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cinnbar-bun · 4 months

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Watching Reality TV With You (Various One Piece Characters x Reader)

Characters: Zoro, Sanji, Trafalgar Law, Luffy, Perona + Mihawk, Nami, Kizaru/Borsalino, Eustass Kidd

A/n: Sorry I’m a huge fan of Real Housewives so take these silly headcanons!!!

Note: GN reader, the relationships with the character(s) and reader can be seen as platonic/romantic depending on what you prefer :) Mihawk + Perona’s relationship to each other is also not stated just for your personal preference. These are all just very silly things, don’t take this too seriously since it’s crack!

Zoro

“The hell? Why are you watching this crap? It’s not even real!”

He just sighs and grumbles about how this is dumb the whoooooole time.

Tends to sharpen his swords or try and nap while it’s on.

Until lowkey he starts peeking a bit like ‘did she just say that?’

Suddenly has opinions on it and tries to deny he’s interested but his eyes are GLUED once they start arguing and the suspenseful music is playing.

“Well, if I was her, I think I’d just kick them. Or maybe cut their car in half.”

Sanji

Opposite of Zoro. The man is probably a bigger fan than you and most likely is reading the gossip online.

It’s your weekly night hangout where he brings snacks and cozy blankets for you two to sit and enjoy while watching.

Gasps audibly and loudly.

He’s both the best and worst to talk about this with because he respects all women and he forgives them for everything, so they all get passes from him.

“Yes she may have talked badly about [name] and stole [name]’s house and maybe crashed a car. But we all do that. We need to show forgiveness. She’s having a tough time- her dress came in the wrong color.”

Law

Like Zoro, he’s very disturbed by the very prospect of reality tv.

But he’ll try. Let it be known he’s trying.

He doesn’t get interested in it but he does try to follow along so he can discuss it with you.

Not gonna lie though he’s the guy who’s focusing on their plastic surgery or illnesses.

Will literally pause the show just to examine what they may/may not have done and if the surgeon botched it up.

Imma just manifest this, he’s prolly a Terry Dubrow stan.

“Who’s your favorite Housewife so far?” “Terry.” “But… Terry isn’t-“ “It’s Terry.”

Unironically would drop a horrible quote from whichever show you’ve been watching and he’d say it so seriously that everyone’s jaw will drop and it takes him a sec for him to realize what he said.

Luffy

Imma keep this short for you- he ain’t looking.

He ain’t caring.

No thoughts.

He only cares when there’s a party and food is being served.

“Woooooah! Look at all that food!!!”

Doesn’t even recognize who is who and will just mindlessly wait for food to come on screen.

Perona + Mihawk

I’m putting this as a two for one they’re my everything <3

You and Perona are the ones who watch it lots. Perona does complain about how much they argue but she loooooves looking at the houses and clothes of the women. Makes comments about wanting to fly first class or visit the beautiful places they go to.

Mihawk is reading.

Perona is biased as hell and only defends the people that are wearing cute clothes. Otherwise? Shit list.

“Ugh! What is that dress?! It’s so hideous!” “Is that all you’re focusing on?” “I agree with (Y/n), Perona, she just had gotten into some relationship troubles with [name], so I think [name] is wrong.”

You and Perona are gasping and shocked that Mihawk 1) talked and 2) had an opinion on this???

Turns out the man had been listening the whole time (he’s quite the multitasker).

If Perona is the most biased viewer, Mihawk tries to remain objective and impartial. He's always listing out the nuances of a conversation.

“I think [name] is just jealous.” “Well, if we remember in season 4, episode 14-“

He’s a smart ass sometimes, but it’s okay, he’s our smart ass.

Perona is always enthusiastic about marathoning the shows again and watching it. She tends to do dress up requirements for watching it.

Nami

I’d hesitate to call Nami a “fan” of reality shows.

She’s aware of them, yes. Does she particularly care for it? Nah, not really.

They’re more background noise and eye candy for her.

She just likes putting them on and glancing every once in a while to gaze at the beautiful houses and trips.

“Oh that’s so expensive… imagine what you could do with all that!”

Sometimes has a fun game for herself to estimate the cost of an outfit, accessory, or house. It’s scary how accurate and detailed she can get with it.

Tends to mostly focus on fashion and get new ideas to steal- I mean, incorporate.

Doesn’t have strong opinions on the cast, but she isn’t too crazy about the louder members.

Kizaru/Borsalino

He’s heard of it, he thinks.

And, well, since you’re so into them, he’ll give it a watch.

“Oh my, these ladies are incredibly wealthy and beautiful.”

He’s not even ogling them he’s just amazed at the way they dress, behave, and/or decorate their spaces. It’s almost like being starstruck???

The guy who will pause the tv at certain scenes to point at random decorations or outfits and be like “darling, would you like that?”

He does get sad when they start to fight.

“Aw… I was just liking the party… why are they arguing now?”

His favorite cast member is your favorite one <3 he’s just a cheerleader like that, dear.

He could listen to you talk about it for hours if you wanted, and he’d be amazed by your knowledge.

“You know, if you’d like for me to have you be on a show like this, I could probably pull some strings!”

Kidd

1000000x worse than Zoro

I cannot recommend putting it on in front of him.

“The hell is this shit?! Turn it off!”

You refuse and now he’s stuck watching grown women argue over dumb things (in his mind).

Complains the ENTIIIIRRRRE time. Nonstop commenting and complaining.

Okay but he’s hooked after a bit, the drama is just too good.

But now he’s WORSE cuz he’s got OPINIONS and THEYRE ALL SHITTY!

This man is an instigator. I swear to god he’s just saying shit just to rile you up and be contrarian.

He's stanning the biggest menaces on the show.

You two will probably get into (very silly) arguments about some of the situations and people.

And unlike say, Sanji, who tries to defend a person, Eustass will just say you’re wrong and then add something unhinged to it.

“Naw you just don’t get it. If I was her, personally, I think I’d just burn their mansion down and then slash their tires.”

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fanfic-lover-girl · 8 months

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Sorry but how was Aang “Barely Competent” in Firebending?

It Took Zuko until season 2 to get anywhere near Aang’s level and Aang’s been training for a month while Zuko’s been training for years. Love him or hate him, there’s no denying that it’s clear Aang is the better Firebender.

Zuko can only make 2 fire blasts at the same time. Aang? 3 without avatar state. Zuko took years to get more than smoke. Aang? Took a day.

Iroh admits Zuko was still at Basic Level in Firebending during The First episode. Zuko on Aang’s Firebending? Admits that redirecting Lightning was the last thing that he wants to teach. Considering Zuko’s and Aang’s battles, Iroh and Zuko were likely right about their respective pupils skills.

Hi anon. I regretted that reblog like 5mins after posting. Would you be happy if I just said you can believe what you want and call it a day??

Me neither I suppose. Sigh. I'll try to convey my thought process when I made that post. First, let me address your points.

how was Aang “Barely Competent” in Firebending

Aang trained with fire the least. Of course, with more time, Aang would master it but by the end of the show, Zuko is still better at firebending by virtue of time/experience.

Just to clarify, you are saying Aang at the end of the show is on par with season 2 Zuko? I don't think you can objectively say that. We don't see Aang using firebending seriously in a fight until the finale. And if I correctly recall the fight against Ozai, fire was not his main element. I think he used air and earth the most in that fight. It would have been cool to see fire being used more by him given the power boost of the comet though. And even if season 2 Zuko was on the same level as season 3 Aang, you need to consider that Aang was taught the true way of firebending from the get-go (well there was Jeong-Jeong of course but that was hardly serious training). Being a master is about how many times you failed and how much you learned from those failures. With Zuko's experience, he will always have an understanding of firebending that Aang will lack. My guy Zuko has failed A LOT.

Zuko took years to get more than smoke.

Huh?? Is this meant to be a joke?? Was this said in a comic?? If so, those are hardly canon to me.

Iroh admits Zuko was still at Basic Level in Firebending during The First episode.

Well, Zuko must have advanced quickly anon! With the basics, he was able to hold his own against Zhao (whom Iroh claimed to be a master) twice. He beat Zhao in the agni kai too. Zuko was able to keep up with Zhao in the Northern Water Tribe when Zuko was not at his best. Considering Katara almost murdered him and he still had injuries from his ship's explosion. Zuko is able to fight against Earth kingdom soldiers and fight the Rough Rhinos. Zuko has demonstrated numerous times that he is an above-average firebender.

And that was just season 1! Zuko has changed so much since season 1. Zuko was at the basics because Iroh was practically trying to reteach Zuko the fundamentals! Also, Zuko was gravely injured. I can only believe that Zuko had to relearn how to fight with limited vision and dealing with all that emotional turmoil.

Zuko on Aang’s Firebending? Admits that redirecting Lightning was the last thing that he wants to teach.

Once again, Zuko was on a limited time schedule. He was basically giving Aang a crash course. It's almost like a student learning the most important topic while they cram for the exam the next day. Even if Zuko had other things to teach Aang, redirecting lightning is way more important for Aang's survival. If Zuko was truly able to teach Aang everything in a few weeks, it paints firebending as an inferior bending style. Aang even admits in the finale that he needs more time to master firebending. He was planning to skip the comet because he was not ready. I don't believe in the opinion that students can't become better than their masters. But Aang was still learning by the end of season 3. Just being Aang's teacher gives Zuko an advantage in a fight.

Other small points:

Fire is not Aang's native element. Aang is always most comfortable with air. Aang does not dedicate the same effort Katara, Toph and Zuko do to their native elements. Aang was the better waterbender in season 1 (at least when it came to learning new techniques) but Katara was the one who self-taught herself those techniques. Even though as the avatar he should have been working harder than Katara to master waterbending, she overtakes him by a mile by the end of season 1. Aang and Katara were classmates. If anything Aang should be teaching Katara given he was able to start classes before her due to Pakku's sexism. She should not have to teach him anything. All this to say is that Zuko will have a greater passion for firebending compared to Aang. Zuko does not have to worry about other elements and Aang proves that raw talent is meaningless unless it is backed by dedication and hard work.

Firebending has a stronger symbolism for Zuko compared to Aang. Fire was a roadblock in Aang's avatar journey but firebending literally shaped Zuko's character and played a huge role in his redemption arc. A lot of his family issues revolve around Azula being a better firebender than him. When Zuko redeems himself, he has to relearn the meaning of firebending symbolizing the pivoting of his character. Learning the true meaning of fire is also important for him to lead the fire nation into a better future as the new firelord. Firebending has so much more thematic importance for Zuko than Aang.

By the end of the show, Zuko is able to rival Azula in combat. The idea of season 3 Aang lasting long in a firebending match with Azula is hilarious to me. Azula was able to give Aang a run for his money with the help of his more competent elements. Imagine Aang fighting Azula in the last agni kai. The girl would kill him.

Those are my main thoughts. I think Zuko is a better firebender. If anything else comes to mind, I will add to this but I am not in the mood to have a long reblog debate about it. If you still think Aang is the better firebender, I really don't care. I refuse to be stressed out on Tumblr again.

All of Aang's teachers are better benders in their own respective elements than Aang. That's just how it is. LOK gave me no indications that Aang became better than Zuko or the others either.

I will say that the gap in ability between Aang and Zuko is the smallest compared to Toph and Katara though. Aang may be able to catch up with Zuko (especially if Zuko never learnt lightning) if he works hard at it but there is no way in hell Aang will ever match Toph and Katara.

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bluelocksource · 9 months

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Otoya Eita’s trivia (source: twt & Egoist Bible).

☆ Character's colour: Bright green.

☆ Weapons: Off-the-ball movement and agility.

☆ Nickname: ‘Ninja’.

☆ Birthday: 3rd December.

☆ Current age: 17 (3rd year of high school)

☆ Zodiac: Sagittarius.

☆ Birthplace: Aichi Prefecture.

☆ Family: Father. Mother. Older sister. Himself. Younger sister.

☆ Current height: 177 cm.

☆ Dominant foot: Right foot.

☆ Blood type: O.

☆ Starts playing football: At age 6.

☆ Team before joining BLUE LOCK: Kirigakure Academy Soccer Club.

☆ Motto: "Step up or step aside." **

☆ Favorite food: Churros. “It tastes great.”

☆ Disliked food: Pickles. “It doesn’t taste great."

☆ Favorite animal: Phoenix. “It is a flaming bird.”

☆ Favorite season: Summer. "Do I need a reason?"

☆ Favorite football player: Minamino Takumi.

☆ Favorite music: He likes listening to neo city pop genre.

☆ Favorite manga: Moteki. “It’s top-tier, no objection.”

☆ Favorite movie: Home Alone. “The unbeatable Christmas movie.”

☆ Favorite TV show: FNS Kayousai & Music Station Special Superlive. “I can get senselessly hyped up.”

☆ Favorite celebrity: Aso Kumiko. “I’m seriously dying!”

☆ Ideal type: Bright and honest woman. (don’t count on it, he’ll change it soon).

☆ Hobby: Tour around TDR (Tokyo Disney Resort). “Riding Tower of Terror at DisneySea is a must!”

☆ Mushroom shoots vs Bamboo shoots: “I only eat the chocolate part of the mushroom. I’ll give the rest to you.”

☆ What goes best with rice : A cute girl. “I like watching girls who eats rice deliciously.”

☆ What makes him happy: Something exciting.

☆ What makes him upset: Something boring/depressing.

☆ What he thinks his strength is: “I forget unpleasant stuff after sleeping.”

☆ What he thinks his weakness is: “I forget important stuff after sleeping.”

☆ Favorite/Best subject: English. “I only take the class seriously because the teacher is beautiful.”

☆ Dislike/weak subject: Other than English “Studying is boring.”

☆ What made him cry recently: He got hit in the eye from being slapped. “Cheating’s not good.”

☆ Usual sleeping time: 8 hours.

☆ What he usually ends up buying from convenience store: Breath care. “Who knows if I’ll be kissing my girlfriend later.”

☆ Place he washes first when taking a bath: Between the toes. “Don’t want to get athlete’s foot.”

☆ Fixation: Scent. “I can tell our compatibility when you hug me.”

☆ Number of chocolates received from previous Valentine: 1. “It’s from a senior I was dating at the time. I was really into her.”

☆ At what age he experiences first love: At age 3. “With Dokin-chan.”

☆ The first time he got confessed to: Happened when he was 5 years old. “I kissed about 95% of the girls in nursery school, and 50% of them confessed.”

☆ What will he do if received 100 million yen: "Charter a night pool party for as long as I can."

☆ At what age he stops receiving presents from Santa: At age 12.

☆ What was his last wish from Santa: New spikes. “With some exciting design.”

☆ How he spent his holiday: "Either hanging out with friends or going on a date. I love the fluttering feelings prior to dating. The feeling wears off once I date the girl, though."

☆ What will he do during his last day on Earth: Enjoy the moment.

** I translated his motto before (link to the post). It was difficult for me to translate it but a user who replied on that post worded it better than mine so I use them here :) thanks @thats-miss-spider-to-you !

note: i want to apologize in advance for any mistake made in the translation!

#blue lock #otoya eita #trivia: otoya eita #trivia: profile #bluelocksource #trivia #our translation

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speedierthanasubmarine · 12 days

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Season 2

God, I’m vacillating between feeling ambivalent and downright antagonistic about this show rn

Before I begin, lemme explain two things about me and watching shows:

A) I don’t really care about the genre or type of a show; I enjoy any kind of show as long as it can commit to being itself. my issue is when there’s some sort of dissonance (or worse, gaslighting) between what the show thinks it is and what I’m being shown on screen: if something is a comedy then let it be a comedy. Have some serious scenes but keep the overall tone comedic or it’s not a comedy anymore. If you want me to take it seriously I will, but if you then don’t take it seriously and then try and twist it around that’s when I begin to get pissed off. (My biggest gripe with episode 3 of this season) Also please just be what you are. If you decide you want to be something else that’s fine, but then commit to it. If you say you are something and act like something else but then continue to reinforce that you are the initial thing you claimed to be it makes me want to clean out my ears with a chainsaw.

2) I can vibe and enjoy anything I watch as long as you don’t break my immersion. Ik this is a pretentious statement for commentators on YouTube to shout but hear me out; I will consume media as though it’s almost a documentary or an in person experience. I will pretty much accept anything the characters or setting gives me as long as the show can make me believe it is the characters and setting giving them to me. The issue begins when I stop wondering what’s going on with characters and their inner worlds and start wondering what’s going on with the production staff; IE instead of my brain going “Oh my God what is blitzo thinking, that was ridiculous” it goes “Oh my God what was Viv thinking that was ridiculous” this will occur when the plot stops feeling like an actual sequence of events and starts feeling like something my students tell me to justify why they didn’t do their homework

I understand these are more of me issues than Viv ones but this post will partially be explaining why this season didn’t work for me on a personal level and will be why I don’t think certain aspects worked on a critical, technical, and objective level. Sorry if I ramble

To start off with positives the voice work in this show is freakin stellar. I don’t know how or why but Stolas’s voice actor has stolen the season, the random cracks and squawks making him sound even more bird like than ever. Stella actually also has that quality and it’s really neat they also found a bird woman. Two of my favorite lines are when he screams for the divorce in E1 (that squawk sounded like an actual bird, are we sure this guy is not a bird?!) and when he exclaims “FUCK” when blitz bites him, my words cannot articulate all the emotions I can hear conveyed in that single word. Alex Brightman (shocker) also absolutely slays Fizz and his delivery kept a smile on my face throughout some of the most difficult times in the show. Additionally Stolas’s dad (AKA FRIGGING JAFAR) saying “stop your bitch crying” is my new favorite thing ever

The animation was just as vibrant and awesome as ever and I want to highlight episode 3’s fight sequence with Millie because it was crisp as a crisp and the 3D shot of Moxxie threatening his dad, I remember seeing that and whistling aloud, that was a fantastic sequence and the animation was by far the best part of the episode for me.

The songs this time just didn’t hit as hard as the first for me, but this is completely subjective. my favorite one this time around was Look at this; Alex Brightman made that song genuinely delightful and I lost it when he started just saying shit in Italian, that song is so funny

Ozzie and Fizz are very cute, I enjoyed bits of them. I also love how this is so not how I’m used to hearing either of their voices, it’s rather like watching the Rock and RDJ being in a loving relationship, it’s just so random and jarring I think it loops back around to working and I enjoy that.

Viv is a fantastic technical director with amazing ideas and concepts, my issues lie with her writing, execution, and lack of professionalism.

Ive seen a lot of people say that the relationships in this season frustrated them because there doesn’t seem to be any continuity from episode to episode and each one seems to return to the status quo by the end with no impact on the overall story, except I didn’t really have an issue with this. In season 1 there was no continuity! Moxxie went through the same character arc in 3 different episodes! There was a new antagonist introduced in almost each episode; Fizz, Verosica, CHERUB, Stryker, DHORKS, and Ozzie, and barring fizz none of them connected to each other, so I kinda assumed that there was just no continuity in this show and that it’s all just kinda go with the flow good old fashioned fun; in the same way Ever After High was a show where they just kept repeating the same stuff over and over but like who cares, it’s a fun show. This didn’t bother me at all. But then the show started contradicting itself… all of a sudden there was continuity. What? stuff was brought back from previous episodes, Moxxies dad, Stryker, Ozzie, events that transpired were referenced, but only certain ones, wtf?! Wait a minute… If there is continuity in the show, then my whole explanation is worthless! NEVER MIND (?!)

Whatever, that’s plot contrivances, and honestly more of a me issue, I’m not watching this show for the plot (even though yes I am but whatever) who the hell watches shows for plot, I can get past that, the vibes are still there, right? I can still enjoy the zany chill vibes? The comedic tone?! WRONG! I mean, some of them are still there, which imo made it worse,but then the show started to bring in very somber and serious moments, character building, then subsequent character assassination (honestly what tf was episode 5) and then out of nowhere some sort of backstory and themes while still maintaining that it’s an episodic comedy and ow, my neck hurts from all this whiplash. Dear Helluva Boss: Are you a comedy or not, are you episodic or not, are your characters real people or not? Pick a tone Show, make up your mind. To illustrate this I’m going to point to the (sigh) Dildos/“Im bisexual” scene in episode 3 and contrast it with the Angel’s dressing room scene in hazbin episode 4. Both scenes are in shows that are meant to be more lighthearted and comedic yet within them there is heavy subject matter being portrayed. but in the case of hazbin E4 it took its subject matter seriously, so in the scene with Val and Angel they played it completely straight and so subsequently it hit hard. To illustrate further, in S1 E6 moxxies tripping balls song (god I miss season 1) despite it being a more emotional scene than usual the entire show was committed to being played for laughs, no one is playing the scene seriously, including moxxie. Blitzes portion of the song is played completely straight by everyone involved, it being cartoonish isn’t comedic, it’s messy and hellish, the result makes it hit harder because both scenes are consistent with themselves which is the the key here. (I bring up this scene because some can point out that the Hazbin one had Amazon to help regulate whereas this is an indie project and therefore has more room for error, but in this hypothetical argument I follow up with this point I should have used initially. Will I go back and delete the Hazbin part of my argument? No.) The scene in E3S2 opts not to do that, with moxxie playing the scene completely seriously and everyone else around him acting like parodies. It was like he was in the wrong show. (I thought it felt weird and disjointed and I just hated that whole episode.) If it’s a joke, play it as a joke, and it could have been a funny joke! If it’s not a joke treat it with the same severity as Val and Angel in E4 of hazbin, because the subject you’re portraying is heavy. If she had picked a lane you could have had either a really strong scene as you had with Angel Dust or a very dark comedic scene as you had with the Imps trying to convince an old man to kill himself in season 1. The end product is the best of no worlds

womp womp

The whole season kinda suffers from this issue, which is what really brought it down for me. I guess this is subjective, but it feels like I have an objective point in here I’m not verbalizing well. If you want to help out, go for it in the comments.

Another thing that this season fell short on: PACING. The scene where Fizz signs to the little deaf kid (wait a minute why is this kid in hell WHAT DID YOU DO-) was adorable. I paused the show and texted my friend about how cute the scene was and the second I pressed play I am just SMASHED with the annoying troll guy and I got whiplash. My neck really hurts guys please stop doing that. This was the most egregious example of bad pacing, but the whole show suffers from it. Let your moments breathe, please, allow the audience to enjoy them, I promise we’re not going anywhere. And if someone wants to argue “they had no time, they had to get as much crammed in as possible” I’m going to point to the scene where Ozzie is in his dildo factory making dildos for 40 seconds. The scene did nothing and told us nothing, if you can have shit like that you can add 3 seconds for us to breathe after emotional scenes. The pacing is just generally shite throughout the season. A friend of mine pointed out that because this is a crowd funded indie project there’s no guarantee how many episodes Viv will have so in order to make the story work she has to cram as much as possible into each episode so she can have proper setup for her story. This argument doesn’t work on either side. If she doesn’t know how many episodes she’s going to have so she’s trying to cram as much as she can in as little time as possible than why don’t any of the episodes seem to be building any sort of connectivity or narrative? Why do new things keep being introduced on top of each other with no explanation or lasting effects? Why all the time meandering with stuff that means nothing if you’re pressed for time, every episode should be connected and concise. If this really were the case, every episode would be like E7S1, with not a moment spent on anything else. Maybe she thinks that’s what she’s doing, and she’s just doing it badly. If that’s the case then again, this is worthless and never mind. However If it is an episodic show with no plot… then why such a rush? Why the heavy content? Why the lack of comedy? Why the mini plots? why isn’t every episode just a chill time with filler arcs? Why all the world building and setups? Why the random stakes? On top of that, if it does have a plot, just not the one I was expecting or promised in season one, IE: the business and any of the related villains, then you’ve wasted my time and taken a shart on my shoes because that’s what you advertised! This show is about a boss! It’s in the title! You telling a story then switching to telling a worse story and then saying it doesn’t matter because you’re not telling any story regardless but then saying “stay tuned because the good story I was telling might matter soon in this new not story I’m currently bullshitting my way through” is JJ Abram’s storytelling IE fuckery. I don’t fuck around with fuckery. This is an objective criticism, this show fails as both a story and non story kind of show.

Additionally we have lost the plot in terms of a story engine here which tbh kinda frustrates me. I remember really liking the premise of the show; I cared about them building up a business, that was why i continued to watch it! But womp womp once again, there is no more of that in this show, barring one episode. Let that sink in. there was 1 episode in this whole ass season that actually was related to the effing premise and it wasn’t even very funny! Yes, the idea of them trying to find the murderer has potential but they didn’t execute it well. This is both subjective and objective, because objectively not giving the product you advertised is kinda shitty, and subjectively I don’t like what I received as a substitute.

My criticism is not boiling down to “She should have done it like this idea I had!” Because that’s not valid criticism, that’s just being butthurt that a creator didn’t read your mind when making her show. There are lots of people that are doing that, and that’s not how you critique media. “imagine how much stronger this could have been if my headcannon was cannon” is not a criticism, that’s a weak wishful statement, so please don’t take what I say as that. I’m giving actual constructive criticism, not “put me on your writing staff because I’m better at it than you” criticism. I think this was the point she was trying to make with the troll character in Episode 7. Shoddy execution, but a good point nonetheless.

In conclusion, I wrote this whole ass novel on this show because I loved it. I’m sad that season 2 turned out to be what it was. A friend of mine said I shouldn’t approach criticizing this show like an actual show because it’s not one, it’s an indie project, and I don’t think that’s fair. Every piece of art should be held to the same standard because everything had capacity to be great, whether made by a massive studio or an indie group. Every piece of art is a form of communication, and I think Viv has something to say, which is why I refuse to give her exemption. Her work deserves to be paid attention, and subsequently, her work deserves to be approached with the same amount of critical thinking and nuance that I apply to everything. She deserves to be taken seriously, which I did. I hope I got my point across well.

#ash #thoughts #helluva boss #review #essay #analysis #vivziepop critical #helluva boss critical #vivziepop #testing a theory

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nine-of-diamonds · 4 months

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A List of References in Keep Your Enemies Close (Wait, Not That Close)

Since it’s somehow been a year since I posted KYEC (to the warmest reception I’ve ever gotten from a fic!! Seriously y’all are the best—I can’t believe I’m still getting comments a year after publication), I compiled a complete (as far as I can remember, at least) list of all of the references (with a few explanations about my writing choices) within the fic for funsies (and also bc I put Way Too Much effort into melding all of these elements together and wanted a full list of all the things I put together that were not intended to be put together lmao)

Oh, and if it wasn’t obvious… spoilers for the fic lol — if you haven't read it but are interested in what the heck I'm talking about, it's here on ao3!

(I’m just calling every segment separated by a line break a scene even though some of them aren’t reallyyy an actual scene for the sake of clarity)

Scene 1:

One line in and I’ve already name-dropped the Watchers: not much to say about them at this point since it’s pretty much the usual “godly beings that resemble indigo biblically-accurate angels that watch people.” All I really added here was the threads of Fate mention that’ll become relevant later

Scene 3:

Grian-proof vault: this one’s a double reference! The obvious one is from Season 9 (Grian’s ep 10) where Mumbo challenges Grian to get into his vault without breaking blocks and it turns out to be a decoy vault, but the second one is from Season 6 (Grian ep 100), where Grian, Bdubs, and Iskall (as the Dragon Bros) break into Mumbo’s vault to induct him into the cult club by guessing the code to be 1-2-3-4 (the “I didn’t plan for someone to come in and start jamming codes in” and KYEC!Grian’s response, “It was the second thing I tried” are reworded from their follow-up convo about it in the next episode)

KYEC!Grian’s stolen diamonds: okay I’m pretty sure this Season 6 arc started in Grian’s ep 73, where he mentions for the first time that his diamonds have “mysteriously gone missing” — KYEC!Grian’s got the same problem, only most of his diamonds are accidentally stolen and are causing more problems than economic deficits lol → we’ll get to the completion of this arc wayyy later, but this was the very first plot point to fall into place for this fic

Detective Grian: going even farther back into Season 6, we have the Sherlock Grian arc (begins in Grian’s ep 56) — once again, we’ll get back to this one

Fun fact: the moment where KYEC!Grian’s “skin prickled with the distinct sensation that someone was watching, waiting for him to do something” was meant to be foreshadowing that would become obvious at the end bc I originally planned to have KYEC!Grian’s time traveling be onscreen — that scene was meant to show Future Grian traveling to the past to steal his diamonds, but getting the timing slightly off so he was still in the apartment when this convo takes place, and is therefore the mysterious watcher mentioned here; I didn’t end up writing out that scene, though so now it just looks like another surface level Watcher reference

Scene 4:

KYEC!Grian’s powers: the wings don’t require explanation but here’s my rationale for the “perspective-shifting” (which, lemme tell you was cool in theory but SO annoying to figure out what to call/describe) → it’s basically just being able to go into F5 mode (the range limit for him is basically that he can move what I’ll call his mental camera to any point provided that at all times, his body is visible to the mental camera from some angle, i.e. he can’t see into the next room if there are no doors/windows but he can see around corners and objects); this power’s another Watcher parallel but also a contrast to Scar’s in that it’s good for revealing “the truth” while Scar’s power is deceptive in nature

Scene 5:

Hotguy!: fun fact, I actually started writing this fic before I knew about Scar’s Hotguy persona (I was grievously behind on Season 9 when I started this fic in mid 2022) so KYEC!Scar’s original hero name was Goodfellow and he used a staff, not a bow — but obviously, I swapped it to fit the Hotguy we all know and love (and for the sake of keeping track of episode references, I’m naming Scar’s Season 9 ep 5 as the first Hotguy mention in canon, don’t @ me if I’m wrong lol)

KYEC!Scar’s powers: alright, here’s a lil secret, there’s actually smth going on with his bow that never gets brought up in this fic and that I will be keeping secret bc I may or may have smth in the works. I can, however, talk about his illusions! While KYEC!Grian’s power lets him change how he sees things, KYEC!Scar’s lets him change what other people see. The illusions are also a nod at Scar’s terraforming + building skills since he can create intricate landscapes

Xelqua (as KYEC!Grian’s villain name): other ideas for KYEC!Grian’s villain name included Poultry Man + Watcher but I settled on Xelqua since it’s commonly associated with Watcher!Grian but feels more like a name than just plain Watcher, and then afterwards, I developed the actual Xelqua lore

Xelqua (the lore one): obviously we have the nod at our tried and tested fanon “he was only meant to watch” but the mention of him “engineer[ing] countless games… with gods and men alike” is a blink and you’ll miss it Life series reference (I suppose it could also be a reference any of Grian’s other minigames but the Life series was what I had in mind lol) → also, the whole “Ultimately, the Watchers located Xelqua after he succumbed to his nature and began stirring up trouble again” bit of lore was just me riffing off that fable about the frog and the scorpion, which traumatized me as a kid and therefore lives in my brain rent-free

Scene 6:

Harmless pranks: rapidfire references, let’s go! “a bit of ‘misplaced copper’” = Mumbo’s copper “lagging” into Grian’s inventory (Grian Season 8 ep 13), “a few disappearing doors” = Grian being a chronic door thief (...pretty much all of Season 7), “a few chests filled with eggs” = Grian + his quest to clog up his messaging system with Mumbo (Grian Season 6 ep 22 + many, many more instances)

Scene 7:

Roofed forest: very, very random but I did write this scene with Scar’s first Third Life episode in the background and was imagining the roofed forest he and Grian decimated as the scene he projects here

Also, I need you to know this fight scene was fully rewritten at least four times ;-;

Scene 9:

Mumbo unlocking Grian’s handcuffs: this wasn’t a reference when I wrote the fic but now it’s a reference to the Mumbo side fic I wrote for this au that writes out this scene

Scene 11:

KYEC!Grian’s comment: “I was broke and in need of a flatmate so he could’ve been an arsonist for all I cared, as long as he didn’t touch my stuff” → can I just cite all of the Life series here

Okay, I SWEAR the line, “You watch, Mumbo, I’ll be so subtle that you’ll forget I’m a supervillain” was based on an actual Grian line (or several) that start the same way but I can’t remember where it’s from

Scene 13:

More stolen diamonds: here’s the unofficial start of the Jangler plot lol — the moment this fic’s foundation really “clicked” for me was when I noticed mysterious diamond thievery appeared in both the time travel arc and the Jangler arc, and I was like “I can work with that”

Jellie: I want you to know the staging of this scene was specifically so I could have a reversal of the “villain stroking a cat while scheming” trope where Scar is a) wanting to do a good deed not a villainous one and b) basically getting a plan fed to him

Scene 14:

Okay pretty much this scene’s basically the transcribed version of a scene from Grian’s Season 6 ep 56 lmao but ig I’ll just talk more about how I thought to include the Jangler plot in the first place; originally, the premise of this fic was adapted from an abandoned non-MCYT fic draft I had floating around in my WIP folder, where the two characters were university dormmates who were unknowingly also vigilante partners + there was a whole Miraculous Ladybug style love square going on (on second thought, I was basically just making MLB with vigilantes lmao). When I got the idea to adapt it to a Desert Duo-centric superhero trying to catch supervillain fic, I wanted to make it platonic since most of the superhero aus I’ve read for the pair are romantic and I wanted to do smth different — the problem was that getting rid of the romance also got rid of a lot of the tension between the characters, so I needed smth to replace it — hence the detective/Jangler dynamic being included to make sure both characters were actively hiding a secret from the other at all times

Scene 16:

This is probably a little obvious on second read but I did leave a comment to myself on one of my draft docs pointing out that KYEC!Scar decided to continue going out as the Jangler (even though he’d already technically fulfilled the returning diamonds thing he’d invented the persona for) because he overheard Grian talking about how he’d prefer to have more to work on + would get money from it

Scene 18:

Attempted murder: back on the Season 6 reference train we go! This is from Grian’s ep 12 where he pranks an AFK Jevin by putting him on a flying machine and the game glitches and sends Jevin falling to his death

Scene 20:

The foreshadowing here is very obvious but this scene was a last minute addition I did not plan to include but was compelled to write bc I needed something to lighten the mood a bit since it was getting too serious and also bc I wanted to include the “sweet job” pun. Yes, I know it’s terrible. Yes, I laugh at it every time.

Scene 21 + 22:

Cookie trail: here’s another “mostly transcribed” scene from Grian’s Season 6 ep 57 — I ran into a little problem logistically since flying isn’t the norm in this world but is in Hermitcraft, so I had to shove in the whole “flying machine to reach the top of the cookie” thing lmao

KYEC!Stress: she does not make an appearance but I gave her ice powers bc of her ice castle base in Season 6

Scene 24:

This entire scene is just Desert Duo dancing around each other trying to keep their secret identities secret but KYEC!Scar’s comment, “I always forget what information’s public” is a bit of irony that made me laugh while writing bc it comes straight after he accidentally reveals he knows where the cookie was

Scene 25–28:

Hitman after KYEC!Grian: yep this goes back to Grian’s Season 6 ep 14 where Jevin puts out a hit on Grian after the AFK prank that Iskall tries to carry out

Grian’s trap: this is obviously just the trap for Iskall that Grian makes to stop him but I would like you to know that I went back to the episode to count the number of pistons used to make sure it lined up lmao

Scene 28 is also basically just a very dramatic version of the chase scene in this episode with some Watcher paranoia for spice

Scene 30–31:

Time machine: time to circle all the way back around to this plot lol — I didn’t think it made sense for KYEC!Grian to build a time machine himself during all of this but he still gets access to one in the end thanks to Mumbo. Grian’s Season 6 ep 79 has him go back in time to stop his diamonds from being stolen, only to realize he’s the one who stole them in the first place, and I thought it was a fitting way to end the fic after all the diamond stealing shenanigans

And hey, that's it! That list totally didn't take me like two hours to write up and find the episodes for! No wonder I had to restructure this fic like seven times when writing it!

Anyway, if you read this far, thanks for indulging my madness :) And to anyone who's engaged with any of my fics, thank you thank you thank you for every hit, kudos, comment, and bookmark!

#fanfic writing #ao3 #KYEC #hermitcraft fic #wow this list is longer than anticipated #okay then #i had to dig through all my notes and draft docs for this #it was an experience

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lemonhemlock · 3 months

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1 and 8

character everyone gets wrong

hmmm.... there's so much asoiaf meta at this point it's hard to say.... tyrion perhaps? he generally maintains this antagonistic view of his father and sister, but, in hindsight, it does seem to me that not everything tywin and cersei did was to designed specifically attack him or to work against him. tywin does send him to KL to be hand of the king in his stead and gives him actual power to reign cersei in and cersei does try to team up with him at the beginning of ACOK. but tyrion is so set on undermining her that he never really takes this offer of collaboration seriously and everything escalates quickly afterwards.

idk how to best express this but i feel like, even though the ableism was real, there was a point where they could have mended their relationship, but tyrion did play a crucial part in destroying this truce, it wasn't all a premeditated assault on him. but, while fans have smartened up to his POV trap and realised that he is truly on a downwards spiral and not necessarily a "good" person, this unblemished victimisation narrative remains

by now i sound like a broken record but i cannot truly investigate these leads until i begin the great re-read project (if only i wasn't preoccupied with other books rn !! )

8. common fandom opinion that everyone is wrong about

i'm gonna start this with cersei bc this is the shorter rant, but people are so obsessed with this take that she doesn't really love her children, they're all just extensions of herself and that's what she cares about. it's so boring. it sounds like something parroted back from a psychiatry textbook. listen, cersei is her own brand of delusion, but she is also a person with feelings, not some ice-cold demon. people forget that in the quest of stripping her of her humanity, they also make her a less interesting and complex character. yes, she is an awful person with the capacity for love, otherwise what's the point? why do you think she became a POV character if it's all clowning around? also i think many people are way too eager to mistake paranoia and the effects of two recent traumatic deaths in the family with stupidity in her case

i'll have to move onto jaime rn bc his redemption discourse is also reaching tedious levels. first, in the ancient days, you had the dudebros who considered him a villain from the get-go and absolutely hated his guts, then these same dudebros discovered his POV in book 3 / season 3 and thus jaime gained a lot of fans who were suddenly on board the redemption train for him. then others got sick of this interpretation and countered with "jaime is not on a redemption arc !!! insert many exclamation marks!!!". this reaction was necessary at the time because debates were getting frightfully silly, but, nowadays it's like we've veered too far in the other extreme (from what i've seen anyway. i'm not an up-to-date scholar in jaimeological studies).

what i mean to say is that "redemption" has become such a dirty word in relation to jaime, when it's truly just a term. what does it matter what you really call it? redemption arc, identity arc, we're getting bogged down in definitions, snootily pointing the finger at each other and not really seeing the forest for the trees anymore. like he is objectively reconsidering, reinterpreting and trying to redefine both his relationship to the people around him and to abstract concepts like knighthood, justice and honour.

he doesn't exactly """regret""" pushing Bran out of a window, but he doesn't not regret it, you know what i mean? (another thread people are obsessed with: jaime will not get "redeemed" bc he doesn't regret pushing bran. i mean sort of? it's not that black or white, though: the situation was constructed in such a way as to be a fucked-up trolley problem with no true right answer. even sainted NED thinks this, i.e. to what lengths he or cat would have been willing to go to save their children. EVEN NED). yes, he also famously threatens to trebuchet edmure's baby, but he is also kind of pissed off in that moment, bullshitting and playing the tough guy in front of edmure. he lies a lot, to others and to himself. he is prone to violence, but he's not heartless. he is delulu but he is also re-evaluating his life. he's thinking about emulating his daddy but also cosplays as goldenhand the just. the man is really going through it.

if you ask me, it's vvvv likely jaime is the valonqar and his story will end with cersei in a bout of violence. but: as a manifestation of his unjust jealousy or as an act of kindness (to save her from a worse death)? i think both are possible. jaime is the pendulum swinging, he is a work in progress, he can get better, he can get worse. he is not a good person, he is pretty decent at heart and trying to do better. his 'identity' arc or whatever you want to call it might as well be a 'redemption' arc but with the quest unfulfilled. or partially unfulfilled. he might retcon himself into a true white knight, but still choose to go back to cersei, because he feels responsible for her or, you know, (incoming controversial opinion) because it's the right thing to do. yes, the incest is a bad coping mechanism, yes, you did many fucked up shit together and that was wrong, but, for better or worse, she is your sister and the person you shared your life with. you can't let her die alone. whatever she did, you also did, and you should carry the burden together. there is love there and you must honour that or else nothing means anything in this world. you go into the light together!!

#hi starlight 🌟#ask game #tyrion lannister #cersei lannister #jaime lannister

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laylakeating · 8 months

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ranking the s1 original songs bc i've never been wrong a day in my life

a billion sorrys - i think people think i'm joking when i say this is the song of the century but. i am literally not this song is a BOP !! it's genius it's camp it's visionary !! the lyrics are insane. there's a voice crack. WAKE UP PEOPLE.

role of a lifetime - kate reinders was underutilised I SAID IT !! this song is everything to me i love it <3 the run lucas grabeel does on 'cameo' scratches my brain. again. LYRICS !!! this song feels the most like something from broadway in this season and <333 i love it!!

born to be brave (+ the acoustic version) - i LOVEEEE this song although it has definitely had to grow on me over the years. however now i stand by how it does exactly what it needs to do !! another bop !! also sidenote the runs josh and sof do in their solo parts in the acoustic version are SOOOO good rina is everywhere if you think abt it.

out of the old - nini's best solo song ?? yes ?? YES !! i just like this one idk. hsjshjhs

truth, justice and songs in our key - this one is just FUN and it has some great vocal moments. did i mention it's fun ?? yeah another bop guys jot that down.

wondering - this song is so interesting to me bc it is widely beloved and yet it does nothing special for me. i guess i'm saying i don't not love it ?? HSJSHJSHJSH vocals are stellar but it's also just kind of there.

i think i kinda, you know - this one is honestly quite fun but again. it does nothing for me !! ricky's version >>>> nini's version though i like the guitar a lot more. also the lore behind this song is hilarious. ntm the lyric "i guess i'm saying i don't not love you" is iconic. nini you slayed this one thing !!

all i want - i actually have nothing against this song i just cannot take it seriously. nini singing abt how all she wants is a love that lasts at like 16 is objectively hilarious and it's all i'm thinking abt every time i listen to it shjshjshjshjsh

just for a moment - maybe the worst original song this show has ever done. the verses are fine i guess but then the chorus hits and it's SO BAD. this is by far the worst rini duet like oh my god. what were they thinking. i do like how it foreshadows how rini's relationship will go on to last 'just for a moment' <3 (also liv's voice on 'better time' in the bridge is VERY nice) (however the chorus is awful. AWFUL. they are singing the same notes over and over there's no variation god) (i'm listening to it as i'm writing this and i have never regretted a decision more)

#i know you've all been waiting for this bc literally who wouldn't be #i think s1 as a whole is my least favourite soundtrack RIP #HOWEVER a billion sorrys nation stand up !!!#YOU SHINE JUST LIKE THE STARS AND I'M NOT EVEN A NIGHT LIGHT BC WHAT I DID WASN'T SO BRIGHT

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hikari-ni-naritai · 1 year

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Top 10 isekai?

okay since nobody ever sets the parameters for what sort of top 10 theyre looking for, im going to do it for you. in this list, we will be looking at emily's personal favorites, not any sort of objective criteria or anything else. this is just things i personally liked and thought were good. additionally, we will not be looking at any pseudo-isekai OR any legally-isekai (i.e., no shows that are by genre an isekai but no other world plot is involved (like danmachi), or shows that involve an other world plot but are not within the isekai genre (like the wizard of oz)). We will only be looking at True Isekais, shows which fit the isekai formula and also heavily involve characters from another world. This DOES include voluntary game isekais like bofuri and most of sword art online. and now, without further ado, i present to you emily's definitive top 10 isekai list, subject to change as more isekai come out!

10. GATE: Yes, i know this one is just JSDF propaganda and an excuse to beat off over modern military equipment, but i just really love to see rory mercury kill people and lick blood. its very easy to rewatch and in the isekai genre, theres much worse shit you could consume.

9. Overlord: overlord is the longest running show on this list by far, so quality is not always consistent. but i do enjoy that the plot is "japanese salaryman gets peer pressured into world domination by his friends' OCs". the show really shines when it steers away from him, though, because the characters in the world who aren't wildly overpowered are generally pretty good and interesting! even if shit gets pretty dark for them.

8. Fabiniku (Life with an Ordinary Guy who Reincarnated as a Total Fantasy Knockout): fabiniku is good. it's fun to watch that girl realise shes a girl, and its fun to watch that guy realise hes actually into her. i want a second season. the most valid het romance in anime.

7. Hamefura (My Next Life as a Villainess): catarina claes is the dumbest bisexual on earth. shes so fun. i wish the show let her kiss the girls instead of the boy and the egg. but its fine, i know in my heart the true endgame is the heroine.

6. Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear: This one is just really casual and really cute. a girl dressed as a bear fucks around in another world. theres not really anything more to say about it. shes a good girl and the show kind of refuses to sexualise her, which is nice.

5. Arifureta (From Commonplace to World's Strongest): this one is very much a guilty pleasure. its cringe as hell and edgy as hell and very unnecessarily horny but god do i love it. it doesnt try to lampshade the cringy aspects or tone them down, it just kinda owns them and thats very good for me. i love edgy cringy chuuni bullshit.

4. Reincarnated as a Sword: this is a show about the world's cutest baby catgirl who has violence and killing in her heart. the fight scenes are surprisingly well animated for isekai, my sweet daughter is a joy to watch, and its like. just a good show.

3. Virgin Road (Executioner and her Way of Life): this show has like. some of my absolute favorite dynamics on earth. menou's absolute dedication to her cause juxtaposed with her growing love of akari. momo's writhing hatred of the whole world and everyone in it held at bay by her love of menou. akari's desperation to die at the hands of her love despite her inability to do so. the warrior princess who just wants to fight. oh my god. genuinely one of the best casts ive ever seen. i love them all so much. Very yuri

2. Eminence in Shadow: okay so hear me out. this is one of the most wild shows ever released. absolutely DEDICATED to the bit. takes itself extremely seriously, to hilarious effect. forgot for about 8 episodes that it could sexualise the female characters and then remembered halfway through and overcompensated. the main character has NO interest in anything except for pretending to be Extremely Normie in public, and leading a double life as the most overpowered chuuni character ever created. they changed the name of a character in the last 30 seconds of the entire show and then the credits show her new name. its like. an absolutely wild ride and DEFINITELY not for everybody. but god what a show. weeb ass shit rating of 10/10/10. i loved it. cant wait for s2.

1. No Game No Life: frankly, another 10/10/10. no game no life is, in my opinion, the most perfectly executed version of the overpowered protagonist trope. the main characters say at almost every opportunity that they will not and cannot lose. but by god they are the most sad wet dog type characters on earth. you know in your heart that they'll win, sure, but the stakes and the tension and the characters' inability to be fucking normal keeps you wondering if they might actually lose after all. possibly my favorite thing, as ive talked about before on this blog, is the fact that like, the main character is super jaded and doesnt trust others, but he's possessed of an indomitable belief in humanity that i wish to god i could have. and thats like, such a pervasive theme of the show, is the potential of humanity. i really appreciate that. anyway, this was fuckin, 2013 or something, so be warned that there's some uncomfortable sexualisation of a young girl. but if that doesnt bother you, its definitely a good show!

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willel · 9 months

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Your saying that characters on their own is compelling is fine but that's not how stories and characters work. Just because I am also an introvert doesn't mean that I expect a show to do that to appeal to me personally. It just seems like you only like the characters who relate to you and the show references.

That is how characters and stories work. After all, there are different ways to tell a story. Character driven or plot driven. In my opinion, Stranger Things started as a character driven story but at some point in season 3, the agency was taken from the characters and the plot took over.

Season 1 is probably still my favorite season because the show allows you to really sit in the perspective of each character, whether they're introverted or extroverted so that the audience can understand their perspective and relate to them. Well, except the villains but even they get a little bit of headspace time. I LOVE when stories let me experience a scene from the eyes of a specific character and how they understand it vs how another character might feel and think about a situation.

Just because a character is introverted or passive does not make them objectively less compelling. That is completely down to someones personal preferences and if they allow themselves to walk in someone else's shoes while experiencing a story.

As for characters who are nothing like me but I like them a lot, Nancy, Lucas, and Max are top tier for me. I wouldn't really call any of these character introverts. They're also a lot more proactive and vocalize their opinions no matter what others might think. Lucas is seriously one of my favs. I guess I could "relate" to him because in some ways he reminds me of my younger brother, but still. I didn't go through a "want to be popular" phase or anything like that, but I guess there are a few things here and there I can relate to him with.

I have no one in my life like Nancy but I admire how every season she steps up to the plate to take charge. I can't relate to her live life given I am extremely aromantic but I do my best to understand not only is she just a teenager, but love lives can be messy and confusing things sometimes. I suppose I can relate to trying to figure yourself out as do most people even though we aren't very similar people.

My life has been nowhere near as terrible as Max. Like, if I were her, I'd be angry with how my life was turning out too. If I had a Billy in my life, I dunno if I'd ever have the courage to not only drug him, but threaten him with a nail bat and then steal his car. She is extremely brave and courageous. Someone you want to cheer for. Every headcanon of mine involving her rescue includes El, Lucas, and Will. My dream 4 to be honest.

In my opinion, everyone should be able to relate to all the Stranger Things characters in some ways (maybe not some of the villains, but still). Even the "boring" ones. Even the ones who are nothing like you. So I don't really understand where your statements about appealing to individuals or catering to anyone comes from? It doesn't matter if you're introverted or extroverted, that's the point. You should still try to walk in the shoes of the characters...

Maybe you think I'm saying "WILL IS FOR THE INTROVERTS ONLY"? No, what I'm trying to say is "Whether you're an introvert or extrovert, it's really not that hard to understand Will's character or point of view. He can still be a compelling character despite his introversion. Calling him boring just because he is introverted is silly."

#ask #Anonymous

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feuqueerfire · 2 years

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The Gifted Live Blogging

So this isn't BL but it's by GMMTV and has many actors who've played in BL, so I'll count it as BL-adjacent.

I've heard really good things about this, so I hope I love it! I want to be invested in the story and characters!

Episode 1 (Apr 30)

1-1

ooh so the homerooms go from 1-8 based on your grades? reminds me of the motherland where your roll call was determined by your exam ranking. humiliating

oh they’ll be critiquing this system, i see

ooh, much of the nanon/chimon comes from here right?

1-2

I think i did know that pang and wave start off as enemies but i didn’t expect wave to be such a dickhead

i think it’s so great that i’m able to be :< about the fact the we don’t get an enemies to lovers arc from them bc before i started watching bl/gls it was expected that we'd just have to ship the main character with their best friend of the same gender and have no hope of it actually being a possibility. Now, it's very much in the realm of possibility even though it's not always necessary in every case; just that it could've been even if in this case it's not, which is fine. I'm just rambling, rip me trying to get a point across

i haven’t yet figured out how much I trust pang’s best friend. He seems cool and like he’ll look out for Pang but like that’d make any betrayals hurt all the more. + the way he said “how do you know I’m ordinary?” was a bit suspicious

woahhh this man looking at their hiding spot and smiling. very intriguing

They have powers and stuff in this show right? it’s not just about being smart?

:00 frequency only gifted kids can hear?

1-3

I seriously need to learn Thai alphabet, I wanna know who got in (the 4/8 is obviously Pang but the others).

Actually, maybe it wouldn't matter because it doesn't have their nicknames, just official names?

Kinda wanted Pang and Nac's little conversation to include the thing about the question at the back but I guess it's too soon for that unrest

loool not the Beautiful Creates series. Haven't read it but also haven't heard a single good thing about it

1-4

The girl we've gotten glimpses of who seems to care about fashion is soooo beautiful to me. I think she and Gun's character have a thing for a brief period or something? She's so beautiful.

Bruh okayyyy

My entire dashboard is like not visible cuz it's all #kinnporsche or #cutie pie since it's Saturday and they're both airing and I can't read the comments on The Gifted because it's full of spoilers from this season and also Graduation :(

Episode 2 (Apr 30)

2-1

The 2-2 episode came before 2-1 in this playlist. Good thing I noticed, would've hated to have the same thing as one of the Not Me eps where I accidentally skipped a part and was like huh?

Watching this is so nostalgic, like the dystopian novels I read in 2012-2014 during middle school

Gun and the girl sitting beside each other are just so cool and beautiful. I already know they don't end up together so I shouldn't get invested but just from glimpses... It's because I'm a Gun fan and I love the female character's attitude. Have they said her name yet? I think the actress' name is Jane. Is she in Sizzy?

Seeing Sing play Ohm as comedic relief is jarring after seeing him as Todd in Not Me and Din in Puppy Honey. Endearing, though

Oh her name's Claire! She's so beautiful.

Wait, I thought Gun/Punn's potential was related to having different personalities within him or something? Or is that unrelated? When so many students raised their hands that they knew their potential, I wondered what if someone's wrong about theirs, I wonder if that's the case here?

2-2

Namtaan can read an object's history right? How would they fool her with a fake pen lol

I'm so confused, did holding Ohm's hand under that dryer... hurt? It's meant to dry hands under it I don't get how it'd be so powerful/hot

I feel like there's a bit of a discrepancy because it's like a cool powers, high stakes (making people actually disappear) but the reason Folk wanted those grades was... to have long hair? Like bruh, it's such a high school problem that it makes sense but is still jarring to be worked up so much over

2-4

I wish Namtaan's actress was more dynamic

Oh, they brought Ohm's "who was giving me this advice?" back around, nice

Oh, Folk forgot Ohm... I previously got spoiled in the comment section that Pang's friend Nac forgets him by the end, so I guess it's something like if a Gifted kid acts their potential upon someone else, they forget that person?

Bro I never learnnnn I just talked about how I got spoiled about the Nac thing in the comment section but I still scrolled down and learned that apparently, Pang has ability to control one's mind/emotion >:( I wanted it to figure out with the show

I saw that episode 5 is Punn's episode, so I guess each episode explores 1 character's powers and this one was Ohm's.

Episode 3 (Apr 30)

3-1

Okay Namtaan's story but her acting just falls so flat for me. It's not bad or cringy, just stale.

They've been hinting at Namtaan and Pang since the first episode but they have like no romantic chemistry to me rip. When are we getting Punn/Claire bro, the het storyline that has me intrigued despite having gotten like 10 seconds of them total and also knowing they don't end up together

3-2

Actually, she's not too bad when acting by herself. I think she seems flatter to me when she's acting with Pang and Ohm

Okay, even more specific I think I just don't like her way of conversing. The conversations don't feel natural but like she's certainly acting

I feel like I'm being mean for no reason T.T She's cute when she's trying to look into an object's past and is fine in acting when not speaking. it's fineee it's not like she'll see this, I can criticize freely

3-3

Am I too old? All the adults telling Namtaan not to overexert herself because of her health make a lot of sense to me lol

3-4

This episode would've been better if we actually found out a thing or two rather than follow around Namtaan's flat ass character but I get that they're just setting up the story and not giving answers already

Episode 4 (Apr 30)

4-1

Yes !! Claire's story!! Her vibes are Bitchy and Beautiful, so I'm excited

"The way people with an upper hand deal with those beneath them is to make them hate each other." Yeah, for real... she's shaping up to be very good at being a terrible person.

Wait, no, she outed someone ?! Bruh, that's not fun, that's just evil

Gun :D

Claire calls Gun using the 'ter' pronoun for you. I don't think that means anything but I was able to pick out this pronoun for the first time (guu, meung, phi is easy to pick out and sometimes I can pick up pom but this is the first time for ter)

Are we getting a True Beauty type thing

4-2

I'm deaddd when the dude Folk or Namtaan were being childish I was like this is childish but somehow Claire manages to be incredibly childish and immature but massively entertaining.

Claire didn't check her friend's colour in the last part and isn't suspicious of her in this part, either, so maybe it's her?

"My trick is no dirtier than yours. I thought you liked revealing people's secrets." I mean fair, Claire literally outed someone.

Wait, the video this person has of Claire is NSFW? I thought it was just her being ugly a week ago or something.

Please this dramatic editing and ending shot, the episode truly is hers

4-3

Oh nooo Punn saying he won't make it to her show

It's actually so fascinating to see her facade of being powerful and above it all crumble as her insecurities and paranoia take over. Like she's literally going around yelling and checking everybody's phone without rhyme or reason, the actor is doing great

Bro, this is so T.T They fr released it

Punn run after her !!!! Right nowwwwwww

Claire and Korn would be so sweet together too >.<

Bro I need Punn to get his act together and tell Claire that he doesn't care about the racy video and he likes her for her and everything's fine. He's not even here and he's making her cryyyyy

4-4

Claire seeking revenge is satisfying but they're in high school right? Isn't she a child in this video. Also the teachers are there, this gotta be shut down as fast as it started, Claire.

No way Claire's threatening leaking NSFW vids of Pangram? Girl, learn your lesson, have some revenge, and move on! I... don't think she'll leak an actual NSFW video but threatening is also too much and should require some action still like why are the teachers and people in charge just sitting there ?!?!?!

Yeah okay, she didn't leak anything terrible.

Yay, I'm glad Punn wasn't being useless! They're so cute !! I'm gonna be so sad when they don't work out in the end T.T

The way I know I like a character or person is if I just ship them with everyone (for ex in BL: Gun with Off, Gun with Tay, Gun's character Punn with Claire, Gun with literally everybody he smiles at) and it's showing with this too because ummm I like Claire/Punn, Claire/Korn, Claire/Wave, they could all be great because Claire's characterization is great and all these dynamics would be massively entertaining (or just sweet the way ClaireKorn are)

I enjoyed this episode a lot! Even though we practically went away entirely from the actual synopsis of the show (evil school's plan? main character pang? the classes?), it didn't make me bored or want to go back to the main story because the story and characters were interesting. I love fantasy and lore but I also love characters growing, developing, changing. It was also great because it really suited Claire's character too, like she took over the entire show and was the center of it for this episode

Episode 5 (Apr 30)

Gun's episode !! The glimpse of that fucked up music notes sheetwas intriguing, let's see what they do with his character

5-1

Bruh, the ledge?!

This dance? Punn and Claire are so cute T.T Her being like you didn't finish the dance, you gotta end it w a kiss

This is cool because I know there's gonna be some plot with him having different personalities but I still don't quite know how it's going to unfurl and I like the sense of impending doom this episode has

5-2

Is that ticking thing in Mr. Pom's office some sort of hypnotic device? I totally forgot to think of what his potential could be. Maybe getting people to divulge information purely based on this one interaction with Punn lol

It's one thing when the ads appear at funny or lighthearted moments but this EST cola thing in the middle of this intense scene lol

The memed "Nobody, never" speech but woah the pitch and tone and desperation in his voice, dang

bruh, chills when he turned around with a slight smile right after his outburst just to be like "Nothing, I'm sorry" The screenshot doesn't capture ittt

5-3

The teachers in this show are truly hilarious, students threatening to leak each other's NSFW tapes, beating the shit out of each other and they just watch (except when the plot needs for a teacher to punish someone)

5-4

I so wish they had Claire's hands be in bandages at the end when she's taking care of Punn. She literally grabbed the blade with her bare hands cmon

Woah okay I didn't write much for the 2nd half of this episode because that was so good. The acting was great, the script was great, the dark atmosphere/mood was great, and the way it switched between real life and Gun's mind and different personalities was all so good.

I don't even have much to say, I really loved this episode.

Also, Claire and Punn are just so freaking good, man.

Episode 6 (Apr 30)

6-1

I know everybody ships Pang/Wave but thus far their antagonisms haven't really made me ship them. I think Claire/Wave's asshole interactions were cuter but that might just be because I'm in love with Claire

Woah, Mon you are sooo cool

"Are there any downsides?" "Hmm, no" Mond girl, not way you're not wrong but you better hope your potential's consequence is small because some of these gifted kids' potentials are tryna kill them

6-2

This time I hope Jane and Mon are actually friends and there's no betrayal please. The club and characters seem wholesome and cute

Oh, nevermind but I'm guessing that's not actually Jane but something possessing???? her or fucking her up in some way

6-3

Ms Ladda is freaking funny in this

Okay tbh, this episode feels like a downgrade after episode 4 and 5 because while those 2 didn't directly deal with the school stuff, they were very interesting and had other things going for it, whether it be character development or great acting. This one feels like it's meandering and doesn't impact the overall plot but doesn't have excellent enough characters/writing/acting to make up for it.

Like girl I don't care if people don't like Mon because we barely know her and the fact that the guy will confess to her and then try to beat her up 2 seconds later doesn't leave any impact at all

6-4

bruh okayyyy, I spoke too soon about this episode being useless but this scene with Pang and Nac !! so good

The impact would've been so much greater if I didn't accidentally spoil myself a few episodes ago T.T

Episode 7 (May 1)

7-1

ominous beginning, okay

What's the timing for this? Pang knows his powers now, doesn't he? Why is he sitting in the class with Korn and Mr Pom as if they don't know their potentials?

Oh, I see... so did Pang just say Nac's strange behaviour was because of Mon's pheromones like everybody else

7-2

This journalist girl's vibes are so... off, it's very curious

aklsdfj Korn ?!?! just divulging all the secrets to this very intelligent and investigative girl like ???

7-3

Lol the drone at the girl's classroom window gave me horror flashbacks to 3 Idiots...

Anyway, you can smell Korn's heartbreak coming from a mile away, like she came with the explicit mission to find out the Gifted kids' secrets and Korn will give it to her but then? Will she stay? Will she keep his secrets? hmm

She's actually scary with how she's manipulating him, rip Korn

Korn saying "The person who decides what's important and what's not is me" just gave me flashbacks to Fiat's role in SOTUS S

7-4

lol getting rejected by Claire isn't ruining your life Korn, calm down. Like I feel bad for him cuz he's clearly being used and isn't thinking clearly enough to identify how he's being manipulated but I don't like his attitude toward Claire

I mean is Koi wrong? The Gifted kids get all the privileges while the non-Gifted kids also have to withstand the weird shit they make happen while also never getting answers or justice for it

I thought Mr Pom wouldn't be affected by Pang's potential, like the teacher in charge of them is immune to them sort of way? I feel like we always need a character in these stories who can withstand others' powers

Actually, maybe he's just pretending and he really is immune

Episode 8 (May 1)

8-1

ooh, we're getting like a full group activity rather than focusing on just one character?

8-2

Wave is seriously so intriguing

is that log eq even solvable for same x ?

I freaking love Claire's dramatic ass

Another thing I spoiled for myself: Punn copies Pang's potential in The Gifted Graduation

8-3

The scoreboard is killing me fr, it's like a rough order of which the characters are interesting and central to the plot. Poor twins

Dang. They really will do everything for the smart students and the reputation of the school lol unsurprising

Why does Wave think Pang cheated?? Is it just his ego that he refuses to believe anybody could beat him fair and square?

Gosh, the talk with the Director is so fucked up because schools/universities really are just... like that lol All the shit about "not ruining [perperator]'s future" during rape accusations for example

Okay, I guess the forgetting thing isn't a result of the Gifted kid's powers being used on someone but rather the school/Director gives them something to make them forget? Like Ohm's friend who got disappeared, Ms Ladda saying Koi won't remember, Nac after he banged his head on the metal.

lol the Director truly knows how to get under Wave's skin i guess

I'm guessing for the next 4 episodes we'll focus more on the school and it's secrets like this one than following each character's journey (though we might have this too)?

Episode 9 (May 1)

9-1

Cross out my previous assumption, I guess we'll follow Wave this time

Realization with the preview: Wave's line "I'm dying to know what you'll ask of the director" after he hands Pang his walkie-talkie that he later listens in with is really great!

lol Namtaan's conversation acting got better or she just looks better doing it against Wave because his acting's a bit unnatural for me (his scream at the end of last ep lol)

Bruh, this teacher is acting so unprofessionally, why would you wipe this student's mouth with your handkerchief and lean in so close?

Gosh, Nara is making me sooo uncomfortable. As an adult, there are certain mannerisms and distance you must maintain when interacting with children. At first I thought it'd be like a normal Wave has a crush on a teacher but she's soo ?? flirty ?? I'm deeply uncomfortable

9-2

I don't wanna even think about another love triangle with Pang - Namtaan - Wave. They already have one with Punn - Claire - Korn, c'mon now.

Namtaan's acting is back to being somewhat awkward

The interactions between Wave and Nara truly make me want to die, why is she a teacher/adult in the school idek who she is acting the way she is with a student who's also a child fr. And they're alone on a rooftop in the evening, Wave my guy, run as far away as possible

rip they really ganged up on Wave like that but I can understand them since it's Mr Pom who said they suspect Wave

9-3

who is this random girl though. This far into the story I don't like it when they introduce new characters just for some conflict. Koi, for example, we knew from before because of her journalism stuff and Nara is from Wave's past so it makes sense that she's new to the story but this maroon hoodie girl ?

Isn't Wave a little toooo soft when he's with Namtaan, divulging his vulnerabilities so easily

Uhh yeah, that's a very deserved warning

Wait um ???

Bruh, what do you mean you didn't do anything wrong, weren't you about to kiss Nara? Not that I think the fault necessarily lies with Wave, it's Nara abusing her position of power for sure bc wtf

Anyway don't make Namtaan Nara's daughter or something cuz that'd be so fucking weird

9-4

Bruh, can't they just ask them to discuss the thesis?

?? What exactly did Wave do wrong, bruh? Nara tricked him into doing her thesis, was inappropriately close with him, and bought her degrees. Wave exposing that she bought the degree makes perfect sense, she had it coming tf

I don't like Namtaan enough to let go of her stupid shit the way I would do for Claire and maybe Punn

I think the writing and characterization for this episode could've been tighter but it was interesting to finally see Wave's backstory nonetheless.

Is this the first episode where the arc doesn't get wrapped up by the end?

Episode 10 (May 1)

10-1

Girl what's going on

10-2

Mon's actress is very beautiful

Why are the teachers in this school so useless? Not even just for like treating students unfairly but like controlling students lol Ms Ladda is intimidating but so much shit happens that she's clueless about

I don't quite get how this threat is working against Mon like first of all, she's no longer in the Martial Arts club because they hated her anyway and like the Gifted kids would understand that it's just her sweat and she didn't know (+ Pang already knows) like ?

10-3

Okay, would Wave actually give away the secrets? I can't think of what he'd gain by doing so, so I'd guess no. He probably gets off on the fact that he's getting so many people to follow his/the app's orders and is causing chaos because he's better than everybody else but he doesn't seem like the type who'd want the info to get out. Maybe it'll just be a prank at the end to show people they can manipulate them?

10-4

Okay, so he wouldn't have actually leaked anything, it's just to display his knowledge and potential

I like the Pang and Wave convo

I feel the same way about this episode that I do about episode 6. The first 3 parts with the action and erratic behaviour don't really appeal to me (it might've appealed to me more if we understood why Wave was doing more or if he had a better reason than just I wanna show everybody I'm smart) but the last part with Pang is good

Episode 11 (May 1)

how many episodes am I gonna watch today? I should stop for today so that I can watch the other 3 tomorrow but I won't do that

11-1

I think I'll scream cry throw up tear out my hair when Punn and Claire break up "Do I like music? I don't know but I know someone I love likes it when I play it for her."

Okay interesting, I guess we'll focus on multiple people this episode

11-2

Dang before Pat and Pran's fist bumps, there was Wave and Pang's ?

Okay I stopped here last night because I had to wake up at like 8:30 for Eid, so I’m watching the rest the next day on Eid hoho

11-3

What does that sayyy why don’t they translate aghhh I’ll assume it’s something like 1 week later

Bruh, their friends realizing Wave getting Pang lunch and straws and calling him etc I can 100% see where all the shipping is coming from now

11-4

Ms Ladda is so interesting. She had undying loyalty to the school while she was there but now that she’s been fired, she’s willing to give Chanon’s folder to them (even though she thinks they can’t do real damage). I assume she’ll show up again even if she’s not a part of it all anymore? Esp because she was wiping people’s memories probably

Mr Pom can stop time? I feel like I should’ve been able to figure that out with the ticking clock thing always there but I was like hmm maybe the ticking helps with hypnosis lol

Oh, it’s called a Metronome from the comments

Also, read the comments and got spoiled that the director apparently has same powers as Pang rip someone was theorizing about what’s happening and a commentor was like “director has same power as pang, remember?” like bruh no? They don’t remember because they’re clearly watching it for the first time and trying to figure it out

Episode 12 (May 2)

12-1

Ohhh, so Pom’s the one who can erase memories? Or can he stop time and then do smth to erase memories

Nooo Pang sitting down all pouty while Wave throws paper balls at him and calls him stupid is so cutee

It’s Eid so I haven’t been able to watch a whole lot of this and tomorrow I won’t have my laptop with me nooo when will I watch these last 2 episodes. I’ll try to finish episode 12 tonight and then maybe watch Episode 13 on my phone sometime tomorrow ?

12-2

lool this electric metronome

12-3

Okay but I don’t get why they’re stealing each other’s pins... they don’t want their classmates to get fucking expelled, do they? Like okay I believe Claire and Punn would fuck over other people to get their pins the way they did with the twins but Ohm doing that to trick twin Joe to steal his pin ?? hm

I wish they’d taken the folder from him when Pang commanded him to remember because how do you know he won’t try to destroy it even more after he remembers lol

12-4

Yeah lol they’re so smart in some ways but fr oversee everything in some others like why wouldn’t you just take the folder

This Canon-Pom thing got me all fucked up fr

Ms Ladda gave Ohm the lose powers injection ?!

Episode 13 (May 3)

I went on a 1 day trip and so watched the first part of this on my laptop before leaving and the rest of it on my phone when I had some down time because I needed to know what happened. So here’s my notes app notes rather than live blogging.

ending of the gifted?!?! very very interesting that the director pointed out pang’s arrogance woah

so the second season was always going to happen, interesting. i sometimes consider just not watching second season cuz it seems like they’re just tacking it on after a finished story but nah this was planned

anyway i’ll have to watch punnclaire break up that’s so </3

Overall:

Interesting thus far! I liked how it went through each character’s journey and got us attached to them before tackling grander things. Episodes 4 and 5 were my favourite, I freaking love PunnClaire.

I think in some ways the writing/direction of the story is excellent while weak in others. I liked how it ended, though I would’ve been annoyed if I watched it with only season 1 available but I’ll be starting season 2 soon, so it’s fine. I think it’s just super interesting how the season kind of ended with them failing and the director harshly pointing out that Pang himself is arrogant, unequal, and unfair.

I’m interested to see how next season goes, I think it’ll be a lot more intense and also I’m dreading the PunnClaire breakup fr.

Rating: 7/10

Tiktoks:

PunnClaire scenes from season 1 (cr: stvyls)

Claire stopping Punn from harming himself in ep 5 (cr: ilyramida)

The Gifted: Graduation Live Blogging

#the gifted #ep by ep commentary

2 notes · View notes

nikkirecs · 2 years

Text

SHORT THINGS FOR HEIDI

and some non-short things bc i have no self control

movies

Koe no Katachi - it made me cry

Cider no You ni Kotoba ga Wakiagaru - it’s cute and short

Summer Wars - it was fun

Doukyuusei - you mentioned it and it’s good

Umibe no Étranger - just gay angst rn i guess

1 cour/1 season

Baccano! - a lot is happening but i love the op

Godzilla: Singular Point - defs not for everyone bc it’s a lot of theoretical physics but the animation is just so fun to watch

Jibaku Shounen Hanako-kun - the manga made me cry

Kyoukai no Kanata - it’s not amazing but i like it and it’s pretty

Hataraku Maou-sama! - not fantastic but fun at the v least, watch it before s2 comes out this summer so that this being here isn’t a lie

Shadows House - this fucked me up but not in a trauma way

Uramichi Oniisan - too real

1 cour/2 seasons

Kekkai Sensen - i continue to be urban fantasy trash but this is honestly fantastic, especially the 1st season

Gin no Saji - again the creator of fma, nice sol

Akagami no Shirayuki-hime - i’m not like obsessed but it’s fun

K - honestly objectively it’s lesser bsd but i go hard for the characters. like i didn’t like it at first and ten spent 5 years thinking about it. really i just rec for the prequel movies

Otome Game no Hametsu Flag shika Nai Akuyaku Reijou ni Tensei shiteshimatta… - it’s so good

2 cour/1 season

Nagi no Asukara - this makes me so emo in the best ways

Ballroom e Youkoso - love a good sports, idk why it has romance as a genre though

Hyouka - it pretty

SHIROBAKO - a love letter to the anime industry, not incredible but i was charmed

Vinland Saga - i love vikings

2 cour/2 seasons

Arslan Senki (TV) - by the creator of fma. also the 2nd cour is only like 8 eps

Enen no Shouboutai - if you can get past the fanservice it’s a+

Magi: The labyrinth of magic - god when will it get a s3

3-gatsu no Lion - i haven’t seen s2 but s1 was fantastic and i normally hate dramatic sol

Ookiku Furikabutte - second season is 1 cour, just a nice baseball anime, clearly i’m pushing the sports

2 cour/4 seasons

Durarara!! - everything after s1 is only 1 cour but listen we know i love urban fantasy, arts not fantastic but i don’t think it’s bad enough to stop

long shit bc i have no self control

Soul Eater - what is a nikki rec list without soul eater

BLEACH - i mean you said you lean toward long stuff, stop after they beat the big bad the first time

Cross Game - love me a good romance sport

MONSTER - what a slow burn, i seriously didn’t know i liked it and then it was over and i was like “this is a masterpiece”

Diamond no Ace - i binged 100 eps in a week

#heidi

1 note · View note

kapowsandinterrobangs · 1 year

Text

I first downloaded

dating apps right before my internship interview with Paktor in year 2 of university purely for research (I nearly forgot that I worked there for a while; felt like a fever dream), but only after 4 years of mindless swiping on my phone did I take matches and connections more seriously.

2022 became my year of experimentation with Tinder, Coffee Meets Bagel, Bumble, and Muzz.

I spent about a year fucking around*. Here's what I found out:

When you fool around, you get fools

Since I jumped into this with the intention of dating to experience, I wasn't filtering as tightly as I normally would (but also it wasn't like I was swiping right on everybody) since I was open to meeting any Tom, Dick and Harry as long as we matched and the conversation flowed.

I met some cool people, like the national powerlifting coach and the Grab Delivery walker/lawyer-in-training. But those were diamonds in the rough.

I also ended up meeting some characters which I felt were rather dubious. Ok maybe not dubious? But I guess because there was a mismatch in our expectations of what each other should be, I felt like I was meeting dubious characters.

There was the boy who couldn't keep his hands off me the first time we met because he was testing waters and I wasn't firm with my personal boundaries (partly my fault here), the investment banker who was clearly in love with his best friend (and I'm pretty sure he farted in my fucking presence while in the train), and the urban farmer who has... some inclinations of his own (which I'm glad I didn't hang out long enough with to fully discover).

And then I met people who would probably have been nice people, except that our objectives weren't very aligned. I came across a couple of people who were dating to marry, and to them I probably felt like a bird waiting for an opportunity to escape - very flighty and non-committal.

Perhaps if I cared more about being intentional and selective about the people I meet and build connections with, I probably wouldn't feel like I received the shorter end of the stick.

So what does this mean for the future? I think I will still be open to meeting anybody and everybody, but also trust my gutfeel instead of betting on the wildcard ever so often. I mean, I'm not a risk-taker at heart, so for starters maybe it's better to stick to the rivers and the lakes that I'm used to. Above all, what's more important is to go into things with intention and clarity, and stick with it to avoid wasting my (and other people's) time.

2. Long phone calls don't mean anything

One of the first few people I met was somebody I spent days talking on the phone with all night till the early AM. One thing I've learned is that when it comes to a vibe check, long phone calls over days and weeks on end just cannot beat a good old meetup.

The first match that I had long phone calls with was RJ, a seasoned sweet-talker. I think early twenties Yasmin would have swooned, but mid twenties Yasmin with the fully-developed prefrontal cortex had a healthy level of skepticism (though that's not to say that I wasn't giggling like a schoolgirl). After weeks of chatting on the phone, we met up for real because I finally relented (...in the middle of Ramadan...I know...) but it didn't work out because he didn't respect my personal boundaries and was very handsy (in the middle of Ramadan! I know!).

There was also the boy who was going to sit for the bar at the end of the year. whom I scheduled weekly phone calls with for almost a month. We vibed so well on the phone and I felt like we got each other because I was telling him things I shouldn't ever reveal to a stranger. Unfortunately, when we met, I felt... nothing. It was a bit like hanging out with Shaun (Lim TJ, not Yeo JB. The latter would have been a little alarming haha).

Could we have saved each other's time if we just met from the get-go? I think so.

3. Be clear about your personal boundaries and stick to your guns

This was a lesson that I learned from my experience with RJ. In one of our phone calls, I think he was trying to suss out where I stand on physical touch, which was a major love language for him. And as a Good Muslim Girl, I was frank with what I was comfortable and uncomfortable with. So when he started getting very comfortable with massaging my shoulders, putting his arm around me and poking my stomach , I was like ????

Though truthfully speaking, it's not like I didn't have a part to play in this. Part of me was stupefied - I didn't know what to do even though I felt uncomfortable and just froze because well, this kind of tomfoolery never happened to me before. Another part of me was trying to make concessions for him and trying to meet him in the middle because, well, I liked him.

On the MRT ride back home, he mentioned something which pissed me off to no end. "I didn't know you're okay with physical touch. I thought you didn't like it at all," he said.

God, I felt like a fucking fool. I was so disappointed in myself for not being firm with my boundaries which could have possibly sent mixed signals (no resistance means okay right?). More importantly I was so fucking pissed with him. Because it's not like I didn't articulate my boundaries. And it's not like he forgot. He knew and remembered, but he still went ahead to touch me like that to see how far he could go. Fucking hell.

I went home feeling... dirty. Violated almost? Anyways, after that, whatever good feelings I had towards RJ just dissipated. What do the Zoomies call it nowadays? The ick? Yeah, I caught it.

So this was a big lesson. There is no good in somebody who doesn't respect your boundaries, no matter how much you like them.

Separately, I'm not going to be too mad at myself about this anyway, because the Year of Experimentation was also for me to figure out what I'm comfortable with and what are truly No Go Zones.

And I think I came out of this Year of Experimentation with the realization that my desire for a modern, secular, dating experience just cannot beat my inherent fear of God (surprise surprise! It's still there!). There was very little chance of me being physically and emotionally okay with transgressing the traditionally conservative parameters laid out by the religion when it comes to this. And I think before 2022 I already knew this? I guess I just needed to confirm it.

4. I too had been a shitty match

I've talked about meeting my share of fools, so you would think that when I meet a good one, I would treat the person right.

No I didn't.

I kind of fucked things up by ghosting him just because there wasn't any romantic vibez after meeting him for the first time. And this was after weeks of building a connection through phone calls on Telegram, so really, it wasn't like it was a casual fling so there was no reason for me to do so.

So yeah, I was the shitty match.

RM was studying for the bar at the end of the year and was doing Grab delivery at the same time. He was a person who was on his way to meeting his potential and you know I love me a 'started from the bottom, now we're here' type of character. He was ticking almost every box in my list - calm and reassuring, logical, good sense of humour, genuine, complete gentleman. He really loved his family and honestly, If I was Dating to Marry instead of Dating to Experience, I think that would also have been very important to me.

Unfortunately, I didn't feel any sparks when we met. I also declined when he tried to pay for my meal (but I think this was my masculine energy in motion; I've since learned to accept things like this graciously) and didn't put in my 100% in our conversations that day.

After we met, he texted to ask when we would meet again. I told him I was a little tired and my social battery was really low (it was true; the week that I met him, I had arranged three dates with three separate people so I was mentally pooped - my fault!).

I told him I would let him know when I'm free.

I just didn't text him back after that.

(As I'm writing all of this, I realized I fucked things up with him up for real. Oh well.)

Sigh. Lesson? Don't do this. Be a fucking mature adult and instead, say things with my chest. Ghosting is for cowards and if you're not one, don't do it.

5. Dating as a Hijabi Muslim Girl on secular dating platforms is... truly something

It's harder to get matches because many people are clear about not wanting to date us which is completely fair to be honest. One is right to assume that we're more conservative and if you want something easy, smooth, and hassle-free, it's much easier to swipe left on us. Also, while I am open to all colours and creed, people may not necessarily feel the same way.

I also end up growing a much thicker skin by initiating conversations with people I've matched with because I know the pay-off from starting one with me probably isn't very high (no sex, no holding hands... where's the fun in that :P). And sometimes, I get ignored, so I completely understand guys who say they start conversations but get no response despite matching. Y'all do it to me too! hahaha

I did get a little butthurt as first. But then I saw a Tiktok which talked about you should treat dating the way you would with prospecting for clients. Some leads are cold leads and if it goes nowhere, that's okay, don't take it personally. It's not meant to be! You move on to the next.

But there's also the other end.

Most have heard of the Yellow Fever. But have you heard of Muslimah Mania? I've also come across dating profiles on Muzz who clearly fetishize Muslim girls so honestly... that was an experience. If I had a dollar for every time a match connects with me for a one night stand/ fwb arrangement (without even getting to know me first!), I would have enough money to pay for a cup of bubble tea from Woobbee, which isn't a lot but it sure as hell is surprising.

I also secretly suspect that RJ was one, because he did reveal to me that he had been on Muzz (a Muslim dating app) before despite being a free-thinking Chinese boy from Malaysia (I should have known that this was a red flag). So I'm glad things didn't work out with us.

Anyways, I think I came out of this year of Dating to Experience learning a little bit more about myself and that is pretty valuable too. I'm glad I didn't completely shut off from dating like a prude. I mean, how can I say it's not for me if I didn't try it out right? Haha

So what does this mean for me in 2023? Honestly, I don't know. But what I know is that I'm tired from connecting, and matching, and "Hi! How's life?" at the moment. I'm going to dedicate at least the first half of 2023 to myself. There are far more exciting things to look forward to and focus on like my new job!

I guess boys will have to wait :P

*Figuratively speaking. Don't worry! Still a Good Muslim Girl at heart.

#dating

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graaythekwami · 3 years

Text

The Little Things - ML One-Shot

(Spoilers for the season 4 episode Hack-San)

-------

"Out for a solo patrol, Chat Noir?"

Chat Noir jumped slightly, not quite use to hearing an unfamiliar voice up here on the rooftops, and turned. The figure was standing on a chimney a ways from him, the reds of her costume matching the setting sun.

"Scarabella?" Chat Noir said, looking at the temporary Ladybug heroine he had met the other day. His surprise quickly gave way to worry, eyes widening slightly. "Did something happen to Ladybug? Is there an akuma out right now? Is–"

Scarabella held up her hands, but didn't come closer. "No no no, everything is okay– I just wanted to talk to you, that's all, and Ladybug said you often did some patrols in the evening..."

He gave a tight smile, shoulders relaxing slightly. "Not really a patrol, not like what me and M'Lady do when we patrol. It's just... to get some fresh air, I suppose."

He was slightly startled when he turned and found Scarabella walking towards him, as he hadn't heard her steps. She had some papers in her hands, and an uncertain smile on her face. She paused a little ways away from him.

"Is it okay if we talk for a bit?" Scarabella asked. "I don't have a lot of time, and then I can leave you to your... 'patrol'."

"What's up?" Chat Noir asked, trying to sound as casual as possible. His feelings on Scarabella were... mixed. She was an ally and she had spirit, but he would be lying if he said there was no bitterness when he thought about her. About what she knew and why she was there.

"I... I wanted to just show you this," Scarabella said, holding up the papers in her hand, before carefully setting it down on the roof near him, before retreating back slightly. "I had to edit out a few 'tips' for identity reasons, and Ladybug doesn't know I'm showing this to you, but considering my sudden appearance I figured maybe it would help if you saw it."

Chat glanced at the papers, then back at the spare heroine. "I don't want to go behind Ladybug's back."

Scarabella blinked, then let out a small laugh. "Oh, no, no, it's not like it's something I can't show you. It's just the list of tips she gave me of how to be Ladybug while she was gone."

"Okay?"

Scarabella smiled. "Read them, would you? Please?"

Chat Noir looked at the papers, before carefully picking them up and unfolding them. Sure enough he found a list of 'tips', each one carefully numbered off. His eyes scanned down the list, noting a few numbers were missing, which must have been the editing she had been referring to.

Chat Noir's eyes jumped back up to the top, and began reading. He could tell right away that it was indeed written by his Lady, and he could almost hear her voice as he read.

Tip 1 - Keep the earrings in at all times, they are easy to misplace. DO NOT TAKE THEM OFF.

Tip 2 - Always have sweets for Tikki on hand.

Tip 3 - Not just for recharging if an akuma appears, make sure you have something she can snack on if she's hungry.

Tip 4 - No. Seriously. Holders know no fury like a kwami starved.

Chat Noir snickered, knowing fully well what she meant. His interactions with Tikki had been limited, and she had been a very sweet kwami. Ladybug told pretty much the same story... except for the times she didn't have cookies or macarons on hand for her kwami. It turned out the little Ladybug kwami was just as passionate about her sweets as Plagg was with his cheese.

Tip 11 - Tell Chat Noir what's going on right away if an akuma shows up. Since I wasn't able to talk my way into staying in Paris like I thought I didn't get time to tell him I was leaving.

Tip 12 - If you see Chat Noir patrolling at night don't worry, it doesn't mean there's an akuma or somewhere you need to take my place. My Kitty is a free spirit and Paris is our city.

Tip 13 - Leave out croissants for him if he happens to come by where you are on patrol.

Tip 14 - The chocolate covered ones are his favorite. Chat loves anything with passion fruit too.

Tip 15 - Chat Noir likes any kind of sweets, actually, but try to get him his favorites if you can.

There was a small smile on his face as he read, eyes carefully looking over each word, warmth in his heart. The tips soon drifted back towards things regarding the Miraculous, a good dozen involving Lucky Charms and explaining how the yoyo worked.

Tip 25 - Lucky Charms might be bigger than you think! Be prepared to leapt out of the way in case a piano comes crashing down instead of a pencil.

Tip 26 - Don't ask Tikki to explain Lucky Charms. She'll be vague and she'll do it on purpose.

Tip 27 - Don't try to force a Lucky Charm to work. It's just kind of instinctual? I don't know how to describe it.

Tip 28 - Ask Chat Noir for help if the Lucky Charm is too confusing. He's been Misterbug before and has helped me defeat villains with countless Lucky Charms.

Tip 29 - Just ask Chat Noir if you have any questions, he's a professional.

Tip 30 - Don't ask him so many questions though that you stress him out! Akuma fights are hard enough and with him being the most experienced he'll have enough to worry about without a bunch of questions.

Tip 31 - Just follow Kitty's lead, he knows what to do.

Tip 32 - Chat Noir has good instincts and enhanced senses, listen to him.

Tip 33 - When Chat Noir makes a joke try to laugh, even if you think it's not funny. It makes him happy. :)

"My jokes are always funny, My Lady!" Chat Noir exclaimed in protest, though there was a smile on his face.

Tip 34 - Make sure Chat Noir is happy.

Tip 35 - Don't make fun of his purring, he's self conscious about it even though it's adorable. (He embraces everything cat except for the purring, I don't know why.)

Tip 36 - Purring doesn't always mean he's happy! Cats can purr when they're hurt! If he takes a hit and you hear him purr then you got to defeat the akuma as quickly as possible! Sooner you can cast the Miraculous Ladybugs the sooner Chat Noir isn't hurting!

Tip 37 - Don't let Chat Noir take any hits for you.

Tip 38 - Seriously. He does that way too much and I don't like watching it. Stupid self-sacrificing cat. Make sure he stays safe.

Tip 39 - Or else.

"These aren't even tips at this point!" He said, holding back a laugh.

"She does that a lot," Scarabella said with a fond smile. "With 675 'tips' a good chunk of them are ramblings."

"Six hundred and what-?" Chat said, quickly flicking through the papers and towards the end. Sure enough the very last one stared back up at him, the same number as Scarabella had promised.

Tip 675 - When you say "Miraculous Ladybug" don't forget to throw the Lucky Charm.

He flicked back a few more pages, eyes scanning the various notes that had been left. Many were just like he had expected when Scarabella had first told him what the list was: advice on what to do with different types of akumas, how the timer worked, tips for finding the akumatized object, and what to say to a victim after they were freed from Shadow Moth's control.

But then there were others, small little mentions of him and things he hadn't even realized his Lady knew or noticed, things he didn't know people cared about.

Tip 142 - If Chat Noir is dismissive with how his day has gone crack a few jokes. He tries to cover up when he's had a bad day and this is the best way to lift his spirits.

Tip 143 - Chat Noir loves hugs. Quick hugs, tight hugs, long hugs, he adores them.

Tip 144 - Chat likes to be scratched under the chin and behind his faux ears. It makes him purr, but don't mention the purring (see tip 36).

Tip 145 - Chat Noir is a cuddler.

Tip 146 - Ignore all the last few tips. Respect Chat Noir's personal space.

Tip 147 - But don't be distant either, support him! Fist bumps, pats on the back, you know, be friendly.

Tip 148 - You better be nice to my Kitty. I'll be watching all akuma coverage.

Tip 149 - No booping Chat Noir on the nose. That's our thing.

Tip 150 - No bonking him with the yoyo, carrying him in your arms, or using the nicknames 'chaton' or 'kitty', again those are our things, not yours.

Tip 151 - You can use the nicknames 'Chat' or 'CN'.

Tip 152 - He may kiss your hand. Chat Noir is a gentleman, don't let the costume fool you.

"M'lady..." Chat Noir said softly.

Tip 355 - Let Chat Noir handle the media, he's a pro at that.

Tip 356 - Don't leave him alone to deal with all the reporters though, that's a lot of pressure.

Tip 357 - Chat's ears and tail can tell you a lot about how he's feeling. I've read a lot of cat behavior articles and it's helped me a lot.

"Hey!" Chat Noir protested, even though his Lady wasn't here to see it.

Tip 598 - If anyone makes any comment about Chat Noir being dangerous or being a sidekick, you don't hold back.

Tip 599 - If it's a reporter that makes this comment give me their name and who they work for so I can make sure they never get an interview from the heroes again.

Tip 600 - Send Chat Noir a cat meme on the yoyo to cheer him up if anyone does say anything about him.

"I need to go," Scarabella said softly. "Feel free to keep those, I... I just wanted you to know that she was thinking about you. You mean a lot to her, Kittycat."

Chat Noir looked up at Scarabella, vision blurring slightly, but a smile was on his face. "I don't think 'Kittycat' was on the list of approved nicknames, Scar."

Scarabella scowled. "Well I can tell you that one isn't on my list of approved nicknames either."

Chat Noir grinned. "I'm sure it will grow on you."

"Purrhaps," Scarabella said, before giving a salute and a smile. She then tossed her yoyo, swinging away. Chat Noir watched her for a moment, before looking back down at the list he had been given.

He smiled, holding the papers close to his chest as he laid down on the roof, letting out a happy sigh.

#hack san #ml hack san #ml spoiler #ml spoilers #ml season 4 #ml season 4 spoilers #chat noir #scarabella #alya cesaire #adrien agreste #fluff #hurt/comfort

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novamirmirsblog · 3 years

Text

Favourite crime pt 2

Natasha Romanoff x reader

Word Count: 2936

Genre: angsty fluff? or fluffy angst 👀

Request: yes

Warnings: swearing, mentions of cheating, slight coercion into sex (it doesn't happen tho)

Part 1 is here

A/n: The long awaited part two is officially here. I had lots of people who wanted the reader to move on, people who wanted them to get back together and people who wanted both. Thank you everyone for your INDECISIVENESS (kidding. ily). Also Emma was a randomly generated name - I'm sorry :3

Did I write this fic instead of sleeping? Yes. I have no regrets.

It had been a year since you moved back home. The seasons had come and gone and with that, so had your thoughts of Natasha. The same could not be said for the assassin. She had spent a blissful 3 months with Bruce before he had dropped off the face of the Earth and she was missing you. By the 5th month, she had stopped moping about and tried to find you. She searched everywhere but your town was large and unfamiliar and you didn’t want to be found.

Natasha both regretted what she had said and didn't. She regretted it because she realised just how much she adored you once she saw all the areas Bruce fell short in. You knew her better than she sometimes knew herself. You knew when to back off and when to put pressure on. You knew when she needed control and when you needed to take control. You knew when she wanted ice cream or when she wanted brownies. Bruce didn't. However, a part of her didn't regret those nasty things she said because she really didn't deserve you. You were everything she wasn’t, and she didn't know how to measure up to you.

She never voiced these concerns and so they festered and grew until she believed the only way out was to cheat. She knew that was the only thing that could drive you away. Natasha had told you all about her past, how she believed the Red Room had stripped her of her humanity – of her choice whether to become a mother. She knew there were other ways to have children - of course there were, but she hated the fact they had taken that option from her.

You were not like Natasha. You voiced your concerns which is why she knew exactly what to say and do to get you to hate her. Your previous boyfriend had cheated on you with your once best friend. You had watched as your father cheated on your mother and how that made her a hollow shell for a while, her never understanding why the man she loved could hurt her in that way. Supposedly, everyone models their future relationships on what their parents’ relationship looked like. Perhaps that’s why you kept choosing the cheaters. You were content with where you were. You had a forest, a busy town, and a beach all within a 15-mile radius of your house. You were far enough from civilisation that you could forget about reality for a while but close enough to occasionally dip back in whenever you wanted to.

You had kept in contact with Tony and Pepper, congratulating them on the arrival of Morgan and insisting that they should visit. You also continued to occasionally talk to Wanda when Carol was off world. Carol was overjoyed when she found out you had started dating someone new.

You had met Emma when you were taking a dip back into reality at the local supermarket. Her blonde hair vaguely reminded you of a woman you used to know, and you guessed that’s why you felt drawn to her. It wasn’t the electrical crackle that stole your breath away like your first meeting with Natasha, but it was something. Emma could occasionally be a little controlling, but you guessed that’s what normal relationships were like. She didn’t like you going to bars or pubs anymore and you certainly weren’t allowed in any clubs. You didn’t mind it too much as you hardly minded giving up a few nights out if it meant you could have something that resembled normalcy.

“Who’s that?” Emma asked, your face illuminated from your phone as the ding rang out.

“A friend. He’s bringing his wife and new baby over tomorrow and was reminding me to baby-proof the house.” You smiled lightly as you texted Tony back. You hadn’t mentioned to Emma that you were an ex-avenger, but it just kept slipping your mind.

“Why didn’t you tell me? Who is he? Where will he be staying?”

“I just forgot. Sorry. He’ll be staying here.”

“But you only have a single bed.”

“Yeah. I was planning to sleep on that and Tony, Pepper and the baby can stay in my room.”

“You mean our room.”

You said nothing, too engrossed in arguing with Tony about how under no circumstances will there be any celery in your house. Apparently, that was the wrong thing to do.

“Our room, right Y/n?”

“Um yeah.” You wave her off was apparently your second mistake, but you didn’t multi-task too well and so half answers were all you were good for while texting.

“I have been your girlfriend for 3 months Y/n. The least you could do is answer me properly and tell me what’s going on in your life.” She huffed, pushing your feet from her lap, and turning to face away from you, all of which you missed. You really weren’t having that evil green vegetable in your house.

“Seriously, what is even so important that you’re ignoring me right now!” Emma’s voice cut through the fog, and you looked at her with a blank expression. It was times like these that you really missed Na- No. You refused to go there. You didn’t miss her. You were over her.

“No celery.”

Emma threw her hands up in the air. “You seriously don’t see what’s wrong, do you?”

“No.” You tilted your head, confused at what your girlfriend was talking about.

“Well, I’m not just going to tell you! Jesus. You should know. I’ll see you tomorrow.” Emma stood up in a huff, making a lot of noise while getting ready to leave.

“Okay – bye” Your attention was bought back to the phone when Tony sent you a cute video of Morgan crawling about, probably as a bribe to get you to buy celery. You stood, watching the video a few times before you shut off your phone, finally getting around to babyproofing your house.

~~~~~

Babyproofing a house was a lot more work than you originally thought. You had spent most the night picking sharp objects up from baby-height areas and making sure you hadn’t left any weapons about. All the guns taped under tables had to be relocated and you found enough change to set you up for retirement. You just hoped and prayed there were no small beads for Morgan to choke on. You didn’t even get around to putting soft corners on the edges of tables and counter tops, but you told yourself that it was survival of the fittest at that point. The whole endeavour had taken most the night which is how you found yourself with only an hour till Tony, Pepper and Morgan arrived.

There was a knock on the door, and you saw that you were 15 minutes late. Luckily your girlfriend had arrived half an hour before so you figured she could let them in. You shouted down, telling her to get the door as you finished putting on your socks.

“Hiya baby!” You cooed at Morgan babbling in Pepper’s arms, watching as her chubby hands reached for your hair, grabbing on with a crazy amount of strength. “Oh my god you’re strong. Pep, are you sure she’s Tony’s? I’m pretty sure she’s as strong as Thor.” You laughed, looking over at Tony. Your face dropped into careful neutrality as you saw the redhead standing behind him.

“Of course she’s mine doofus. We had multiple paternity tests.” Tony winked.

You didn’t know what to do. You weren’t ready. Your throat went dry as you asked if anyone wanted any drinks, your girlfriend waving them into the living room. You prepared the drinks, and you felt a presence behind you, wrapping their arms around your waist, their head resting on your back. You hated it. You felt suffocated. You took a breath and handed half the drinks to Emma, opting to grab a wine glass and fill it with the wine you had been saving for a special occasion. It might not have been a special occasion, but you needed something strong to get though the next few hours and you knew this would do the job.

You made your way back into the living room and Tony gestured to Emma “I don’t think we’ve met yet.”

“I’m Emma.”

“Tony. This is Pepper, Morgan and Natasha.” Your heart dropped at the mention of her name, realising that she wasn’t some cruel hallucination but was in fact standing in your living room.

“Sorry. I forgot to introduce you all.” You smiled and took another large swig from your glass.

“Hey how come you’re the only one with alcohol?”

“Because you’re a parent now.” You rolled your eyes at Tony, feeling Natasha stare holes into your face.

“So I need it even more!” Pepper hit Tony as he said that, causing Morgan to laugh.

“Don’t worry about Y/n getting drunk, she can handle her alcohol pretty well.”

“We know.” Natasha finally spoke. Her voice bought back floods of memories and you realised you missed her voice – just the tiniest amount. “Who exactly are you to Y/n?” To anyone else, the question was flippant, like asking about the weather but you, Tony and Pepper could all hear the carefully laced venom within her words and while the question sounded like it was aimed at your girlfriend, you could tell she was speaking to you.

“Where’s Bruce this fine day?” You shot back, not letting Emma speak.

“My question first.” Natasha finally turned her gaze to focus on you.

“Why are you here?” You felt Emma’s arm slither possessively around your waist. Perhaps if it had been another day, you would have appreciated it but right now, you felt like you were drowning. She held you too tight, you couldn’t move.

“Ah.” Natasha wore a smug look on her face and yet her eyes flashed with hurt. You hated that she had found out information you weren’t willing to give.

“Why are you here Agent Romanoff.” You wanted- no needed her to answer you. You needed to know why she came to you. Then you looked at Tony. “Why would you bring her here?” Your voice was level, Morgan was pulling at your leg to get you to pick her up. You used that as an excuse to escape your girlfriend’s grip.

“We need you back.”

“So you bring your baby to try and bribe me back?” You ran a hand through your hair, lightly bouncing Morgan. “That I can understand but why bring her?” You waved at Natasha, feeling both her and Emma’s eyes bore into you.

“She’s part of the team too and you both need to get on.” Pepper said.

“You were in on this too?” Your throat felt tight. You couldn’t breathe properly.

“I’m sorry but who exactly are you?” Emma asked. Natasha scoffed at her, folding her arms, and rolling her eyes.

Everything was a little too loud and muffled. It felt as if you were underwater. The sun was too bright, and it made everything a little too hard to look at. You could see your furniture, but it wouldn’t stay in your brain long enough for you to fully register it. You placed Morgan on the sofa and took a deep breath, closing your eyes to focus. When you opened them again you looked straight at Natasha.

“I am not going to play nice with you. You broke me and now that I’m moving on you suddenly decide to show up? No. I don’t believe it. Why can’t you just let me be happy? Leave me alone. Besides, I thought I was a ‘fun little distraction’.” You spat at Natasha. You were tired of being the bigger person. She had hurt you and you wanted to watch her bleed. It’s why you leant over and kissed Emma harshly, why you let out a slight moan so Natasha could hear. It didn’t matter that it was completely fake because even though you knew you should feel satisfaction at Natasha’s hurt face, the twinge of sadness upset you more than you would have liked.

Natasha knew the kiss was forced. She knew it was, but it didn’t stop the knife digging deeper into her heart. You had moved on and she had to respect that. She had said some awful things to you, and you really did deserve someone much better than her. You stormed out of the house, saying that you were going for a walk, leaving your girlfriend to entertain your guests.

~~~~~

It was dark by the time you got back. You saw Natasha on the sofa and ignored her as you walked straight to the guest bedroom. All you wanted to do was curl up and sleep this horrible day into the past but unfortunately for you, you had a girlfriend sitting on the bed.

“This bed isn’t big enough for-” Emma cut you off with a rough kiss. “Emma not now-”

“Yes now. I want to remind your ex what she’s missing.” Emma went back to kissing you and you wanted to cry. You didn’t like her possessiveness, didn’t like her jealousy. With Natasha that had been fun but with Emma, it made you feel afraid.

“Emma seriously.” You grabbed her wrist, not letting her reach into your underwear.

Emma huffed and stepped back. “What’s your problem?”

“I’m really tired. Can’t we just sleep?”

“It’s your ex, isn’t it? Why is she even here? I can’t believe you were going to just let her stay here and not tell me!”

“I didn’t know she was coming!” You were both stage whispering, conscious of the fact there was a baby that most likely didn’t sleep all that often.

“Then kick her out!”

You said nothing. You couldn’t just kick her out. That wouldn’t be fair.

“Oh my god you still love her. You still love her and she’s in love with someone else. Or she was. Ha.” Emma let out a bark of laughter. “That’s so fucking rich. You know what, crawl back to her but don’t come crying to me when she fucks you over again do you hear me?”

“Emma that’s not- I don’t love her anymore. I hate her. She ruined my life.”

“You truly hate her?” You nodded at her. “Supposedly, you can only truly hate someone if you loved them first. We’re done Y/n”

“Seriously?! What? Because I used to love Natasha? Because I don’t want to have sex with you? Grow up Emma. I’ve loved people before you and at this rate, I’ll love people after you too. I’m tired. I don’t have to have sex with you. You can’t make me.”

“I’m your girlfriend! You’re supposed to want to have sex with me!”

“Well not when I’ve had a long ass day!”

“Guys, I think you might wake Morgan.” You winced a little at the addition of Natasha. You knew this was going to end badly.

“This is my fucking house!” Emma said, not lowering her tone.

“Actually, it’s Y/n’s.” Natasha calmly stated. She really wasn’t going to rise to the bait.

Your girl- sorry- ex-girlfriend, fumed next to you. “You know what? Have her. She’s so screwed over from whatever you pulled that I don’t think she can love anyone ever again anyway.” Emma seethed, grabbing her shoes, and slamming the door on the way out. The sound of baby Morgan crying echoed through the house.

“I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine.” You ran your hand over your face, the exhaustion of the whole day catching up with you.

“No, it’s not. I betrayed your trust over the one thing I knew you couldn’t tolerate. I knew how hurtful cheating is to you and I did it anyway. I know it’s not an excuse, but I guess I just felt like you deserved someone more than me. Someone better.”

You said nothing. You were so so tired. You missed her and it ached, but you couldn’t forget what she had done. “I can’t trust you anymore.”

“I know but please let me try again. Bruce wasn’t worth it. He only made me realise how much I love you.” Tears were filling up Natasha’s beautiful eyes and you could see just how tired she looked.

“I missed you.” You whispered out, not wanting to break whatever was being formed

“I missed you too. So so much.”

“I can’t forgive you. Not yet, but…you can have one more chance Natasha. That’s it. You get one chance at my forgiveness.”

“Okay!” Natasha sniffled slightly “I promise I won’t mess this up.”

“I’m serious Natasha. One chance. I don’t play baseball. There are no three strikes.”

Natasha gingerly reached up to cup your face. “I won’t waste this.”

“Good because I never really stopped loving you and I’d hate to be a simp.”

“I think it’s a little too late for that dove.” Natasha let out a watery laugh.

“Excuse me?” You let out a fake gasp and wiped some of the tears from her cheeks.

“It’s okay, I’ll tell you a secret.” Natasha ushered you to lean closer and you did, she tucked a strand of hair behind your ear and whispered, “I’ve been whipped for you for as long as I can remember.”

You were looking forward to all the ways Natasha was going to make it up to you and hopefully, you’d get to give Bruce a good punch too. You both knew it was going to be a long road ahead but you both felt a little more ready for what lies next.

#natasha romanoff imagine #natasha romanoff x you #natasha romanoff fluff #natasha x you #natasha romanov x reader #natasha x y/n #natasha romanoff #natasha romanoff x reader #natasha romanov #natasha x reader #Tony stark #natasha mcu #mcu imagine #natasha imagine #natasha romanoff imagines #natalia alianovna romanova #pepper potts

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hmspogue · 3 years

Text

Outer Banks season 2 Official Trailer shot-by-shot rundown

A comprehensive post where I scream about analyze the entire trailer frame by frame for clues, theories, and plot. Just my own opinions and general tin foil-hatting

These are screenshots from Netflix’s trailer for Outer Banks season 2. I do not claim or own any of these.

note: this post is tagged as a long post if you wish to avoid having to scroll until your thumbs break.

“My old man used to tell me, ‘it’s best to never say you’ve hit rock bottom’.”

(Putting all of these shots together since they’re scenes we already know but-) Holy shit, okay let’s just....start off like this I guess, damn.

“'Trust me’, he said...”

Kiara looking back and forth between the boys like this really just feeds the headcanon I have that her form of grief this season is going to be her trying to hold it together for their sakes (and eventually just snapping).

JJ just looks fucking furious someone give these kids a hug? I already know this scene is going to ruin me.

“You can always go...”

JJ back working at the hotel. He looks literally so angry again in this scene I could see him self destructing at work and losing his job? (Please do not be isolating yourself you beautiful son of a bitch even though I know you’re going to).

Pope in the Twinkie (costuming wise they all are in warmer looking clothes for some of the shots, so just confirming it’s a little bit into the school year when this all takes place).

“Lower”

Big John was real big into pep talks, I see. (seriously can you imagine Big John having this conversation with like 8 year old John B after he fucking dropped his ice cream cone or some shit I shouldn’t be laughing).

I’m just-

These poor kids, I wanna know how the police all the way down in the Bahama’s knew about them?

Their calves....

“RUN!”

Are going to be so fucking jacked by the end of this season I stg.

Fuck you.

“The gold from the Royal Merchant....it’s here.”

For a while, I had thought that maybe they didn’t even make it to the Bahama’s at the front of the season and ended there (because everyone had been filming in there). But I guess they’re going to be making two trips.

If I were a bird from this POV I’d shit right on that house no questions asked.

oooooh ho hokay. Just so we’re clear. Ward Cameron not only get away with murder and about two dozen other felonies, but-

“Half a billion.”

HE STILL FINDS THE GOLD IN THE CRAIN HOUSE AND GETS TO KEEP IT?

Not the polo with the snap back, I just know this man has a playlist called Sad Boi Hours that is just Juice WRLD’s top 5 songs on Spotify and he tells his friends they wouldn’t know the underground artists he listens to.

Sh, you have lost screaming privileges. Go inside and take a nap maybe.

“John B, we are fugitives in a foreign country.”

So, previously, I was talking about how I was confused how they would still be trying to find him is everyone thought he was dead, but here the wanted poster clearly says “presumed lost at sea”. I think that will be interesting to see how the Pogues all interpret that.

Especially because they already had a memorial for John B and everything, I wonder if there will be any part of the Pogues holding out hope that they both could still be out there OUCH.

I’m going to circle back to this, but it looks like John B and Sarah are going to get separated for a little while in this man hunt, I could see my idiot himbo son trying to sacrifice himself so Sarah can get away but in reality just....stranding her.

“Promise me you won’t do anything stupid?”

Oh, sweetie....

“Well, Sarah Cameron, I do stupid things all the time without realizing it.”

The volume of his self awareness is astronomical. sir, that is your whole character summed up in your own words.

GOD, IT’S ME AGAIN. PLEASE LET THEM LEAN INTO COMPLETE HIMBO JOHN B THIS SEASON I’LL DO ANYTHING-

nyyooooOOOOOOOOOOOOM-

“Hold on!”

The complete abject terror I would feel having John Booker Routledge driving get-away and then saying the words “Hold on” while reaching fro the gear shift? The english language fails me.

Sarah, bestie, I’m so sorry.

I just wanna know-

what the plan or objective was in this situation. What was the reason for being this dramatic.

Rest in piss, bozo <3

“Ward’s still out there...”

Okay, same conversation they were having as before. I wonder what makes them decide they need to get back to the OBX for this tho.

“I can clear my name. This can all be over in one shot.”

It looks like Topper watching this but way more concerningly, correct me if I’m wrong but this 100% looks like....John B gets caught. And the DEATH PENALTY?! He did have a mug shot for the fliers in s1 and the one above but he was never brought in? Plus he just looks super dirty and dishevled in this one so I-

Jail break anyone?

I also still want to know if they’re going to go with a Topper redemption arc this season. like, does he know more than he should just from being around Rafe and his big fat mouth? Is he going to help out the Pogues even if it’s just for Sarah?

This shot just suddenly made me really sad. The thought of this all started because Big John left one last thing for his son to find, his literal life’s work. And when it all started, it was just a fun adventure John B and his best friends were going on together and having fun with. Then it all got dragged to absolute shit and turned into what it did, including the remaining 3 Pogues thinking that this treasure hunt took their two best friends away from them. And it’s nothing like Big John intended it to be.

Why my eyes wet?

Now we’re edging into what I was talking about earlier with John B and Sarah getting separated.

“If you think there is anything I wouldn’t do...”

Once again, John B is no where to be found. Also, just in case y’all didn’t already know or forgot Ward is an actual psychopath.

I believe this one of the new character, played by Jontavious Johnson (Stubbs). Based on the voice over it lowkey sounds like they’re implying Ward maybe hired Stubbs and Cleo to find and bring Sarah back. My theory would be I bet they do go to retrieve her, but she somehow convinces them that it would be more beneficial for them in the end to be on the Pogue’s side instead.

Miss Girl you gotta be keeping your head on a SWIVEL. Especially when you’re a FUGITIVE of the LAW-

“...you haven’t been paying attention.”

My guy, who are you clarifying this for?

It’s what you deserve for monologuing.

in all seriousness, the idea of them coming to face to face with Ward in Nassau after thinking they finally escaped him is genuinely terrifying.

“SARAH!”

It kind of looks like they’re either hiding their faces or covering their noses? I don’t know maybe it was from some tactic to get away from Ward.

What did I literally jsut say about yelling privileges, you unhinged mother fucker?

“I’m calling the shots now. I’m driving.”

The following progression of scenes made me actually snort-

“I can’t drive stick.”

PLEASE THE FINGER GUNS LAUNCHED ME INTO ORBIT I LOVE THEM, YOUR HONOR.

Alright, so now it looks like we’re in Charleston. This is the same scene with Heyward’s truck that got leaked from BTS (read: JJ and Kie shoulder touch).

One of the main things that stuck out to me in the following scenes which, you will see, is it lowkey looks like Pope is kind of heading up this part of the operation, or even going in alone? The following clips are just very Pope focused.

I don’t know what it means, it’s just an observation.

“John B was not the only one that Ward double-crossed.”

LIMBRY-

Bro, we have been hearing about this woman for literal months and I just have....so many questions?

Who the hell is she? How is she connected to Ward? Why is she in South Carolina instead of the OBX? How do the Pogues even learn about her and how to track her down? How is she meant to “help” them? GAH I JUST WANNA KNOOOW. I already know I don’t trust her though and no I will not be offering up supporting evidence.

Sir, that is my son please unhand him.

“I think you know what I want.”

.......no? But feel....free to explain yourself?

The print on the paper is the same one that’s on the ceiling tiles in the following scene. Obviously, with a key on it that most likely goes to the place a few shots from now.

Hell yeah, son, let’s get SLEUTHING.

“The treasure belongs to the Pogues.”

DAMN STRAIGHT.

Bestie’s I’m not going to lie, I stared at this frame for a solid 10 minuets and I have no idea what it says on there I’m sorry. Someone in the comments is welcome to enlighten us.

“We gotta find it first.”

I can’t tell if that’s just dirt or if he hurt his head? But he look GOOD right now for one thing. For another, same outfit as the one in the Twinkie from the beginning of the trailer.

Look at her. LooK AT HER! LOOK! AT! HER! I MISSED HER SO MUCH even in that damn smiley face top that continues to haunt my waking hours she is in it so much and it stresses me out for literally no good reason I’m sorry-

I could literally cry right now and I think that speaks volumes to how little we actually see him genuinely happy. Have I mentioned how much I love that red hat?

Also, probably not that important, but this is not from the same scene as the shots of Pope and Kiara were. This is from the next one-

“Woogity-woogity?”

“Give me some woogity, baby!”

Yeah, this pushed me over the fucking edge, the way that they’re actually happy and laughing? The fact that they kept woogity-woogity and made it A Thing? Yes.

I am, however, going to be intentionally ignoring what appears to be the very intentional stagingof having such an obvious space between where Kiara and Pope are sitting adn where JJ sits, even including the level they’re sitting on because I don’t have the emotional capacity to face those implications right now. Thank you for your time.

Yes yeeeeEEEEEESSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!

GIVE ME ALL OF THE SCENES OF THEM ACTUALLY GETTING TO BE TEENAGERS AND JUST BREATHE AND LAUGH AND HAVE A GOOD TIME AND NOT BE RUNNING FOR THEIR FUCKING LIVES!!!!!!!!!!!

before Rafe comes in and literally starts shooting because they can’t breathe for more than 7 seconds but we’ll....get to that.

They refer to Sarah as a Pogue this season or I burn Netflix to the ground. Your move, Jonas.

50 bucks says John B is driving the Twinkie again for the first time since being back.

I deadass think the Pogues JUST got Sarah and John B back and they’re just having the time of their life. Kie was in her smiley face outfit when Pope was in this one a few clips ago, and I still hold to the belief that that one still they released of JJ and Kie hopping over a fence is the Pogue reunion so-

Ward? I have no idea what he’s looking at behind the wall paper and I’ll be so honest I don’t care my eyes are only seeing Pogue content right now.

“This is a map of the whole island.”

This fit, when will John B learn how to operate buttons, stay tuned for season 5. Also my previous theory of this being their reunion outfits and stuff because Pope is in the back in the same jacket as before.

The plot thickens and so has JJ’s hair, Rudy drop the shampoo brand.

Please, dear God, tell me they’re back in the sex church. For @jiaaraa sake.

Kiara, your Madison is showing.

Okay, I really did try but all I can make out is Something to the tomb begin something something.

You’re welcome.

I am no expert but I do not believe boats operate on land.

John B looks like he is in the same outfit here that is in his mug shot we saw on the TV screen so I have a sneaking suspicion this is where he gets caught.

“John B is back-”

Once again with the damn sexual tension that’s always between Barry and Rafe in every scene they do are we about to kiss right now?

“-it’s him or me.”

First of all, no.

Second of all, I’m just....so very confused about this time line this season. It kind of looks like Ward and Rafe follow and find Sarah and John B in Nassau (unless those scenes by the truck were actually back in the OBX). So did they....go to Nassau, then just come right back when they did? I’m just confused.

Put that thing back where it came from or so help me.

Literally when will you stop at this point I am begging you.

This looks like the same scene the Pogues were, ya know, literally just having a good time at so fuck me, I guess.

Yeah, no, it’s going to be a no from me, I’m just going to pretend like I’m not seeing this and moving on.

I have simply no idea what is going on here or who that is on the bike but maybe JJ? Maybe Luke even? I think that’s JJ’s bike.

The sewer scene. The SEWER SCENE-

For months sicne that tiktok leaked this damn scene has been genuinely all I could think about. So (obviously) it seems like they’re sending Kie down into the sewer to go do seomthing and things go horribly, horribly wrong.

If you haven’t seen the tiktok, essentially all it was was JJ and Pope screaming and trying to lift up the man hole cover while Kie is begging for them to hurry from inside. I’m cheating a little bit as this isn’t a shot from the trailer but this picture was posted and it’s from the same scene.

I’ll just....leave this here. Back to the trailer shots.

Nice. Also, same shirt as mugshot.

Hey, um, what?

Kiara’s car, she’s driving, I can’t tell who’s in the back seat or the front.

Holy God what is going on and how can I as an audience member put a stop to it?

So, same scene as we will see and was in the teaser but, for some reason, they’re all jumping off of a giant ass boat into the little life raft where it looks like JJ gets hurt later but don’t you worry we’re getting to that.

JJ AND KIARA WITH THE POGUE HANDSHAKE JJ AND KIARA WITH THE POGUE HANDSHAKE THEY BOTH LOOK SO DAMN GOOD AND THEIR LITTLE SMILES SPARE ME-

Cleo 🥵

I’m so excited to see her arc and what it brings this season you guys have no idea.

Please for the love of God be about to get Ward Cameron’s ass like he deserves literally punt him into jail right from Tanny Hill.

Sarah at My Druther’s with what looks like a bloody bandage on her side? Same outfit she’s wearing when they’re running from the police on the beach and she has the bandage there too so. Interesting.

Topper hugging who I’m pretty sure is Sarah, being a general douche because he’s clearly looking at John B like 😏

Clips like these serve to remind me just how many of my worldly posessions I would gladly give up to be able to punch Topper Thorton in the throat one time.

I think this is Cleo jumping off the boat with Pope after John B and Sarah.

Absolutely busting a lung at Pope’s form in this one.

John B and Sarah waiting in the life raft, still Cleo and Pope coming after them. The obvious next question is where are JJ and Kiara. The scene I’m sure you all have been waiting for is coming up and clearly takes place in the life raft as well.

So, I really think JJ and Kie get left for last, something horrible happens as they’re trying to jump (my head instantly goes to JJ maybe like pushing Kie out of the way and getting hit on the head instead or even just some accident).

And, oh my GOD a scene of him falling off the boat after it happens and Kiara diving in after him immediately, having to desperatly try to stop him from sinkingand get to the life raft holy shit-

Girl CATCH HIM?????

Because why wouldn’t this be Rafe’s fault. Part of me wonders if this isn’t related to JJ being hurt.

I am going to try and unpack this as calmly as possible because behind my computer screen I am vibrating at a frequency that could shatter glass but respectfully.

WHAT IN THE FUCK IS TIAUEWFHLAILA

Okay, so scene wise, JJ’s hit his head somehow (probably while he was jumping with Kiara) it looks like and now they’re back on the raft.

In my opinion, this is either:

A) JJ is in really, really bad condition after getting hurt in the jump and they’re not sure he’s going to make it. So this is a “Please stay with me, stay awake, please don’t die” hug OR

B) They very narrowly just avoided a deadly situation (my first thought is JJ hits his head while jumping, passes out in the water, maybe almost drowns but Kie and the others get him onto the life raft in time) and this is more of a “Oh my God, you’re okay, you’re safe now, we’re okay” hug.

I honestly lean more to the second one based on the little bit of Sarah’s face we saw in the background. To me, it almost looked like she was smiling thru tears, which, fits way more with the second option than the first.

Anyways. Moving on before I burst a lung again.

(also, before anyone comes at me, no, I’m not happy JJ is hurt, obviously.

(Once again, arrest outfits). You can still see the bandage but it looks like Sarah’s limping now too so...good Lord give the girl a break maybe?

Everything in this trailer just went to shit so fast I think I have whip lash, can we go back to the Pogues hanging out and being happy now pkease I liked those scenes.

“I get it. You guys are scared.”

“No.”

She’s cute but, uh, hello sewer scene outfits. Seems like them planning to do whatever the hell they were going to do in the sewers but the boys are starting to get cold feet as maybe they should but hind sight is 20/20 I suppose.

“It’s kind of cute.”

“I’m not scared.”

“You should’ve just led with that.”

I will never be able to express how much I adore Pogue banter and general dumbassery and I have a feeling this season will not be lacking in either department

I high key don’t think these two are actually going to be there for this scene to go down but I’ll let it slide this time because-

They do be kinda cute.

It both feels like I’ve been waiting for this damn show for 3 years and also like I just watched season 1 last month explain that to me.

Either way holy shit. I missed this dumb show and these dumb kids so much it physcially hurts and WE GET THEM BACK IN T-MINUS 16 DAYS.

Also. Where The Hell Is Wheezie Cameron And When Will She Have The Rights She Deserves.

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