, possibly implying that he likes the movie.

[Trip Her to Shreds]

It feels like just yesterday when I’d salted about Tom and Sabine in “Weredad,” but here we go again.

Alright, so… Marinette’s parents. It’s revealed in this episode that they’re strangely aware of her clumsiness and are nervous around her for basically the whole episode.

I get that to an extent, but I do not approve of how they handle it in the episode. I mean, just for starters, there’s the fact that Marinette isn’t clumsy on her own, or it’s at least very rarely clumsy on her own. It’s when she’s panicking or feeling very emotional that causes her to slip up. When she’s determined and paying attention, she does pretty well.

There’s no reason for them to be worried about her. The worst that’s happened is in “Origins” where it was shown how unlucky Marinette could be, but that’s not something that’s on Marinette; that’s the universe being against her, which she should never be judged for.

Even though Marinette implies that she’s going to the event for Adrien, Tom and Sabine have never seen her being clumsy around him; at best, she stammers. Later on, they worry when Marinette has him in her sights, but they were concerned even before that, so this isn’t completely about Adrien.

This is the big problem with Tom and Sabine being more hands-off than they appear on the outside. If Marinette being “clumsy” is such a big issue, then what have they done to fix it? If she’s been clumsy for so long, did it just not matter to them until she actually wanted to help with something? If they were ever worried about her being hurt by her own clumsiness, they would’ve tried handling this a long time ago, so this is only out of concern that Marinette will drop the macaroons.

And there were legitimate reasons for them to be concerned that weren’t related to Marinette herself! Rather than Marinette being clumsy, they could be concerned about the number of people. They’re sending their 14-year-old daughter out into a crowd they don’t know where a lot of people could bump into her due to simply not seeing her (she’s a fairly small girl, after all). It didn’t have to be that Marinette is “clumsy,” but rather that she’s a petite girl who could easily be knocked around and drop her macaroons thanks to people who aren’t paying attention.

This is also one of the few episodes where Marinette is clumsy on her own without the emotion behind it. She trips over nothing when she’s just trying to carry a(n admittedly large) tray of macaroons.

And, just like “Weredad,” her parents only go halfway to supporting her. Marinette is clearly affected by her parents looking doubtful of her abilities, but instead of putting full faith in her, they constantly act like Marinette is going to trip and accidentally throw a tray of macaroons in someone’s face.

Heck, they almost send her out with an empty tray. When Tom is teaching her how to hold a tray (a clear sign of him being overbearing and nervous since Marinette isn’t five years old; she knows how to hold a tray), Marinette points out that there aren’t any macaroons on the tray. Instead of being neutral or assuring her that they just wanted her to get an idea of how the tray feels in her hands, they act suspiciously nervous and evasive. That’s a blatant sign that they were hoping she hadn’t noticed, or they would’ve answered normally.

Also, for parents who seem so worried about their daughter, they sure set her up to fail. All Marinette did was point out that there weren’t any macaroons, so in response, they give her many. Marinette is given a nine-layer tower of macaroons, which could’ve made sense if Marinette had insisted on that many so she could prove herself, but that’s not what she did. Her parents just give her tons of macaroons, which Marinette is clearly unnerved by, but they don’t notice.

They even consider Marinette dropping 95% of the macaroons as “so far so good” after Marinette had talked to Jagged and returned to them for more macaroons. How little faith do they have in their daughter, really? It’s as if they were expecting her to drop each and every one of them, so anything less than that is treated as perfection.

And the narrative puts Tom and Sabine in the right. It has Marinette trip over herself, constantly needing to regain her balance, and purposefully gave her way too many macaroons. This is as close to Ladybug’s curse in “Reverser” that Marinette has ever been. The plot can’t have Tom and Sabine fawn over Marinette trying to “spread her wings” right after they were forcing a grin and assuring Marinette that they’d give her macaroons when she’s “ready” (what does that even mean?).

To take it a step further, “Rogercop” is actually a good parallel here. In that one, Tom had Marinette stand with a tray of croissants, seeming to fully and completely trust her in handing them out. Then, Marinette slips, sending the croissants everywhere.

Tom never helped her afterward, by the way, only interfering once Chloe accuses Marinette of being a thief. With my earlier point about how Marinette’s supposed clumsiness was only a problem when she had to do something for them, it seems like Tom and Sabine believe that physical pain is something that Marinette isn’t affected by.

Anyway, we can presume that “Rogercop” takes place before “Animaestro,” but that does not put Tom in a good light with how this would lead into it.

When Marinette was passing croissants around, Tom must’ve been watching her, since he’d already stepped away from the front of the class. With the way Marinette slipped backwards, it implies that something came out from underneath her. Presumably, Tom told Sabine about this incident and that’s what causes their nervousness in “Animaestro.”

But that’s the thing. Tom either presumed she slipped on nothing (which is a really pessimistic way to view his own daughter), or he believed that something was in her way in the middle of the stairs. If it’s the latter, it’s not Marinette’s fault. Marinette couldn’t be expected to look where she was going while carrying a massive tray of croissants; she could only walk safely and in the logical middle of her path to prevent any accidents.

So yes, their worry could very well come from somewhere, but that was a one-time thing and also not Marinette’s fault. Even if taking “Troublemaker” into consideration, that was when Marinette was on live TV and simultaneously having a case of bad luck. She had every reason to be nervous.

There’s just no support here. When Marinette insists that she’s ready while looking very confident, Tom and Sabine sigh in defeat, clearly reluctant to give her a tray of macaroons yet doing it anyway.

I’m starting to think any self-esteem issues that Marinette had pre-“Origins” wasn’t only because of Chloe.

[Who-ka Couffaine]

So… I’m not denying that there couldn’t be more episodes down the line that have Luka in them, but we’re a bit of a ways into the season and Luka has yet to show up. I’m pointing it out here because this would’ve been an opportunity for Luka and Marinette to interact. Marinette doesn’t have many people to talk to at the event and this would’ve been an amazing opportunity to get Tom, Sabine, and Chloe to meet and react to Luka for the first time.

Does Chloe hate Luka because he’s friends with Marinette? Do Tom and Sabine see the potential he has as Marinette’s love interest?

Luka plays an important role in the show because he’s the only one who’s been an actually good support system at making Marinette feel better. Everyone else has relatively poor records.

Is he absent due to Jagged Stone, because Luka is a fan of Jagged Stone and their meeting is in a later episode? It’s possible, but it would’ve been just as easy for Jagged to not be there since his role in the episode is to be part of the scheme (which wouldn’t be happening had Luka been there).

My point is, Kagami has shown up twice this season just so Marinette can panic and be miserable, but Luka isn’t there because the writers thought that the Marinette and Chloe team-up was more important.

Speaking of which…

[The Scheme Team]

Marinette and Chloe teaming up is not inherently a bad idea; I just think its execution is bad. When one thinks of team-ups between two rivals/enemies, they usually think about them declaring a truce to fight a common evil.

Kagami is not evil. If they were fighting against someone like Lila, that would be a different story, but they’re not.

This also means that the most prominent and influential females right now (because Alya has largely faded into the background) are ALL competing to get to Adrien.

Marinette, Chloe, Lila, and Kagami.

It’s not just lazy. It’s boring. It starts feeling less like these characters can have lives outside of Adrien and more like not even two of them can like each other while still liking Adrien.

And, to some degree (and being as generous/neutral as possible), I do understand the possible reasoning of both Marinette and Kagami in this episode.

Chloe is just Chloe, so she doesn’t need an explanation. “Stormy Weather 2” and “Catalyst” already confirmed that she’s still nasty regardless of if it’s post-“Malediktator” or not, so we’ll presume that it is since Adrien is wearing his outfit (minus Marinette’s hat; I feel like that’s a metaphor for something) from “Queen’s Battle.”

Kagami doesn’t know Marinette beyond the small things she’s seen and the fact that Adrien has talked about her. Kagami knows that Adrien is a pushover, so she’ll likely disregard what Adrien has said if what she’s seen disproves it. From “Frozer,” Kagami would see Marinette as someone who’s torn between Luka and Adrien. Since it’s implied that Kagami thinks that Adrien loves Marientte, perhaps she also thinks that Marinette’s hesitation is what’s keeping them from being together, hence her bluntness when talking to Marinette in the same episode. She might not like Marinette, but may see it as a challenge in romance.

In terms of her being “spiteful” towards Chloe and Marinette, I also understand it. Kagami saw both of them glaring at her and was likely trying to show that she won’t back down off of Adrien regardless of what they think. She’s giving them a message that, if they want Adrien, they’ll have to try harder.

In addition, Kagami glaring at Marinette in “Backwarder” and this episode makes sense from a standpoint of how Kagami may view “hesitation.” Marinette might be trying, but she still can’t say her feelings out loud. She keeps giving Adrien things instead of being upfront (a letter in “Backwarder” and a macaroon here), which Kagami could view as a waste of time.

As for Marinette… well, if this takes place after “Frozer,” then yes, it seems extremely odd for Marinette to suddenly seem to dislike Kagami, but from what the narrative has shown, I can understand her as well.

Marinette may have called Kagami the “Ice Queen,” but unless episodes are just that out-of-order, she must only know from word-of-mouth, as the Kagami in “Riposte” is pleasant toward Adrien. Thus, she was willing to let Kagami and Adrien have their moment of romance at the ice rink.

With Kagami’s directness in “Frozer,” however, Marinette may feel that Kagami is aggressive; perhaps too aggressive for Adrien. She wanted closure with her crush on Adrien, hence why she changed her mind, and “Backwarder” also intensified her panic over the matter. She seems to understand that Adrien and Kagami are not a couple yet, but that things will be too awkward if she doesn’t confess before they do.

Even if this takes place before “Frozer,” Marinette would still be left unsure about Kagami since they haven’t interacted and “Backwarder” could just make her paranoid since Kagami clearly has connections that she doesn’t.

And now we come to here, where Marinette makes a comment about Adrien “not knowing what [Kagami] is up to.”

This, I believe, is the fault of the narrative’s feelings toward Chloe and what has happened over the past season. Before Marinette actually starts glaring at Kagami, she’s concerned. It’s only after Chloe has told her story that Marinette changes her tune from concern to annoyance.

The story Chloe tells is very vague, but there are two things Marinette can infer from it.

The first is that Kagami, again, is very blunt and unlike Adrien. She doesn’t threaten Chloe exactly, but her words are strict and aggressive. This could give Marinette reason for concern about Adrien dating Kagami. She doesn’t know if Adrien knows how forward Kagami can be and Marinette has been scolded by the show at times for not being 100% nice, meaning that Kagami’s way of thinking goes against what Marinette has been taught.

The second is that Kagami may have taken Chloe’s seat. Now, Chloe is in no way trustworthy, but this is a very difficult situation from Marinette’s perspective. Adrien could’ve beckoned Kagami over or Kagami could’ve sat down herself, knowing how Chloe is, and we have no evidence that the seat was actually Kagami’s. Chloe could also just be embellishing the story to make herself look good.

The problem is that Marinette has not been treated well by the show in the episodes centering around Chloe’s “redemption.”

“Antibug” scolded her for not listening to Chloe, “Zombizou” told her to be nice to Chloe, and “Malediktator” scolded her for being happy that Chloe wasn’t around, even encouraging her to give Chloe a chance and excuse all bad future actions as “baby steps.”

I believe Marinette would trust Chloe’s word because things did not go well for her when she went against Chloe. She got scolded, people were akumatized, etc.

In addition, Kagami clearly snuggled up to Adrien with the ulterior motive of spiting both Marinette and Chloe. Regardless of how much Kagami enjoys the close contact, Adrien would think that Kagami is doing it out of affection and nothing else. Marinette could view that as something she’s against, much like how Lila has ulterior motives when showing affection towards Adrien.

In that respect, yes, I fully understand why Marinette could be turned against Kagami and lured by Chloe into doing something about it.

…That said, I do not approve of this subplot. Again, the execution is terrible and it takes a lot of thinking and justification to go from Marinette’s behavior in “Frozer” (regardless of chronological order, it aired first and would be remembered) to Marinette’s behavior here. It’s a big leap and just an awful idea when thinking about the natural progression that a series should aim for.

It didn’t have to be this way, because Chloe and Lila are already aggressive enough in their attempts. They’re already not against sabotage and this could’ve even been a Chloe and Lila team-up against Marinette and Kagami if their relationship had been defined in a previous episode.

The writers chose to only show Marinette and Kagami the more negative aspects of one another, which further strengthens this mentality that all four girls crushing on Adrien have to fight for him.

It’s much less of a hassle to call it “out of character” (which it is with all the hedging I had to do to make sense of it) and move on.

[Criticize Me, Captain!]

Episodes that directly address criticisms toward the show they’re in are rarely a good idea. They’re often salt-loaded episodes that try to silence criticism despite still having to be an actual story and not able to take the time out to go into detail. It’s already odd to see one of the people behind the show turned into an actual character, but putting it in an episode that’s self-aware of its audience’s complaints makes things far too obvious.

The actual criticisms being addressed are thankfully very few, but this episode feels specifically made just to do this, and everything else is revolving around that.

Marinette’s Sunday macaroons and Chloe’s distaste of Kagami were only introduced in this episode to mess with the soon-to-be-akumatized person. This isn’t even the first time the show has done this in this season, because Marinette made multiple gifts for Adrien’s future birthdays in “Chris Master” just so Chris could question her on them and force her to come up with a lie. They don’t do it to further Marinette’s character; they do it to move the one-time plot forward.

And Chloe’s distaste of Kagami could certainly come into play in a future episode, but there’s no reason why it couldn’t have been established in that theoretical episode instead. That’s different from something set up for an episode-specific situation and also looks suspicious when added to Marinette’s set-up.

The same goes for the fact that Chloe learns about Marinette’s crush on Adrien. It’s the “Gigantitan” method where it’s something we could’ve already inferred and was likely slipped in just to claim the episode as non-filler.

Heck, this isn’t even the first episode to focus on criticism in some way. “Stormy Weather 2” tried to prove how much characters had “developed” while simultaneously showing how little has actually changed. Chloe was the biggest example of this, just as she’s the biggest example here, still hating Marinette and being a horrible person despite this being post-“Malediktator.”

It’s just not wise to make an episode addressing criticism when the episode itself is very easy to criticize.

[Ani-outro]

There are certain things I can accept for the sake of comedy. I mean, again, I laughed at stuff that Chloe and Gabriel did in this episode. However, that doesn’t mean everything can be explained away as a simple joke or “just for comedy so you’re not supposed to think about it.”

I can’t get over Tom and Sabine treating Marinette like they don’t trust her with a simple task, especially when the episode exaggerates both Marinette’s clumsiness and when she’s clumsy just to prove them right and not make them look like unsupportive parents (they still do).

I can’t get over Chloe being angry at Marinette after “Maledikatator.”

I can’t get over the fact that 75% of what the episode does is just a set up to play up sympathy for the villain-of-the-day, nor can I get over a blatant line about judging a trailer before the actual media comes out.

There’s also one more thing I want to say, and it relates back to Marinette. It’s less about this episode and more about the escalation of Marinette’s attempts to plan ahead with Adrien.

Everything Marinette has done in almost the entire show has been for nothing. Multiples attempts by her have ended in failure because of things outside her control, and Adrien’s mixed signals continued giving her hope that he might feel something for her. More than anything, she wants closure on their relationship. She wants to confess because she wants him to know how she feels.

Marinette is someone who works for what she wants. She has a stronger determination than most people her age and she strives for perfection.

The more the universe snaps back at her, the more desperate Marinette becomes. The more it pushes her, the more she feels she has to do in order to get Adrien’s attention.

When one birthday present didn’t work, she planned multiple presents, likely hoping that he’ll see at least one of them as hers.

When he was shown to like macaroons in the same episode that he danced romantically with her, she started making one that was his favorite flavor, probably on the chance that it would be a reminder of that experience and show that she thought of him.

When her words wouldn’t convey her emotions multiple times, she tried writing her feelings instead.

The show keeps raising the stakes with Marinette’s attempts to get to Adrien’s heart and the only reason I can muster is that Marinette is beyond desperate. She’s fighting back against a narrative that refuses to let her have her moment. Regardless of how healthy it is, Marinette is dedicated to what she wants and is being driven insane by a goal that tries to stop her at every opportunity.

No amounts of compliments from Jagged Stone are going to make her feel better about that.

#category: salt #episode: Animaestro #category: long post #word count: over 4000 #other: ask and answer #((No heavy ''they could've done this'' since there's another post about that coming later in the day.))

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tsunrugi · 5 years

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I put a lot of effort in to this so thought it might be nice for it to live on somewhere more... permanent?? than twitter. It’s a look at the animation issues in Orion and how that underserves the story (which I DO NOT believe is any worse than a typical Inazuma story).

My Tumblr presence isn’t as well known as it is on Twitter, so some baselines:

- I really like Orion

- I don’t think Orion is terrible

- I don’t think Orion is a bad season of Inazuma.

Having said that - Orion’s animation issues, under the cut!

I talk a lot of shit about Orion’s animation, and I know I can come across as dismissive when I respond to every single criticism with “it’s the animation”. So I wanted to write this to explain a little better about what I mean when I say “animation’s shit”, and also delve in to a bit about how I go about thinking about my meta (bcs I use visual queues a lot!). Also I never went to film school and I don’t really know technical words so please excuse when I slip up with that. What I’m trying to get across is the feeling of the scenes more than the exact technical phrasing!!

To start I want to compare these two scenes - Tatsuya and Hiroto from vs Eisei and Hiroto and Fudou from just after vs America.

Quality of the lines aside, there’s some instant visual differences here. We’re introduced to Hiroto in a dark room, and when Tatsuya comes in we see him from over Hiroto’s shoulder. This kind of mid-shot, with Tatsuya entering from the background, invites us to think about the scene from Hiroto’s perspective. It also provides the space for Tatsuya to come *in* to the shot, closer to Hiroto, which he does. It’s showing to us Tatsuya’s attempts at becoming closer emotionally to Hiroto - if you put this scene on mute, you would still get an understanding of their relationship, with Hiroto being unresponsive and mostly stationary and Tatsuya being the physically active participant. We’re also put a little below Hiroto’s natural eye-line, so we’re looking *up* at Tatsuya, which pushes all kinds of subconscious understandings of height, verticality, etc etc. Hiroto is hiding, low. Tatsuya wants to pull him up. The framing helps sell this. It provides setup, path, and progression, as well as making the audience think not just about what Tatsuya is saying, but subtly pushing for us to think about it from Hiroto’s perspective (or at least, with a direct awareness of how Hiroto might react).

Compared to the Fudou and Hiroto, like, this is an interesting angle but I’m struggling to see what they want to tell us with it. The most I can think of is the high angle makes the audience feel almost voyeuristic?? I guess this works bcs we’re kind of looking in to something Fudou wants to keep hidden. But the mise en scene is all over the place. Which is funny bcs there’s not a lot of physical objects in that scene! With Hiroto and Tatsuya, the lockerroom is sparse - it gives the space for the action to play out. I don’t know what it’s doing here. Giving Hiroto a corner to lurk behind? But I want to pull out how static this scene is. The cuts are ordinary, and the frame holds on the same shot and angle for a really long time.

The frame I picked for Hiroto and Tatsuya moves from that, to close-ups as they talk, to showing Tatsuya’s progression across the room, making room for the other Eiseis to come in, and then eventually Hiroto pushing through all of the elements that crossed the emptiness of the lockerroom to get to him (or that have trapped him in what, at the start of this scene, is shown in a wide-shot as a big empty space). The scene ends with Hiroto and Tatsuya in the hallway, and Tatsuya chases after him and asks if he’s running away. The physicality of the scene - the arrangement of characters, and the MOVEMENT of characters - emphasises the dialogue. Tatsuya asks if Hiroto is running, & yeah, he is. He’s avoiding everything the Eiseis say to him. Again, if you watched this scene on mute, you would understand what is going on. Not just from a point-by-point perspective, but an emotional one. Framing, movement, expression, etc, are all used in this whole scene to tell us about the relationship Hiroto has with the rest of the team.

This movement of Tatsuya in to the space happens quickly, in much less time than is spent on Hiroto and Fudou’s initial exchange. Another thing to note is that as this is happening, even when Tatsuya stops, the ‘camera’ still moves, panning across - the movement is carried through which emphasises the ‘closing in’ on Hiroto. In Hiroto’s close-up talking shot that follows, the ‘camera’ pans UP, again reminding us visually of the lower/higher dichotomy between him and Tatsuya, and how that reflects both of their current emotional states.

The Hiroto and Fudou scene has two visual levels. The first one up top, and standard dialogue close-ups. It makes you feel nothing (that’s a lie, it made me feel weird bcs I have no visual storytelling to try and work out what the hell is going on). I actually like this scene, and I think it’s one of the better ones from recent Orion. But I have no idea how to take what Fudou is saying, or even Hiroto for that matter, bcs the dialogue is doing 90% of the work. If you watched this scene on mute you would have no idea of the relationship between these characters, or the severity of what they’re talking about (I’m gonna come back to this). Visually it’s stagnant, and visually it’s not doing its job at conveying the actions and emotions of the characters.

With the first cap and these two… is the entire visual variation in the whole scene. An extreme high POV to a slightly low one. There’s no panning. There’s no movement. You get nothing that really tells you about their relationship, what the stakes are, and the only hint at how they’re thinking is that Hiroto is ticked off. It’s flat, it’s static, and it’s barely visually engaging.

Last thing I want to talk about is lighting. Lighting is HUGE in the Hiroto/Tatsuya scene. He’s in almost complete darkness at the start, and that’s broken by Tatsuya opening the door and demanding to know why he wasn’t at practice. This combination of dialogue/action/LIGHT further feeds in to what we need to know about these characters. Hiroto is overwhelmed physically by the darkness around him. And in barges Tatsuya, with a whole lot of *light*. Tatsuya is visually directly tied to light and with that basic light/dark symbolism that we as an audience can pick up on quickly. I’ve mentioned that I’m not necessarily trying to say I think Inazuma is masterful and subtle - and this scene shows it doesn’t *have* to be. Yeah, the light/dark thing is pretty obvious, but that’s because it works!

There are other uses of light in this scene too which are really cool. Hiroto is alone in this big space, in the dark, but we’re introduced to him with the light of his phone illuminating his face, and reflecting in his eyes. It’s the start of the visual metaphor that he feels alone, small, isolated, and he WANTS to find something else. He won’t say he craves affection, but the visuals tell us that he wants it anyway. It also sets up that he’s looking to light… and then in comes Tatsuya, with light. As the scene progresses and the other Eiseis join in, the very first thing they do? Switch on the light. All of the darkness is gone. And this is when Hiroto tries to escape, because his security and his cover and his excuses that he’s OK with being alone are completely blown away by the gradual introduction of light. CONNECTION is LIGHT. This is a Big reason why again, muted, you would get the emotional beats of this scene.

Fudou and Hiroto has One lighting setting. It has two (maybe three) angles, one of which is a standard dialogue one. Hiroto and Tatsuya in the hallway plays with positioning of the closer-cut dialogue scenes that again pushes Hiroto visually away from the other players, so it’s not like these scenes can’t be interesting either. And they try with the Hiroto/Fudou one, but it’s half-managed at best.

Hiroto has a ‘close up’ dialogue shot, but his position on the far right (with Tatsuya to his left) emphasises his distance. It makes a boring shot contain valuable information.

Orion isn’t that great with its lighting. Most of it is presented in the same average light. But we do get a few good scenes with interesting lighting - some Ichihoshi stuff, and a LOT of the Asuto stuff (on the Skytree, and when he gets kidnapped come to mind). It’s not consistent, which is really a shame, because they’ve used lighting so well in the past to convey mood/emotion. Only keeping it for the really important scenes throws the whole show off balance imo.

---

Now for the severity of what Hiroto and Fudou are talking about. Lucky us, we have several characters-out-for-injury scenes to compare this to, so I’m going to do that. Keep in mind that everything I’ve said about the Hiroto/Fudou scene is basically all I have to say about the visuals in their scene. It’s not a whole lot. Everything else I think about that scene comes from the dialogue alone (but also Hiroto’s cute expressions, I guess I should add that). The end to the scene in the following episode with Fudou’s final words actually add a bit, but they just make the whole thing feel more *weird* to me, and the only visually noteworthy thing is that Fudou’s words are given impact by the straight-to-camera framing. Still no interesting movement or lighting or object placement.

Having said that let’s revisit my own trauma from ep. 2, when Gouenji is injured in vs Korea.

I understand the Hiroto/Tatsuya scene is very long, and the Hiroto/Fudou scene is very short. This bit with Gouenji and Kidou is also pretty short, but it does a LOT. It opens like this, with the two of them trying to work out what could have happened. Gouenji is visibly exhausted and this is emphasised by the angle of shots like this, which is slightly downward pointing! Also what is interesting is that for a lot of this, we don’t get clear shots of Kidou’s face. We have ones like this, where it’s over his shoulder, or ones where he’s speaking close-up in profile. I said above how the straight-to-camera from Fudou was impactful - this is because it’s the character directly calling the audience to the scene. The way Kidou is presented, with us being kept from seeing his whole face, does the opposite. This tells us a bunch about Kidou as a character- that he’s holding his physical self back to avoid vulnerability- and it’s implying a level of emotional distance from him. This is especially true when we’re given a lot of clearly visible Gouenji-is-suffering shots. We’re meant to know 1) Gouenji is in pain, and 2) we’re being visually detached from Kidou’s reaction to it. (also… gouenji… the good boy… he’s doing his best to engage w Kidou on the let’s-solve-this-mystery level when he’s in such pain… you know what this does… it tells us abt gouenji as a character and his values and his perseverance adhahkajshd).

But then this scene shifts. It could have very easily been all done with Kidou standing above Gouenji, with our idea of Kidou as someone who is distant, who is not emotionally drawn to what has happened, who is more concerned about solving how one of his teammates got injured than that teammate themself. But then we get the second half of this scene:

SO MUCH happens with this simple change of shot, positioning, and angle. The previous cap is from right before this, so Gouenji is initially looking away, but Kidou’s moving shocks him in to looking directly at him. This tells us that Kidou has done something that even one of his closest friends was surprised by! Also what Kidou has done is move himself from being *above* Gouenji - visually more distant, emotionally more closed off - and put himself not just on the same level as a character that has been established as physically suffering, but slightly below his eyeline. It moves him in physically closer and more visually level to a character he views as important, and someone who is his equal. The way this frame is presented is straight up telling us not only about the closeness of these characters (by allowing us to see and understand their spatial positioning in relation to each other, and drawing attention to how it’s much closer and more intimate than it was before), but is in direct contrast to Kidou in the earlier part of this very short scene. He’s not keeping himself above, he’s not emotionally disconnected, he’s actually incredibly upset by what has happened and he’s being presented in a surprising way to let us know just how seriously he’s taking all of this.

It’s so so important that Kidou is visually on the same level as Gouenji here, because it adds so much weight to his dialogue. If they had kept him standing, his “I won’t let this be the end for you” would come as an addition to his more emotionally detached investigation in to what could have led to this. This change in pose and increase in visual closeness lets us know that everything he says like this is something that is coming from his heart. Since Kidou in Ares was presented as a pretty distant character, and we have all of this previous information abt how he acts and where he puts himself physically to draw on, we know how to judge the severity of this scene. And look as resident obsessive Gouenji fan, I wasn’t worried about his injury until we got to this point, bcs this is a big shift in how injuries are normally framed, and it set off all the alarm bells. Fudou says in his scene that “this FFI isn’t something so easy [to push through with an injury]”, which is our only indication of how serious his injury is. With Gouenji and Kidou’s dialogue, yes, we get things like “I won’t let this end for you”, which indicates to severity - but so much more of it is sold in the way the scene itself is presented.

This is the other scene where we find out a character is injured to the point where they won’t be able to stay in the main team. And just look at it. Look at their symmetry. Look at their distance. We’re treated to an entire episode of homecomings and reconnections, and this one is instantly distinguished by the distance between the characters. This visual arrangement should be setting off warning bells for the audience, because we know they’re brothers, we know they’re really close! Why are they so far apart?

When Atsuya starts his dialogue, it falls in to place. Shirou is injured, and Atsuya has come to confront him about it. This visual distance between them is interesting, bcs it emphasises how these two actually aren’t all that close when it comes to their personal struggles - especially from Shirou, who keeps a Lot of things from Atsuya (like his injury). It’s setting us up to expect not the easy relationship we had assumed, but one that is far more complex and nuanced. We’re shown them like this, from a distance. We’re shown their dialogue close-ups together on a horizontally cut frame - and while we can see them both at once, we’re made aware of their separation. They’re visually broken by a bordering line, which informs how we read and understand the scene as a whole.

This scene goes on with a lot of little expression changes from Shirou, which is always nice. And as it progresses, it also closes the physical/visual distance between them.

Notice how it’s Atsuya who moved. Shirou is confused, and faced with choices we know later to be very difficult for him, and he isn’t opening up about it - even to his own brother. Atsuya started far away, and in his dialogue accusatory, but he moved closer to his stationary (paralysed?) brother. He’s asserting their relationship. He’s saying “you are important to me”, not with words, but with visual placement. Atsuya is going to be an active force in this relationship. Just these two frames tells us about the current situation (Shirou closing himself off), their relationship (duality), their personalities (Shirou is more reserved/hesitant, Atsuya is more active). We know about the severity of Fubuki’s injury because of how this distance is played with, visually. And it’s so simply set up. It *works*. Again, in a very short scene, we’ve got a lot to work with from a character analysis level and a plot level. The dialogue supports the visuals, and the visuals support the dialogue.

So, back to that Fudou and Hitoto scene. What visuals are there? Fudou and Hiroto’s spatial distance doesn’t change all that much. Their eyeline doesn’t change, the angles they’re presented at don’t change enough to be engaging imo, and we get very little visual representation of the level of their relationship.

With the exception of this initial high angle, it’s not very interesting to look at. It’s static. And it’s almost entirely carried by the dialogue. This is what I mean by the fundamental issues that come up are from the quality of the animation - the layout, the storyboarding, the colour, the direction. The visuals have been used in other scenes to fill in a lot of information, and to underline the dialogue for us, the audience, to better understand the relationship between characters. It’s not just about them being in the same physical space and saying things to each other. It’s about *how* they’re presented in that space, how they’re visually arranged, how the light affects things, etc. Even if all the best characters got in the same place and shared plot details (which they have done in Orion, and it’s been pretty dull) you’re not going to get the feeling of engagement that the well done scenes of Inazuma provide.

Closing out to say I picked the Hiroto/Tatsuya/Eisei scene from Ares bcs it’s one I’d watched recently and remembered well enough to write this without another detailed rewatch. But that kind of scene is a *standard* in Ares, whereas I do think the Kidou/Gouenji and Fubukis scenes are *exceptions* in Orion. There are other good scenes, but it’s nowhere near as consistent and the shockingly done episodes (from an animation standpoint) are just so so terrible. I hope this clears up my approach to Orion complaints!

Stray thoughts:

The Hiroto/Tatsuya/Eisei scene is from their intro episode and very succinctly gives us everything we need to know about their relationship, base personality, and dynamic. Again it’s not just the dialogue that does this: it’s the movement, lighting, and arrangement of the scene itself!

In contrast, the Hiroto/Fudou scene tells us nothing about their relationship even though these are two well established characters who have had previous interaction. Is it a coincidence that they met in Orion and yet we know nothing about their dynamic? There’s only so much animation budget to go around and it just shows how your favourites just being present won’t fix the issues with the visual storytelling.

The Shirou/Atsuya scene is also pretty static and simple in visual structure, but it uses its limited frames to actually get across meaning, unlike the Hiroto/Fudou one.

This budget/lower quality animation issue really affects characters like Fudou and Gouenji, who both express a lot through their expressions rather than their words. Hiroto and characters like the Inakunis can get away with it bcs they’re talkative in general, but for other characters the visual storytelling is really vital to their development and ideas actually getting across on screen.

#inazuma eleven #inazuma eleven ares no tenbin #inazuma eleven ares #inazuma eleven orion no kokuin #inazuma eleven orion

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lukes-writing · 5 years

Text

Chapter 2: Out of Body

Project introduction | Previous chapter | Next chapter

Word count: 2900 Warnings: Soft drugs usage

September 22nd, 10:33 AM, Great Moors district, Trinity Gate

The blinds of the large room are impenetrably closed, all the lights are switched off. The only source of light is the flickering flame of a scented candle in front of the girl who is the only person in the room. She is sitting in a lotus position with hands resting on her lap. She inhales the heady smell of the candle, helping her to relax even more, to let go of all the tension and focus only on her own thoughts.

The room is silent except for an occasional screech coming from one of the four budgies which reside in a large aviary occupying the corner of the room. The girl has them named - Godric (pink), Rowenna (blue), Helga (yellow) and Salazar (green). It’s no wonder she chose such names - another prominent part of the room is a massive wooden bookshelf carrying hundreds of books.

However, the girl doesn’t focus on either the birds or the books. When she feels completely relaxed, she lays on a soft carpet like a plank and starts to detach. She soothes her mind to get on the verge of sleeping, but she doesn’t fall asleep. Instead, she starts to visualize two versions of herself - her physical body and her consciousness as two separate entities. It took years to master and the first attempts were usually unsuccessful, but now, at nineteen, she’s able to detach rather easily.

She already doesn’t feel her body, but not in a numb way. It’s almost like her body was something unnecessary she can leave behind freely. Then, something starts to happen behind her closed eyes. A light, almost like an open gate. When she saw the gate for the first time, she backed off and woke up immediately, afraid to go further. Now, she just embraces it and completes the detach.

The girl’s astral body, or a soul, as some people prefer to call it, slips out of the body, almost like peeling a sticker off a surface. Then, when the last bit of her astral body leaves the material body, she slips through the light which guides her into the Astral Plane. The girl can see again, even though her physical eyes are closed. The room she sees is seemingly unchanged, except for the unexplainable feeling of unreality it gives now.

She looks down and sees her sleeping physical body, visible only faintly in the candle’s glow. The thing that glows brighter is a rope made of silver light which emerges from the belly of her physical body and ends in the same spot of her astral body.

The two parts of her being are now apart, but still connected. The girl’s astral face smiles. Now she’s not restricted by the limitations of the physical body. She can… fly! She spreads her arms and, with a mere thought, ascends through the roof, above her house, into the morning sunshine. The silver rope, called a “lifeline”, extends according to her needs, always connected with her physical body.

This never gets old, she thinks as she looks at her surroundings from above. She sees the solar panels on the roof of the eco-friendly mansion her family owns, the garden in front of the house, the greenhouses, fields and farms typical for the Great Moors district.

She can roam anywhere she wants. Just a thought is enough to carry her into any direction. Maybe today, she will make it all the way to Hestia, the capital of the Commonwealth of Great Moors located on the borders of Montana and South Dakota. A few days ago, she made it all the way to Iowa before her physical body started to get restless and violently sucked her astral self back into it.

She has heard about people who can cross thousands of kilometers in a blink of an eye while in the Astral Plane, but she hasn’t reached such levels yet.

After spending a little longer floating above their mansion, the girl’s astral body starts flying to the west. Like always, her detach is accompanied by feelings of happiness and absolute freedom. The slight toothache she suffers from is also gone - the tooth is a part of her physical body she left behind.

“I’m going on an adventure!” she shouts even though nobody in the material world can hear her and the Astral Plane is usually empty. She accelerates, flying towards the fence which creates a border between the city of Trinity Gate and the state of Indiana, a part of the Commonwealth of Great Moors.

Then suddenly, her astral body is violently taken back into her physical body. In a matter of seconds, she flies all the way back to their mansion, through the roof and into her body. Her soul is screaming the whole time.

Whisper Johanna Archer-Gutenberg sits up, gasping for breath. Her head is spinning and it takes her a while to get oriented - like every time her soul returns to her body too abruptly. After she settles up a bit, she realizes the blinds in her room have been open and there’s someone in the room with her.

“Libby!” Whisper yells at the girl who woke her up. “Just… just how many times do I have to tell you not to wake me up when I’m out of body? It can be dangerous! You have to be crazy!” She hates that her voice is ridiculously high-pitched and keeps changing tone when she’s angry. It makes her sound… less intimidating.

Her sister sneers at her. “Out of body? Sure. I bet you were tripping on this,” she looks at the remaining half of a joint resting in a small ashtray on Whisper’s bedside table.

Whisper already gave up on explaining the astral travel to her sister who is a skeptic just like their parents. “Are you going to judge me for that?” Whisper spits out.

“Nah, that shit is legal for some time now, isn’t it?” Libby replies. She is a slim, pretty girl with short, blonde hair and intelligent brown eyes. Judging from her outfit, a skirt suit which subtly accentuates her curves, she’s heading to work soon. She is twenty-five, six years older than Whisper.

Her full name is Liberty Camilla Archer-Gutenberg. The Archer-Gutenberg siblings discussed their parents’ strange name choices countless times - the two sisters have an older brother who goes by the name Knight Edward. They came to a conclusion their parents wanted to somehow compensate for the fact their names are Jack and Mary, the most basic names anyone can think of.

“I hope you at least have a good reason for waking me up,” Whisper mutters when she finally gets on her feet. The four budgies in the corner of the room greet the sun with an apparent whistling contest and Whisper strides towards them to feed them.

“I do,” Libby replies. “Uncle John is here to speak with you.”

“Do you mean uncle Wiccan?” Whisper corrects her.

The older girl rolls her eyes. “No, I mean uncle John. Maybe you play along with him, but I refuse to deal with the bullshit he sticks to since he married that Ophelia woman.”

Whisper once again ignores her and leaves her room. Wiccan Salisbury was born as John Archer, younger brother of Jack Archer, Whisper’s father. Later, he took the surname of his wife and changed his first name, too. Wiccan fits him much better, Whisper thinks.

The girl descends the stairs to the large, airy atrium of the Archer-Gutenberg mansion where she’s greeted by the three dogs the family owns - a female golden retriever, a corgi and an especially large specimen of the Irish wolfhound. They follow the same naming pattern as Whisper’s budgies - Arwen, Frodo and Gandalf.

Wiccan is already standing there, just like every time - casual, smiling, dressed in a leather jacket, white T-shirt, basic jeans and sneakers. “Wisp, good to see you!” he greets her with his trademark, slightly breathy voice, probably affected by the fifteen years of smoking he quit some years ago.

“Uncle Wiccan!” Whisper cheers and her voice grows into falsetto once again, this time out of joy. “What brings you here? I haven’t seen you in a while!”

“That’s for a longer talk,” Wiccan replies. “What would you say about a short walk?”

After looking at the uncle and the niece together, one has immediately an idea which one of her relatives has the biggest impact on Whisper.

Just like her uncle, the girl wears her hair braided into long, fair dreadlocks, long enough to reach her waist. She’s wearing an airy green sleeveless dress with floral pattern, soft and thin like a spider web, ending above her knees. On principle, she always walks barefoot unless the situation asks for some kind of shoes. This is, however, not the case, so the girl walks beside her uncle with nothing on her feet.

It would be unfair to say Whisper is not pretty, but not all people can appreciate her authentic type of beauty. She doesn’t wear any make-up and her face usually shines with a smile some people may consider strange or even uncanny. Her dreamy eyes usually have a spaced-out look. They are hazel-colored, fluctuating between brown and green according to the lighting.

This combination can make the girl appear a bit like a lunatic, but those who know her know it’s nothing but a part of her complex, dreamer personality.

Whisper and Wiccan walk together through the Great Moors district. They pass several eco-friendly, futuristic-looking houses and mansions similar to theirs. They also see large greenhouses whose glass walls reflect the golden sunlight. The gardeners are working on the fields and garden beds inside. The greenhouses can simulate any type of climate thanks to advanced technology, allowing them to grow many types of fruit, vegetables and crops. Outside the greenhouses, there are also vast animal farms and ranches which successfully combine traditional methods and modern technology.

The girl loves this district - besides the farms and greenhouses, there are also beautiful parks, forests, lakes, adorable ponds and natural swimming pools. Whisper is a nature lover and taking a long way in the woods is her everyday ritual. She sometimes meditates or practices violin there when nobody is around.

Whisper picks a flower from the flower bed lining the pavement they’re walking and weaves them into her hair - that’s what she frequently does. Then she turns to Wiccan. “So? What did you want to discuss?” she asks him with a smile. While she loves all of her family, she always prefers the presence of her alternative uncle over her boring, materialistic nuclear family.

“Where should I start,” Wiccan thinks out loud. “Wisp, remember when I taught you the techniques of astral traveling? Have you been perfecting this skill?”

“Of course I have! I once made it to Iowa before my physical body disturbed the travel!” Whisper boasts. She speaks with a singsong voice which frequently changes tone and loudness. It makes her sound like she was a part of a theatrical play even though she’s just shopping for groceries.

“Very good,” Wiccan nods. “The thing is - me and some of my friends, including Ophelia, are trying to assemble a team of people with special talents and abilities for… a certain job.”

“Really?!” Whisper’s eyes brighten up; they appear green in the sunlight. “Like… a Hogwarts letter? Charles Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters? Like the…”

“Not really,” Wiccan interrupts her before his niece can overwhelm him with fictional schools and academies. “In order to join, you have to give up some romantic ideas about such things you have from books.”

Whisper scowls. “Why so?”

Wiccan looks at her with a strange expression. “I haven’t interacted with you much lately, did I? Now I can tell you it was because one of my closest friends died in action. Even though it’s not the first time, it’s always an off-putting experience.”

His niece looks at him with a betrayed look in her eyes. “Uncle Wiccan! Since I was little, you kept telling me you’re working as a researcher in AgriCo Trinity Gate,” her voice starts low, but once again escalates into much higher pitch as her emotions grow stronger. “And now you’re just casually telling me you have a job which involves people dying? Have you been lying to me all this time?”

“Well,” Wiccan sighs, “it’s not the kind of job I can talk about. I’ll try to explain.”

Wiccan examines his niece with his eyes and, for the first time, he feels doubt. Does he have a right to expose his niece to the dangers of working for The Society involves? Whisper is tiny. Rather short, with a thin frame. Not slim or lean. Thin.

Her limbs look gentle and fragile. There are only slight hints of feminine curves underneath her clothes - people often find amusement in comparing Whisper to her beautiful, tall, curvy sister. It looks like God forgot to distribute certain things evenly here. There is also a running joke claiming Whisper changed the way she looks and acts because she likes the nickname “Hippie girl” more than “Surfboard”.

On the other hand, the man knows Whisper is intelligent and headstrong. And her ability to detach her soul from her body can make her a valuable ally.

Whisper catches the look he’s giving her. “No need to worry,” she says with a firm voice. “People think I’m weak, but I’m not. Whatever job you have for me, I can do it.”

This is not the first time Whisper appears to be capable of mind reading. However, there’s not anything supernatural about it. The girl is naturally empathetic and can read anyone’s body language like one of the many books she has in her room. She can work as a natural lie detector with surprising accuracy. It can be both a blessing and a curse. Sometimes people feel things that make Whisper hurt.

“Are you sure about this, Wisp? You don’t even know what does it involve.”

“Look, uncle. I was born as a third daughter of the Archer-Gutenberg family, the founders and owners of Sagittarius Plantations, the biggest agricultural company in Trinity Gate. They expect me to study economy, something I hate with all my heart, and they also expect I will be as successful as Knight and Libby. Which I can never be, at least in the fields our parents consider important.”

Wiccan silently listens to the girl’s vent. This is the first time she talks so openly about her position in the family. So far, she always seemed ready to do what she has to do, but now it seems she has doubts.

Whisper continues: “They don’t see I’m… yeah, it’s a cliché to say this, but I’m different from them. I don’t give a twig about the company. I… I just want to be myself, nothing more, but they want to mold me into a businesswoman, an heiress of the empire. Like they didn’t already have two.” She looks at Wiccan. “You are the only one who understands this. So I’m willing to follow you no matter where you take me.”

First, Wiccan has to resist the urge to laugh at the girl’s habit to replace profanity with innocent words - Whisper’s legendary phrase Egg this! successfully made its way into his own vocabulary. Then, he gets overwhelmed by Whisper’s sincere loyalty.

He knows that Jack and Maria, Wiccan’s brother and sister-in-law and Whisper’s parents, are boring people with money on their minds. But he wasn’t aware they make Whisper this unhappy. She seemed reconciled with her fate which involved studying at the First University of Trinity Gate and then starting to work in the company alongside her older siblings.

But now, she probably saw a chance to escape this fate and grasped it firmly.

“But first,” Whisper says, “so we can be sincere with each other, I have to know who you really are and what you do. It seems that everything I know is a lie, isn’t it?”

“Not everything,” Wiccan replies. “The only thing I lied about was the true nature of my job. But as I already said, it’s not something I can talk about with people who don’t need to know.”

“And do I need to know now?”

“I guess so. In fact, I’ve been preparing you for this moment for some time now - it cost me many arguments with Jack, but screw him. He blamed me that I’m attempting to steal his daughter away, like you were some kind of commodity. From the start, I knew you’re destined for something better than sitting behind the desk and counting money. Now it’s your turn to prove I was right.”

The girl’s eyes are once again shining with zeal and enthusiasm. Maybe she’s a bit too eager, Wiccan thinks. He didn’t allow ELIPSA to create a file about her, just like they did with Parker and yeah, also about him when he was a new recruit. Even without the file which would contain everything from the girl’s privacy, he decided Whisper is perfect for the job.

“I can’t tell you much right now, but if you follow my instructions, you will know everything soon,” Wiccan tells the girl. “Now let’s just continue the walk, should we?”

Whisper seems that the idea of waiting isn’t pleasant to her, but she doesn’t object.

Author’s Note

I hope you enjoyed meeting Whisper, one of my favorite characters I’ve written :)

I also wholeheartedly thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed the chapter, and if you did, please leave a comment, send me a message or share and let more people know about this story! You can also consider a small donation at www.paypal.me/lukassladky. Have a great day and stay tuned for the next chapter!

#writeblr #writers #my writing #urban fantasy #original fiction #TeamDreamcatcher

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yaboylevi · 5 years

Note

Hello! I find your theories very appealing. I would like to ask you what do you think about bond between Levi and Eren from the perspective of recent informations? Eren said that Ackermans form that kind of relationship "in order to protect Eldia`s king" on subconsscious lvl. Do you think that Levi dismissing the idea of killing Eren almost immidiately while having a hedache means that he is influenced like that? Thank you for your time!

Hello everyone, I was surprised to receive so many questions about this topic. This meta has become massive, as I analyzed some interactions throughout the whole manga. Feel free to add your thoughts on it.

Disclaimer:

I’ve seen people argue that Mikasa’s actions make sense even if she wasn’t controlled by her blood, and I agree (112!Eren was probably exaggerating, anyway). And it certainly stands for Levi’s actions as well.

The chances of Levi being bonded to Eren are very slim, in my opinion, and I don’t want him to be, if I had to be honest, but for the sake of answering these questions, and because the most recent chapter is purposely asking us to consider it, I will now ramble about it.

More under the cut.

My experience with ch112 has been me reading the Japanese script first. I was crushed by the EMA talk, then I expected the worst even from Levi’s part, as the page that first leaked seemingly had Levi losing faith in Eren. So I read the soldiers announcing that the plan was to feed Eren to someone, then Levi starting wondering if it even had been worth it to protect Eren, considering all the sacrifices humanity had made. Then it shifted to Levi completely shutting down the idea. No, he said, he would have none of it. He didn’t even care if Eren was controlled or not, he would not kill him. He would kill someone else, feed it to a random person and then titanize Historia. I was blown away. Because I thought Levi to be very opposed to this titan-Historia plan. And I always knew Levi cared about Eren, but it was crazy to read Levi so explicitly confirm it.

Then the chapters images dropped. Mikasa held her head because of a headache, just when Eren was challenging her about it. And right after that, when Levi was debating if he would allow Eren to be killed, he held his head in seemingly (emotional) pain and/or frustration. An Ackerman holding his head just when Eren has just finished talking about Ackerman’s headachesーWait what?!

Images of Mikasa softly placing her hand to the side of the head came immediately to mind. I think it was intentional on Isayama’s part. The coincidence was too obvious to ignore.

So I started thinking about all those times I made fun of Levi for being overprotective of Eren, starting with one of the most recent examples, with Yelena. There is, of course, a logical reason for it, but…But.

What about that time in the Forest of Giant Trees, when Levi was way too much in synch with Eren, just like Mikasa.

This one always felt weird. I loved this parallel. I always attributed Mikasa’s reaction to her overbearing protectiveness, plus she had actually heard Eren’s roar once, in Trost. But Levi had never heard it, as far as we know, he had barely known Eren for a month. It just looked weird and funny in my eyes, and I often joked around with my friends about it, like “Levi, you fool, you’ve known him for like 10 minutes, why are you acting like Mikasa”. But now…I’m reconsidering every interaction Eren and Levi had, from the very start.

Curiously enough, Levi’s first thought when thinking about Eren in 112 is also the very first time he saw him. Eren, so vulnerable. It’s a sweet memory. Levi had found EMA at just the right moment and saved them. When hearing about Eren’s most recent deed, Levi thinks of Eren’s face in a moment of weakness and confusion, instead of, like, this other panel below. Once, the first thing Levi thought about when talking about Eren was this:

Now it’s this.

I feel like Levi’s opinion of Eren has subtly changed over the years, from someone who inspires power and fear, to someone who inspires protection.

The panel above could be attributed to Levi’s next line of thoughts about all the times he had to save Eren, but that time in Trost is the exception because no one had ordered Levi to save Eren. Yet, he still somehow found him. Mikasa says her bond “wasn’t born by chance”. It’s because it was Eren. Now I wonder if it wasn’t fated that the two Ackermans would find Eren.

This put aside, their next meeting is the famous one, in the courtroom prisons. It’s the first time we see one of the most stoic character, as stoic as Mikasa, show such a strong, impressed reaction to someone. Even before Eren proclaims his intent, his vision we could say, Levi is shaken.

He decides he will protect him. Erwin probably had already decided this, but I feel Levi was kinda opposed to it before this moment. Levi chose to do so only when hearing such strong-willed words from Eren’s mouth. Words that seem to match Levi’s own vision, as he had just proclaimed as much just hours before on the battlefield.

I’ve always liked this interaction, but I’ve never really thought about the meaning it had in the story. It could simply be a means, like in any other shonen, to show the protagonist’s efforts and value be acknowledged by a not-so-easily impressionable character. Here, Levi’s decision is based simply on Eren’s will, which is Eren’s main trait. But there could be more. Every panel seems to always convey something specific in this manga, and as time progresses and more info are revealed, the meaning of certain panels changes.

Particular focus was put on Levi’s reaction in the anime, too. Could be a strategic move to stir female fans, but the manga focuses on it, as well.

Then, some other interactions have a kind of weird feel when it comes to Levi’s behavior in regards to Eren.

Levi stands in the middle between people who might decide to kill Eren (Zackley, and in 112, it parallels to Pixis, who is in Zackley’s place now) and Eren himself. No need to mention that Levi’s beating was merely a farce, due to Erwin’s orders with the goal to save Eren. Levi, in the visual novel, says he didn’t like it, but it was necessary to save his life. In this occasion, Eren screams “Bet on me!” and I idly wonder if this could be the order an Ackerman needs.

Currently, Levi is totally betting on Eren still being their only hope for freedom.

After that, a totally unjustified gut feeling tells Levi to protect Eren, even if he was absolutely pissed just mere seconds before and he has no reason to trust Eren with his titan.

Then, in the forest, again for no reason at all, he jeopardizes Erwin’s plans when he gives free choice to Eren. If Eren had decided to fight the Female Titan, it would have never reached the point where Erwin and the other soldiers were waiting for it. Levi has always given precise orders to his subordinates. But he left free choice to Eren.

The same happened in the Reiss cave. They were about to die, and instead of thinking about a solution himself, or giving some orders, he recognized Eren’s will and left him a choice. They could’ve died, but he decided to trust Eren. These could simply be ways for Isayama to let the protagonist grow and gain experiences that will shape him in the future, but usually, the characters act for very specific reasons. I’ve always believed it was because Eren and Levi are fundamentally really similar and Levi understood this and respected and accepted Eren because of it. It could still be it. But now I am reconsidering Levi’s reasons for trusting Eren so much in the first place, since the very beginning.

Now, when it comes to Erwin’s orders conflicting with protecting Eren…

In Stohess, Levi, upon Erwin’s orders, couldn’t participate in the battle, and, when hearing Eren’s roar again, he looks like this.

In the Forest of Giant Trees, when Erwin prevents Levi to get to his squad and to Eren, it very much looks like Levi wants to oppose it, but he trusts Erwin, his current liege.

In Shiganshina, the same happens.

Towards the end of that battle, when Levi sees Eren again, he looks distraught.

Then he recomposes himself and comes up with a half-assed plan that would cause his own demise and that of everyone else, but Erwin and Eren would survive, and that’s all that matters because they are the hope of humanity for Levi. Sounds familiar? Yeah, it sounds like the plan in chapter 112, a pretty bold plan that goes directly against orders ー its faults clearly pointed out by othersー and is based on sacrificing important people in order to protect “hope”.

The timing of Levi clutching his head in the latest chapter was suspicious. It might not be a headache, but I think Isayama wants to make us wonder, of course.

I…honestly don’t want Levi to be ackerbonded to Eren and he probably isn’t, as I said before. I want every one of their interactions to be nothing but genuine, between two people who understand and trust each other on a basic, instinctual level, without even an ounce of magical and/or scientific stuff in the middle.

But Eren has the Founder and it looks like Ackermans were made to protect it. I wouldn’t find it farfetched if fate, or “Paths”, whatever, brought all the Ackermans to be around Eren. Mikasa and Levi specifically, both with the self-appointed mission to protect Eren. Levi’s has never made us suspect anything because it was also his official mission in the SC. But both Ackermans are making the same pained expression when finally confronting Eren in Marley, and it can’t be a coincidence.

The images are so painfully similar, they overlap (my friend checked lol).

I am aware Ackermans can still have independent feelings for their host. If Kenny’s granddad’s story taught us anything, it would be that the Ackermans can ideologically oppose their host’s decisions. I am unsure if they can, physically, but I bet they can. Eren seems to think the bond works both mentally and physically, like a twilight imprint, minus the romantic aspect of it. But I don’t think the Ackermans’ most inner feelings are influenced, albeit the bond possibly forming during an “extreme situation” when the Ackerman (or the Liege?) is in life-threatening danger is certainly worrying. You know, trauma and bad coping mechanisms.

About those knee-jerk reactions Eren called Mikasa out on, I’d like to point out Levi’s punch to Eren in Shiganshina (possibly in response to the instinct to protect Erwin) and Mikasa’s subsequent violent reaction to Levi (possibly in response to her instinct to protect Eren).

But there’s another instance, in Levi’s visual novel “Burning Bright in the Forest of the Night”, that happens when Levi hears Eren’s roar.

“Facing that conclusion head on [that Eren is in danger], he flies like a released arrow. His heart - it is as cold as ice.”

I have no idea what will happen next, if Levi will survive or how he’ll react to Eren’s new…personality. But not even Eren using the SC to attack an entire nation could make Levi lose faith in him, not even knowing that Eren is working with Zeke and most probably asked Levi not to kill his brother, not even hearing Eren has escaped from prison and he’s leading a coup. Just like when Levi found out Erwin’s dream was more important than humanity’s survival, even if shocked, Levi has decided to accept and trust the man.

I can’t wait to see Eren and Levi meeting again. A mentor-mentee relationship surely calls for more, even if Levi’s headache in 112 isn’t really a headache. I don’t think the story requires a new Ackerbond with Eren when there’s Mikasa’s already, but it would be interesting to see Levi protecting Eren once more, in spite of everything. It might be the last time, too.

#snk spoilers #snk 112 #snk meta #snk theories #platonic ereri #Anonymous #shingeki asks

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alias-levi · 5 years

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#taggame: 11/11/11

Great thanks go out to @a-ray-of-moonshine for tagging me. This is actually my first ever tag game! I’ve been seeing a lot of tag games on my dash lately and was so excited when I finally got tagged lmao

Also I put the line break to make it more convenient if you simply want to scroll over this post :)

Rules: answer 11 questions, write your own 11, tag 11 people

Is there a trope you never get tired of?

I will absolutely and without a doubt always fall for the “bad character finds someone they kinda like and turns soft but only towards them” with the addition “said someone is considered good but is super ok with their friend/partner being bad and can be a total badass themselves”.

Who is your least favorite character in your WIP? Why?

God, this question is torturing. I lovingly created all those beings, put work in, and now you make me choose?

But I think I have to go with Sam. She’s one of the best friends of Liz, my main OC. Yet she doesn’t have this major role to anything plot related so she’s just kind of *there* and that’s it.

Let’s say I’m planning to visit the setting of your WIP for a weekend. What should I take with me? What are the most important things for me to know beforehand? Which of your characters should I ask to be my guide?

There really isn’t much to know beforehand as it takes place in “our reality”. Particularly in a big city, which is mainly inspired by New York.

But at the current status you should probably take sunglasses (it’s early summer), a phone charger (we all need that to survive nowadays) and your smartphone (obviously, another essential for today’s life as young adult) with you.

Eli would be a great guide, yet he would be somewhat subtly flirting with you all the time. Or, if you’re more comfortable with a girl, April would be a great choice. Both are side characters but have their importance along the plot.

Beginning, middle, or end—which is the hardest for you as a writer?

Middle, without a doubt. The first thing that comes to me as an idea is the beginning. Be it a scene, a sentence, a quote, a conversation - whatever. Soon after this idea my brain throws endings at me. Knowing where to start and where I want to go with everything, it’s often the hardest for me to figure out how to actually get there.

Which is more inspiring for you: music or visual art?

Definitely music. But not necessarily for the melodies, instead it’s all about the lyrics.

Do you have any other creative interests and hobbies besides writing?

The only I can think of right now is photography. I absolutely love taking photos, trying to capture a moment but not much of my friends like being in front of a camera...

How close is your WIP now to what you were expecting it to be when you just started?

That’s something I can’t really answer since I’m still on first draft level. But I have a lot of stuff worked out in my mind and it’s safe to say that the plot has changed a lot since the very first idea.

What are your plans for when you finish your WIP? Traditional publishing? Indie publishing? Putting it online for others to read for free?

If I ever happen to finish I will most likely just put it online for free.

Your MC is here. On your doorstep. Planning to spend the day with you. Oh, and they know you’re the author responsible for everything that’s going on in the story right now. Are you expecting it to be a nice conversation, or do you maybe want to run and hide? :D

Depends on which MC. My story evolves around a lot of people and after the first couple of chapters finally focuses on the two Main-Main Characters. It’s Romance what do you expect hahah

Not to spoil anything I can say that, if it’s the girl, it wouldn’t be that nice of a conversation. She would most likely want to know what she did to deserve all the pain I cause her.

If it’s the guy, the conversation would be more relaxed. He’d probably only briefly ask me about her and what happens to her, but all in all he has nothing to be angry about.

Name a song that could be your villain’s personal anthem.

Sadly, I have to pass on this one. My WIP has no villain and I currently can’t think of someone with equal intentions.

Is there anything you would never, ever write a story about, even if you were offered a large sum of money to do so?

Abusive actions towards animals, I guess.

Also, even though I sometimes like reading it, Fantasy. If it doesn’t happen to be a fan fiction I could never write this. I just physically or mentally make up all those things that are important for the world building. All those details you have to keep in mind...

Whew, that was hard. Now let’s get to my 11 questions to you:

1. Let’s get started easily: What was the last work you read and what was it about? (Online or Book)

2. How did you like it?

3. What is your all-time favorite work you’ve read? (Online or Book) What is it about?

4. Name you three favorite fictional characters!

5. What is you favorite series and/or movie?

6. Do you have an OTP? Talk about it.

7. Now let’s get to your writing: Do you have a WIP you’re currently working on? If so, tell us the name and summarize it in three sentences. If not, tell us the same about your latest work.

8. Which aspects about writing do you struggle most with?

9. Which genre do you mostly write for?

10. Do you compare the length of you work(s) to others? If so, how do you do it? (Words, chapters, characters/signs) If not, why?

11. What is a thing you want to tell every new writer?

My nominees:

@liz-pooh (you told me you’ve never been tagged before so have fun, hun) @inkovert @kenzieam @writingfyis @velvetlighthouse @lunaschild2016 @scarletfern @writingcroissant

[I know there are three missing but I honestly couldn’t think of anyone else!]

#writeblr #tag game #11/11/11 tag #FAQ #community gathering

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jocelynbass1991 · 4 years

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How To Save One To Many Relationship In Jpa Eye-Opening Tricks

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What Can I Do To Save Marriage

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Best Books On How To Save A Marriage

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#How To Save One To Many Relationship In Jpa Eye-Opening Tricks #Should I Stay Or Go How Controlled Se

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ahouseoflies · 6 years

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The Best Films of 2017, Part II

Part I can be found here. I should have mentioned the films I haven’t seen, which include BPM; Faces Places; The Square; Coco; Thelma; Last Flag Flying; Roman J. Israel, Esq.; Wonder Wheel; Jane; and I, Daniel Blake. Long-time AHOLs also know that I’m in the fifth year of a self-imposed five-year break from superhero culture, so I haven’t seen Logan or Thor or whatever else. With that: ENDEARING CURIOSITIES WITH BIG FLAWS 87. The Great Wall (Zhang Yimou)- Zhang Yimou's The Great Wall has a lot in common with Wong Kar-Wai's The Grandmaster. Both are high-concept international co-productions that bear just enough of the filmmaker's signature but feel unfortunately cut to ribbons in the editing room. Computers have made us all a little worse at our jobs, Zhang included, and his spectacle is achieved despite CGI, not because of it. I liked watching a boulder's journey through the stages of being catapulted, even if it eventually landed into a physics-negligent pit of cartoon monsters. By the end, the picture is more bloodless, sexless, and simplistic than a game of toy soldiers, which makes it seem just as child-like. It's a forgettable sort of fun, but it is often fun. 86. The Ghost in the Shell (Rupert Sanders)- A bit more comprehensible than the original but far less beautiful. It's a shame that visions of future exteriors haven't improved or at least changed since Blade Runner. Big advertisements. Got it. (Also, we have telepathic walkie-talkies, but people sleep on the floor?) There are a few good ideas drizzled around. If people can basically toggle back and forth between languages, why not hire a famous actor who doesn't speak English for one of the supporting roles? Speaking of acting though, Johansson is pretty bad in this, hamstrung by the whole playing-a-robot problem. (She looks as good as she ever has though, which is saying something.) She could have taken some notes from Michael Pitt, who brings some edge and skitter to his cybernetic replicant or whatever they call it. 85. Wilson (Craig Johnson)- It hits the notes that a Daniel Clowes property usually does: misanthropy, formlessness, begrudging acceptance at the end. I laughed a few times and appreciated the huge left-turn at the two-thirds mark, but I didn't think it amounted to much. 84. Patti Cake$ (Geremy Jasper)- Other than the Basterd character, there's nothing really broken about this movie, but I'm selling on anything with double-digit dream sequences.

83. Colossal (Nacho Vigalondo)- The ending, both the final act and the final note, went a long way to save what was a tedious sit for me. I appreciate the big swings that everyone took with this budget and material--Sudeikis once again gets to show impressive range. But this is an hour of material stretched to an hour and forty-nine minutes. 82. Rough Night (Lucia Aniello)- Hide-the-body movies never work, but what makes this one disappointing is that there's a daring, original corrective somewhere on the margins. You can tell from the comparatively tame bachelor party or the unexpectedly positive threesome that this movie has refreshing ideas, but both the Machine and TV visuals from a TV director shaved the edge down. No one wants to hear such a thing about a sorely-needed female-driven comedy, but Paul W. Downs is the funniest thing in this. 81. Beauty and the Beast (Bill Condon)- Shout-out to the morons protesting this movie's gayness but not realizing that the original was always an allegory for AIDS. These live-action remakes are all around the same quality, but this one feels especially bloated, with really dicey CGI. Things get borderline boring in between the musical numbers, but, man, do those numbers hold up. There's the title track obviously, but songs that would be throwaways in something else--"Gaston," "Be Our Guest," "Something There"--are BANGERZ here. The real IP is the music, and Disney is just going to get each generation's Josh Gad to sing them forever. 80. Darkest Hour (Joe Wright)- This movie reminded me of The Imitation Game in the sense that it's a staid presentation with a solid structure that feels cheap whenever it zooms out beyond its back rooms. The grander version of this, which Joe Wright in some ways already made, is probably just as unsatisfying, but it wouldn't have the pinnacle of goofiness that will hereupon be known as The Underground Scene. I’m a bit bored of this type of film. Darkest Hour might be worth seeing for Oldman's performance, which is a true transformation, absent of any actory vanity but invested with some real myth-making. Churchill gets introduced with just his hat, then lit by just a match, then lit by a shock of sunlight. Oldman is very good in his scenes with Scott Thomas, so it's a shame that her character disappears for a half-hour at a time. The more troubling thing to note is that there are many men in this film who are so English that they can't pronounce their r's. If you catch it eawly, it's a weal distwacting pwoblem. 79. The Fate of the Furious (F. Gary Gray)- Since some of the dumbest stuff is some of the best stuff*, I'm not going to get caught in the web of assessing how much sense The Fate of the Furious makes. But I can say that this entry is the least intentionally funny of the series, and other than "the White girls' soccer team is the Monarchs," it loses some of the class undressing of 6 and 7. From the endless scene-setting to the overstuffed character roster, this is now more of a comic book than a movie, an exercise in being a plot without being a narrative. *- See: the "make it rain" sequence, Statham swinging the baby carrier through a gun battle, Rock redirecting the missile with his bare hands.

78. Nobody Speak: Trials of the Free Press (Brian Knappenberger)- The first hour, centering on the Hulk Hogan/Gawker case, is compulsively watchable, even if it doesn't shed much extra light for anyone who followed it when it happened. Terry Bollea explaining that his penis is shorter than ten inches while Hulk Hogan's, the character's, is not: That's what I signed up for. When that case veers into the bizarrely vengeful, pretty much when Peter Thiel comes in, Nobody Speak becomes something else. The final third pits the sensitive, diligent bullpen of the Las Vegas Review-Journal against billionaire liver spot Sheldon Adelson, who bought their paper to suppress it. Then, of course, the doc expands to Donald Trump's vilification of the free press. If that sounds like a straight line, it doesn't come off that way in the film. The Hogan/Gawker stuff, which takes up the majority of the running time, feels unresolved after all the tangents. 77. The Reagan Show (Sierra Pettengill, Pacho Velez)- I'm cringing for the next five years, in which I'll have to judge a movie's success based on how subtly it invokes its mandatory Donald Trump comparisons and allegories. They're coming. In general, it's kind of sad to see how much more literate people were even thirty years ago, even as they populated a medium we all agreed was low culture. This documentary feels sharp at first, understanding something essential about the way Reagan owned his own persona. With the American Right treating him like some patron saint, it's also helpful to remember how much pushback he got at the end of his second term, for something that would be, like, the fiftieth most controversial thing Donald Trump would have done already. (See?) When the doc gets to its own fascination with Reagan's Star Wars program, however, it basically loses its thesis. As lean as it is, it still sort of stumbles to the finish line. 76. Beatriz at Dinner (Miguel Arteta)- I appreciated this portrayal of a culture clash way more than I liked it. For a while the characters are highly specific. (The delivery of "It's 6:13, Kathy" made me laugh out loud.) Then the plot turns into "Oh, so we're talking about Trump's America, right?" (See?) Here's a critique that's catty every time: This film has great ideas about class and race if you've never thought about class and race before. 75. I, Tonya (Craig Gillespie)- Oscar is calling...for the fat dude playing Shawn Eckhardt and no one else. If Allison Janney wins for doing the thing she always does over Laurie Metcalf's fully realized human, then it's a huge mistake. Successful in some of its comedic goals, especially in its depiction of northwestern goons, the shame of the working class, and period detail. (I laughed out loud when I saw the Girbaud tag on Gilooly's jeans.) Unsuccessful in most of its other goals--if I'm even reading the film correctly in my assumption of those goals. The most obvious one is the slippery nature of the truth, and that idea is handled clumsily. Gillespie goes to great GoodFellas-aping lengths to grapple with perception--having characters break the fourth wall even though there are already voiceovers and to-camera interviews. That talking to the camera comes up a few times in the disturbing scenes of domestic violence, which do humanize the characters because the other elements of the film can't, but they distract the viewer with their blitheness. The most puzzling angle of the film is the Hard Copy reporter, played by Bobby Cannavale in yet another example of his agent not knowing how famous he is. It's a missed opportunity in a movie full of them. 74. It (Andy Muschietti)- I don't get why people went nuts for this. The ensemble avails itself pretty well, despite all the sitcom-y dialogue. (Dialogue that, based on the Stephen King that I've read, is probably faithful to the book.) Some of the visuals nail the distinction between surreal and unreal--my favorite is the children's TV show that sporadically drifts into the murderous. But the movie just kind of hangs there, all the way to its interminable ending, satisfied with its own literal presentation of events that seem to be metaphorical. As I understand, It--however It manifests itself--represents the death of childhood and the emergence of an adult banality of evil. But the movie engages with that level as little as possible, and maybe that's why people are going nuts for it. This is a scary movie if you're a child, and most of the moviegoing public seem to be children. 73. Before I Fall (Ry Russo-Young)- I mostly watched this because I think Zoey Deutch is a Movie Star, and if I'm going to be there for her Speed, I have to be there for her Love Potion No. 9's as well. I appreciated Before I Fall's brevity, but the premise offers a lot more fun than the film is willing to have. In the end the balance was off: It had to be either more moralistically PG-13 or go way darker. For example, just like in Groundhog Day, the character realizes that she'll live out the same day no matter what she does, and it triggers a nihilistic phase. But rather than going on a shooting spree or stealing stuff from a mall, she just, like, wears a sexier dress and talks back to her parents. Good swing, kids, but I'm waiting for the crazier version.

72. War Machine (David Michod)- There are some standout moments in War Machine, many of which are thanks to its impressive cast, but I don't think the film is cohesive enough for me to recommend. I know what Michod is against--counter-insurgency, military hubris--but it's harder to figure out what he's arguing for beyond some sort of level of transparency. The war sequence near the end feels at odds with the tone of everything else, even though it benefits from the Nick Cave and Warren Ellis score. In a similarly frustrated vein, I feel as if I know exactly who Glen McMahon is, and the script's greatest strength is how sharply it draws him, but Pitt's studied performance adds distance to it. It's as if all of the film's comedic nature is supposed to come from how people revolve around his straight man, and that expectation is too much to put on his shoulders. There's more than a little Bud Turgidson in the voice Pitt affects, but the difference is that, as mean as this sounds, I always believed George C. Scott when he played a smart person. 71. The Trip to Spain (Michael Winterbottom)- Diminishing returns. 70. Downsizing (Alexander Payne)- There's a meta-effect to the structure of Downsizing. Its characters decide to shrink themselves, finding unpredictable challenges in the process, and the film similarly gets more problematic as it focuses further into each of its four legs. The first part, the outside world, is when the film is at its most cutting and well-observed. It still lays its points on thickly--dude at the bar asking if downsized people should be able to vote, for example--but the questions are worth asking. The second part, Leisureland, the bourgeois subdivision lil' Damon lives in, is more satirical and less satisfying. (I do love that downsizing ends up being such a gauche pursuit though. Payne has always had his finger on the pulse of people with poor taste.) The third part, which takes place in the downsizing slums, is a sharp, unfunny left turn that discards characters but at least develops the protagonist further. And then the wheels come off in Norway. At least we got to hear Udo Kier say, "I do love my boat." 69. Okja (Bong Joon-Ho)- Since Okja is such a unique movie, I feel as if people will overpraise it as a way to brand themselves: Its poster is probably going to be in a lot of dorm rooms. But there's a lot that you have to look past in order to recommend it. In general, I find that Bong's English language work has a bizarre mixture of muddled themes being presented in direct ways. There is some sweetness here--most of it due to the amazingly detailed rendering of the pig--but too much of the comedy doesn't work, and the ending feels a bit easy. I liked most of the stuff with the Animal Liberation Front, and I kind of wish they had been the focal point of the movie. Can I say, as my main takeaway, that I'm worried about Jakey G? He is so big here, so out-of-tune with the rest of the film, that I blame Bong for not reining him in. At the same time, I keep making excuses for Gyllenhaal, claiming that his parts are under-written, but at a certain point, you have to point the finger at him if there's such a pattern of bad performances emerging. I didn't see Everest, but this is his fourth brick in a row. Help us, Dan Gilroy. You're our only hope. 68. The Killing of a Sacred Deer (Yorgos Lanthimos)- An interesting swing that ends up missing for me. Excepting The Lobster, Lanthimos's works seem obsessed with family dynamics, and he plays some interesting games with this family's perversions. Farrell's character's story about his father dovetails with his somnophilia, which seems to inspire the way his daughter offers herself to her object of affection. From Anna's medical past to Steven's alcoholism, these characters seem to have full lives that have been in motion long before the events of the story. But I kind of suspect I'm worshiping at the altar of auteurism, and I wouldn't have half the respect or patience I do for this film had I not known who made it. The dialogue and performances are purposefully flat and stilted, thus creating an off, eerie quality before we know why we should be unnerved. But what if the performances are just, you know, bad? The film also creates a premise that concludes in an inevitably unsatisfying way. I don't know what I would have done instead, but I'm not a genius filmmaker who gets the benefit of the doubt.

#film #lists #Movie Reviews

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aconboyfiction2019 · 4 years

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Creating the Screenplay for ‘Monsters’

Introduction

The genre for my ‘Moving Image and Fiction’ film is obviously going to be horror. The atmosphere I want to achieve in Monsters is ‘eeriness’- to evoke an unknown and unseen dread in the audience rather than create a horror film centred on explicit gore. I aim for the plot-twist to be revealed subtly at the end. My other key aim is to create a production that was circular in structure - where the end foreshadowed the beginning - a Groundhog Day in miniature.

Synopses of Screenplay/Storyboard

My screenplay centres on Anna Keswick, a fifteen-year-old who wakes up distressed in the night. She tries to get back to sleep so that they won’t hurt her.

She hears noises and, in terror, she goes into the basement to look and sees various distorted creatures rummaging around the place. Instinct tells Anna to get out, but she attracts attention accidently and the monsters proceed to pounce on her and cause her both physical and mental pain. Anna loses consciousness and perhaps ‘dreams’ what happens next.

We hear that the people responsible for the murder are taken into custody, but we do not find out the killers’ identities since the reporter’s voice is drowned out and moments later, Anna wakes up screaming again, and we see where it started. The screenplay ends before the film progresses much further and constitutes a narrative structure loop.

Structure

Within the screenplay, I subtly reveal that Anna was abused by her family as the film’s twist is having the ‘monsters’ in the basement being unidentified and terrifying and having the reporter’s speech be drowned out when about to describe their relation to Anna. I also show that Anna is trapped in a Groundhog Day loop, where she dreams about waking up in terror, her family killing her, the reporter talking about her death and Anna waking up in terror again, because she is in deep denial that her family are hurting her. I do not make clear whether Anna really wakes from a terrifying dream - where her nightmare is about to become reality, or the dream is repeating in a torturous cycle: as shown by the ending of the screenplay having the same monologue as the beginning.

The reason for this is to give spectators a feeling of unease and add horrifying ambiguity. Anna has had the nightmare many times before, as she goes down into the basement and notes that it is ‘always an attic’ in her dreams and when she wakes up from her “nightmares”, she has bruises that she thinks are from ‘kicking the wall too hard’.

The implied never-ending loop aims to unnerve and confuse the audience, especially as they wonder if Anna has really woken up at the end, or she is still involved in a nightmare. It also helps to reveal the true events behind her subjective experience and perspective against the reality of her situation.

Influences from other short films

When writing my screenplay, I had the short film, La Jetée (1962) in mind: a sequence of eerie, still images linked by voice-over, sound effects and music even though there is going to be live-action filming. I enjoyed the minimalism of La Jetée deliberately limited visual information left space for the voice-over to become a focus of the film and the translation of the screenplay was useful for me to develop my own work (The Script of Chris Marker's La Jetée is at: http://web.ics.purdue.edu/~felluga/sf/ScriptLaJetee.html).

Another short film the script was influenced by was Meshes of the Afternoon (1943) - for its surreal atmosphere, images and its representation of the emotional state of a young woman and how it relates to events in her life. I loved its black and white imagery and its ambiguous tone – why does the woman feel and act as she does? I also echoed the themes of death, loneliness and mental torment in it.

In a different way, I was influenced by About a Girl for its realistic urban settings, speech from the protagonist being spoken as a monologue and the subject matter of a young person attempting to make sense of their frightening reality. A similarity that the screenplays of Monsters and About a Girl have is the innocence of the young female protagonist set against the hopelessness of their situations which is only steadily revealed as the narratives progress. From La Jetée, About a Girl and Meshes of the Afternoon, I borrow into the transcript the dark and tragic tone and the unhappy endings and the theme of life being hopeless for the protagonists - where their comforts are not enough to distract them. It challenges a common trend of mainstream media - of life being happy and unthreatening.

At the end of the screenplay, the ‘monsters’ that harass and kill Anna in her ‘dreams’ are implied to be her abusive family and Anna is in such denial about this possibility, that she is trapped in a “Groundhog Day” loop where she dreams about being killed, yet each time ‘wakes up’ to repeat the process before being able to fully recognise this truth.

In a first draft of the screenplay, I made the plot-twist explicit instead of subtly revealing it: I feel this subtlety gives the final draft of the screenplay an eeriness and ambiguity that earlier drafts did not have, since I was going with the idea of “less is more” and of leaving the spectator more space to make up their own mind. I particularly liked this aspect of Meshes of the Afternoon.

I initially depicted Anna running away from home, while her family and police pursue, as Anna reminisces about her past life and abuse (who she reveals as her parents). She fails to get away in the end and her parents threaten her out of sight of the camera. I felt that this moved too far from Anna’s subjective view and did not avail itself to the visual representations of her face.

The structure of Monsters works in the following way: as in La Jetée, the narrative explains what is happening at any point of the film, since both films use still images (this is my initial plan for the visuals) . Also, as in La Jetée, the images will aim to be dark and surreal and fit the tense mood - something also shared with Meshes of the Afternoon (with representation of death within).

Another influential film that helped me establish the tense, monochrome imagery of Monsters was the David Lynch film Eraserhead, where the boundaries between Henry’s dreams, fantasies and reality are deliberately blurred. This is what I aim to achieve with regard to Anna’s perceptions in Monsters.

Monsters also shares with About a Girl in that the protagonist is a neglected adolescent girl and the film deals with a mature subject matter, along with a dark plot-twist at the end, and the narrative told as a monologue.

The process of writing the screenplay

The images of the “monsters” are to be manipulated within Photoshop to match the mood of the film and the bleak world in which Anna lives. I also think that I might need to create some different imagery (i.e. not Anna’s face) where appropriate if it might help expand the expression within the film, without undermining its minimalist and unresolved qualities. I am thinking of using transparent film footage to overlay on the still images to imply the memories and feelings within Anna’s head.

The narration, sound effects and music are to be synchronised with the still images and live-action filming. I plan to perform the voice-over myself and employ a creepy, childish pitch-shifted voice, using the sound software, Cubase - where the voiceover, music and sound effects can also be edited and mixed – and so the audio could smoothly transition between different sections in a similar way to the images.

The story focuses on the experience of a young woman whose life is being destroyed by forces around her which are out of her control, told with an original filming style. I feel that the visual focus (mostly) on Anna’s face throughout the film (along with live-action filming with some transparent overlap) will make the subtle plot twist stronger and evokes the ‘nothing is scarier’ approach, where the most terrifying details are not depicted but are left to the imaginations of viewers.

In Monsters, there will be a ticking sound effect to confuse the viewer as to whether it was a dream or not. The theme I am focusing on was that Anna is abused by Monsters. The title has a double meaning - humans committing monstrous actions – as well as the more widespread use of the term to mean horrific non-human creatures. There will be a single, eerie and disturbing music track called Choral Build to make the film’s atmosphere tense and sickening and adding continuity to the sequence of both still images and transparency.

Overall, the current process of planning my film is rewarding, and I am learning how challenging it can be to explain visual and thematic.

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