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tobeornottotc · 3 years

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Gen Y Ep 1-9; Obligations and Want An analysis of the Love Triangle

You know those couples that you can't help but want to break down and analyse despite knowing you're a clown and you know it probably isn't that deep. But if it is confirmed later on that your suspicions were valid, then you would absolutely have that show become your favourite? Gen Y is like that for me. It has a cute straight forward main couple with Mark and Kit, but their story and plot aren't the main focus of the show.

An introduction to Gen Y

The main focus is on the events that transpire in episode 1, immediately the love of his life dumps Mark's best friend, Wayu. Now, Gen Y is meant to a be parody/ fan fiction based on 2 Moons the series. We know the story of Wayu's lover and how they came to be. They were one of the biggest and most loved couples in BL. So this is interesting when we see that Pa leaves Wayu without any explanation and is a constant source of confusion and pain throughout the rest of the show. What makes it worse is when Pa decides to keep an eye on Wayu and ensure Wayu is alright, he proceeds to send in his best friend/ senior Thanu. And the exciting thing about this is Thanu looks a lot like Pa, tall, handsome, same department, same vibe. Wayu is immediately drawn to Thanu because he reminds him of Pa They both start to be closer to each other, (with the audience confused by if it's romantic or if it's platonic because of the book version of this story shows they're not going to be anything) Thanu to keep his promise to his friend, and Wayu because he sees Pa in Thanu. Basically, Thanu makes him feel closer to Pa, and he feels good and distracted by Thanu's presence.

Now the worst thing about all of this is that Thanu and Wayu have chemistry, but the audience is led to believe that they're meant to be more of a bait and not a real thing. Basically, the production team confirmed that these two weren't going to be together. Instead, Thanu was meant to have a relationship or loveline with a soulmate trope with Phai and Pa was going to return back to the show to explain himself probably and these two were probably meant to become the main couple storyline in season 2. Fair enough, that's an interesting premise. Except I can't help but think we're being trolled. It doesn't make sense. Because when you actually focus on the plotline that is Thanu and Wayu, you can see they're clearly falling hard for each other. Let me explain in more detail in both their perspectives. And why it's actually not confusing when you piece everything together for their episode 9 separation.

Wayu: The jilted

Wayu is heartbroken because of his devotion to his ex-boyfriend of a long time. Now if you remember 2Moons which this story is based on kind of, Wayu and Pa had a really intense, dramatic love story where both of them were utterly devoted to each other. Pa was Wayu's prince charming out of everyone and the only person that mattered to Wayu. Pause, when Wayu is broken up with Pa, Wayu doesn't want to move on from Pa because he can't; basically, no one else will ever move his heart like that until Thanu shows up. Now at first Wayu latches unto Thanu (from their first meeting when he hugs his back and thinks he's Pa) because of his similarities to his ex and his presence reminds him of his ex. At first, that's all it is; he can't help but be comfortable and reliant on Thanu to distract him and give him information about Pa's whereabouts. In doing so, he slowly starts to care for Thanu and is still unable to let go of Pa. Pause again. There are moments wherein his pain and sadness, Wayu uses the similar presence of Thanu to mistake him for Pa thus their kiss/ almost kiss in episode 8 when he's crying about Pa leaving him. But as we look deeper, we see that it's more than that.

Wayu likes and is falling for Thanu, and it's not a bait, they're something. Wayu is protective over Thanu and enjoys being in his presence. They both make each other smile, and they both want to be around each other. Plus there's this natural tension with them since the first time they met not because of the Pa thing, but they get nervous and scared when they're with each other, they lean close and find themselves staring longingly at each other's lips and more. They're physically and emotionally attracted to each other, and they know it. Wayu slowly gets over Pa when Pa for the last time breaks his heart, in trying to get over that heartbreak Wayu starts to spend more time and attention with Thanu. Which is why we have episode 9, Wayu is betrayed and hurt by the realisation that all that was happening with Thanu was because of Pa again, and was because of obligation not want from Thanu. It broke his heart; you can see it despite the fact that he pretends it doesn't.

He tells Thanu the truth; he may have started off liking him because he reminded him of Pa, but actually, he started liking Thanu for Thanu. He was quick to protect and believe in Thanu even when Padbok was trying to make Thanu a villain. He saw how caring and smart and comforting Thanu could be not Pa. So really Wayu as of now has feelings for Thanu. And is torn between the realisation that he's no longer into his soulmate/person he should be with always, Pa and Thanu his best friend. It's a sticky situation, and that's why he pretended he was okay and told Thanu to find the right one. In a way, he felt like what they had, or what he felt for Thanu wasn't reciprocated because Thanu only stuck by his side because of the obligation to Pa. It also felt probably wrong to fall for Thanu, Pa's best friend, when Pa is meant to be the one for him. The other thing, I wanted to say as well is that he regressed back into thinking that the reason he likes Thanu is because of the similarities he had to Pha. So he pushed down his feelings.

Thanu: The good friend

When Thanu first shows up, we find out he doesn't do love. Like he doesn't know what love is, or what it feels like. Thanu's character dynamic is focused on his loyalty to his friends. Two of his plotlines revolve around this. One includes Pa and Wayu, and the other includes Padbok. In both of these, he has no choice but to betray the friendship despite fighting hard not to. Bear this in mind, when you think about his actions throughout the whole show. He first shows up to Wayu out of obligation; it's because Pa could not explain why he left the love of his life and told Thanu to come to retrieve his belongings.

However, I think people forget one crucial information to know Thanu has liked Wayu for a while; he just didn't know it. He was actually touched and interested in getting to know Wayu because of how Pa described him. He liked who Wayu was, and when he saw Wayu, he said he was exactly as he described him. There's already an intrigue and interest in Wayu's welfare even before Pa asked him to keep an eye on Wayu. Wayu and Thanu have this intensity between them, and they both feel it but push it away, you can see it throughout the whole scenes, I used to think it just baited and fanservice for DunBas, but it wasn't, it was showing you they actually had feelings and chemistry that they noticed but ignored. Because at that moment, Wayu was still not over Pa, and Thanu did not know what love was. Pause.

Before we continue another thing we must notice is that Thanu tries his hardest to be a loyal best friend. He's made a mistake before with Padbok that probably haunts him and makes him feel like a failure/ bad person. He probably swore to himself he'll never end up in another situation where he betrays the trust of a friend. Padbok makes sure he doesn't forget the misunderstanding, and he feels guilty so much to not even try to explain what actually occurred and why he ended betraying him by mistake. This is important to his character. He doesn't want to betray a friend. What would be the worst betrayal apart from falling in love with your best friend's ex-lover who your best friend clearly isn't over? So please take that into account and watch his actions with Wayu.

He clearly felt the same spark, energy and chemistry with Wayu, it both made them act nervous, it made them shifty, and it made them drawn to each other each time they were close. Thanu believes the reason why Wayu is this way is that he sees Pa in him. He says it in episode 9, he knew he was being a replacement for Pa because of his similarities and he was asked to keep an eye on and prevent Wayu from breaking down by Pa. Thing is I think Pa stopped being the reason for why he wanted to be with Wayu. He also admits to this in episode 9, he and Wayu actually had a lot of fun together, they laughed, they spoke profoundly, and they were both worried and wanted to protect each other Pa or no Pa. I think that's important. Wayu's presence started to mean a lot to Thanu who had to confess to Wayu why he started being close to him. You could see in episode 9 he didn't want Wayu to leave he wanted him to know he wanted to be around him. But there are reasons why they can't cross that line

Because he's not even sure if this is love. He doesn't know what that feeling is (he needs to learn about it first with Phai I bet so that he can accept his feelings for Wayu)

Because of his determination not to betray a friend

Because he was also being intrigued and distracted by Phai who he didn't know the reason why.

So he also pushes his feelings down and is determined in episode 10 to give up on the Wayu feelings he started to have. They're not good, and he's not meant to think about Wayu that way, he's not meant to be with Wayu; he's meant to be with Phai.

Pha and Phai -The soulmate problem

Literally, the universe is forcing Phai and Thanu to be together. And whilst this is cute, it's shallow. There's not really a reason for why these two are soulmates, yes they could have a good romance together, and they're both intrigued and drawn to each other enough to be a recurring memory to them. But is that enough reason for why they're soulmates I don't know, with Thanu it is interesting to see him make some bold choice to draw Phai, it shows he's someone exciting and vital to him? It could be love at first sight which is fine, but I feel like with Wayu, there's been this build-up of longing and angst and repressed feelings because he can't be with Wayu in that way. In a way, Wayu challenges Thanu's mindset and character because his goals are being warped because of the messy feelings he's starting to have for Wayu. As a writer, the couple with more development, and more depth and reasons for why they should be together is Thanu and Wayu.

Hear me out they both comfort each other during times of distress, Thanu literally is a comforting presence sent to Wayu for that purpose by Pa. Wayu comforts and takes care of Thanu when he's agitated and triggered by Padbok, they both like being with each other, they can talk deeply about their opinions and feelings like we see in episode 9. They compliment each other, they both make each other smile without meaning to, and they're clearly as I keep on repeating attracted to each other automatically before knowing. Yes, Pa was important for both of them. However, I think Wayu would have still been attracted and drawn to Thanu even without Pa, like the episode where they first meet, later on, they meet again at the cafe, and you can feel the longing, attraction and chemistry from when they look at each other when they bump into each other. I also think Thanu liked Wayu when he heard about his traits and his personality, and I think it's an innate thing not just because of Pa that he wants to take care of Wayu.

I think that's why Kit told him to be careful; he was blurring the lines between what he wanted to do, vs what he felt he should do for Pa. In his head Wayu only wanted Pa, and so it should stay that way. This couple without us knowing it actually has a tremendous angsty plot and it's actually interesting and impressive. But the sad thing about this is we're reverting back to the surface storylines with ThanuPhai and PaWayu at the end of this season. Is it really over for ThanuWayu, or are we being trolled?

Reasons I think we may be being trolled.

DunBas pre this show were asked by the production team to keep up with fanservice. They wanted us to ship and care for them. They wanted us to see their chemistry. Why if they're not going to end up together. It's bizarre when people tell me the producers said they're not end game or a couple in this series. I think that doesn't make any sense with how much the storyline is showing they both fell for each other hard. I feel it's not going to be completed easily in season 1.

Phai and Sandee could be an interesting match. I questioned why people told me that Sandee didn't have any feelings for Phai because, in the book, he doesn't. I questioned it because Phai and Sandee's actors have been a known couple and have acted together romantically in The Moment. They have their own fan base, their own fan service and it didn't make sense to me why they would make us think Sandee had unrequited feelings only to just forget about that once Phai sees Thanu. I don't know why they would choose these two specifically as Phai and Sandee.

There are more depth and storyline for Thanu and Wayu throughout the whole show. Yes in the book it's the same, but Thanu still ends up with Phai but what if we're being trolled what if the writer switched the couple. It's all nice to see the chemistry between DunBas and make Thanu confess that he cares deeply about Wayu and not just because of Pa, to see him actively try and avoid Wayu so he focuses on Phai suggests there's more there than just a platonic relationship. They can't just go back to letting Wayu be sad, and Thanu move on, maybe in the book but that's not the vibes I'm getting from the show.

Pa is coming back, and he's important obviously. His reason for why he left could make or break ThanuWayu. I think that's what I'm going to have to wait to understand. Because right now Pa doesn't seem like a great love interest maybe that's why season 2 will be based on them because it'd be angsty and dramatic once we find out why, but I don't know his actions this whole show has been quite upsetting. I will say that Wayu might not be over him yet since he probably still holds some kind of love for him since he's the one for him or whatever, but isn't it ironic that both Wayu and Thanu find themselves in a predicament. Do they choose to throw away their 'soulmate' the people who they should be with, who the universe wants them to be with or do they choose each other because they are falling for each other. That dilemma makes them again even more in-depth and engaging as a couple.

It would be such a great plot if ThanuWayu still holds their feelings for each other. It'll bring the questions up about what love is really all about, how destiny plays a role in that, and what is required to be a good partner. It also would make the love square even more interesting to keep watching in season 2.

So yeah if it's not apparent. I'm trying really hard to give this ThanuPhai thing a try but with the ridiculous magical system of the world forcing them to be together despite them not even knowing anything about each other doesn't sit well with me. Like yeh, soulmate trope is adorable, but I really need more evidence and reason why they compliment each other. Right now looking into each other's eyes and feeling a spark is not enough for me to want this to be end game. Also, I think there was a foreshadowing in that scene that people will overlook. When they touched hands again, they couldn't see the future they saw before. That's a hint that this on the surface it's not something long-lasting. I think they're both helping each other know what love is, so they recognise their real feelings for the other people by their side.

Not to mention all the foreshadowing this episode that the person he wants is Wayu (the music box represented his heart/desire) and he gave it to Wayu. And the visions he and Phai see are telling us he will choose to date Phai but won’t be able to move on from Wayu but Pa will come back and both of them will be stuck in their respective obligational relationships it doesn’t mean he won’t care about Phai. Also the reason why he and Phai are having a bitter sweet conversation is because his heart is somewhere else with Wayu probably Phai loves him but I’m sure Sandee will be a factor too later in the future. I think all these couples apart from MarkKit were a slow burn and unfortunately I think the directors and screen writer didn’t plan it well because I think people are losing patience with everything in the show. I do like Wayu and Thanu, and Thanu and Phai and if it is as I think it’s being planned, then I’ll actually be into this show more. I still want more dimensional characters that have more than just one personality. And I want Pa back to see his reason

However, because Thanu has never felt this before and Phai has never as well, I guess that has to count for something? But I would have preferred that the show has been secretly misleading us and the plot twist is that ThanuWayu and SandeePhai may be slow burns but the endgame couple. I would believe in that and would watch the drama unfold for the next two seasons of this show. What are you guys thinking? Who are you shipping? What are your reasons? Do you agree with me that we might be getting trolled. I know the book is saying a different thing but even in that, we don't know who Wayu is going to be with it's not been fully completed. I think the DunBas fanservice was done on purpose; the casting was done on purpose even if they say it wasn't. I guess I'll be a clown till the end of this season until Pa shows up and gives me a better reason why he did all of this and why Wayu should go back to him

#gen y the series #gen y #thanu x phai #thanuwayu #dunbas #thai bl #bl series #bl drama #reviews #analysis

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marvella15 · 4 years

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Astaire & Rogers Rewatch Part 6: Swing Time

• Swing Time aka the Astaire/Rogers film that I think is actually the best, especially from the dance perspective. Every duet is fabulous. You could watch just the duets and understand the entire plot of the film. That’s how well crafted and executed they are.

• Our characters/actors: John “Lucky” Garnett (Fred Astaire), Penny Carroll (Ginger Rogers), Pop (Victor Moore), Mabel (Helen Broderick), Ricardo Romero (Georges Metaxa)

• Is this the first Astaire/Rogers film where he’s the one engaged (or married) to someone else? It’s usually her.

• Lucky is already ridiculously late for his wedding, even before he’s rushing to get dressed. But I love his little snap-and-a-heel-click.

• How does Fred Astaire manage to look so dapper in shoes, a top hat, no pants, and a robe?

• It’s interesting that Lucky’s bride-to-be calls him John, rather than his nickname, which is tied to his gambling talents and therefore doesn’t fit in with her or her upper class family. But Penny only calls him Lucky. The two women even have a little exchange about it later in the film.

• As usual, Rogers’ character is uninterested in Astaire’s upon first meeting and also as usual, she has a very good reason. She thinks he’s using any lame excuse to hit on her. Wow, look how much men have not changed at all.

By the way, 25 cents in 1936 is almost $5 today. Not saying it’s a reason to call the police but it’s at least not as outrageous as calling the police over a quarter.

• Remember I said her cries for a porter in Gay Divorcee would come back? Here it’s reprised in her calls for an officer, which Lucky will also gently mock later just as Guy did to Mimi in the previous film.

And wow, the officer is condescending and patronizing to her in deference to a man whom he thinks is an affluent gentleman. Look how much the police have not changed.

• It’s odd that Lucky describes Penny as having red hair when Rogers was definitely a blonde (originally a brunette). Maybe she had strawberry blonde hair at this time?

• The tense exchange between Penny and Lucky as she teaches him to walk at the start of his dancing lesson is some of Astaire and Rogers at their acting finest. It’s a short, rather simple scene but they make it charming, funny, and entertaining.

• Penny’s line, “If you’re trying to annoy me you certainly are succeeding,” is such a mood sometimes.

• Lucky, already starting to flirt: “All the world loves a dancer. Don’t you?”

• Astaire does a good job of acting like he’s a terrible dancer. Takes a lot of talent to pretend to suck at something you’re actually incredible at.

• Pay attention to the three-step maneuver Penny teaches Lucky. He uses it as the building block for all of their dances in this film, beginning very soon with “Pick Yourself Up.”

• I love the “Pick Yourself Up” duet so so much. As much as the romantic duets for Astaire and Rogers get a lot of attention, I really love tap dancing and this is one of their best tap routines. Plus, you can see Penny (thanks to Rogers’ intuitive acting) go from surprise to delight to pure enjoyment and maybe a little bit of well-deserved smugness. Also notice that Lucky and Penny are much closer together in this duet than they had been during the dancing lesson. They’ve already become familiar with each other in that short span of time.

• Because of the nature of the scene, Astaire looks frequently at Penny’s boss but Rogers is watching Astaire almost the entire time. Her expression conveys the feeling that Penny has finally found the right partner.

• There’s a lovely moment where she glides back with her arms up as she waits for him and Rogers’ face is so full of joy and affection.

• Astaire typically avoided naming a “favorite” partner out of consideration for the many other actresses he danced with. But he did comment that because of how well Rogers danced with him, “She got so that after a while everyone else who danced with me looked wrong.” And he’s kind of right about that. Swing Time as a whole is probably the best example. No other actress would look right in any of the dances they share in this film.

• The moment of wordless conversation between Penny and Lucky after their dance feels very much like the actors themselves. In addition to having known each other prior to making films, they’ve also now spent the last 5 years working very closely together. No doubt they had some silent shorthand.

• One of the reasons I enjoy Swing Time is because unlike other Astaire/Rogers films, the misunderstandings between them don’t emerge until later on, rather than appearing at the start to constantly obstruct their relationship. Here, Lucky and Penny begin their relationship almost right away. Just look at their cute conversation in front of the elevator where he hastily decides to get a room in the same building as her.

• For the second time in this film, Astaire looks incredibly dapper while also being pantless.

• At first it seems ridiculous that Lucky is picketing outside Penny’s room claiming she’s been unfair to him since he made them miss their try-out. However, he’s done everything to make it up to her, including arranging a new try-out for them, building up a sizable bankroll for him/them and Mabel, and, obviously, getting some new clothes.

• Although they tried many things in Rogers’ hair to make it look like shampoo, I believe they landed on whipped cream at her suggestion. And they use it as a very convenient excuse to prevent yet another kiss.

• Unlike other romantic songs in their films, “The Way You Look Tonight” is framed as a popular song of the time within the film itself. And we know this because Ricardo Romero is singing it in the next scene as part of his “romantic medley hour.”

• Love the way Astaire looks at her during this social dance. So warm and loving. And when they leave the dance floor, he gets her attention at one point by hooking his index finger to the point of her elbow. Just little moments of familiarity between them.

• More little moments: When Penny gets up from the roulette table, Lucky stops her until after the ball has landed, indicating he feels she’s good luck. Rogers is holding Astaire’s elbow as she goes to leave so he grabs her hand under his arm without looking.

• I’ve always loved the look on Lucky’s face when he watches Romero approach Penny. It’s not jealousy or concern, necessarily. Just soft, like he’s wondering if his heart is about to be broken. And the music playing? “A Fine Romance”

• Lucky does everything possible to get Penny and himself the promised try-out including winning nearly $25k at the casino tables, then winning Romero’s contract, and eventually publicly goading Romero to play for them. But Mabel was right before when she told Penny that everything Lucky did was solely for her. He doesn’t need a new dancing gig, and had in fact come to New York to earn money as a gambler, rather than a dancer. That all changed when he met Penny.

• Remember a time when you were newly in love? The sheer elation of that feeling is what the “Waltz in Swing Time” is. It’s a celebration that builds on what was established in “Pick Yourself Up” and adds sweeping moments of romance. The three steps to the left and right move is expanded on first with outstretched legs and arms and later with exuberant movements around the floor.

• Right at the start, Astaire has a twinkle in his eyes when he looks at Rogers and she responds in kind. They smile at each other easily as they move through a fast-paced and breathtakingly beautiful routine.

Usually in their films, a romantic and celebratory duet comes near the end when all of the misunderstandings have been resolved. But in Swing Time, it’s right in the middle.

• There’s one moment where Astaire affectionately touches Rogers’ wrist. It almost looks as though he’s going to spin her towards him but instead they keep dancing separately, next to one another.

• When the music kicks up, Rogers smiles broadly and she looks radiantly in love. As they spin together, tapping in a circle around the dance floor, both of them keep looking up in wonder and rapture.

• They’re cuddling during the snowy scenes is very sweet but some of the romance is sucked out when you see the behind the scenes pictures.

(photo credit)

• Cuuuuute:

Penny: “I like being off alone like this.”

Lucky: “You’re not alone. You’re with me.”

Penny: “Then I like being off alone with you.”

• Lucky’s face when he accidentally finds himself in an embrace with Penny is purely Astaire and you can fight me on that. There’s so much longing and want in that look. He’s able to get away with it because of the long moment before he has to say anything but even when he does speak, his voice cracks a bit. His gloved hand keeps stroking her forearm.

• Not hard to see some true-to-life parallels in this dialogue and I’ve always felt that the way Astaire said his last line here was as himself, not just him acting.

Penny: “It’s funny how we met, and all that’s happened to us since.”

Lucky: “The way we’ve been sort of thrown together and everything.”

Penny: “As if it were all meant to happen.”

Lucky: “It’s quite an experience.”

• Like I’ve said before, no way the actors and creative team didn’t know exactly how much they were trolling audiences by having lyrics like “a fine romance with no kisses” in Astaire and Rogers’ SIXTH. FILM. together where they still haven’t kissed romantically on screen.

And in fact there will be at least two thwarted kisses in this sequence alone.

• “A Fine Romance” is quite scandalous when you pay attention to the lyrics too. Penny says Lucky won’t “nestle” or “wrestle” and she’s “never mussed the crease in [his] blue serge pants.”

Rogers does a really wonderful job throughout. She’s frustrated and disappointed when singing at him and then stewing with hurt feelings when he sings to her.

I’ve always loved how Astaire flatly says “cactus plants” in the lyric “you never give the orchids I send a glance, no you like cactus plants.”

• I always chuckle at the way Penny loudly and awkwardly asks, “HOW DO YA LIKE MY DRESS?” Who hasn’t suddenly gone awkward af in front of their crush?

• In the movie Grease, there’s a part where Rizzo has a hickey from Kenickie. According to Stockard Channing, actor Jeff Conaway insisted on giving her the hickey himself. But just in case you thought maybe Ginger Rogers insisted on leaving her own lipstick imprint on Fred Astaire’s lips, sorry to disappoint. A makeup artist came in and applied it.

• And I adore how they’re both giggling and giddy after the supposed kiss. So much of this movie is about young love or your first real love, those butterflies mixed with terror and anticipation.

• I always thought the club owner said, “Lucky, you’re a mess” after finding Penny and Lucky immediately after their first kiss. But he actually says, “Lucky, you’re on next.” Either way, Lucky’s dazed response of “Am I?” is cute.

• Ok, the “Bojangles of Harlem” number. It’s the only time Astaire did blackface. It’s uncomfortable to watch even though he intended it as a tribute to African-American dancers Bill Robinson and John W. Bubbles. There’s also some very innovative use of 1936 special effects to make it look like Astaire is dancing with three of his shadows. Largely because of this, choreographer Hermes Pan was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Dance Direction.

He lost but won an Oscar in the same category the next year, the final time that category was awarded, for a routine in Astaire’s only 1930s film without Ginger Rogers, A Damsel in Distress.

• If Lucky had just let Margaret say her piece, he would’ve known that he’s actually not beholden to her anymore. But then we wouldn’t have one of the greatest dances ever put to film.

• In all fairness on the kissing front, Lucky’s well timed entrance does prevent Romero and Penny’s kiss from appearing on screen.

• A heartbreaking exchange where they never break eye contact:

Penny: “Does she dance very beautifully?”

Lucky: “Who?”

Penny: “The girl you’re in love with.”

Lucky, meaningfully: “Yes. Very.”

Penny, after a beat: “The girl you’re engaged to. The girl you’re going to marry.”

Lucky: “Oh, I don’t know. I’ve danced with you. I’m never going to dance again.”

• “Never Gonna Dance” is distinguished from the other songs in this film’s world because it’s not something that is also used in the dance studio or played by Romero’s band. Instead, it includes elements specific to these characters. The line “the la belle, la perfectly swell romance” recalls Penny’s line earlier in the gazebo. The reference to “dinner clothes” harkens back to Penny and Lucky’s first day together. The repeated use of the word “penny,” transforms in its final iteration to being her name when Lucky sings, “Though I’m left without my Penny.” The whole song is Lucky’s elaboration on his line above. Nothing matters now, not his clothes or money or dancing. All he’s going to do is love her.

• The music of the dance and many of the moves are pulled from previous songs and dance numbers. A fittingly mournful version of “The Way You Look Tonight” plays as they walk together, which is also how Lucky began his dance lesson with Penny. Later, “Waltz in Swing Time” trumpets in to propel them into that same three steps move again but as euphoric as they were in that previous dance, now he is almost desperate and she is slowly letting him go. “Never Gonna Dance” is a compilation of their entire romance from start to heartbreaking finish and it’s a truly stunning duet. I know “Cheek to Cheek” gets a lot of hype, and it’s deserved, but “Never Gonna Dance” is something extra special and is certainly tied with “Waltz in Swing Time” as the best Astaire and Rogers duet in my book.

In keeping with how much Swing Time breaks the tradition of Astaire/Rogers films, “Never Gonna Dance” is the duet where Astaire is trying to woo Rogers’ character, something we typically see earlier in the film but was never needed here. It’s also very tragic, something we almost never see in Astaire/Rogers films. Even “Let’s Face the Music and Dance” had a hopeful tone.

• Their expressions in this number are especially poignant. He is imploring her to stay while she is gazing at him as though drinking him all in because she knows this will be the last time they’re together. While he is concentrating on pouring everything into the dance, she is memorizing every detail of this last dance with him, even watching him when he can’t see her. I know I talk a lot about Rogers’ acting ability during these dances but it never stops being worth mentioning. No other partner of Astaire’s got it the way Ginger Rogers did.

• Thank god they cut this dance into two pieces so that they only had to perform this last bit again and again by itself, rather than having to start from the very beginning each time.

After two films that included “issues” with her dresses, Rogers this time has an issue with her shoes. Or rather, they did so many freaking takes (47ish) that she bled into them. And supposedly she didn’t complain at all because she was just as committed to getting the dance right.

She does the majority of the tough work in this final piece too. Not only is she spinning quickly and frequently, in the final spin she has to move towards where he waits, rather than him coming to meet her.

Some credit to the level of trust they’d built though, Astaire’s arm is always ready well in advance of when she will spin into him.

• Even as the duet is ending, Astaire keeps his face longing and hopeful. Lucky has done everything to win her back and as they move towards the door he thinks he may still have a chance. But in their last embrace where he holds her tightly to him, she tellingly doesn’t return the gesture and leaves both of her arms raised. When she exits, he grimaces as though his heart has truly been broken.

• The ridiculous overacting when they’re all laughing is 🙄🙄🙄. Did the Joker unleash some laughing gas?? The silliness of this ending takes away from the rest of a truly excellent film.

It also reminds me of the silliness of the beginning. If I had to guess, the writers probably had a great middle and no clue to how start or end things. At least, it feels that way.

• I do like how she sings a reprise of “The Way You Look Tonight” about him while he sings a reprise of “A Fine Romance.” And they go in for another kiss, pause, then embrace with his back to the camera because GOD FORBID we see a single dang kiss between these two!

Though I am left wondering just what Astaire and Rogers were doing in the final embrace because their faces do seem awfully close together...

• Swing Time is probably the last exceptional Astaire/Rogers film. Everything after this doesn’t quite measure up except in a few specific instances. That said, I do enjoy many parts of Shall We Dance, which is next.

#fred astaire #ginger rogers #swing time #classic hollywood #old hollywood #fred and ginger #astaire and rogers rewatch #all astaire/rogers gifs without credit are mine

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wevegottogetaway · 3 years

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Whirlwind Part III - Sirocco

DAY 3

As Aella sits in the campus refectory, her mind is still reeling from her fight with Harry the day before. She fins herself pushing peas around her plate as though the therapeutic movement could help her instill some order among her thoughts. Or just quiet them altogether. Someone like you. The cringeworthy words have been playing on an unfaltering loop since their author lashed them out to her face without a care. Someone like you. She desperately wants to tune it out, but it's like the record is trapped under the broken turntable needle and launched in endless revolution. Someone like y-

A pea is about to fall over her plate from the pushing, when she's greeted by a rowdy Dazzler and a quiet Tigger. The two form quite the complementary duo she notes, their polar dispositions counterbalancing each other in the most endearing way.

"Hiya, dear Aella. I believe it's story time for you!" Daz exclaims after jumping on the seat across from her, a large smile lighting up his face. Aella wonders for a second if it's not stapled to his skin instead; she's never seen Dazzler sport any other expression than pure elation. His singular request stops her musings in confusion, however.

"Story time?" She inquires with a perplexed frown.

"Love, you have no idea how badly my ears want to be graced with the very details of how you whipped Rex's sodding arse." His enthusiasm for such a mundane thing truly amazes her. And admittedly, she quite envies him and his talent for finding happiness in the smallest things.

"Ah yes, the highlight of my week," is all she acknowledges.

"Mine too, had I been there to witness it. That's why I need the next best thing: an exhaustive report of the whole scene." Dazzler explains, tailgating his answer with a suggestive double-nudge of his eyebrows.

"Well, it's nothing much really." She says looking down at her plate. But once she brings her eyes back to her two companions, she realizes they won't waver until she parts with the story. "Let's just say my uncle taught me a thing or two about pressure points, and that knowledge came in handy a couple nights ago." Aella refrains from giving out the full transcript of what really transpired despite Dazzler's request. She doesn't like bragging about such things. Even if Rex's mortified expression did bring her considerable satisfaction, she still hates the fact that she had to get physical with her peer for her to be respected. Besides, she has an inkling Dazzler's imagination is perfectly operational to fill in the blanks.

"Fuckin' hell, I'm gonna dream about this tonight!" True to his words, there's a childlike wondrous gleam in Dazzler's eyes, making his aversion for Rex almost tangible. And Aella can't help but rejoice in knowing she's not alone in her rancor against the jackass. "So you got him good?"

"Sent him to his knees." Her voice is still leveled, though her own delight at the memory is betrayed at the corner of her lips.

"Oh Aella, you are my new favorite person!" Dazzler's jubilation earns him a smile but the sentiment is quickly washed off her face and replaced by a heavy sigh.

"Yeah well, I wish your mate Harry shared the feeling." Aella says dejectedly, the peas once again holding more interest to her battered brain.

"Ah...so it's not all rainbows and unicorns between you two then?"

The question makes her scoff in exasperation."Try like...tornados and trolls. I mean, does the guy even know how to smile?" Aella doesn't want to get worked up about it, but the fact that she has likely 5 more weeks to spend as Harry's partner is quite a hard pill to swallow if he proves to be the prick she thinks he is.

"Hey now come on, he's been trough a lot recently. He's actually a pretty sound guy." The remark sobers Aella's anger for a moment as she remembers the very reason behind her presence at Top Gun. She knows how loss can shatter parts of the soul that makes us who we are, leaving only but time to glue back the pieces. To some extent she understands the void that Harry must be aching to fill, but her compassion for his pain is short lived. Grieve doesn't give anyone the right to act like a senseless prick. Aella can deal with his sullen attitude but in no way she'll ever put up with blatant disrespect for her mere identity.

"Well, sorry if I don't take your word for it, but all I've seen from him is the same cold and sexist shit I've dealt with since I enlisted." She says, moving on from absentmindedly poking the peas to forcefully stabbing them into a green mess.

"Hang on, Harry may have a stick up his arse from time to time, but sexist? That doesn't sound like him." Dazzler is quick to defend his friend. Of course, she interiorly sighs though she has to admit his disbelief over Harry's allegedly misogynistic behavior seems rather earnest.

"Well, you didn't hear him yesterday. Or seen the look in his eyes."

"Aella, I really thi-"

"Just forget it, okay. I'm use to it and I'll deal with it like I always have." While Dazzler seems to be adamant about his friend's righteousness, Aella doesn't want to here much of it. She just wants to move on, like she'd planned all along. The two men across from her exchange a quick look at her rebuttal and it hits them then, how different it is for Aella to be a navy pilot compared to their own journey. "Besides, I didn't come here to complain. I came to be a better pilot" she asserts in response to their sympathetic glance. It resembled pity too much for her to lay in it.

"Right." Is all Dazzler can muster as opposed to his partner who finally decides to speak up.

"I'm sorry you have to go through that Aella." In truth, she's never really cared for those apologies much since they most never come from the people who actually have apologizing to do. Nonetheless she can't deny how heartwarming it is to hear the sweetness and sincerity of both young men sharing their lunch with her. They can't do much about her situation but at least she now feels supported.

"Thank you Tigger." She replies in genuine gratitude, her smile shyly returning. "At least I have you both on my side."

"You've got Harry too, Aella. You don't know it yet, and he may not either, but he's on your side too." His gaze is heavy on her, the statement coming out in a solemn tone as if it was murmured by a prophesier.

"Don't hold your breath Daz."

DAY 6

"Ready?"

Although she knows they were bound to communicate at some point, Aella is startled when the sound of Harry's filtered voice echoes through her headset. After checking that her straps are tightly locked, she mutters a faint 'yeah' in response and wills her brain to stop overthinking the upcoming mission. It is to no avail though. The oxygen inflating her lungs is saturated with awkwardness and reticence, making her second-guess every choice she's made in the past few months. They can still make it, right? This tension didn't stop them from succeeding the last time after all... Alas, her mind won't let be duped by her feeble encouragements and for the first time in her life, Aella is dreading flying. She doesn't have the time to dwell on it however, as the roar of the F-14's afterburners fills the cockpit and before she knows it, the sky is welcoming them back.

"Alright, let's kick the tires and light the fires." Harry murmurs as the runway keeps dwindling away from their vision, and Aella remembers him whispering the same line before their first venture. She makes no comment though, many pilots come up with little habits and small routines of their own to help them reach the headspace suited for flying. Some disregard it as superstitious gibberish, but in Aella's opinion it can save precious seconds in dire moments. And in the Navy worlds, every second counts.

As Commander Berks laid it out moments ago, this assignment slightly differs from the last one. The level of difficulty is tuned up a bit by the accrued competition: this time all 8 units are flying simultaneously as they battle for a single target towed by Berks himself. The task in meant to improve both aim and awareness as they are still being chased by the other instructors throughout the task. All in all though, it is the same 'target without getting targeted' acrobatics they are all familiar with.

"I've got my eyes on the target, can you read the positions please?" Harry suddenly inquires. The mission has run smoothly so far with few interactions between the two. It seems that's about to change however, as they get in the thick of it.

"Target at reach in 3 miles abeam, 5° on your left, lower, flying South." Aella starts reading her radar at her copilot's request. "Bogey one mile ahead at your ten. I think it's Rex, tailing target at 900 knots closure."

"Shit." Harry curses. Though Aella remains quiet, none of them are thrilled to realize Rex and his radar intercept officer Kurt (or the Zodiac as per his callsign) are ahead of the game.

"You've also got contact 2 miles behind, flying your speed." Aella adds in a poised manner. "Hold on, there's two of them."

"Are they closing in on us?"

"No. Looks like someone's got Rogers on their ass."

Harry briefly smiles. "Good." Whoever might that be, it means one less competitor trying for the target and one less instructor on their case for the time being. That's a win-win in his book.

"Careful though. He might turn on us next." She warns in anticipation.

"Not if I win this mission first." Harry retorts in confidence. His partner wishes she had the same optimism but there is an odd feeling festering in the pit of her stomach.

For a hot minute, there is but the consistent whirring of the engine disturbing the otherwise eery silence permeating the air. Harry seems to be slowly yet surely catching up on Rex and more importantly Berks, when the latter suddenly swerves upwards in unexpected fashion.

"Berks' barrel-rolling." Aella immediately calls the change in movement, the peaceful flow they were reveling in, already coming to an end. "New angle, 2 o'clock high." Harry slightly reduces his speed as Berks executes a vertical U-turn, effectively putting him out of Rex's range and at a higher altitude.

"I see that. I need to get ahead of Rex, can you call the speeds please?" He's trying to determine his best course of action in order to recover his advance on Berks before his opponent does.

"Target going 700 knots, Rex 630 and we're flying 650." Aella answers quickly although she has a plan forming in her brain as always. She's not as forceful as she was during their first operation, already apprehensive of her partner's reaction. "Listen Harry, if you do a J-turn you'll overshoot past Rex right on Berks' tail."

Admittedly her plan is once again on the daring side of the spectrum, so part of her knows Harry won't gleefully jump on board at the mere suggestion. And sure enough he proves her right as soon as the last word is out of her lips.

"Do a Herbst maneuver?! Are you batshit crazy?! That's not even in the program."

She refrains from rolling eyes since they ought to be scanning the data on her flight system at all times. "Fuck the program, you don't end up at Top Gun playing by the book. We can win this mission now, just trust me." She almost cringes at the last words, knowing they were uttered more for the form than their meaning. God knows they are lightyears from trusting each other.

"Jesus, this isn't free-style flying Aella for fuck's sake, this is air-combat." Harry doesn't care that he's letting all his frustration out. Knows he shouldn't be having 'land-talk' whilst they're up in the air on a mission (there will be plenty of time to tell her off once they've landed) but his mind is completely overladen.

"That's right, and you're fighting like a 6 year-old girl. Stop pulling hair and grow up!" Whoever said 'don't fight fire with fire' was obviously never launched at supersonic speed in 25 tons of steel with a person they despise a great deal. Reason seems to have been forgotten on the tarmac by both acolytes as they keep arguing ten-thousand feet above grounds.

"You're delusional, have you even ever done one?!"

"I'll guide you through it, trust m-"

"No! No fucking way, it's too dangerous." His tone is adamant, once again leaving Aella no room for discussion. She hates that he has the final word when it comes to flying, but alas he's the one in control of the aircraft.

"Urgh!" She cries out in irritation before mumbling under her breath "fucking coward."

Harry tries to ignore the silent dig taken at his expense as he focuses back on the problem at hand. His jaw is clenching so hard underneath the helmet, he can almost hear the sound of his teeth grinding. He is in the middle of regulating his breathing when Aella speaks up again bringing his heartbeat back into tizzy.

"Great, now we got Rogers on our case. Congrats."

"Fuck." He doesn't even register her passive-aggressive jab, more so preoccupied with the new threat charging after them.

She'd been right. She knew Rogers would be coming for them next if they didn't change tactics. Now all she can do is calling positions and silently cursing the stars for putting her on Harry's path. "800 knots closure, he's coming at your six."

"I'm well aware Aella, thanks." His voice overpowering the loud beeping noise echoing through the cockpit. They're about to be figuratively shot but not so figuratively eliminated from the competition, as Rogers is one second away from locking in on them and firing.

"He's not budging, you need to bug the fuck out." She discloses her input even though she feels like no matter what she suggests, he's gonna opt the other way.

"Like hell! The target's not bugging out." Harry quips back, once again confirming her assumption.

"You won't get the goddamn target if you're down." In a different world - and let's face it, in a different life - she might applaud his resilience, but in this universe she loathes his stubbornness, especially since she's the one enduring its wrath.

"Fucking hell, just call the bloody positions. I can't let Rex win this mission." Or any other for that matter, is what he thinks. A sentiment that, any other day, Aella would reciprocate but she's given up for the day. If he doesn't want her opinion, fine. Let him get shot, that'll teach him.

"I told you, he's in the fucking saddle, at your six. Closing on 800 knots. 850. 900."

She knows it before she hear it then: another ear-splitting beeping erupts within the cabin, dramatically informing Harry of their defeat. Rogers took the shot, it was over.

"Dammit!"

As soon as Aella steps back on solid grounds, she's overcome with a lingering sense of déjà-vu. The horizon incessantly spiraling in her vision surely doesn't help quell the dreadful sensation, though she doesn't dwell much on her lack of visual focus. No, her mind is completely consumed by the urge to rip Harry a new one. And she doesn't usually indulge in those urges. Seldom lets her resentment out in the open, for fear of appearing too "emotional" for some people's taste; and because quite frankly, she has better things to do. But this is killing her from the inside. Cutting right into the flesh of her dreams and strangling the part of herself that only bows to freedom. This is the other half of her unit dismissing her talent on the basis of her gender. And that she can't take in, much less bottle up and store away in a sealed chest at the bottom of her mind.

"For fuck sake Harry, you're supposed to be my partner!" Aella cries out to him.

He doesn't want to make a scene any more than she does, but likewise has tremendous difficulty keeping his rage all in. As Aella chases after him, he keeps stomping away from their shared TomCat. He doesn't think he's capable of facing her without loosing his shit. "That's a two way street Aella, and I don't reckon flying us both to the grave is part of 'the partner's' job description." The air quotes he uses at the mention of the word partner does nothing to assuage Aella's already blazing fury. She thinks he couldn't be more obnoxious in that moment if he tried.

"That's because you don't listen to me!"

"Damn right I don't!" He shouts back while spinning around to finally face her. "And you can thank me for still being alive because of it." Aella feels like she might implode like a pressure cooker forgotten on the fire. The audacity...the insolence... Each word he breathes out is wracking one by one every single nerve ending of hers. He's so full of himself, she wonders how she could fit in the cockpit without his human-size ego crushing her. She might have joked about having to find a 3-seats Tomcat for their next mission to fit them all, if the situation weren't so seriously heart-rending for her.

"You. Are. Such an asshole! Why am I even here? Huh! Why am I even sitting in that fucking aircraft with you?" She's about a wit away from yielding to the pressure boiling in her chest; still Harry is relentless in his comebacks too.

"Funny, I was wondering the same thing." He knows he's being harsh but his mind won't give in. Won't let him cut out a fragment of trust to share with her rule-breaking mentality. Not after what happened with Fox.

"You're despicable. I can't believe I actually hoped you'd be a decent guy. But god no! Mr Styles is too precious to be paired with a woman, so why should he give her the time of day? And why did he have to be partnered with a lady in the first place, yeah? All they can do is sit pretty or unleash their crazy, imma right?" She realizes how close she's gotten to him during her diatribe and has half the mind to push at his chest but somehow she doubts it would make him budge much. Once again she finds herself inches away from his stiff stature, as she fervently tells him off. "Dammit, you're just like the others, it makes me sick."

That's the final stroke for Harry. She can deem him as stuck-up as she pleases but he won't have her repeatedly question his integrity. "I don't fucking care that you're a woman, alright! Christ, you care about it more than I do!" Admittedly, he's had a couple sneak-peaks at her mistreatment and while he sure does feel for her struggle, sometimes she's too in her head about it to see good from bad. And he's tired of being at the wrong end of it.

"What's that supposed to mean?" She questions half-offended and half confused, as she can't fathom any sense to the statement.

"It means, I know some guys don't treat you right because you're a woman; but I never did, and I'm sick of you accusing me of it anyway." His eyes are sharp when they connect with hers, compelling and brutally honest, yet they send a chill down to her toes. "But you know what? The world is unfair. Tough love, darling. You have to prove yourself more than us but think for a minute who's against you and who's on your side, because it seems to me that you waste a lot of energy fighting the wrong persons." He's the one who delivered the words, yet Aella is the one out of breath. For a hard second, all she does is frown as a dizzying silence takes over the heated exchange. Their staring hasn't relented, in fact Harry's eyes are agitatedly seeking question-less answers in hers in a mirrored frown.

When Aella finally speaks up, her voice is hardly louder than a whisper and that's how she knows she has Harry's full attention. "You don't know the first thing about being a woman." She notices him gulping as if preparing for the sobering speech he knows is coming, so she indulges. "You don't know what it is to live in a men's world and not be man. You don't know how it feels to be stationed at the same base for months and still be treated like a stranger. You don't know how it feels to work twice as hard if not more, to get one iota of the same recognition men do. You don't know what it is to be picked last by your superior for any given promotion even though you know you've got the best stats of the whole squadron." Though she's kept a reasonable volume, she pauses to regain her countenance over the ever-growing pain in her voice. "And you sure as hell don't know what it is to be your only ally."

Her harpooned gaze never unhooked from its two emerald preys, and for once Aella feels like he's listening. So on she goes. "Today, up there, I had more balls than you did. Tough love, you said? Well same goes for you, Harry. Because no matter what, you're stuck with me. I'm your copilot and you may hate it but you can't do anything about it. So, please do yourself a favor and grow a pair when you need to, because I sure can't "prove myself" if I'm flying with a coward."

Aella is quite satisfied with her tirade, almost certain she's had the last word once again but one look at Harry's face is enough to make her doubt that. Though he's been towering over her smaller frame for a bit, he looks downright threatening now with flaring nostrils and figurative smoke steaming out of his ears.

"You don't know what you're talking about either. You fly as recklessly as your arrogance will let you. That's dangerous, thoughtless and most of all, selfish." She's starting to recoil, having taken one step backward, but Harry barely registers her uneasiness. She's the one gulping the wounding words now. "I should be ashamed of flying with you and your crazy decisions." Ouch "Oh and one more thing. Don't you dare call me a coward ever again, understood?"

She doesn't give him the satisfaction of a nod but his spiteful prose successfully rendered her speechless. And Aella is not one to relinquish her self-assurance or fold under any man's intimidating number. But somehow this feels different. Harry is not a halfwit who can't handle women's ascent into the Navy world. No, Harry just plainly hates her guts, regardless of her sex. And that hurts more than she'd ever expect to. So much so, she can't bear to look at his chiseled features anymore and recoils a step further away from his hurtful disposition.

It's only then, Harry finally picks up on her shrinking form and bruised spirit. He didn't want to go this far. Didn't intend on carving her confidence right out of her chest, but now that he sees the anguish embedded in her delicate traits, he fears he might get sick on the spot. He's had the most strenuous past few months, staggering from loss and numbness to longing and grief, but this had to top all pains: he didn't know who he was anymore. When had he turned into such a inconsiderate prick? Self-loathing took over his sense, the feeling unwelcome yet familiar, and all Harry could do was turn around and run away from the crime scene.

And run away from Aella.

#harry styles writing #harry styles fic #harry styles series #pilot!harry #harry styles angst #ofc #Whirlwind #part3 #Sirocco #creative writing #enemies to lovers #TopGun!Harry

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spiralcompendium · 4 years

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Day Six: Arc One World Critique

This will be a review/critique of each of the five worlds in the first arc--what I thought was effective and ineffective about each world’s plotline, setting/lore, and characters! Spoilers: there are a lot of Problems but I still love this horrible little game anyway.

═══*.·:·.✧ ✦ ✧.·:·.*═══

.·:·.✧ Wizard City ~ A- ✧.·:·.

✦ Plotline ✦

Wizard City functions well as an introduction to the game. We immediately get introduced to the main villain, but we don’t know what his plan is yet. The Wizard’s mission, at this point, is to stop Malistaire’s undead from overtaking the streets. After we defeat Lord Nightshade, we learn that this was all a distraction from Malistaire’s real plan--to get the Krokonomicon from Krokotopia. Even though this means that what the protagonist did in Wizard City doesn’t have a direct connection to the main plot, I still think that it works well as a low-level story.

I appreciated the originality of some of the subplots on each street; some standouts include stopping undead from siphoning powerful Storm magic from the Storm Mill on Triton Avenue, as well as defeating Cyclops Lane’s Cyclopes and Trolls, who were originally summoned to defend against the undead.

While some of the side quests were just your standard MMORPG delivery or defeat quests, some were also pretty interesting! For example, Gloria Krendell’s and Duncan Grimwater’s quests provide insight into Malistaire’s backstory. Even the more simple-seeming quests had flavor text that made it a bit more fun. Being sent to defeat a boss to get back the Sleeper’s Timepiece, a watch that can bring nightmares to life, is a lot more interesting than being sent to defeat a boss who’s just evil and attacking citizens.

✦ Setting and Lore ✦

Every game needs to start with a relatively basic area, and in this one, it’s Wizard City. Still, I love all of the little details that flesh out the world. The devs could have chosen to go with really basic fantasy areas and use just houses, castles, and libraries. Instead, we have places like the Storm Mill--“one of the main sources of magical energy for all of Wizard City,” the Hedge Maze that is watched over by an ancient seraph, and the Fireglobe Theatre in the center of a burning street. It’s also really cool how all of the different streets have a different “feel”--Triton Avenue seems very industrial, Colossus Boulevard seems very upper-class (despite the Gobblers), and Firecat Alley seems very artsy and creative. Having abandoned areas like the Haunted Cave and mysterious places like Sunken City imply a history to the world. Still, Wizard City doesn’t feel like it has much of a past.

Overall, Wizard City has a good amount of lore with the various magical creatures and villains, especially considering Bartleby, the creator of the Spiral, lives here. With the addition of the Catacombs quest, it seems like Wizard City has a lot going on behind the scenes.

✦ Characters ✦

Very few characters stand out at this point in the story. I liked Duncan Grimwater’s arc (although this doesn’t pay off until arc three), and I loved dealing with the shenanigans of both Nolan Stormgate and Cyrus Drake while questing in Cyclops Lane. Still, none of the characters have any major presence besides Ambrose, who is just there to be an Old, Wise Wizard. I would have liked there to be a maximum of six or seven major characters, possibly to represent each of the main schools. They wouldn’t all have to travel with us everywhere, but it would be cool to have more overlap instead of just meeting one or a few separately in each street. I also wish that some of the villains had a larger presence in the story. We don’t even hear about Lord Nightshade, the final boss, until we’re sent to fight him.

.·:·.✧ Krokotopia ~ B- ✧.·:·.

✦ Plotline ✦

In Krokotopia, the Wizard is chasing Malistaire to try and prevent him from getting the Krokonomicon, a book of powerful Life and Death magic. They are also stopping the awakened Kroks and some undead along the way. The plotline could have been more compelling if there was more of a focus beating Malistaire to the Krokonomicon, stopping Malistaire, or having Malistaire find different ways to stop the Wizard. Instead, Malistaire has very little presence, and we learn at the end that he beat us there--who knows how he got there or what he was even doing the whole time.

By itself, though, Krokotopia’s plot isn’t too bad. Freeing slaves and reassembling an ancient magical order of anti-authoritarian Kroks is a good premise.

✦ Setting and Lore ✦

Krokotopia’s setting is somewhat compelling in theory, but I do wish there was more variety--we’re pretty much inside hallways the whole time. I liked how each major area (the Pyramid of the Sun, the Krokosphinx, and the Tomb of Storms) has their own Krok leading family, such as the Nirinis and Sokkwis. I liked the family conflict between the Ahnics and Djeserits in the Tomb of Storms, as well. Krokotopia has a much more obvious history to it than Wizard City. I really liked the Marleybone presence, as well, which hinted at their dominance over many different worlds in the Spiral; it also showed that the various worlds are interconnected and not just levels in a game.

✦ Characters ✦

Yeah, no one in this world is particularly important. The major Marleybonean characters are pretty much just there to give quests, and the villains are just there to be something to fight, similar to Wizard City. Hetch al’Dim’s character trait was Anxiety, which I thought was pretty cute. Alhazred’s character trait was Old, so… alright. Once again, we get introduced to our final boss pretty much right as we have to fight her. Still, her design is pretty fabulous, so that’s cool.

.·:·.✧ Marleybone ~ D+ ✧.·:·.

✦ Plotline ✦

Marleybone’s importance to the overall plot of arc one is minimal:

1. Malistaire frees Meowiarty so he can steal the Krokonomicon.

2. Malistaire gets the Krokonomicon.

These last two events happen at the very end of the world, so everything else feels like a lot of filler. The Wizard has to put a stop to gang uprisings and attacks by automatons, only some of which Malistaire is connected to--and these were only started to interrupt the Wizard chasing him. It would have been great if the narrative as a whole was a mystery; despite having some elements of a mystery story, it wasn’t one. Also, it would have been interesting to have more of a focus on the obvious social issues occurring in the world. We see the dogs discriminating against the cats, rats, and frogs throughout the story--accusing them of crimes they didn’t commit and literally paying the Wizard to attack Street Sweepers out of a pavilion who were doing nothing but loitering, at worst, just because Abigail Doolittle wanted to have a party celebrating the police. Yikes!

Beyond that, a lot of the side quests were unquestionably bad. I always hate doing the quests for the ladies in Marleybone, because it’s all just bringing hats and scarves to different places. One quest like that would have been fine.

The moment when the Wizard had to chase Malistaire and Meowiarty during the prison break was pretty fun, although (as @calamity-callie pointed out) they immediately moved to an unrelated case in Knight’s Court instead of just continuing to ramp up for the Meowiarty fight. This makes the story seem kind of janky. Again, I would have preferred for both Malistaire and Meowiarty to have more of a presence in the story.

✦ Setting and Lore ✦

Marleybone’s setting is a lot of fun, and I love how much it contrasts Krokotopia. While magic is deeply ingrained in Krokotopia (from the presence of the Balance school down to the colors of the Manders’ scales), Marleybone doesn’t practice magic at all. I like how dark the world is--it’s very fitting for a place that has so much turmoil. I definitely would have liked to see more of a variety in the specific locations though--Hyde Park, Chelsea Court, and Knight’s Court are pretty much the same, not to mention that 99% of the story takes place on rooftops. The lore is alright, but there’s not too much that I find to be super compelling--most of it is just Victorian English stuff + steampunk.

✦ Characters ✦

Sherlock Bones is kind of there, although he doesn’t really solve any interesting mysteries. The concept of Baxter was good--having a “guy on the inside” who could guide the Wizard--but he was a flat character. Meowiarty was probably the most compelling, but he didn’t have much of a presence. I would have liked the world to have much more of a mystery-based plot (as in, actual mysteries) that was focused on working with Sherlock Bones, Watson, and Baxter to find/stop Meowiarty and Malistaire.

.·:·.✧ MooShu ~ F+ ✧.·:·.

✦ Plotline ✦

MooShu has always bothered me a lot, because it has little direct connection to the overarching story. Malistaire comes here, steals the Spiral Key from the Emperor, and then leaves before the Wizard even gets there. The Jade Champion was able to get the Spiral Key back right as Malistaire went through the door, but he did not give it to the Wizard because the Emperor must be the one to give it to us for some reason. Still, I really liked the concept of the different Onis affecting each area in different ways.

The side quests are… fine, I guess, although I did love the ones centered around the two lost lovers in the Ancient Burial Grounds.

✦ Setting and Lore ✦

This is the first W101 world that stands out as being, uhhhhh,,,, NOT super PC. The accents, stereotypes, and blending of different Asian cultures is not a great look. If we’re able to look past that (which we shouldn’t), I honestly don’t really like look or aesthetic. There’s just a whole lot of brown and a whole lot of bamboo. Pirate101 MooShu is leagues better visually (although it has the same problems with reeeeeally problematic language and characters). I do like a lot of the lore though, especially concerning demons, the Spirit World, and religion. But yeah, I do wish that the setting had more relevance to the story as well. Malistaire wants an ancient magical text from Krokotopia--Krokotopia as a setting makes sense. The ancient text gets stolen by an England analogue and put in a museum--Marleybone as a setting makes sense. The Dragonspyre Spiral Key is kept in MooShu just for fun, I guess. We learn later that the Emperor of MooShu is a member of the Council of Light, so I guess it would make sense for him to have it, but they literally could have made him the Emperor of a world based on anything else and it wouldn’t have changed anything in the main, overarching plot.

✦ Characters ✦

The characters sure do give you quests! They’re really good at telling you how to progress in the game. They absolutely tell you where to go to get XP.

.·:·.✧ Dragonspyre ~ B- ✧.·:·.

✦ Plotline ✦

Dragonspyre’s plot definitely needed some work, as well. When we get there, we learn that Malistaire is in the process of summoning the Dragon Titan in the Headmaster’s Office, but the Wizard can’t get there until they can become a student at Dragonspyre Academy. So we, again, aren’t actively working against Malistaire, because he’s literally static the whole time--the Spiral would be screwed if the ritual took like five minutes.

Despite that, some of the subplots in the different areas were pretty fun: going into the past to see the start of its end, learning lessons from its history in the Crucible, and hatching and raising a Drake (whom we never see again, which sucks).

Like with MooShu, it would have been a lot more impactful to be actively fighting against Malistaire the whole time. In the other worlds, part of the tension comes from Malistaire’s minions attacking innocents. In Dragonspyre, the tension isn’t there because they’re all already dead. Still, if they had focused on this aspect (i.e., the Wizard is the only living person in a world full of ghosts and Malistaire’s minions), it could have been really impactful.

✦ Setting and Lore ✦

I love the premise of this world: a ruined city that was destroyed by a horrible, ancient power due to the hubris of its elite. Dragonspyre has one of the most in-depth histories out of all the worlds of the Spiral, and I love the blending of the cultures of ancient Rome/Pompeii and Russia + dragons. Plus, Dragonspyre Academy darkly mirrors what Ravenwood could become if Malistaire successfully summoned the Dragon Titan.

However, similar to Marleybone, all of the different areas have the same buildings, color palette, and mood. I like the additions of areas that are based on ancient Roman structures (the Basilica, the Necropolis, the Forum, etc,), but it doesn’t really matter because they all look the same.

✦ Characters ✦

Cyrus Drake is one of my favorite W101 characters. His character arc is really good, especially if you play as a Myth wizard. He’s tough on the Wizard at first, but I honestly think it’s because he doesn’t think this Literal Child should be sent to defeat Malistaire.

Malistaire is alright as a villain, and I’m certainly glad he wasn’t a generic evil guy who wants to rule/destroy the world just cuz. I would have wanted him to have just a little something extra, though?? Morganthe is a necromancer who was once a student just like the Wizard, but her mind shattered after the Spider Magi showed her how to touch Shadows. Old Cobb is an elder god who wanted to end the Spiral and recreate it. Malistaire is… an old professor who wants to bring his wife back. I do like how it’s unique, but I would want there to be something more.

Besides them, the characters in Dragonspyre are once again very flat, although I am very gay for the Russian-accent soldier ladies.

═══*.·:·.✧ ✦ ✧.·:·.*═══

Before writing this, I probably would have said that arc one was my favorite. Looking back, it has soooo many problems--writing isn’t exactly one of KI’s strong points lmao. I think that Wiz has some very creative ideas and premises, but sometimes the execution just isn’t the best. I definitely think that a lot of these problems were a result of crunch time, though. If they were actually given time to flesh out their ideas, I think that the game would have turned out much better in terms of storytelling and design.

I’m thinking about making reviews for arc two and three, as I’d be really curious to see how they’d compare. They all have different strengths and different problems. Still, this game has been my favorite game since I was eleven, and it’s something that I will always come back to.

Image Sources

https://101universe.fandom.com/wiki/Wizard_City?file=Ravenwood.jpg

https://101universe.fandom.com/wiki/Krokotopia?file=Tumblr_n1e872SXlZ1tsc4dmo2_r1_540.jpg

https://www.swordroll.com/2013/05/Pirate101-Krokotopia.html

https://www.mmorpg.com/columns/wizard101-abigail-doolittle-is-the-true-villain-2000108162

http://www.edwardlifegem.com/2018/11/wizard101-questing-where-we-ended-up_14.html

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_hGd5cDTxd0

https://finalbastion.com/wizard101-guides/w101-pet-guides/pets-dropped-mooshu-wizard101/

https://101universe.fandom.com/wiki/Dragonspyre_Academy?file=Dragonspyre_Academy.jpg

http://www.wizard101central.com/wiki/File:(Location)_The_Crystal_Grove.png#axzz6a4BqFgfv

#wiztober2020 #Wizard101 #w101 #spiral lore

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champagne-bucky · 5 years

Text

Stronger

Summary: Life as the newest Avenger is tough, but a new friend is willing to help you through it

Warnings: bullied!Reader x Bucky

Notes: This is a requested one shot by @i-ve-become-fictional ! Hope you enjoy this! Like, repost, comment, and follow for more! :)

Avenger Wrecks Billion Corporation Building.

Newest Addition to the Avengers is Well Below Qualification Ranks.

Are the Avengers Becoming a Joke?

President Issues a Statement Regarding New Avenger: “Y/N Y/L/N is a Hazard to Our Country!”

The headlines wouldn’t stop, they were getting so repetitive. You get it, you suck, as an Avenger and as a person in general. Why do they all hate you so much? You’ll never understand why. It all started when James Rhodes hired you on as an Avenger. With Natasha Romanoff and Tony Stark’s passing and the retirement of Steve Rogers, S.H.I.E.L.D was looking to recruit a new member for the Avengers. You weren’t exactly top of your class strength wise, your skills excelled with computers and different types of technology. Needless to say, you had no real place on the team, unless they thought you were a gamma infected being that was holding out on everybody, you rendered useless.

Why do you put yourself down like this? Well, the other recruits were telling you the same thing, to your face and behind your back, when Fury considered you to be in the running for the Avengers. You were just as surprised as everyone else had been when you got a final nomination to join. It was between you and a highly respected and highly decorated S.H.I.E.L.D agent. You don’t know how you managed to get that far, but considering you blew everyone else out of the water when it came to cooking up concoctions in the scientific portion of the tests and memorizing how Tony Stark built numerous Iron Man suits, from a heap of scrap metal to glorious nanotechnology, the other recruits never stood a chance.

The team of remaining Avengers were shocked and impressed that you managed to make it as far as you did, truth be told you were too. When it came down to you and the other agent, Fury urged the team to really think about who they wanted. The votes were tied, but some poor soul thought you had potential to be an actual Avenger. What that same soul didn’t realize was with an uncoordinated member came dozens of heavily opinionated jerks from every walk of life criticizing your every move.

There was a small group of people that supported you. They tried their best to defend you, but that small group was always taken over by the tsunami that was late night television commentators and early morning local news reporters. It was safe to say, the majority didn’t like you.

Day after day you would train your ass off trying to get stronger. You were getting better, but you weren’t the best. You wish you could quit, but you were already in too deep.

The building was an accident. You didn’t mean to destroy it, however it was a building that was on the midst of foreclosure, which meant no casualties were harmed because no one was inside. Despite this important fact, the media ran with it and was quick to try and call you a cold blooded killer. Not true, not even a little bit, that at least was James Rhodes would tell you.

The others liked you. Sure, those who weren’t too keen on you took a while to warm up, but they all adjusted to your presence quickly. It seemed as though somedays they really did appreciate you. You could tell some were frustrated by you though. For instance, you had overheard a conversation from Clint and Sam voicing rather loudly how they thought you would get yourself killed because of you “careless” fighting style.

Most days you didn’t want to leave your room. You didn’t need to affiliate yourself with the new wave of hate and toxicity the internet and it’s trolls would bring you. You wanted to disassociate yourself from the world, and yourself, for one goddamn day. However, Colonel James Rhodes would not have any of that today.

“Due to light of the recent events from last mission, the Senate is ordering us to hold a press conference.” Rhodey announces which caused collective groans from the group.

“Do we all have to be present?” Clint asked slouching in his chair. He really didn’t feel like facing the ravenous press today.

“Well, actually, only myself, Bucky, Sam, and Y/N will be attending the press conference today.” You froze in your seat. A panic attack threatening to rise within you. The feeling of the teams eyes all landing on you. You’ve never had to be at the press conferences before. Usually it was only Sam and Rhodey taking the lead.

“Kid, you’ll do fine. Just give simple and minimal answers to the press. Don’t answer any questions you don’t want to. If anything, we’ll answer them for you.” Rhodey put his hand on your back before walking away to get ready.

—

You always had stage fright. Ever since 5th grade when you misspelled that one really long and complicated word. Everyone in the crowd was laughing at you, at least to your imagination. You remember specifically Marcy Hunter making fun of you and taunting you for weeks. Calling you stupid, getting the whole grade to think you were stupid, saying you were one of the biggest losers on planet ea-

“Hey, you ready?” Sam looked at you with concern.

“Yeah, yeah. Let’s just get this over with.” You muttered nervously.

—

The millions of flashing cameras and yelling journalists did nothing to ease your confidence. Every single one of them were up in arms about what had happened. No one was hurt, so why were they all acting as if a mass murder took place.

“Colonel Rhodes, are there any updates regarding a body count from the premises of the building.” Someone shouted

“For the last and final time, no one was in that building. It was already cleared for months before we got to it.” Rhodey looked annoyed as ever. Same questions same answers. They were just looking for an opportunity to rip on you.

One woman eyed you up and down with her evil eyes. She was waiting patiently to get the mic and rip you limb from limb. She finally got it after about an hour into the conference.

“Ms. L/N, how do you think this mishap will affect on the citizens of New York?” She was going somewhere with this wasn’t she?

“Well,” you cleared your throat, “as Colonel Rhodes has mentioned, the building was cleared and the citizens surrounding the area were promptly evacuated.” Sam nodded his head in approval.

“So does this mean there has been no discussion of your removal from the team?” What?

“I’m sorry?” You questioned.

“Well, it just seems destruction follows you wherever you go. I mean for Christ sake a billion dollar building collapses and you aren’t even the slightest bit worried that you dm could’ve killed people.” She was evil. The way her lips curled into a devilish smirk.

“Like I’ve told the other reporters, building was empty and no civilians were near the scene.” Rhodey was getting annoyed now.

“What I’m trying to say is, did you all really think it was a good idea to have someone with so little experience play with the big boys. It seems as though she doesn’t even know what she’s doin-“ The bitch was immediately cut off by Bucky.

“Okay, that’s enough out of you, out of all of you. Y/N is an Avenger whether you like her or not. We voted to have her on the team, not you or you or any of you for that matter. I’m so sick and tired of seeing headline after goddamn headline about how “incapable” she is. Can’t you people focus your attention on, I don’t know, literally anything else in this goddamn world besides her. She’s made some mistake, we all have, just because she’s an Avenger doesn’t mean she’s not human like the rest of us. I swear to God I will personally rip to shreds everyone single news article that runs one more negative thing about her. So if you all can understand where I’m coming from, shut the fuck up about her and write something else. We are done here.” Bucky looks out fo the crowd angrily. The rooms falls silent after you all get up and exit.

—

It was late in the night and you were pounding it away at the gym. Trying to forget what had transpired at the press conference. You were working up a sweat trying to rid the voices in your head.

You’ll never be good enough.

You’re pathetic.

Failure.

You suck.

Failure.

Sorry excuse for an Avenger.

Failure.

Failure

Fail-

“I thought I was usually the only one up this late.” Your thoughts stopped as Bucky’s voiced echoed from behind you.

“Never thought anyone else came down here this late.” You responded, eyes still focused on the punching bag in front of you.

“Can’t sleep?”

“Never could.” You responded still hitting the punching bag.

Bucky ponders for a moment looking at your sweaty form. You always looked defeated, so helpless, you always thought you were useless. He never thought that though. Bucky always saw something in you, he never saw you like the monsters in the press did.

“Are you okay?” You sensed the concern and sincerity in Bucky’s voice.

“What do you mean?” You tried to act dumb.

“Don’t play coy, Y/N. I know how you feel.”

“How could you possibly know how I feel?”

“Because you’re not the only one who was the media’s favorite chew toy.” You stopped punching the bag as Bucky walks over to you and leads you to the bench.

“I know how it feels, to be an outcast, to be hated by everyone. How do you think the media reacted when the dreaded Winter Soldier was joining the Avengers. Dear God, I had to stay off the internet for weeks, couldn’t even walk down the street without some asshat yelling names at me, calling me a monster.”

You remember the public outcry that rang throughout the world when it was announced that Bucky Barnes, former HYDRA assassin, was joining the Avengers. The media had a field day with him, some even went as far as protesting the front gates of the compound demanding that this evil man be exiled for the crimes he had committed.

“Nobody liked me, and those that did couldn’t even get their message across to the world as to why I was a good guy. I know I’m not perfect, but I’m not evil by any means. It’s taken a while, but I know it wasn’t James Barnes who did those things to those innocent people, it was HYDRA and the Winter Soldier programming.” Bucky had been going through lots of therapy since he was brought back. Steve had insisted that Bucky go to every last therapy session even if it meant he would break out of the retirement home and drag him there himself.

“I was the deciding vote, ya know. When no one else thought you could do it I was the only one who spoke up in your defense.”

“What so the heat could be taken off of you?” You shot back, the little rage bubble in your heart expanding.

“No, stop thinking like that. I know what you may think, that everyone here doesn’t like you, but that’s far from the truth. Everyone here, they warmed up to you, they really do enjoy having you on the team, honest to God. They have their concerns thought.” Oh boy here we go.

“I agree with them on the fighting thing, you were a little choppy at first, but hey, no one is perfect. In fact, I remember one time where Sam crashed his new set of wings into the lake when the new compound was built.” You stifled a laugh.

“Hey, there’s that pretty smile.” Bucky smiled back as you fought a blush.

“You really don’t think I’m useless?”

“Far from it, doll.”

“Then teach me.” You finally looked at Bucky.

“What?”

“Teach me how to fight, how to be like you.” You looked up at him with pleading eyes.

“Doll, no one can be like me, you gotta be your own you.” You sighed.

“But that doesn’t mean I still can’t teach you a few tricks.” You had a wide smile plastered on your face as you hugged Bucky tightly. The first person to show you true compassion since you got here.

“Thank you Buck, thank you.”

“Anytime doll, anytime.”

—

Two months later…

“C’mon Y/N, let’s move it, just like we practiced.” Bucky yelled at you as you did the kick punch combo again.

It’s been a long two months, but goddamn was it worth it. Slowly, the headlines about you stopped and the people moved on to a new problem. It felt good to not be the center of attention anymore.

Bucky recommended you to a great therapist. Together you and Dr. Han worked through your insecurities and difficulties. Everyday you were getting stronger physically and mentally. Bucky on the other hand enjoyed spending his time with you. Soon enough you became more than just training buddies, you became best friends.

He liked getting to take care of you, helping you defend yourself. Sam always joked that the two of you were doing something more than just training, but there really wasn’t more to it. Bucky saw something more in you, he saw that scrawny little boy from Brooklyn, weak, but had the drive and passion of a soldier. Bucky looked after you as if you were young Steve Rogers, and he’ll be damned if he lets anything happen to you.

#bucky x reader #bucky one shot #bucky x bullied!reader #bucky fluff #bucky imagine #bucky barnes #bucky barnes x reader #bucky fanfic #winter solider x reader #winter soldier #marvel #james barnes #james buchanan barnes #bucky fic

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malecftw · 5 years

Text

Between two fires - Colby Brock imagine

A/N: so I found this on my computer just now, something I wrote ages ago. This obviously takes place before Jake got a girlfriend and before Devyn and Corey broke up.

Hope you like it!

Word count: 2002

Warnings: teasing?

You can find my masterlist here X

As I walk up to the front door, I hear laughter throughout the entire house. My hand is held up in a fist, ready to knock when the wooden door opens in front of me. I immediately get enveloped in a hug by Devyn. It's been a while since I've seen her and have always had a big sister relationship with her. "Welcome back stranger." She chirps into my ear. I laugh at her excitement and squeeze her sides a little tighter.

"Babe, please don't hold the poor girl hostage! We all want a hug!" Corey shouts while he walks over to us with Sam and Kat. Everyone is grinning from ear to ear and Devyn releases me. "Uhm, I think she was enjoying herself just fine." She sasses while I get attacked by Sam & Kat simultaneously. Aaron is standing next to Corey and waves excitedly. I make a mental note to have a minute with him later since we clicked very early on and he was the one that introduced me to everyone else.

"Well, this is the best sandwich I've ever been part of." I beam. They both laugh and Katrina pets my hair while Sam attempts to tickle my back. Instead of tickling my back, he accidentally tickles Kat's tummy and she giggled at the feeling. "Mom and dad have missed you, my child," Sam says in an attempted posh English accent. "Please stop, you're gonna make her run away if you do that ever again." Katrina squeals since Sam is still tickling her.

At that, I hear some very loud, deep voices and see Colby, Jake, and Brennen appear in the doorway. Brennen shakes his head and pulls me out of Sam & Kat's embrace to then pull me into his chest. "Long time no see little bean." He pulls away and throws an arm over my shoulder as we look at Jake and Colby play fighting to get to me. "Stop it, Colby, she likes me better anyway." "You wish Jake." Colby has Jake in a chokehold while he tries to slap Colby around the head.

I laugh and decide to break them up. "If you guys continue like that I'll like none of you by the end of the night." They're surprised at my statement and awkwardly try to stop teasing one another.

I walk up to Jake, considering I've always been more intimidated and shy cause of Colby's looks. He's literally got anything and everything I'm attracted to in a guy. From the corner of my eye, I see Colby pout. Jake notices too, he puffs his chest out and smirks. Adding to the fact I chose him over Colby.

I slap his chest and give him a stern look, as to say 'be nice'. He looks at me sheepishly but nevertheless wraps his arms around my waist.

His thumb rubs small circles on my back and I can't help but bask at the moment. He's always been soft, and it's one of the things I appreciate most about him. I could be delicate with Jake. I could be a porcelain doll and I'd still be safe with him.

I awkwardly step back, thinking about the length of our hug and whether anyone else noticed.

I turn completely towards Colby. He looks at me and smiles widely before opening his arms completely. 'Come here you.' He says loudly and I laugh. Colby never fails to make me smile. I walk into his arms and am completely surrounded by his entire body. I fall into him perfectly. Like two puzzle pieces if you will. His cologne makes its way up my nose and I try to hold in my sneeze, of course, I fail and I decide to call him out. 'Someone's gone a little heavy on the Boss perfume today.' At that everyone laughs and Colby looks at me with fake hurt. 'I thought you liked my sexy male scent.' I cringe at his words and it shows in my expression which only makes him laugh.

'I do Colby, but not when it smells like you've showered in it.' He nods, admitting he may have gone overboard and we all head inside.

Popcorn is made, pizza is ordered, drinks are poured. Everyone's having a great time chilling out. Old songs from when we were teenagers are being played throughout the house, and when 'You Are The Music In Me' from High School Musical 2 comes on, I just have to pull Jake with me to dance and jam out.

He holds my waist just like Troy does to Gabriella in the movie and we act out the scene without piano though.

After the song has ended we fall back onto the couch, completely exhausted by putting on our 5-star performance. We look at each other whilst laughing and he brushes a strand of hair out of my eyes. We share a moment that gets interrupted when Colby decides to wriggle his way in between us. 'Bro, what the fuck are you doing?' Jake asks, looking at Colby with an irritated expression. Colby acts all innocent and shrugs. "What bro? Y/n is so comfy and I'm tired okay."

I roll my eyes at his lame excuse and sigh. "Contrary to popular belief, I am in fact not a piece of furniture you can use whenever you please Colby Brock."

He giggles at me sassing him but continues to stay put, head on my lap while his feet seemingly try to kick Jake in the face.

"Dude you're so annoying." "Fuck off then Jakey." He says in a girly voice.

After Jake makes his way to the kitchen, I look Colby in the eyes and he rolls his eyes knowing he's about to be told off.

"You're so petty Colby, what's going on with you?" His entire demeanor changes and he stares at me with serious eyes. "What? I'm not allowed to spend time with my favorite girl?"

This silences me and I awkwardly look around the room, acting like there's something more interesting to look at than the boy I've had a crush on for the longest time, located right in my lap at this moment.

Colby sighs at my reaction and sits back up, swinging an arm over the couch, locating it behind my neck and the tips of his fingers resting on my shoulder. I lean back and rest my head on his forearm. At that he smirks, realizing he hasn't lost my attention in the slightest.

Jake returns, holding a cup in each hand which I look at him with a questioning gaze for.

"I made you your favorite. You've always said my drink mixing skills are the best so I decided to treat you." He smiles. I look up at him and straighten myself to take the cup from Jake, intentionally holding it higher so I have to disconnect from Colby's arm. I thank him and take a sip from the beverage, moaning as my tastebuds register the sweet goodness he has prepared for me.

"Damn Jake, you haven't lost your touch in the slightest."

I get distracted by Katrina showing me something on her phone, so Colby and Jake are now having a full-on stare off behind my back. Literally. Corey watches the whole scene unfold and lets out a loud laugh at the two boys fighting for my attention while I'm kind of ignorant.

Everyone's attention switches to Corey now and he looks like he just ate the world's hottest pepper as everyone looks at him expecting to say something. Eventually, Devyn gives him a jab to the ribs and he crumbles. "I was just having a moment guys don't judge me."

I redirect my attention back to Jake as he starts to tickle my neck. "Jake stop it, I'm gonna pull a muscle." Jake continues, laughing at my deformed stature when Colby decides he's had enough. "Don't worry y/n, prince Colby to the rescue!" I look at him weirdly but my expression soon changes from confusion to pure fear when he picks me up and throws me over his shoulder. "COLBY WHAT THE FUCK PUT ME DOWN!" "What are you saying milady, I'm saving you from that troll." He shouts dramatically as he nods to Jake. At that everyone laughs and Jake sinks further into the couch, clearly annoyed that Colby won that one.

I get confused when I realize Colby takes me upstairs rather than back to the couch. I started patting his ass cause 1. He's got a nice ass. 2. It's the only thing I could annoy him with at this point since I was still being carried over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes.

"Wowww, harassment much." He says jokingly and I roll my eyes even though he can't see me. "Shut the fuck up Colby you know you like it." He doesn't reply but instead, throws me onto his bed. As I sit up straight, I hear a click when he locks his bedroom door. He acts like nothing happened and goes to sit on his desk, right in front of the bed. Now he looks at me with those weird eyes. Like he wants to say something, but doesn't. I can see him thinking about stuff and I start getting awkward when his gaze doesn't leave mine.

I break eye contact and look around the room, not being able to handle his intense stare. "You know y/n, there's this girl." My heart instantly drops. "She's got a pretty little face, interesting sense of humor, a good heart. You could say she's perfect." "Oh really..." I say, not even interested anymore in where this is going.

He gets closer to me slowly, eyes burning a hole into my skull. "Yeah. You see, there's one tiny issue I have with her." I look up at him questioningly. He gets closer to me, crouching down in between my legs, supporting his weight with both hands on my thighs as he whispers in my ear. "She's such a fucking tease."

At that I gulp audibly. I didn't see that one coming. "Oh... are you sure that's a problem? You seem more into it than you say you are." He smirks. "I don't know. She tries flirting with a friend of mine, but I can see right through her. I see how her eyes stay on me for that fraction of a second longer. I see the way she crumbles under my touch." At that he pinches my thighs with his big hands. "And I see the way she gets goosebumps when my lips get close to her neck." He exhales down my neck as the tip of his nose touches my ear.

My eyes close. I try to compose myself but my response comes out stuttering anyways. 'I don't think she's the only tease around here."

At that, he grabs my chin and plants his lips on mine. A firestorm builds in my stomach he kisses me hard, yet with care. The passion is dripping off of him and I feel like I'm about to make a free fall. The butterflies in my stomach have turned into full-on Colibris and the feeling almost overwhelms me, yet Colby is right here, tugging at my whole being to pull me back to the real world.

He licks my bottom lip, but I deny him entrance and he smirks knowing he'll have to work a lot harder for his reward.

He pushes me down onto the bed, lips still on mine as he places both knees on either side of my hips.

His right hand gently cups my neck while the left one presses hard into my waist. Like the perfect balance of soft but intense.

After a couple of seconds, he pulls back, breathing hard as he presses his forehead against.

He closes his eyes and smiles. "That wasn't too bad now, was it y/n?" He whispers, still infatuated with the moment and me.

#colby brock imagine #jake webber imagine #sam golbach #katrina stuart #corey sherer #devyn lundy #aaron doh #brennen taylor

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hillnerd · 5 years

Note

Hello hillnerd! I've read more than one of your interesting analysis, so I was wondering, if/when you'll have the time could you explain why/how Ron's character was mistreated by the movies? We all know what a terrible portrait of Ginny they've done, but I've always felt like they did a worst job with Harry than with Ron. Thank you very much, and if you've already spoken more deeply about, don't you worry about it ^^

Aw thanks so much! I’m glad you find my extra long rants interesting! ;)

So! Ron Weasley is my favorite character in the HP series. I found myself continually getting more and more disappointed with his portrayal as the movie series progressed, and have had lots to say on it over the years, but don’t believe I’ve ever had one semi-cohesive long post about it. Here we go, kids!

I have explored this when I went into classism and how it plays into Ron, and the Weasleys, portrayal in the films. This, I feel, is key to understanding how perverse the changes ended up being in the films. To me it’s not just about the character of Ron not being portrayed accurately, but rather an all-around disdain for poverty/working class people.

I won’t repeat what I said in my other essay- but please do read it to get a fuller picture of my issues with Ron’s portrayal. To sum it up, classist tropes of poor people being stupid, lazy, unloyal, and fearful is what Steve Kloves reduced the Weasleys to.

I also am not a huge fan of the movies, so have not given many of them a lot of rewatches- nor will I for this- so it might get hard for me to remember all issues, and I’m sure I’ll miss a lot of them.

HOW RON WEASLEY WAS RUINED IN THE MOVIES:

When people watch the films they come away from them having some understanding of who the characters are in the books. Harry might come across as more serious in the movies- but his bravery, his dedication, his self-sacrifice, and even at times his sarcasm- are still there. Hermione and her whip-smart intelligence are not just present- they are upped to the point of ridiculous at times- they also went on to make her even more empathetic, friendly and kind than she was in the books (she’s more of a prickly little thing- but they portray her as this sensitive empathic character who never puts a step wrong in the movies… ) and made her more physically capable than in the books too. (punching malfoy, able to physically lift Harry into the air when being swung around on the whomping willow, dueling capabilities etc)

Then there is Ron. Most people come away thinking Ron is a coward, or stupid- at best they find him amusing. The movies seemed to go out of their way to wipe away all of Ron’s positive attributes and replace them with problematic behaviors that were completely antithetical to who Ron was, and even change scenes so that he did the exact opposite actions as well. They robbed him of almost every act of intelligence, kindness, wit, heart and bravery from the books. I’m fine with changes from the book as far as scenes- but I am not ok with them completely altering his character to make him selfish, unkind, cowardly, stupid etc. The movies didn’t just ruin Ron Weasley in them- they created a legacy of suck. I mean, that’s why there are video essays titled ‘is Ron useless’ on youtube where they have to do a breakdown of the character, in the newest HP phone game Ron isn’t featured like Harry and Hermione and is worth less points, in the play he’s portrayed as a dingus who can’t point a wand in the right direction… People fundamentally don’t know Ron, and that’s due to the movies (and their influence - even on how people interpret his character when they read the books, imo.)

Let’s get into it though!

This started with the first film:

the one film that was truest to who Ron was in the books.

The Devil’s Snare

Let’s compare the scenes:

youtube

Now, they had to cut one of Hermione’s feats in order to streamline the journey to the stone. The riddle with the potions would be a lot harder to make interesting in film, so having her shining moment be the Devil’s Snare makes absolute sense.

As it was her one moment of glory, it also made sense for her to get to stay calm. I can’t begrudge that change.

What I DO have issue is, Kloves decided to sacrifice Ron’s character in order to bolster Hermione. He made Ron become completely irrational and panicky, while cool calm Harry and Hermione looked on with amusement and derision.

He could have easily had both the boys unable to keep from wiggling- or had Hermione just crawl off in time like in the book- but no.

This was the beginning of a pattern we continue to see throughout the movies.

They kept feeding the notion that in order to make Harry and Hermione looks cool’/brave- they needed to have Ron cowering beside them- when that is the exact opposite of who he is as a character.

We also have another moment earlier in the book/film that undercuts Ron in order to bolster Harry.

_________________________________________________

Their first quidditch lesson:

BOOK

MOVIE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Ix0BhYSZBg

Ron’s been flying a broom since he was a kid. Yet he’s struggling to get the broom to go up while most of the class succeeds, and then it strikes him in the face? Really? Neville is already about to have an accident with the broom and made a lot more sense for this piece of physical comedy- but they did it to Ron…

In this film it’s not that big of a deal- after all he has loads of great moments- but it goes to show that Kloves doesn’t understand Ron’s role in the series for Harry- beyond being his best friend, he’s also a knowledgeable guide to the wizarding world. They almost completely remove this from Ron, and give almost all exposition to Hermione or Hagrid. Ron’s essential function is removed. This is just a tiny example. It gets worse as the films continue.

————————————————————————————————

THE TROLL

In the book he is very capable and is able to do Wingardium Leviosa to save Hermione WITHOUT her coaching him in the bathroom. But he can’t have his moment without Hermione teaching him in the movie

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IbxMy9T49fM

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Chamber of Secrets

This is it. The film where Ron is firmly established as a coward.

He is moaning, squeeking, shaking, crying, and all around acting a total miserable coward in scene after scene. Again this is the exact opposite of who Ron is as person. In the books he’s this fiery tempered guy who is ready to first fight/duel any ahole who crosses his path- but in the movies, he’s this:

youtube

FOLLOW THE SPIDERS

youtube

In the books he never is falling apart like that, even when facing the spiders- his biggest fear. (He is literally phobic of them, but this is now shown in the films.) Harry is stoic, to the point of ridiculously stoic, during these moments- while Ron practically crying. Now I’m fine with Ron being show afraid in this particular scene- my issue is how it’s played for comedy, how they add in moments of ‘now can we panic,’ and have Harry show about as much emotion as a door knob the whole scene.

If this were the one scene where Ron acts like this, hey I’d let it pass.

Nope. It’s become his entire personality. He is in the same state CONSTANTLY in this film. Dignity? Ron does’t get to have a moment of that. He’s constantly making this face:

When in the car, when near his mum, when being yelled at by the howler, when being yelled at by moaning myrtle, when Harry is injured etc.

If his excessive fear weren’t the only big problem that’d be one thing- but no.

He is also striped of his purpose in being a guide to the wIzarding world.

—————————————-

MUDBLOOD AND SLUGS

When Hermione is called a Mudblood in the books she has no clue what that means. Ron is the one who, rather eloquently, explains it.

This is instead given to Hagrid and Hermione. While Ron pitifully barfs int he corner only able to add a feeble ‘it’s sickening’ for laughs.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xpj3krxJtNU

——————————————————————-

PRISONER OF AZKABAN

They continue to make Ron a coward, but also erode his friendship with Harry and Hermione, and make him ‘irresponsible’ on top of it.

INSUFFERABLE KNOW-IT-ALL

Ron gets detention from Snape for defending Hermione against him.

In the films he agrees with Snape’s bullying comment

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OjxZyljxrxE

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SCABBERS

Ron’s concern about Scabber’s health is made into a one-off sort of joke in the films, and for some reason a narrative of ‘Ron keeps losing Scabbers and is an irresponsible pet owner’ is established in the films.

Molly has to chase him with Scabbers and shouts ‘DON’T LOSE HIM!’ and then later the cat/rat fight is reduced to a ‘Ron’s lost Scabbers’ instead of it being a clear case of ‘the rat is dead, most liekyl because of her cat.’

Again we see Ron being shown as inferior (dumb ron unable to keep up with pets), while Hermione is built up ad able to talk down to Ron. (Ronald has lost him again!) (Also, anyone else HATE that they did this with the Ronald bit with Hermione and Ron?) Even Hagrid condescends to Ron when he finds the rat (and Hagrid is shown as quite clueless, but apparently not as clueless as Ron now….)

——-

There’s a moment added to the films where Harry goes to return the crystal ball to Trelawney and asks if Ron wants to come with him— Ron, a bit rudely, says no. This was used as a way to get Harry alone with Trelawney for the professor to give her prophecy- but why did they have to do it at the expense of Ron?

—————

THE SHRIEKING SHACK

Ron on multiple occassions in the book goes out of his way to attempt to save Harry. ALL of these are cut.

Ron literally put himself between Harry and danger. Instead in the films he’s stupidly sitting beside the whomping willow,

then he’s just screaming, terrified, as he’s dragged away.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lhi1bOuIj0E

Then Ron, with a severely broken leg, stands on it to confront a murderer while Hermione scaredly whispering.

Instead they give this line to HERMIONE, while Ron incoherently whimpers on the ground like a coward.

youtube

They knew Hermione had a TON of ‘moments’ in this film already- why did they need to give one of Ron’s ONLY moments to her???????? She had just punched Malfoy (instead of slapped him), literally had the strength of a grown weight lifter to lift Harry by the shirt into the air as they fought the whomping willow and will go on to the have the time adventure… yet, here we are- She has this line as well.

Ron is robbed of every ounce of dignity and gumption and self-actualization he HAS.

————————

Then at the end of the time adventure they have Harry and Hermione laughing at Ron as he, again, incoherently babbles and makes this face.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OavYqCjM45k

Oh ahahah! It’s DUMB OLD RON! XD

Everything valuable he brings to his friendship with Harry and Hermione is cut- and replaced with this garbage.

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GOBLET OF FIRE

Again all nuance for Ron’s character is lost- and he’s demonized while Harry and Hermione are lifted up. They also, throughout the movies, have done a pretty crap job of showing Ron’s place in the wizarding world when it comes to wealth and when it comes to how he’s treated and what he goes through. His lack of money is treated as a joke with his robes, and in general is not taken seriously beyond a a few Lucius is a bad guy scenes and the first movie.

HARRY AND RON’S FIGHT

In the books Ron and Harry’s fight leaves Harry devastated- and Ron’s behavior doesn’t come out of nowhere either. They establish that Harry and He had an agreement to go into the tourney together if they could- but it looks like Harry did it without him. [the post by @owlpostagain does a brilliant analysis of it]

Ron does not come into their fight angry- in fact he’s trying (And failing) to be positive for Harry.

Ron brings NO ANGER to this exchange. HARRY DOES, though:

In the books Harry isn’t reasonable when he tries to explain this to Ron- he’s angry and insults Ron. Of course in the films, they make Harry ever so reasonable and Ron just a moody whiny asshole who is purely angry and spiteful in this exchange.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=an7WWOY94Qs

The utter misery Harry experiences while he and Ron are on the outs is cut (I mean, at this point, why would he be miserable? Ron is a pretty awful friend in the films.) Best explored in a post I can’t find now- just go and reread how miserable Harry is. (eta: FOUND THE POST!!! Thanks @vivithefolle!)

[This post] by @purpleklimt PERFECTLY sums up all the part in GOF where Harry is desperately missing Ron

He then goes on to attack Ron a SECOND time in the books

They leave out Harry’s part in this fight- and make it solely Ron’s fault in the films.

When they make up in the books Harry is SO relieved he won’t even let Ron apologize. He starts off cold- but immediately turns it around with relief.

But in the movie he’s angry and condescending to Ron (after having a SUPER out of character ‘everyone look at me, who wants me to open the egg!!!’ scene) and continues acting so AFTER they’ve ‘made up’? It’s not a happy reunion. And Ron is acting… really stupid :P For no reason

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9s_dukNgLPg

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TRAINING

Ron goes on to help Harry train for the next task in the books, letting him practice hexes on him. Ron does nothing at all to help Harry in the films. Literally nothing.

———

YULE BRAWL

Again Ron is shown as angry- but they have to up the ante don’t they- where he literally makes Hermione have a breakdown in tears saying he’s ‘ruined everything’- when she had a great time at the ball in the books :P

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bynhxDUqqgU

Where as in the books they are having a fight of equals:

————-

They also add in a lot of scenes where Hermione is like, a rock for Harry emotionally (which she has never been in the books at all. The closest was in book 7 at the graveyard at xmas.)

————————————————————————————

ORDER OF THE PHOENIX

This is the ONLY movie after the 1st one to show Ron’s true friendship for Harry.

It’s not a coincidence that it’s the only film NOT written by Kloves. Here he is defending Harry.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ktfsgXyRbuc

Ron is a bit of a non-entity in this movie in general, but he’s a good supportive friend, and even has his cleverness pointed out

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x_p6j28GC3A

I guess they had to when they cut out him being prefect :P

They do a minor bit of Hermione getting Ron’s lines when Harry meets up with them at Grimauld place:

Ron: We told Dumbledore we wanted to tell you what was going on. We did, mate. But he’s really busy now, we’ve only seen him twice since we came here and he didn’t have much time, he just made us swear not to tell you important stuff when we wrote, he said the owls might be intercepted.

Movie:

Harry: You couldn’t have put this in a letter, I suppose. I’ve gone all summer without a scrap of news.Ron: We wanted to tell you, mate. Really, we did. Only –Hermione: Only Dumbledore made us swear that we wouldn’t tell you anything.

But it’s not the worst infraction. It does cut into Ron and Harry’s bond though in order to bolster Harry and Hermione’s. :P

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HALF-BLOOD PRINCE

Steve Kloves is back- and he seems determined to undermine Harry and Ron’s friendship, bolster Harry and Hermione’s, and generally cut out anything but buffoonery from Ron’s stories.

He has Ron kissing Lavender for seemingly no reason, has Ron looking like a moron as he does quidditch (The helmet… ) and just in general doesn’t give Ron any dignity.

When Ron is poisoned- a VERY SERIOUS incident- Ron immediately goes from dying to sitting up to make a joke.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nK3K8XmZX3Q

The MOST EGREGIOUS one, though, is THE ENDING OF THE MOVIE

First let’s look at what we find in the books

They are a TRIO- Ron and Hermione are equally supporting him- but as usual Ron has the most lines of verbal support in the book- because that’s his role as Harry’s BEST FRIEND.

In the film… I mean… LOOK AT IT!

youtube

Ron is COMPLETELY SILENT. And seated about 20 feet away from them as the ‘grownups’ talk and Hermione pledges her ever loving support to Harry, while Ron, again, IS SILENT! FOR THREE MINUTES!

WTF

I JUST…. WHAT?! WHAT?! WHAT?! WHAT?!!!?!?

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DEATHLY HALLOWS

Ron is actually portrayed ok at times here- They are ALL OVER the place with Ron’s characterization though, and do LITTLE to show the sacrifices he’s making leading up to their journey (and don’t support that narrative much later either.)

At times a bumblerhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hiTgShhO-JM

But is finally allowed to hold his own when things get serious- but shows a weird sort of serial killer-esque darkness as he confronts the frozen deatheater.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sk5I27gTOj0

Again they make him an idiot at the ministryhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KxgGMs3tezw

But Ron’s injury for once is treated seriously. :) (no sitting up to make a joke!)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lvpgvg_0neQ

The locket scene they do NOT honor Ron’s character, and have him become incredibly cruel compared to how he was in the bookhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zZi_9E3ULwI

Again they do what they’ve done with ALL the fights based around Ron (note how they CUT all of Harry&Hermione’s fall-outs?) they make Ron completely randomly unreasonable- and bolster Harry’s perspective as just misunderstood and not at all out of control angry

Don’t get me wrong, Ron was horrid when he was essentially possessed by the locket- but he NEVER went to the low blows Ron of the films did.

They go on in the film to show that without Ron, Harry and Hermione are fine. They are dancing and having a good time without him. And why wouldn’t they? He’s never been the rock of support and common sense he was in the books.

In the books they are hopeless without Ron. Miserable without him. that’s why when he’s back it’s a BIG deal _________________________________________________

♪REUNITED AND IT FEELS SO GOOD♪ meh

When reunited, Harry and Ron don’t have a particularly close bond- They destroy theh horcrux- and Ron’s emotional reaction of sobbing after his worst fears are out is cut- because of course all Ron-humanity is cut- and then his bond with Harry where they embrace and Harry comforts him is also cut- because only Harry & Hermione are actually close in these movies….

Movie version:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1XUfFnmflU

The clip cuts off but after

All that, and all they say is:

‘Just think, there are only three to go.’

Oh ok! No Ron explaining things, no Harry and Ron bonding- Ron’s not a good friend anyways, right?

Augh.

Where Ron comes in saving the day and bringing them tons of knowledge (the taboo, snatchers, potter watch) film Ron comes back bringing nothing (because Ron in the films NEVER is smart or bringing anything to the table. The TWO TIMES in the WHOLE FILM SERIES he does, it’s commented on like ‘wtf?!’ from Hermione….), and his presence doesn’t seem to particularly change anything for Harry and Hermione either. They were fine without him and Hermione is laughing and smiling LESS with Ron around, so is Harry.

Anyways! Then there is Hermione’s torture. Ron in the books is going mad with grief for her- He on MULTIPLE OCCASSIONS defends her and even says for them to take him instead. in the movies he reacts with a worried look and silence, then when he’s down in the basement seems less worried about Hermione than he was about anything in all those other movies he was freaking out in:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=twHLFlqZ8T8

Look at how sedate he is. Jesus.

In the books he’s shouting her name and desperate for her.

But in the movies… BLECH

At least they still let him save her. (I’m surprised they let that stay.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R2zNRrOXbPY

————————————————-

I only saw Deathly Hallows part 2 when it first came out- and haven’t seen it since because i really didn’t like it. The final fight sequence sucks so hard :P

But anyways- what I remember- Ron essentially does nothing and contributes nothing until he gets him and Hermione into the chamber of secrets and they randomly kiss.

ROOM OF REQUIREMENT

He is portrayed as plain old SILLY in the Room of Requirement:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mZiGbypAnFU

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MY FRIEND IS ABOUT TO GO DIE.

He gives a lame ‘what? Are you mad’ then as Harry goes off to die, Hermione gives Harry a big old hug- (neither character would let Harry do this- but Ron just STANDING there??? THE FUCK?) and Ron just stand there silently. Again, why is kloves so afraid of having these boys touch? Show affection????? (honestly I think all the times Ron shows anything like friendship in the films it’s usually silent moments that are improvised by Rupert.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rg1LLVWZyg8

Like you’re telling me THIS BOY

Is gonna just stand there while Harry goes to die???

——————————

And then hermione almost seems embarrassed to be interested in him

——————————

19 YEARS LATER

Then in the final scene of the book, where Ron had tons of lines (the most besides Harry and Albus) he’s just this potbellied silent dude.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pEKA6rmVfW8

Like…. I can’t.

I HATE what the movies did to Ron. (don’t get me STARTED on Ginny.)

At every place they could they silenced him, took away his moments, made him a buffoon, made him a coward, made him a rotten friend, removed all his best traits- and left him to be mostly… THIS

He’s a selfish cowardly lump who is just around to keep the AUDIENCE entertained. Honestly you could cut Ron from the movie series and almost nothing would have to be changed- that’s how little they let him inform the narrative.

#isidar-mithrim #ron weasley #meta #ron weasley defense squad

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blackmissfrizzle · 5 years

Text

Dirty Little Secret Part 2

Title: Dirty Little Secret Part 2

Characters: Chris Evans x black!reader

Summary: The reader attends Ace Comic-Con with Chris

Word Count: 1331

Being out in the public with Chris had been the best decision. Sure, there were some racists trolls and paparazzi would try to photograph you two all the time, but it wasn’t as bad as you thought it would be. Chris would shut down the haters and you both tried your best to keep your whereabouts a secret. The good definitely outweighed the bad.

You even attended Chris’s high school reunion, which you had a blast there. His old classmates wasted no time telling you embarrassing stories of Chris and you ate it up. Chris was glad to bring you to his reunion. People would think he would want to brag about his Hollywood life, but all he did was brag about you and how lucky he was.

Now you were standing offstage while Chris, Don, and Jeremy were answering questions for the Ace Comic-Con. Currently, the moderator was asking about the acrylic memes of himself that was taking over social media. You thought those memes were a gift from God, especially the one that went over Civil War.

“Yeah, my girlfriend showed me them. Well, she tried to. She was too busy crying over how funny they were. Our favorite one is the recap from Civil War.” Chris explained how he found out about his new makeovers.

Excited to hear about you, Angelique, directed her questioning to the topic of you. “Speaking of your girlfriend. You broke a lot of hearts when you two publicized your relationship at the Endgame premiere. How’s everything going with you two?”

Chris instantly blushed at the mention of you and you heard the whole crowd go ‘awww’. “Great. Everything’s great. Except she got mad at me for not warning her about Cap’s ending.” Everyone in the room laughed at that.

Don butted in. “I don’t know how you didn’t tell her. Have y’all seen that video of Y/N kicking MBJ’s butt in the boxing ring. I’m scared of her. All she would have to do is raise her voice and I’d be singing like a canary.” The crowd erupted into laughter once again.

Luckily, they were able to shift the questions from you and into other things. Angelique had just asked the men what their favorite fighting scene from all of the movies and Chris accidently cussed, which caused you to palm your face, and he immediately followed it up with his iconic line ‘Language.’

Cheadle got up to point to a child, “There’s a child right here.” As he and Renner went off stage, he pointed at you, “Even your girlfriend is disappointed in you!”

The moderator had the crowd chant to bring back Don and Jeremy onstage and they also cheered for you to join them. With enough coaxing from the pair and the crowd, all three of you joined the stage.

Since there were no extra seats on the stage, Chris pulled you into his lap and gave you a kiss, causing all the women and some men in the room to swoon.

“Welcome, Y/N. Since I already got these fine gentlemen’s answer, would you please like to tell us what’s your favorite fight from the MCU?”

Why did she ask you such a hard question? You probably had more than 5 favorite fights. In response you bit your nails and a sheepish look on your face, which made everyone laugh. “Oh my God, that’s so hard! There’s so many. Obviously, there’s Chris’s elevator fight, the airport fight, the Avengers last fight, the Endgame battle, the last fight in Infinity War, and the casino fight in Black Panther.”

Chris laughed at your enthusiasm; he knew how much of a Marvel fan you really were. “Babe, she asked for one fight not all of them.”

“Y’all see how mean he is. Hmph, that’s why Anthony is my favorite Captain America.” You elbowed your boyfriend in his not so soft stomach, but he still grunted in pain. “Anyway, before I was rudely interrupted,” you cut your eyes to Chris. “I’m gonna say my favorite fight has to be the casino fight in Black Panther and it all has to do with Dani throwing that wig! I actually bought a wig for that exact reason. I wore it when I was sparring with my trainer, and I whipped it off and threw it at him and I managed to take him down in my fastest time.”

Don looked at you in awe. “See this is why I love black women. Now, I just wanna see a bunch of wigs flying throughout a fight.”

After that the questions were directed towards Chris, Jeremy, and Don. You would give your input every so often and some questions would be directed towards you. A young black girl asked if you considered being in a Marvel movie, which your response was you wished you could, but your acting skills were horrible and that there was so much undiscovered talent that you would feel guilty for taking a role.

The questions were rolling when Chris got distracted by a dog. He actually got off stage to pet the fan’s dog. “This happens every time,” you pointed at Chris. “When he sees a dog, he drops everything. I mean everything and goes to pet them. I honestly think Chris is a dog in human form and he’s tricking us all.” you explained to the crowd.

Chris finished petting the dog and awkwardly hopped back onto the stage. Then he tried to be cool by flipping his mic, but he failed when he dropped it.

“Dork,” you mumbled.

When he returned to his seat, Chris licked your face. “Since, you believe I’m a dog.”

You wiped the cheek he licked with a look of pure disgust. “You’re just mad because Dodger loves me more,” you taunted him.

The rest of the con went on with a breeze. When Chris was taking pictures with fans, some even asked you to join and you happily obliged.

By the time you left the con, you and Chris returned to the hotel and automatically prepared for bed. You didn’t realize how exhausting being at a comic-con could be.

“How do you think today went,” Chris asked from his bed while you were going through your bedtime routine in the bathroom.

“Babe, it was amazing. I don’t know why I was so worried. Is it always like this?”

Chris broke out into a smile. He knew you would fall in love with the cons, he thought it was the best part of his job. Meeting the people who loved the work he did and supported him was wonderful and Chris was glad you got to enjoy it. “Yup. It’s even more fun with RDJ there, but I’m kinda scared if you and Robert shared the same stage.”

Offended that your boyfriend didn’t want you to share a stage with one of your good friends, you poked your head through the door to peer at him. “Listen to me Evans, me and Robert would be fun on the stage.”

“That’s my point! You two you would be ganging up on me.”

Going back to your nighttime routine you manically laughed at Chris. People typically hated when you and Robert were in the same room, because you would two would team up and roast everyone in the room and Chris is usually your favorite target.

“Maybe you have a point.”

Chris and you fell into a comfortable silence while you finished getting ready for bed. You were reminiscing over the day and he was practicing his speech for you in his head for tomorrow. When you finished getting ready, you joined Chris into bed he instinctively pulled you into his embrace. He smiled against your neck and you thought he was happy at the turn of events for today, but in reality, his smile stemmed from his excitement about the ring he was planning on giving you and taking one step closer of making you Mrs. Chris Evans.

Tags: @blackreaders-assemble @chaneajoyyy @pastelastronomy24 @dumbchick @nickidub718 @valkyriesnymph @marvelmaree @lildashofmelanin @cyrioussoul @wakanda-inspired @destinio1 @toniilaney @euphoric05 @yoyolovesbucky

#black!reader #cevans #chris x black!reader #chris evans x black!reader #chris x reader #chris evans x reader #rpf #mcu rp #mcu fanfiction #mcu #marvel fanfic

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twitchesandstitches · 4 years

Text

Femboy Upgrade for Polypa and Konyyl’s Boys

Commission in the same continuity of hyper muscular musclegut Konyyl and Polypa, featuring Azdaja and Tegiri being transformed into femboys!

Focus on femboy transformations, hyper muscle, size difference, with a sex scene later on. Small references to milkiness and general hugeness throughout.

========

“And, signed!” the small alien said cheerfully, taking a delivery notice from a pair of claws thicker around than his arm. His name, Polypa had learned from some past associations with him, was John Egbert, and his world was a fairly recent addition to the galactic community that the new Alternian regime had started building to repair the damage the Condesce had caused before her defeat.

She supposed he’d been right there for the most momentous of times, and felt a bit jealous. He had met alien revolutionaries crash landed on his planet, traveled with them to exciting worlds, fought on their behalf, and had a front row seat to the fateful duel between the then-Heiress and the corrupt empress they’d fought against, and of course had been there for the beginnings of the new empire… all built on the ideals of the prophet who had foreseen all of this, according to the revelations of the new Empress’ head advisor.

She, on the other hand, had pretty much missed most of that until some of the fighting went to her doorstep. All the time, she’d been on Alternia, living in quiet dread of duty coming for her to leave and never see her quadrantmates again. Her lover Tegiri, most obviously, and though he’d long since shifted into the red quadrant of romantic love, she still harbored some pale feelings there. Who’d take care of him?

And what about her friend/rival, Konyyl, or her quadrantmate, Azdaja? Konyyl had benefited from the same mutations she had, and would have been an attractive prospect for front-line shock troops, but the only thing waiting for a psionic like Azdaja was a one-way trip as a psychic battery until it fried him.

And then, it didn’t matter anymore. When the revolution came and went, and left all those worries as a completely moot point with the dismantling of the old conquest system, she didn’t feel relieved. Just… strangely bewildered.

Keeping these thoughts to herself, Polypa Goezee regarded the small human with a calm affection and a faint smile behind the bandages she wore over most of her face and a lot of her body. A single eye, pure olive-green but for a yellow slit, regarded him. From a lot higher, though; he barely came up to the upraised shin of her digitigrade legs, and while humans were much smaller than trolls, they normally were about twice their size. Among trolls, Polypa was a mutant, and had grown into a true giantess over the years.

Considering the enormous out-slung mass of her belly, though, she could appreciate that he was not in a position to actually notice her trying to smile and put him at ease. For that matter, he probably wouldn’t have been able to look her in the eye even if she didn’t have that belly; her nectar-stuffed boobs (what he might call milk, despite the biological differences) were so big, they’d get in the way. And even with that...

Okay. She was starting to work out that there were some barriers to dealing with aliens, so she had to figure that out eventually. The Empire was all about xenophilia, these days; a bit more literally, for some.

She had many alien neighbors, after the new Empress had opened it up for repopulation after the revolution had left the population severely under-staffed and underpopulated. She’d worked out that her people were far larger than most aliens except maybe some of the Gems (whose hard-light projection bodies could get VERY big), or the robotic Cybertronians, who varied from ‘troll size’ to ‘is that a fucking city’. Her people were huge, by most standards, but she (and her friend, Konyyl) were really goddamn big.

Polypa had rarely seen any troll that was even as high as her waist, but she felt strangely powerful in front of this adorable, tiny alien, and protective; the sight of him made her feel weirdly wobbly and full of squishy feelings that normally only Tegiri had produced on her.

The new regime, weird and surreal as a lot of its policies seemed to be, couldn’t be so bad if it produced guys like him.

As he made a call to bring in the delivery, he studied her; not with an erotic interest or fear, but with a mild interest that made her want to show off and flex her many, magnificent muscles just to boast. Polypa, like many trolls, was mutated to a degree outside the norms of tradilistionalist breeding practices; like many as well, she was not mutated to the point that she couldn’t contribute and so she’d been tolerated. In her case, it had been a common one for her blood caste; a hyperactive metabolism and stomach alteration that converted the food she ate into pure biomass and absorbed it directly.

Her particular version was abnormally efficient; most olives with this mutation wound up very bulky or outright fat, due to complications with the process. For Polypa and Konyyl, who benefited from the same mutation, it had made them grow far exponentially larger after molts than a normal troll did. Their hips grew enormously wide, their incredibly massive and producing much more nectar than normal. And over the years, her stomach had kept growing into a huge mass and a biological wonder, a bundled mass of separate digestive chambers fully capable of melting down trolls and bigger things into just more fuel for her body, so much of her body dedicated to it that her gut had grown larger than the rest of her body, a vaguely spherical mass as long as she was tall, so high its upper regions rose past her eye level.

Her belly was her pride and joy, her clothing designed to show it off, her bandages designed to be thin and reveal as much of her muscles as possible. And her visitor regarded her bulk with fascinated interest; his gaze didn’t linger that much on her rumblespheres (swollen by many meals and several liquid tons of nectar, nearly as massive as her belly and gently parted by its highest point like a pair of whales upset by a much bigger whale rising from beneath it), nor by a butt so big that it rose up to her waist and expanded out by nearly eight feet, her tail curling whiplike around one firm cheek.

For a moment, as he regarded her with some innocent fascination, she was reminded of the curious shifts she’d felt in her insides; deep in her lower abdomen, around some reproductive organs that had been bred into uselessness since the advent of the Mother Grub and the mass production of trolls. She’d felt a heat there, and something growing. A strange process that made her feel hot and flushed, and needy, like she was empty, a factory desperately in need of raw product to fashion something. Oh yes; another facet to her mutation, she supposed, though there weren’t any obvious manifestations of whatever it was.

If there was a definite answer, it certainly wasn’t gonna come from Egbert.

He was chiefly interested in her muscles. Most of her growth, over the years, had gone straight into her muscles, and given that she was approximately 25 feet tall by his people’s measurements, that said a lot. She looked massive; a broad shouldered, broad hipped and broad-limbed beast of a troll woman, broad being a general keyword, but most of her apparently mass was her muscles, grown and transformed so much that they had merged with her fat to create an additional layer of flesh that was surprisingly flexible and under her direct mental control, lumping up in places where her black skin darkened into a chitinous carapace around her back. Those muscles were massive, expanding violently outwards from her body in heavy, bulbous masses of fiber by at least ten feet in most directions. Her biceps alone were bigger than her torso, and every single one was so incredibly defined and veined that they were useful anatomical studies for any enterprising xenobiologist.

Even her stomach was muscled. Abdominals swelled up around it, like plates of armor, enfolded and swelling its mass to even greater extremes. A muscle gut wasn’t terribly uncommon, exactly, but one this big? With the mutated processes conspiring to make it bigger, every day? That was unique to her.

“You guys must work out real good here!” John said brightly as a delivery barge rolled up. Several trolls brought over a heavily sealed crate, moving as if they were afraid to touch it.

Polypa blinked. For a moment, a thick vein pulsed against her bandages in thought, and her massive lips moved beneath the wrappings too as she considered saying something pithy, but it felt dishonest. She scratched behind her long, jagged horns with a single massive hand, bandages winding around them as much as anywhere else on her body. “Um. No, I’m just… a really big girl.”

John nodded as the trolls deposited the crate on the entranceway to the Polypa-sized hive she shared with her best friend, rival and occasional lover Konyyl, and their respective tiny boyfriends, Tegiri and Azdaja.

John nodded, with such graveness it reminded her of Tegiri; she had to smile. He gave her a mock salute. “Okay; sorry if that was rude! Anyway…” He glanced at the order and hesitated, as if going through a mental checklist. “Everything’s signed, everything’s delivered, and we’re good to go! Have a good day, Miss Goezee!”

“Tell the same to the Empress or whoever you’re working for,” Polypa said dryly, as she picked up the crate.

John gasped as the trolls acted as though they were suddenly deaf. “You’re not supposed to just SAY it like that!”

Polypa shrugged. “Hey, they cut a deal with me and Konyyl, and this whole regime is supposed to be about honesty.”

“I’m pretty sure that’s the actual opposite of what governments are for.” John paused, as if to ponder this, and then shrugged. He waved to her one last time, and left with the movers.

Polypa watched him go, still enjoying the memory of the frankly admiring look upon his face. But there would be time for that later; she picked up the crate and took it inside.

Humming softly to herself, she walked past rows and rows of shelves weighed heavy with her various hobbies, and that of her friends; painstakingly painted and assembled model kits, tabletop war game figurines, hand-made paintings and posters of particularly obscure shows. Her body emanated warmth as she passed, rather liked a stoked fire, growing hotter and with signs of actual flame as she got a bit worked up at the thoughts going through her mind.

The craft was brought to a special room, kept cooler than most of the house like a walk-in fridge. They referred to it as the milking room, for some obvious reasons. She stepped into a space large enough for her and Konyyl to use at the same time if necessary, though not comfortably: with the machines they’d adapted from those that milked certain lusii, there wasn’t much space.

She eyed the suction cups dangling from a rack, designed to adjust to her monstrously puffy sap-ducts. Briefly, she longed for the pleasures of feeling her nectar drained… but no, not right now.

She opened the crate, and inside there was another, more tightly sealed box. She opened that up; and inside was a puzzle box of sliding geometric faces. She aligned those faces until they formed a very rude message indeed, and it split… and inside THAT was a tiny treasure chest, with a riddle upon it, and a keypad to input a solution. Polypa snarled.

Roughly two and a half hours passed in this fashion, as she solved the puzzles and got increasingly smaller boxes with even more frustrating puzzles, and by the time she was about ready to march up to the one remaining moon and lodge a complaint, the last box opened up to reveal not another container, but a small canister.

It simply read ‘HYPER FEMME MUTAGENS’. Next to this was a heart, in fuchsia ink. And next to THAT was a small note that said “TH1S’LL T34CH Y4 TO NOT B3 SN34KY W1TH 1MPORT4NT S3CR3TS. N3XT T1M3, DON’T T4LK 4BOUT OUR D34LS 1N PUBL1C, YOU DORK!” it was signed with a Libra sign, and a cute monster face, as if to say that whoever had written that had known damn well, in advance, that Polypa would have talked about those secrets to the delivery boy.

Polypa snarled.

The note exploded in a hail of glitter, for no apparent reason.

After Konyyl floated into the room after getting Polypa’s call that their plan was ready to go, she wasn’t terribly surprised. She’d warned her about a stunt like that. The Empress’ head advisor could be a… well, an absolute troll.

-----

Some time later, Tegiri and Azdaja got the call that today was, at last, the big day, and they shuffled into a side room with a little bit of excitement, and a lot more nervousness. Today was something the girls had been planning for them for a while, after all.

They’d agreed to it, of course. The two boys had worked it out with them. But still, there was a tension in the air.

Azdaja supposed, you never really did know when your future came up, leering at you and urging you onwards.

Still. He swallowed, and stepped into a doorway that looked cavernously huge to him, and when he passed through it, it felt like a grand moment.

Tegiri walked at his side; taller than him, and broader, and not just in the way that a tealblood tended to tower over a goldblood like Azdaja. They were opposites in most respects: Tegiri was broad of shoulders and moved with a surprisingly jerky grace that belied his speed; Azdaja was more than a foot shorter than him, slender and delicate where Tegiri was fit and muscular. Azdaja’s tail was thin and long; Tegiri’s thick and heavily furred; Azdaja’s horns grew in two curving pairs, Tegiri’s horns were broad and hooked. In personality, Tegiri was dour and serious to the point that it felt like he was putting on a performance; Azdaja was jovial, straightforward, and gushed charisma like a fountain. Even their abilities were contrasts; all trolls were psionic, but like most highbloods, Tegiri’s were focused into raw physical power and strength. Azdaja was a powerful telekinetic who would have been facing some serious difficulty had the helmsman battery role not been completely phased out, which made him inclined to look favorably upon the new Empress.

Tegiri was more wary of her strange proclamations and laws, he knew. But they did have one thing in common; their adoration for their incredibly big, beefy girlfriends.

In the room, normally used for careful assembly work or personal workshopping, there was a table that could be used for meals in a pinch. Upon it now was a large jug was set upon a table, olive-green nectar swirling around and quite visible through its transparent exterior, and the boys thought there was a power emanating from it.

One side of this table was the boy’s couch: plush and thickly padded. On the other side was the girl’s couches, looming and skulking with a vague sense of authority much like the girls themselves tended to do, overstuffed with support gel and larger than some vehicles on the open market, and extending from their undersized were wide, scooped dishes. It would seem an odd thing if you weren’t familiar with Polypa or Konyyl’s, body types.

All four of them were assembled there (all five, perhaps, by Polypa’s reckoning; she sometimes regarded her belly as its own entity, a loving but stern ally to be nurtured and fed at every opportunity). Polypa sat as straight as she could, her muscles filling up all available space on and around the couch and overflowing it as well, and besides her was Konyyl, who was built on broadly the same lines as Polypa; she benefited from the same mutations as Polypa, and had grown large like her, muscular like her, and buff like her.

There were some differences. Konyyl was shorter than Konyyl, her head barely coming up to the upper curves of Polypa’s bulbous biceps and her jagged horns at Polypa’s eye level. Her muscles were almost as bulky, and swelled up over her couch as she sprawled back, but they were barely defined at all, and looked softer, more like the classical weightlifter with their muscles concealed in their bulk. This impression was helped by her stomach; smaller overall compared to Polypa’s musclegut, it was a huge and fairly smooth orb, with firmer hints beneath the fat to suggest her powerful abdominational growth.

Her curves were bigger. Konyyl rose up on a massive butt almost as large as her entire body (though not including her gut) and her rumblespheres were somewhere around the same size. So heavy with nectar that their black was tinted a deep and translucent green, her sap-ducts swelling out against her clothes. The impression was of overwhelming plushness, and even her tail was thick, a broad paddle splaying from under her onto the floor as she leaned back.

Now Konyyl waved a hand, and her muscles tensed with energy, and an olive-green glow shined from her muscles.

All trolls were, again, psionic. Polypa and Konyyl’s mutations had bootstrapped them onto some level of power previously limited to only the previous Empress, fusing their psionics to their bodies and making their muscles both a source, a battery, AND a channel for their potent energies, and they had different talents for it. Polypa made fire, and was immune to her own flames. Konyyl was a telekinetic, far stronger than her own matesprite, and now she projected a wave of mental force that pushed the keg closer to the boys so they could see it clearly.

Azdaja peered at it as it came to a stop. “This is it?” he said, intrigued and trying to play it off, but Polypa heard the fascination in his voice.

“Yep,” said Polypa, leaning back, her swollen forearms bracing her rumblespheres upwards. “The mutagens harvested from the biggest and most curvy trolls in the empire. Some from the new Empress herself and that big advisor of hers.”

Tegiri swallowed nervously. “You don’t say?” he said, perhaps imagining a familiar sight to anyone who watched news stories: a massive tealblood almost as impossibly massive as Konyyl, her enormously curvaceous body an unforgettable sight, and her dragon-like form exuding a predatory intensity matched only by the odd sense of malice everyone got from the broken crystal ball she wore in cleavage that could have housed a lot of Polypa.

That troll was something of a sexual idol to many, Polypa mused, and if something was from her to put essence of feminizing into this concoction, as requested, the results ought to be impressive. “And a bit from the two of us,” Konyyl said smugly. “But not too much. We’re not looking to turn you two into duplicates of us.”

Polypa nodded, leaning forwards, her one visible eyes staring plainly down at them. “Just like we discussed. The whole thing is here; all you gotta do is drink it.”

Tegiri and Azdaja looked silently about the jug, which wasn’t very large, but then it didn’t need to be. It was big enough to supply a cupful for the both of them, and that was all that was required.

“If you want to,” Polypa said, as if to be sure.

Konyyl shrugged her shoulders, and psychically wrenched the top off the jug. “Do iii~iiiit,” she said, sing-song, teasingly, but not seriously. “Do it, ya wimps!”

Polypa scoffed at her. “You guys don’t have to do this,” she said. “If you don’t want to…?” A question hung there.

Azdaja glanced at Tegiri, and a dozen conversations replied between the two of them, in the spaces of their head. They’d had this talk, before. A lot. With each other, with the girls, with themselves.

It was a gift. An upgrade, Polypa had put it before. To make them stronger, to survive the girl’s full sexual ferocity and strength. And to fully bring out the parts of themselves they most secretly loved to be.

But that kind of change could be frightening.

Azdaja looked at Konyyl, staring her in the eyes. Her gaze softened, his eyes staring up into hers, and after a moment, he glanced back to Tegiri, who had been staring soulfully at Polypa. “It’s a big decision,” Polypa said. “I don’t want you to do this if you don’t actually want to.”

“I know,” Tegiri said firmly, and he smiled as genuinely as he could.

The two girls breathed a sigh of relief, as the mood changed. Ultimately, the boys wanted nothing more than to please them, and this was simply the ultimate extension of that.

Tegiri glanced at Azdaja. “Do it.”

In a single, smooth motion, Azdaja’s eyes glowed and an energy in the same colors blossomed around his hand. He waved dramatically at the jug and the precious contents rose up; a mass of green nectar-milk, straight from Polypa and Konyyl’s rumblespheres, augmented by the specially treated mutagens so recently delivered to them. The stream split into two cups, in front of the two boys.

Azdaja took his cup and raised it up, abruptly getting the idea for a toast. “To you girls,” he said brightly. “You’re everything I want.”

Tegiri toasted them as well. “And to what we will become. May we become everything you want.”

As one, they both drank their cups full in a single slurping gulp.

They blinked slowly, loud gurgling sounds coming from their stomachs, and they waited. For a few minutes, nothing much seemed to be happening, as the relevant processes were firing off at a much deeper level for them to really be aware of it.

Around the time where the relevant adjustments to their digestive tracts, reproductive organs and some brain chemistry had finished, Tegiri spoke up. “Are you sure you put the mutagens in-”

He stopped, interrupted by a sudden surge of psionics from within, and the noise he made was notably more high-pitched than usual.

That last noise was more of a squeak, as his lips abruptly swelled up so much it silenced him.

And then, the next thirty minutes got very interesting for both the boys!

----

It was several weeks before anyone saw anything of Azdaja or Tegiri.

Polypa and Konyyl, yes. They were a familiar sight around the neighborhood, and this did not change much. They came out more often than usual during those two weeks; ordering groceries, having brief discussions with mutation specialists who were hanging around in the area for reasons unknown to the general neighborhood, and talking measurements with a local tailor, and asking for some very specific outfits.

They spent most of the time at home, helping their quadrantmates through their new change. And helping them with newer, and far more ferocious sex drives. It was a good thing their walls were reinforced to muffle sound or the neighbors would have noticed something by then.

A day came when it was time to pick up their ordered clothing and Polypa and Konyyl decided to show them to the world, and unexpectedly, the boys had some ideas on showing themselves off as personally as possible.

Now, as they strode onwards, the boy’s covered up in fashionable grey cloaks, people glanced by as they went.

The streets of Thrashthrust had changed since the youths of the transformed quartet, and among other things, there were other beings than trolls and lusii that walked its streets. Or flew, or swam in the canals, as appropriate.

The architecture was modified to suit them. Most buildings had doorways of the right size for humans, who were generally around half the size of trolls; a few were much larger, for the sake of particularly large aliens. The general architectural styles had not changed much, since the immense strength of some trolls demanded buildings that could withstand the sort of power they had as a standardized requirement; even the Condesce had accepted that. It translated easily into structures that could deal with the strength of beings much larger than trolls. Even the streets and room designs of hives had been adjusted to accommodate beings that could vary a lot from trolls.

This kind of redesign had been necessary. The shining forms of thinking Gemstones walking in humanoid hard light bodies, gigantic machines that thought and felt, quadrupeds loping about in comfort, and blue-skinned curvy aliens lived in a city that accommodated them, and when the revolution had come it, it had not been a quiet one. The old city had not survived the process and so the new Empress (or, perhaps, the shadowy forces behind her) had built a new one to fit the people that now lived in peace within the Empire.

Certainly, it was a lot more adjusted to women as large as Polypa and Konyyl (who were within the size range of some of their bigger alien neighbors; mostly Gems and the bigger Cybertronians). Their boys, having some trouble adjusting to their new forms, moved before them as they made their way to a clothing store to suit their new bodies. Their cloaks didn’t do much to actually obscure their identities, but did offer a vague degree of modesty.

This was important; much as the girls had such massive bellies, the boys had grown some out-slung masses, and those cloaks did a decent job of concealing bulges and shame-globes grown so obscenely massive that they extended right out of their bodies, where trolls normally kept them concealed until they were put into use.

And, in their wake, they left behind the shocked, the startled, the astonished and the openly lusty. Trolls, humans, and beings from distant stars, all creatures that could be reasonably expected to have absolutely nothing in common when it came to sexual desires, nonetheless watched the boys go, their various visual organs wide as they followed the pendous rippling of newly enlarged butts.

They were fixated on the stride of legs now ideally suited for sensual swaggers, every muscle fiber dedicated to synchronizing with widened hips to walk and jiggle just right, so that all the world saw them in motion, and could do nothing but watch. The swish of manes far, far longer than usual for those boys, and their heart analogues beast faster to see the boys glance back.

And at the side of huge, soft lips that looked ideal for sucking, for kissing, for pleasuring, various reproductive organs worked to painfully intense function, at the mere glimmer of light playing on their supple flesh.

The trail expanded, and there became a crowd around Konyyl and Polypa’s favorite clothing store; not moving or following, but frozen in place, transfixed by the new beauties being firmly steered by the big-bellied amazon olives, and even after they went into the store, for nearly 30 minutes people were still hanging around, hoping to get a glimpse of them.

People were asking, who WAS that? Who were those boys? Did those buff women get new boyfriends?

And one person worked out what had actually happened with commendable speed. She sat up at the small table she’d been enjoying lunch alongside a friend, and as she watched the two gorgeous male trolls stroll by under the watchful eyes of their mates, it clicked for her.

She didn’t know them particularly well; they were just neighbors, but anyone around Polypa or Konyyl wound up sticking in your mind. She knew them. And however modified, however beautified, she knew the faces that glanced her way with an endearing touch of shyness.

“Was that…” she glanced aside, perhaps for confirmation. “Was that who I thought it was?!”

“Who was?” Said an alien friend of hers; a mass of curvaceous hard light, and at her chest was a large garnet. She was one of the Gem people, her true self being that gemstone nestled between her massive breasts.

The human woman pointed at a towering building, a sign atop it indicating that it was ‘GALGOR’S WHATEVER THE HECK APPAREL AND I DONT GIVE A DAMN ACCESSORIES’. Various mannequins in the windows, of increasingly improbable forms, indicated that it offered outfits for every body type, and the proprietor really meant every body type possible. Inside, through the windows, you could just barely glimpse someone coming out.

“Azdaja and Tegiri!” she said.

Strolling out from the store were four trolls; carrying up the rear were Polypa and Konyyl, whose huge sizes meant that they were a crowd all on their own, their huge bellies alone filling up so much space that they could plow their way through a crowd without fear of ever being surrounded; people backed away in the certain knowledge that they were fine with knocking people around with those guts. Standing in front of them were Azdaja and Tegiri, and now their neighbors stared, mouths open in surprise..

“Come take a look at my boy!” Konyyl said proudly, gesturing at the goldblooded psionic now floating around her like a fairy from troll myth and legend, a psionic glow curling around him as he levitated with an ease suggesting some truly terrifying power. It took even the neighbors who knew the power quartet well a moment to recognize Azdaja, as he slowly revolved in the air, an monstrously huge butt distorting his orbit. Then his face came into view, and even with his skimpy clothing, his changed hair, and his radically different body, his face was not so different. The muzzle structure was a bit different, any hard edges or straight lines smoothed out even more than they were before, and dominated by a massive pair of lips pulsating in his psionic colors, but nonetheless, it was Azdaja, and greatly changed.

He moved like a troll who had burst out of a particularly painful molt and was reveling in the feel of a body that felt perfect for him, his legs primly pressed together. Admittedly, walking was probably a bit of a problem at the moment; the formerly slim troll’s mass had compacted so that he was downright frail, except for his hips. They were massive, swelling out ot a prodigious swell of squashy chitin and barely-there muscles, all around perfectly curved fat, flaring out of a waist barely a foot across, so incredibly thin that it looked like a severe structure weakness; his enormous hips swelled out as wide as he was tall, almost violently in the contrast.

His torso was slim, covered only in a short and glitzy jacket too small to be of practical use. His shoulders and chest, and torso in general, looked much smoother than it used to be, psionic channels glowing across him in vibrant patterns, particularly around his chest. His areola had swelled, so puffy and thick now that they were nearly as large as the breasts of some aliens, and his nipples extended out nearly as long as his forearm, stiffened by the attention he was being given. Just as his psionics, one was colored blue, the other teal, glowing softly.

A long and slender tail curled around nearly three times his height and looping around him in a living ribbon, swirled and kept him balanced in the air. From the twitching of his legs in the air, it was obvious that he had no idea how to walk properly with his new body; those hips must have come with a complete shift to his center of balance, and his legs looked poorly suited to it. Below the knee joint, they dwindled to nearly stick-thin lengths, digitigrade heels and nubby climbing claws curled around one another. His butt, clad mostly in spangly shorts that covered about as much as a thong, was almost as big as he was, rising up to his shoulders nadi ts lower slopes dipping nearly to his foot-joints, and where it actually joined his body, fused with his thighs.

The crowd watched, fascinated, as Konyyl lovingly stroked him, running her claws through silky mane that fell past his knees in sheets of gold-tinted black, kissed his astonishingly gorgeous face, and as their tails intertwined, she gave his gigantic ass a healthy smack, again and again. “Look at this soft bastard!” She yelled happily, sinking her claws into it. “Damn thing almost eats up my entire hand!” Azdaja moaned, thighs broader than his far slimmer upper body squeezing together.

And at this, a monstrously huge genital length extended outwards from his crotch, a strange echo of Konyyl’s massive gut; somehow his shorts managed to contain it, but everything was outlined; multiple enormous shafts as thick around as his entire body, glittering fabric tight around ribbed ridges, and below, a quartet of enormous and squashy shame-globes jiggling out of his body, thick and descending down to the ground, each one at least eight feet around, and they somehow swelled bigger as Konyyl stroked him, digging her claws in with enough pressure to leave marks but not enough to actually hurt him.

And for the other pair, Polypa was inviting the crowd to take a more hands-on approach. “They got cute recently, and now they really want to show themselves off,” She said, supporting Tegiri on one muscular forearm like a tiny wriggler in its lusus’ claw. Tegiri squeaked shyly, but with a strange lusty hunger, adjusting his body so the crowd could better see his new body, and he was built on roughly the same lines as Azdaja; his enormous butt spilled onto Polypa'’s arm and even pushed against it, his micro shorts defining hips no thinner than Azdaja’s door-wrecking pair. An absurdly long tail curled around her arm, covered in the same sort of hair as that spilling down his head in a dense, poofy mass.

As Konyyl held Azdaja in front of the crowd, inviting them to see come close and examine how his chitin had merged with flesh for a supplet and squeezable coat, and even lifted up his mini-vest and tube top to demonstrate, Polypa caught the of the human who’d spotted them in the first place. “You,” she said heavily. “Come here, please.”

The human stepped numbly forward, aware of all the eyes upon her, Azdaja giving her an intrigued look, and Tegiri studying her. As she approached, she noticed a sudden smell she hadn’t. It was a nice smell, and not particularly strong. It was pervasive though, and it must have been coating the area around them for some time. Pheromones, she supposed, as she felt a heat rise in her loins, and a dryness in her mouth. She smacked her lips numbly, and felt an urge to rock her hips forward as she took in more of the beautiful feminine boys.

Tegiri’s bulge looked… inviting. Especially as it got closer when Polypa placed him down.

Tegiri squeaked as his massive shame globes touched the ground; he only had the one pair, but they were as big as all four of Azdaja’s shame-globes, combined. There was a surprising sloshing sound, not unlike that coming from Polypa’s own rumblespheres, and as his full weight settled against his shame globes, Tegiri moaned with something that was almost pained, but aroused as well; the hint of distress made the human want to rush in and kiss him better until he smiled, but she also wanted a lot of other particularly lewd things.

She was blushing, she was sweating; he was just so… sexy.

“Come on,” Polypa said. “Give him a touch. Feel for yourself. He likes it.” Tegiri nodded at her, with a hint of impatience and a thrust of his hips that spoke to a ravenous need. The human stepped forward, timidly, and in response to an unspoken primal need that was doing unfortunate things to her underwear, extended her hand out. Normally she’d never consider such a thing, but Alternia had an.. open approach.

Even against his shorts, his shame globes swelled out hugely, and when her hand pressed against one, it sank in. She gasped; the round mass almost sucked her hand in, cool flesh pressing around her fingers and wrist, kneading tightly and shit that felt good, and her thighs relaxed in unconscious readiness. She felt liquid in there; no real solidity, just soft flesh and reservoirs underneath, and it swelled against her, pumping up.

His bulge extended. He only had the one, but it was apparently very dextrous and a little bigger than the sum total of all of Azdaja’s bulges, a prehensile and dextrous organ with a number of soft spikes rising beneath the fabric, faster and faster as she had drawn closer. Faint teal patterns glowed faintly, bioluminescent designs drawing the eye to its gentle width.

Without thinking about it, she placed a hand against what was presumably the tip. It felt cold, bracingly, and it felt good, even as her hand unexpectedly sank in, and the flesh curled attentively around her fingers.

“Ah…” Tegiri moaned, almost going cross-eyed. The girl pulled her arm back with a loud sucking noise as the bulge extended out even more, as if longing for her touch. He whined again, louder and in a very real pain, and he gave her a reproachful look. “Don’t tease, miss.” He humped back and forth on shame globes big and soft enough to actually support him, wincing and sloshing noisily, his butt wobbling archly. “It’s very - ah! - rude!” The girl blushed and disappeared into the crowd meekly.

Her gem friend watched with strange, stirring feelings as other boys, girls and neutral beings gathered to cautiously examine Tegiri with their hands, or to gaze upon Konyyl demonstrating the marvelous pliability of Azdaja’s body with smacks, kisses and the occasional pinch. They crowded around; fingers, palms, metal digits and more diverse limbs pressed against Tegiri’s fat lips, ran through his soft hair as he rumbled his pleasure. Succumbing to the erotic pressure he exuded, they moaned in soft delight as they pressed themselves against his butt, or felt at the tension of his belt against his waist, or stared in shock at just how little his calves looked compared to his bulky thighs. Others pressed against his huge bulge, trembling at its sheer bigness and magnetizing weight, feeling up its arousal spines and examining his cum-stuffed shame globes.

The gem felt passions she’d have thought alien curl around inside her, subtly modifying her projection in response to desires that were suddenly getting a lot more potent; she’d never seen the… attraction in the masculine form before, but now she was really wanting to explore some boy’s bodies with her own caresses. Some part of her that had a xenological interest thought about how unusual these mutations were, and louder parts demanded that she touch them, RIGHT NOW.

She joined the group; ogling the now more tender strokes of Konyyl’s claws exploring Azdaja’s multiple lengths and working him up with the skill of someone who knew damn well how to get him horny before his sensitivity got ramped up ten-fold. She dallied at that for a time, eyes fixed on every wobbling ripple of his soft butt, appraising the narrowness of his shoulder and how his hips comprised almost most of his mass (including his genitals and butt, of course). She studied, for a time, Tegiri’s needy begging for the indulgences of the crowd to touch him, and it was surprisingly not entirely sexual. He craved touch; on his jaw, against his stomach, slow and dragging caresses against his shoulders. Even his hair was sensitive, and in soft, urgent whispers, he pleaded for it to be touched. She complied, as did half a dozen others. It would have been cruel not to.

And so it went on like this for some time. The others were not yet accustomed enough to Azdaja and Tegiri’s gently shifting personalities to really notice their need ramping up, how their words were getting slower against the lustful desires and scenarios taking up most of their brainpower, or how as they got more and more aroused, their fecund shame globes were pumping out mega-liters of gene material and expanding their shame globes, and their bulges kept getting bigger, heavier and the urge to shoe it into someone was so overpowering they were losing the ability to speak, at all.

Konyyl noticed it, though, as Azdaja’s flowery speech and bragging slowed down into needful whines. Polypa saw it, as Tegiri’s more terse speech withered away entirely until he was squeaking miserably. The others were too enraptured to see what they did, but they knew their boys so well.

And now their boys needed them, and Konyyl and Polypa had spent so much time showing off their boy’s new bodies that they were positively drenched in lust too.

The two women exchanged a look and as Konyyl’s route passed close by, a word. Polypa stood up, picking up Tegiri and propping up his painfully stiff bulge with her other arm. The people below her cried pitifully, one or two still clinging to his body for a few moments. She shook them off. “Sorry, folks. Our boys are done for the day; it’s been a very tiring day for them, after their little molting today.”

“They don’t look tired,” a Cybertronian mini-bot in the crowd said, with a hint of defiance.

Konyyl gave her a look and a growl that sent her scurrying away. “Don’t you dare try to pressure my Azdaja!” He clung to her, and even as his bulge sank against her cleavage, he had an insufferably smug look.

Tegiri clung to Polypa and started impulsively thrusting against her shockingly warm body, a consequence of her own fire-theme abilities. She flexed a muscle to be big enough to obscure him, and as her muscles swelled up, he vanished from sight. People sighed in disappointment, as the four left.

All in all, Konyyl and Polypa supposed, it was a good demonstration of how good their boys had gotten. Azdaja and Tegiri weren’t in much of a position to think clearly and give their own thoughts on the matter, but probably would say the same later.

---------

The two girls, nearly blinded with their own lusts and doing their best to soothe the boys without them busting their load on the spot and wasting precious genetic material, searched for a place to offer them just enough privacy to satiate their boys without being caught or interrupted.

But it became clear, fairly quickly, that with their physical requirements, they’d have to make such a shelter.

Konyyl located an alley off the turn of the street, and urged them in; Polypa followed her in, and the two of them put Azdaja and Tegiri down as gently as possibly, trying not to brush them against their own bodies. That could be enough to make them… lose it.

“You boys hold tight,” Polypa told them as Konyyl surveyed the area. “Konyyl’s just gonna… give us some privacy.” They whimpered in some vague approximation of understanding. Impulsively, she kissed Tegiri on the cheek, and he calmed down, even as it made his arousal worse. Life was complicated being her boytoy.

Konyyl’s muscles swelled as they generated and directed her psionic powers, and the alleyway reshaped itself to her whim. Abandoned buggies flew up around her as dust fountained up on the wave of her telekinesis. Fences ripped themselves out of the ground bits of buildings that weren’t being used for anything were torn away and anything big enough that was in the area was pulled up, and then finally slammed down at both ends of the alleyway, and then above them. “Privacy!” She said, in a faint paint. “Got some… damn privacy!”

Polypa turned towards the boys, a smug smile on her face that underlined something that was almost feral in her. Heat pulsed from her in response to her own psionic powers generating a massive ton of heat, embers flickering around her. She reached out for them, and remembered that Tegiri was her’s, specifically, and focused on him as Konyyl advanced first on Tegiri, remembered herself, and focused on Azdaja. For a moment it felt like things were blurring together, that one was not the other, and it was a true romantic quartet.

An odd thing, to feel as abruptly natural as it did. Polypa let the thought flow on by, and Azdaja’s empowered abilities painted the dark so brightly it was like having lamp posts in there. Both girls loomed over their boys, letting their own tension built.

Need swelled the boy’s bulges even bigger, their glowing bodies getting almost painfully bright now; both sets of bulges were longer than the boys were tall now, at least twelve feet for both and growing, and growing faster as the girls approached, the muscular bows of their thighs just barely touching tips that were, amazingly, still clothed.

Both pairs, femboy troll and hyper muscular amazon troll, quivered in anticipation, in delight, and in absolute, mind-melting need.

Konyyl moved first. She was upon him in a flash, but careful to not mash her stomach into him, and Polypa half-expected her to simply shred Azdaja’s clothes off, given her earlier ways of showing him off. Instead, she stripped away his short jacket with a tender mindfulness, and at the same time, her telekinesis undid his shorts, pulling the tight fabric and complicated support garments away so that his equipment fell freely. He squealed at the sudden rush of cold air, his bulges stiffening painfully, and her telekinesis did not half that at all. In say way, her psychic grip was still her grip, and he responded to it as much as he would her hands or the rest of her body; he moaned, softly, pleadingly, but with a hint of challenge.

As the rest of his clothes were taken away, leaving him nude, Polypa did the same, and she had to do it very delicately. As much as her mutation gave her special fibers that let her flex her muscles for some unusual gripping strength across the whole of her body, it didn’t make her any good at actual telekinesis. But she was a lot better at delicate movements that her bulk suggested. Long hours of careful kit assembly, painting, and bucket-filling with a far smaller and frailer troll had made her very skilled at being careful. His clothes came away easily under her claws, her lowered gut twitching in such a way that her big abs could actually clip things off and peel them away. Her muscles did the same to her own clothes; a sports bra, her shorts and her bandages rained down around her, and in the soft glow he produced, the burns streaking across her body looked softened, dulled and blending into the rest of her; in the right light, you couldn’t see them at all.

As Polypa took a couple ponderous steps back, thus, it was with all his clothes, leaving him completely naked; his body a smooth black dappled with the teal of his caste, his glasses still on, his hair falling down around his delicate body, and it all supported on his massive butt as he lay portraste on his back. His bulge towered up towards her, like a worshiper raised up before their goddess, and all his being concentrated into the sensations and awareness of that marvelously sensitive organ.

Konyyl stripped herself, her clothes coming off with a faint sucking sound that suggested both their tightness and the various fluids their milkiness and arousal had a tendency to produce. She lowered herself onto her boy and got to work, psychically pulling him onto her belly; she made a noise as his butt slid against her sensitive belly, half giggle and half pleased gurgle, and his butt was no less sensitive. Azdaja growled loudly, with a pleased edge, his tail curling against her belly and digging in, sliding against the places he knew that she loved.

He back arched up, her rumblespheres rising high, hair and horns arching upwards. “Ahh yeeeah,” she murmured, voice so low it was almost growling. “That’s my boy…” Her rumblespheres came down low, engulfing even his massive bulge.

It said something about how big and huge their bulges were, Polypa mused as she started working up Tegiri, that they couldn’t be hidden in their bodies anymore. She trailed her claws in curling patterns around his hips, seeking out the little sensitive borders between true chitin and his more tender flesh that few others could even see now. He rewarded her diligence with approving, loving moans, and he tried to sit up, perhaps to return the favor somehow. She pushed him back with a swell of a forearm muscle, cooing gently at him. “Nah, nah,” she said, and blew kisses at him that echoed in this space. “You let me handle this bit; your turn comes soon.”

He nodded meekly.

Polypa’s inquistive claws slide close to the base of his bulge, the beginning of the progenerative mass of his shame globes, and there was an interesting change there. Most trolls had a tentanook; a flexible bulge that was mainly used in the sex act, concealed within a larger nook. It differed from troll to troll, but that was the general rule. But these boys were different; there was no hint of the feminine lips of a nook at all now; her claws found only deliciously soft flesh rising in ridges around the bulge, and enormously sensitive too, each slight brush making him twist and moan in pleasure. It made her thighs loosen, her own nook pump up and her bulge slide out and dripping gene slime.

She felt her own bulge… part. She had her own genital mutations, of course.

She worked this area there, slowly eliciting little gasps and moans with careful strokes, warming up both him and herself, stoking the heat of lust and getting her own body warmed up just right. Beside her, Konyyl was doing much the same thing, her massive rumblespheres folding around his mass of bulges and swallowing up even those monsters. He slipped into her belly, gasping and panting half-challenging demands in wordless grunts, stringing them out as she flexed her rumblespheres, around and mashing against his bulges.

Azdaja’s head rolled back as pleasure over took him, his awareness of the world dimininshing into a sea of olive perfection; his bulges swimming in a sea of squishy fat, impossibly erotic flesh massassing his every sexual inch, and tons of sweet liquid swimming around it all, droplets of nectar being forced out and raining on him; he drank it up in a haze, seemingly lost to everything but his most basic instant of pleasing her and teasing her at the same time. Polypa groaned in soft delight, her mutated rumblespheres a massive erogenous zone, her breathing growing fast and heavy, a long tongue hanging over her bulging lips.

Polypa, unwilling to let herself be beaten to the punch, lowered herself over Tegiri, her lips parting and then her mouth opening wide. Her lower jaws split apart like the mandibles they were, a thin film connecting both parts, and the inside of her newly revealed maw a slippery, wet mass every bit the equal of her nook, complete with throat muscles of astonishing control.

Once, that particular modification had been useful in her occasional devouring of other trolls and threatening aliens; throat muscles she could flex as well as the rest of her body to gulp them down and force them down no matter how they struggled, and a mouth capable of swallowing anything up to her size. Over the past few weeks, she’d seen some more recreational uses for it too.

Her parted mouth dived down onto Tegiri’s bulge. She slid down it, slow and careful, her warm tongue almost a flame against his far cooler body. He squealed at her first touch, and in her impatience to take all of him at once; she swallowed his entire bulge in a single gulp, and he actually yelled out loud in a delighted squeal of overwhelmed pleasure, made wordless; it was too much sensation for him to think at all, that part of his brain shutting off entirely in the moment.

Her throat muscles squeezed tight, pressure strong against his bulge, every inch swimming in saliva normally meant to slide hapless prey and other meals straight down into her gut with no hope of escape. Some awareness of this had to get through to Tegiri, a measure of excitement at coming close to a fate he had absolutely no power to avoid. He was in her grasp more literally than normal, and his big hips rocked, his cries increasingly more urgent as he humped at her throat.

She cooed through the mass filled her up, and withdrew and forced down again, in a smooth motion she was starting to refine; her lips slid down a slick path of saliva mingled with the troll equivalent of pre-cum, bright streaks of teal visible in her olive saliva. Her huge lips pressed tightly every second in hungry kisses, and up she went, and down she went, fellating him ferociously and without any mercy.

And yet, at the same time, it was a curiously gentle thing, her hands descending to his hips to pull his legs against her belly, her ab muscles flexing lovingly against his inner thighs, as if longing to stroke every inch of him that she could. Both loving, and domineering; that was her relationship with him in many ways now.

For a long time, perhaps several minutes (long, by the standards of stamina she’d learned from him by now) he humped into her throat, and she pleasured him in this way, taste receptors in her throat marveling at the multitude of flavors his bulge possessed, her throat muscles squeezing tight around spines meant specifically to pleasure nooks. And her throat was built very much the same as a nook now, and certainly in sensitivity. Pressure mounted, in Tegiri, and a thunderous churning in his shame globes as at least some threshold was reached.

And the taste flooded down her throat, bright and cool and addictively delicious, as his bulge contracted and pulsed and let loose a stream straight down. Not his only one, of course, they’d learned the boys had some truly ridiculous reserves. Even so, she felt well and truly warmed up, and she pulled up, looming into the sky and swallowing about a hundred gallon’s worth of genetic material.

It pooled in her stomach, mutated to have nutritional value, and exactly the right kinds of tastes and flavors she craved; if she could consume nothing else in all her life, as Tegiri seemed to be doing with her nectar, she could subsist on him and him alone. She swallowed again, her throat working on its own as if furiously desperate to gulp down as much of it as she could, and Tegiri’s bulge remained stiff as she moved up. “Okay, she said, sliding herself on top of him. “Now it’s your turn to handle me.”

Beside her, she heard a faint series of noises that sounded like liquid hitting a wall. Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted Konyyl lowering Azdaja with delicacy, some of his bulges still clinging against her rumblespheres. Nectar polled down her, her entire front and a lot of Azdaja too, and even more of it was streaked onto the floor below; enough to fill a large tub. Not from an orgasm, Polypa suspected, but the sheer force of Azdaja’s ejaculations. This theory was pretty likely, from the yellow-hued genetic material dripping deeply against her rumblespheres. She covered him with aggressive kisses as she lowered him down to between her legs, her nook so swollen it was a pulsing mass of sexual flesh, her bulge tip slowly pushing out, and the ground beneath her oozed from the olive fluids gushing from her nook..

The ground beneath Polypa was no less slippery. The need pulsed hot than the flames that were slowly rising from her body now, and she lowered herself onto him, with a trembling thrill inside her nook as her bulge mashed against his.

Before, this would have required so much delicacy; he’d been weaker, then, though he was exactly the same size. But he was stronger; even with her full weight pressing into her, Polypa felt his body as a firm and steady platform for their pleasure, solid as a rock despite his softness, and through careful experimentation, they’d learned something they had hoped they’d get:

Their new bodies could absorb the kinetic energy of even their most powerful thrusts or the impact they constantly put out. The girls couldn’t hurt them now, as they’d been so worried about in the past.

And now, Tegiri didn’t even flinch or gasp in pain as Konyyl settled her full weight upon him, her fat larger body eclipsing him. Her greedy nook swallowed up his bulge, as huge as it was, and the only sign of it was a happy distending in her body, and her nook apparently doing its best to try to swallow up his hips as well.

Her mammoth thighs gathered him up, holding him closely and her thigh muscles completely cocooning up as he thrusted into her, and she let him at it. She waited, studied, kept the desperate lust at bay just long enough to feel for his rhythm, to burn it into her unconscious mind.

Ah, she thought with a little smile as her head tilted up. There we go.

She thrust back, with such force that outside windows shattered. Glassy micro-organism cultures fell out of their frames and slithered around on the streets. Doorways blasted out of their frames as Polypa (and now, Konyyl, finding the rhythm of her Azdaja more efficiently if not as completely as Polypa had) thrust into him, riding on the wave of his own motions to redouble it right back.

Back and forth, two together, mingling such sweet forces together that all other sensitive diminished.

There was, for the moment, nothing in the world but the awareness of the other.

One, a massive body engulfing a smaller one, squeezing around him with a delicate and ravenous force; a marriage of things that ought to belong nowhere near each other but complemented each other so well. The other, a thing so small it seemed to have no business filling her up so well, thrusting and riding her like he was born to it, that there was absolutely nothing to existence besides pleasing her, drawing out every little gasp and satisfied moan, and the sounds of those noises were accomplishments, driving him on to do it again. Harder. Faster. Heavier, with far more enthusiasm and ferocity you’d expect of their newly passive natures.

Perhaps they were no less fierce now. They just saved it all for satisfying their amazons.

Polypa’s bulge was one of those that could blossom, the tip opening up like a flower in full bloom, its internals acting as an auxiliary nook. Tegiri’s questing bulge, driven to fill up as much of her as he possibly could, kept pushing in more and more, twitching wildly as each of Polypa’s internal clamping drove it onwards, and at least it dove into her bulge, and was greedily pushed in, her body wanting as much of him as it could possibly get.

The quartet were very different, but on this, their respective pairs were nonetheless of the same bent, now as they accelerated faster and faster to their peaks:

And as she thrusted, intent on absolutely emptying his shame globes and leaving him spent and happy and pleased-

And as he pushed into her, the only thing he could think of satisfying her more and more, his muscular goddess, the looming authority to which he’d dedicated all his life-

They hit that peak.

Separately of one another, both Azdaja and Tegiri cried out with a wild sound that was nearly feral in its honesty, stripped of all complexity. Their hips pumped wildly and their shame globes contracted with such speed that it made a strange noise. Their bulges swelled, distended the girl’s bodies by a small but shockingly notable measurement-

And in single jets, they came inside them, spraying out a massive payload right into the girls. Absurdly virile genetic material, laden with mutagenically-amplified agents and a measure of psionic substances, filled them up. At least twenty thousand gallons of genetic material flooded into them, and their bellies actually swelled slightly larger as it pooled in.

Not a single drop of it escaped their bodies. Special biological mechanisms locked it all in, absorbent tissues sucking it up or muscular action pushing it upwards, towards internal chambers unknown in modern trolls, where millions of eggs were being produced every second in waiting of being fertilized.

The gene-flood came, and the eggs swelled as they sucked up every single droplet. Instantly fertilized. The significance of this was lost to the troll girls, who had been having sex for weeks without this particular mutation of the boys kicking in until now. They felt a deep sense of sudden satisfaction unrelated to the orgasms twisting in them, pulsating and rising up until they tilted their heads back and roared their satisfied delights, pleasure rising up and peaking so hard it felt like blacking out. They squeezed the bulges against in their pleasure, triggering another sudden jet of gene material, and even more eggs were fertilized in the process. From Polypa in particular, her whole body lit up, flames blasting around her and her scars glowing like illuminating brands, and in that moment she was an inferno, blazing bright and knowing nothing but the heat, but the fire.

The boys flopped into their girl’s muscles as the latter drew back, panting in a curious warm feeling they couldn’t quite pin down. They just felt… satisfied, as if some biological compulsion or itch had finally been scratched. Both pairs settled back, panting and letting their depleted stamina recharge.

It was a nice feeling, laying there. Fluids pooled around them, they were covered in each other’s sexual liquids, the smell of one another. All the same, it was a restful thing, a peaceful thing, a small moment of something almost divine.

And then, soon enough, Polypa sat back up, gazing down into teal eyes that looked far more alert. She wiggled her thigh as Konyyl also stirred, and Polypa brushed one of Tegiri’s shame globes. IT still felt full of genetic material, though a bit less than before.

Nonetheless. “I want more,” she said, voice rumbling with a need that had barely diminished at all.

Tegiri smiled brightly, and the look of his eyes was more than a little unhinged with the same kind of desire. “Yes, ma’am,’ he said, voice husky.

And all four of them went right back to it, obliviously wrecking more of the neighborhood without realizing it, lost in one another. Azdaja and Konyyl didn’t even say a word, and didn’t need to.

The clean up after they finished and vanished was a bit of a nuisance and gave a lot of people woozy feelings of arousal, but that wasn’t their problem by that point.

-----

On its own, that would have been the whole thing, and all of the thing. A newly mutated pair shown off to an envious world, and their quadrantmates slaking their lust in sudden love in an alleyway.

Normally, that would have been enough.

But there were aspects to Konyyl and Polypa’s mutations that had a lot more importance than they thought.

Some time later, after discussions and a few off-hand comments that meant something very different to the white-haired scientist human who seemed to have a close relationship with the new Empress (And had apparently masterminded this whole exchange), there’d been emergency visits. X-rays, physical examinations. There were charts and technical explanations that neither troll woman really understood.

Finally, the scientist got to the point.

Polypa stared blankly at her. “What the hell is ‘pregnant’?”

The buxom scientist, Ms Lalonde, thought of a way to explain it. “Well, you know that Mother Grub thing you have?”

Konyyl and Polypa nodded.

Lalonde explained, gesturing so emphatically that her massive bust bounced with nearly as much exuberance as herself.

Finally Konyl said, “So… we’re like the Mother Grub now?”

“We have… trolls growing in us now?”

Lalonde nodded. “I think your mutation triggered some kind of atavism; you trolls used to be like that, until the Mother Grub bred it out of your people. I guess this woke that up, so you can be impregnated. And your boy’s own mutations reacted well with that. Really, really well.”

Polypa contemplated this, monumental a moment and a complete game changer as it would one day before the entire troll species in an age when the government could not exert any real control over troll population dynamics, and she spoke her judgement in a way that would probably not make it to the history books:

“Huh. Neat.”

#/#//#///#////#/////#queued #my writing #fics #commissions #twitchy!homestuck #twitchy!polypa #twitchy!tegiri #twitchy!konyyl #twitchy!azdaja

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acre1984-blog · 5 years

Text

Here are some good alternate endings!

1. Dany and Jon destroy the Throne together, ending the Game of Thrones.

"In short, the story should have been the last two Targaryens in the world finding their way back to each other and destroying the Throne (which was ultimately the downfall of their house) and thus ending the 'game.'

Rheagal should have lived and Dany and Jon should have used their dragons to burn the throne. The wheel would be broken — the throne having been created by dragon fire (and the Targaryens), and then destroyed by dragon fire (and the Targaryens) – bringing the story full circle.

It would have been clever if throughout the whole story we were made to believe that Dany wanted to sit on the Iron Throne when really all she wanted to do was destroy it."

2. Jon kills himself after killing Dany.

"Jon Snow should have died a la Melisandre after Dany (in a sort of Romeo & Juliet type manner) as he had fulfilled the Lord of Light's purpose. Drogon should have taken both of them away."

3. Brienne decides to be with Tormund.

Gendry on that effing boat [with Arya]. Sandor still alive with both his eyes and on the boat with him. I shipped Brienne with Jaime, but since he chose his sister...Brienne getting knighted and then choosing Tormund. Jon, King of the Seven Kingdoms.

Dany would still be dead. Since Mereen, I felt that she was a different person and lost her morals."

4. Bran is actually...the Night King?

"Everything stays the same. The credits roll then go to a cut scene of Bran warging out. The camera zooms in closer and closer until the shot is just Bran’s eyes. He blinks. His eyes flash to Night King blue. The end.

George R. R. Martin trolls all of us. The show's ending is actually the ending to The Winds of Winter. A Song of Spring will be where we are given the true ending."

5. We see where Drogon takes Dany.

"Keeping it as is cuz whatevs, but we actually see where Drogon takes Dany. He lands on a field full of dragon eggs because come on, we really think there were only three dragon eggs left in the world? He puts Dany on the eggs and sets the whole thing on fire. Dany is reborn again, but spends the rest of her days on the other side of the world just chilling."

6. Arya wears Grey Worm's face to kill Dany.

"We watched Arya for TWO GOD DAMN SEASONS learning to become a faceless man and she used it once to kill Walder Frey?!?

Arya should have killed Grey Worm and worn his face to kill Dany. Also, Arya needed a bad ass kill in the finale. That would have put Jon on the throne and Jon could have then exiled Arya so she could sail the world like she wanted."

7. Arya wears Jon's face to kill Dany.

"I wish Jon had realized he wouldn’t be able to kill Dany, so he sacrifices himself so Arya can take his face, get close enough to Dany and kill her. Jon is dead, but he did it to save everyone and still show some love for Dany. Arya would be exiled to go west anyway in my brain. Same general story but with a bit of umph to it, I guess. But I must say I thought it was very good in its simplicity."

8. Dany and Jon rule together.

"I’m such a sucker for happy endings that I really hoped Dany and Jon would just rule together, and because of that Sansa would still have the independent North. I understand the Mad Queen thing probably made for a more interesting plot, but I still hated watching Dany’s downfall considering everything she’d ever been through and coming out even stronger for it. I still hoped for them to rule together or at worst Jon giving up his right to the throne so she could rule on her own. But again, I’m just a sucker for happy endings, so to each their own."

9. Dany kills herself.

"All could be the same until after Danys Speech...Tyrion is sentenced to death by fire. Jon stands in front of Drogon and stops the execution. Tyrion explains to the Army why Jon was able to stop Drogon – because he's the rightful ruler. The army, and Grey Worm bend the knee to Jon. Dany is upset at losing power to Jon, losing the army, and losing power over Drogon, so she kills herself."

10. Bronn isn't on the small council because "that makes literally no sense."

"I don't know how it should have ended but I would personally like to have seen:

Brienne starting the next page of the knight book with her name and the first sentence would be that she's the first female head of the Kingsguard, and she helped form a constitutional monarchy.

Bronn NOT on the small council because that makes literally no sense.

Ending shot of the show should be a shadow of Drogon flying and a faint dragon's cry over some land that we've never seen before.

Sam should have said A Song of Ice and Fire is not yet finished.

Dany's eyes should have turned purple to honour the original writing, and she should have sat on the throne."

11. Bran was actually able to walk all along.

"Honestly I wish it would’ve just ended with Bran standing up and being like 'HAHA GOTCHA I could walk this whole time.'"

12. Brienne is pregnant with Jaime's baby.

"A glimpse of Brienne’s writing should have revealed: 'Fathered a child with Brienne of Tarth.'"

13. Dany melts the throne, then flies away with Drogon. Westeros becomes seven independent nations.

"Dany melts the throne, then her and Drogon fuck off. Jon and Tyrion are held responsible. It's decided that Westeros will be seven independent nations, with Bran serving as the protector. Jon is still banished to the Night's Watch (but we all know he's now King Beyond the Wall).

Final scene is an elderly woman tending to a lemon tree in the yard of a house with a red door. She looks up and smiles as Drogon flies over."

14. Jaime kills Cersei.

"Basically the gists of what I was hoping would go down is:

Jaime kills Cersei (thus fulfilling Maggy's prophecy).

Arya kills Dany (thus fulfilling Melisandre’s prophecy and completing her ‘no one’ arc).

Jon is nominated as King of Westeros (whether he rejects it or not is up to him, but damn his name should really be among the nominees, not because he’s a Targaryen, but because of his credibility).

Sansa remains Queen of the independent North.

If Arya exploring west has to remain the same, then I hope this happens: Gendry eventually realized that he’s not really feeling the ‘Lord’ title anyway and suddenly shows up at the harbor and tells Arya he wants to join her.

The people in the court council remain the same.

Flash forward to coronation day like in the finale, with Jon Snow visiting Castle Black (now no longer a place for the banished, but a middle meeting point for Westerosi and Freefolk to discuss matters when needed) to say hi to old friend Tormund and to pet Ghost."

15. The white walkers are the final enemy, and Jon has defeat them by killing Daenerys.

"I wanted the white walkers to be the final enemy and hoped for a more literal re-telling of the Last Hero/Prince story that was promised. Basically the winter is getting worse and people are losing the fight. The hero (Jon) tragically puts his sword through his lover (Daenerys) to create the weapon that drives the Others back where they came from and ends the winter... At least for the next couple thousand years. Jon, wounded and having nothing left to lose, is last seen chasing the remaining enemy way beyond the wall, knowing he won't make it back."

16. Sansa is queen of the seven kingdoms.

"I wish Arya was the one that killed Dany, but Jon still refuses the throne, and Sansa ends up on the throne of the seven kingdoms. She’s so level-headed and would’ve been so much better than Bran. And I wish Arya ended up with Gendry so that at least one couple could have a happy ending. But seriously, anyone but Bran."

17. Gendry becomes king.

"Should have been Gendry. Do you know how much fanfiction I'm going to have to read to make up for this?"

18. Dany gets killed, then is brought back to life, then kills everyone...again?

"Tyrion is killed by Dany for betraying her. Arya kills Dany. Drogon takes Dany to a wizard that brings her back to life, and comes back and torches everyone again to take back the Iron Throne."

#jonerys #daenerys targaryen #jon snow

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yumeka36 · 5 years

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Frozen in Kingdom Hearts 3

After 5 years of wanting and waiting, I finally played through the first Frozen world in a Kingdom Hearts game. So how was it?

**BEWARE - SPOILERS AHEAD**

Of course I was extremely excited when a Frozen world was confirmed for KH3. But as we got closer to release day and I was reading more about the game and specific things about the Frozen world in particular, I started getting a tad apprehensive. According to this interview with Kingdom Hearts creator Tetsuya Nomura, he said it was easier to get approval from Disney for past KH games because the creative teams for the older movies were no longer there, but for recent movies like Frozen, those teams are still active at Disney and want more control of their titles. In another interview, he talked about how much back and forth was involved between Disney and Square Enix throughout the game’s development and having to get approval from Disney for every little character and story detail. Comments like this, together with the fact that a lot of the Frozen scenes shown in the KH3 trailers were scenes directly from the movie, made me a bit nervous that Disney would be too protective of their precious franchise and not allow Square Enix to have much freedom with making new plot and character scenarios. After seeing the first Frozen trailer, I had all these grandiose ideas in my head, like Larxene convincing Elsa to give in to darkness and Sora being forced to fight her to snap her out of it (like with the Beast in KH2), or even Larxene and Elsa fighting (lightning vs ice!). Or something more complex when they teased the new seven princesses of heart plot, like how Elsa ended up not being one of the pure hearts because her heart almost gave in to darkness (due to all her fears and self doubts) but Anna is one of the pure hearts so Organization XIII captures her and Elsa wants to save her but cant’s so Sora steps in (this would occur after the movie plot resolves of course). But as time went on I came down from those fantasies and realized that although there will be some new scenes and plot points, it’s going to follow the movie closely for the most part. So as release day drew near, I kept my expectations lowered.

I’m sure I’m not the only fan who was disappointed when it was revealed in one of the Nomura interviews that neither Anna nor Elsa would be party members in the game. I understand Elsa not being a party member since it wouldn’t make sense from a story perspective for her to willingly travel around with others. But it made much more sense for Anna and Kristoff to be party members since they’re on a journey together through most of the movie. And it makes even more sense when you compare it to the Tangled world where both Eugene and Rapunzel are party members. So I can’t understand why Anna and Kristoff weren’t the Arendelle party members. Not that I have anything against Marshmallow, and his yearning to protect Elsa was cute and all, but in literally every other Kingdom Hearts Disney world, the characters Sora teams up with are the main characters from that movie, the characters that everyone loves and are the most popular. So having one of the minor characters be the only party member in the world of one of the most popular Disney movies, is disappointing. And Marshmallow doesn’t even join the group until closer to the end, so most of Arendelle is just Sora, Donald, and Goofy maneuvering through ice mazes and snowy mountains fighting lots of Heartless and Nobodies. It’s fun for the most part but I found it getting stale after a while - having the world’s unique characters join the battles makes them much more interesting, so without that here, they got repetitive fast.

They could have at least made Anna, Elsa, and/or Kristoff “pseudo” party members, like in Birth by Sleep where you’d have to maneuver through an area while protecting a character who doesn’t actually fight in a sort of mini-game fashion. They did have that mini-game of finding Olaf’s parts, but it was short and honestly kind of boring, especially compared to the other world-specific mini-games in KH3 (and am I the only one who thinks it’s ludicrous that Sora is amazed at and Donald is doubtful of a talking snowman when they’ve seen talking toys, skeletons, and tons of other equally unbelievable stuff in their adventures?) To be honest, the only reason I can think of for such a lack of Arendelle party members is solely due to Disney being very restrictive of the characters of their most popular movie and being super sensitive to any “violent” depictions of them and thus not wanting them in any sort of fighting sequences.

Sadly, not having the main characters as party members just made it seem a bit...empty, especially coming off of the Tangled world. Because Eugene and Rapunzel were party members, they spent a lot of time with Sora and co. and they shared a lot of dialogue both in and out of battles and cutscenes (and the dancing mini-game was adorable). By the end, their friendship with Sora seemed earned and real, but at the same time, it DID NOT take anything away from Eugene and Rapunzel’s character development in terms of the movie plot: Sora helped them of course, but in the important moments, like Rapunzel realizing she’s the lost princess, the lantern scene, and their confrontation with Gothel at the end, Sora did not interfere. The Tangled world had the perfect mix of staying true to the movie while also having enough Kingdom Hearts flavor to make it a new experience. Arendelle got a bit cheated in this regard in my opinion. The cutscenes Sora shared with Anna and Elsa were good, but those were the only times he talked to them. The part with Elsa at the very beginning of the world was among my favorites...but that was literally the only time he interacted with her - no other conversations at all, even at the end.

This is such a shame as Sora seemed to really have a connection to her and was so sweetly concerned about her throughout the whole story. The scene he shared with Anna where she told him about herself and Elsa via an abridged version of “Do you want to build a snowman?” was a very good scene too, but again, after that and the Olaf mini-game a little later, Sora and co. never talk to Anna again. I can think of a few cutscenes they could have added that would have made Sora’s connection with the characters better but still not take away anything from the main Frozen plot, for example, Sora and co. talking to Elsa when she’s in the dungeon before she flees and they get frozen out, crossing the fjord with Anna (the “hiding behind rocks to block the storm” mechanic could have been used for this), or even having a new area for the trolls - not only would that have added nice variety to the world’s terrain (going back and forth around the North Mountain got a bit repetitive, and Larxene’s ice labyrinth added nothing to the story and was kind of a pointless detour) but I could see definite mini-game potential with the trolls too. Another possible scene could be of Sora and co. visiting Elsa in her palace as Hans is attacking her with the help of Heartless (how else could you explain his managing to capture her without anyone else’s help?)

Speaking of Hans, that’s one movie cutscene they should not have left out: the scene where Hans betrays Anna. Without this scene, Hans gets zero explanation other than Kristoff mentioning he’s Anna’s true love. So Sora and co. have no idea that the guy who carried Elsa away and then tried to kill her was Hans, nor will anyone else if they haven’t seen the movie (yeah, all 2 of you who haven’t seen it). In the Tangled world, we get the full scenes of Rapunzel confronting Gothel about being the lost princess and then Gothel imprisoning her and stabbing Eugene, so why don’t we get an equivalent “villain reveal” scene for Frozen? And while Marluxia explains why Organization XIII wants Rapunzel to stay with Gothel, Larxene doesn’t even acknowledge Hans despite him literally turning into a Heartless in the end (wouldn’t he technically be dead after turning into a Heartless? But his Heartless didn’t actually get destroyed after the battle so does that mean it’s still out there somewhere? That part was strangely ambiguous). I have no proof for this, but I feel like Hans being left out so blatantly is because they couldn’t get a voice actor for him for some reason, as weird as that sounds (would also explain why we didn’t get the scene of him telling Elsa that Anna is dead because of her).

The battle against Hans’ Heartless was friggin’ awesome though. Such a cool design and challenging battle - but the timing was so awkward! In the middle of perhaps the most important scene in Frozen where Anna sacrifices herself to save Elsa, we’re thrust into this big battle. Then after that’s done and Anna is thawing, we get interrupted AGAIN by another scene with Larxene. Why couldn’t the Heartless battle have been after Elsa thaws everything, then they notice Hans getting covered in darkness, Sora tells everyone to stand back, and then the battle commences. The scene with Larxene could then take place as Sora is leaving Arendelle.

But the single most thing I was disappointed about was not having any sort of closing scene between Sora and the Frozen characters. Literally every other Kingdom Hearts game has Sora exchanging well wishes and thank yous to the new friends he made after the story’s finale via some cute and funny moments. We get none of that for Arendelle - after Elsa thaws everything as Sora, Donald, and Goofy look on (the Frozen characters don’t even acknowledge they’re there), the camera panes away, we switch to a cutscene with Aqua, and then Sora’s suddenly back on the Gummiship. There’s absolutely no excuse to not have a goodbye scene: the story’s over, so it’s not like Sora talking to the characters at this point will affect the plot. These scenes are always such treats for fans, ESPECIALLY for a world like Arendelle that’s already lacking scenes of Sora interacting with the characters. This would have also been a perfect opportunity for the characters to explain Hans to Sora, similar to how the closing scene in Tangled informed Sora about Flynn Rider’s real name. The only reason I can think of for Arendelle not getting a closing scene like this is the same reason for the lack of party members; Disney’s being overly protective of how Frozen is depicted in official media beyond the movie’s canon. A part of me was hoping the new seven hearts plot point would surface again later in the game and involve more scenes with Rapunzel, Anna, and Elsa...but it never did. At least that’s something to look forward to in future Kingdom Hearts games.

But hey, despite getting kicked out of Arendelle so abruptly, at least we’re allowed to go back and do this:

All this complaining probably makes you think I didn’t enjoy the Frozen world in KH3. I definitely did enjoy it and I’m so glad my favorite movie finally got a role in a Kingdom Hearts game. The cutscenes were beautifully done, the music and songs were nice, and though they occasionally looked off at times, the character models looked fantastic. Overall I just felt there was some lost potential. To a Frozen fan who’s not very familiar with Kingdom Hearts, my complaints might seem like nitpicking, but for someone like me who’s both a Frozen fan and has played every single Kingdom Hearts game and knows very well how its Disney worlds are presented, I thought Arendelle got a little cheated. Maybe Nomura and the KH3 staff really did intend to present the world this way, with Sora being much more of a bystander...but my gut feeling is telling me it’s Disney. It makes sense they’d place more restrictions on Frozen compared to the other Disney movies for two reasons; 1) it’s their highest grossing animated movie and Frozen’s director/writer Jennifer Lee is the current head of Disney Animation, and 2) Frozen 2 comes out in less than a year so that would make them even more sensitive to any non-canon depictions of the world and characters that might alter whatever image they want to uphold for the sequel (this would also explain why Tangled didn’t get as many restrictions even though it’s a very popular Disney franchise too). Whatever the reason, I can’t help feeling a bit disappointed, but at the same time, I completely understand that Frozen is only, like, 10% of the game’s substance and everything else about it is fantastic (I will likely make another post of screenshots conveying all the feels I had for the ending of the game!)

And after resigning myself to the fact that we won’t get anymore Frozen scenes in KH3, once the end credits were rolling and they started showing cute little epilogue scenes for each Disney world, I was waiting with baited breath to see if Frozen would be included (I was ready to flip a table if it wasn’t). And thankfully we were treated to an utterly adorable scene:

(More screenshots and video link here)

Hopefully we won’t have to wait another 13 years for Kingdom Hearts 4. I can’t wait to see how the new Lost Masters story arc will unfold and if Anna and Elsa will be more involved now that they’re confirmed to be new princesses of heart. Especially with Frozen 2 coming out soon, Sora’s return to their world is likely (maybe this time Anna and/or Elsa will actually be party members - I can dream can’t I?) Whatever it is, I look forward to all the possibilities future KH games have in store ;)

#Kingdom Hearts III #kingdom hearts 3 #kh3 #frozen #disney frozen #kingdom hearts

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