#when people are like ‘aw wouldn’t it be bittersweet and romantic for these two characters to fall in love all over again’

[sitp-recs]

(Perfect artwork for Modern Love, by @cambiodipolvere)

Today is the day of one of my favorite people! And I totally resent @tackytigerfic and Starry for almost sharing the same birthday, god the STRESS 😂 Tacky is my first and closest fandom friend. We clicked together so fast and easy that sometimes it feels like I’ve known her all my life, like we’re two dog moms living in the same neighborhood who happen to read fic in their free time. Despite our conflicting time zones and crazy schedules we manage to chat every other day, tagging and sending each other all kinds of stuff, coming together to cry scream about a brilliant fic we’ve just read or shaking our heads in embarrassment at every other unnecessary bullshit post. Tacky’s bright and wise energy uplifts my spirit even on my moody days, and makes me grateful for her friendship and for this fandom life. Okay so this got long and I had to put the rest under the cut:

It’s such a lovely and precious thing, to have someone with whom you can share every single thought that crosses your mind, your scariest, most embarrassing, petty or disturbing idea, without fear of being shamed or judged by it. I trust Tacky with all my heart to hear me out, share a joke or a piece of advice, even on the (rare) occasions when we don’t get the same perspective - that doesn’t happen often when it comes to Drarry, as we are taste twins!

Tacky my darling, you’re such a good person, and such an incredible friend. Thank you for introducing me to this lovely community, for being my safe haven and your unique self, with so many qualities I admire and feel inspired by: kind, witty, earnest, wise, and so very human. I love your humour and empathy, and your chill yet no-nonsense personality; I love your talent and how articulated you are; I love your passion for Drarry, and how you let this emotion inform the way you navigate the fandom and create for it. And god, but you’ve been creating some of the most beautiful content I’ve seen in these recent years! I’m permanently in awe of your ability to write Drarry in any shape, format or length, transforming even the most ordinary moment into an extraordinary and meaningful piece of character or relationship development. You know how you mentioned yesterday that some authors change the way you feel about a ship in a deep, definitive way? Well, you are that author for me. Your works made me fall in love with M-rated contemplative romance, and also allowed me to fall in love with Harry in a way I never thought it was possible before.

Some people - myself included - got to know you through the fun and intriguing A Lick and a Promise, others through the atmospheric and sensitive Modern Love, others through your contemplative and heartbreaking short form. Each story has its merits and purpose, and all of them share a Tacky trademark: the heartkick factor! Your talent has no limits and goes across different genres and tropes, that you explore with a bold twist full of personality and heart. And even more impressive is your consistency at always raising the bar - every new fic of yours becomes an instant fave and makes me think “wow I thought Tacky couldn’t get better yet here we are”. Seeing how your writing evolves as you find your narrative voice is a beautiful and humbling experience, I feel so lucky!

I’m really grateful for being active in the fandom at this moment in time, because that allows me to read and engage with your brilliant work, and to have you as a dear friend. I can’t wait to see what comes out of your beautiful brain next. It was an impossible job choosing a single fic to rec today, so I decided to do a belated Tacky reclist! Naturally these are my personal and biased must-reads, and I urge everyone to go check these beauties right now. Feel free to include your own favorites too, and don’t forget to leave them some appreciation.

Happy happy birthday my darling Tacky! This fandom life wouldn’t be the same without you. I hope you have the amazing day you deserve!

Between the Power Lines (2020, M, 3.2k)

The road trip fic you didn’t know you needed. I got utterly immersed in the heartbreaking quietness of this, feeling like a witness to an ordinary yet poignant love story. Such tender intimacy, such character development, such lovely American aesthetics with barely any dialogue. This is, IMO, the fic that reveals Tacky’s triumph in storytelling.

Even the Night (2020, M, 3.4k)

This fic has a surreal atmosphere, those Midsummer vibes unbelievably sexy and intoxicating linked to the sensorial experience of fumbling together in the night. Masterclass in tension building, a silky and languid dream-like affair.

Aim for my Heart (2021, M, 3.4k) - Harry/Draco/Ron

One of the most sensitive and stunning portraits I’ve ever seen of a poly/triad relationship, this fic packs so much character and longing! It’s a privilege to watch Ron and Draco’s tentative dynamics through the smitten eyes of the one person that loves them like no one else: Harry.

The Long Fall (2021, M, 3.6k)

I can’t even write about this tender domesticity without getting a lump in my throat. Best opening scene I’ve read in years, and a refreshing way to approach both mpreg and parenthood, painfully honest and lovely. This became an immediate comfort read for me, and it’s probably one of the fics I revisit the most.

Mortal Frame (2021, M, 6.6k)

This thrilling, fast-paced spy story left me breathless since the first paragraph, gods what an immersive ride! I’m so here for Drarry on the run, sharp and urgent with danger but mellowed by the silent trust and tender intimacy only Tacky can master. Major bonus points for the brilliant take on the Horcrux hunt plot line!

Last Offices (2020, M, 6.7k)

Oh, this fic 💔 I tend to avoid MCD but there’s something so deeply fascinating about body washing rituals that I caught myself mesmerized by this. I just couldn’t put it down, so emotionally compromised I felt. There’s a sort of strange comfort in the heartbreak of doing one last act of service out of devotion to someone. This fic inspired so many difficult but lovely feelings in me, and one of them was hope. Only Tacky could possibly achieve that!

Our Little Life (2020, M, 7.2k)

Inventive and singular, this story hit me straight on the solar plexus and left me speechless as I saw the (clever, magical and bittersweet) plot unravel. Such a fabulous take on alternate universes and all the angst potential behind it. Come and bask in the yearning melancholia of a short yet intricate and perfectly executed plot.

And One to Play (2019, E, 21k)

What a fun and delightful fic, I can’t have enough of pining Harry losing all sense of propriety when faced with a hot, competent and pragmatic Draco. This has fab dynamics, unhinged protectiveness, even more unhinged attraction between two idiots who can’t keep their hands off each other. A must-read for any Auror partners fan!

A Lick and a Promise (2019, E, 55k)

Hot, BAMF Professors carefully balancing a fuck buddies situation while solving a Hogwarts mystery, do we need anything else? I certainly do not. This fic is so fun and intriguing and immersive, with amazing supportive cast and a delicious get together feat secret shagging and oblivious pining. Love it!

Modern Love (2020, E, 61k)

My favorite read of 2020, this fic is a love letter to Drarry and will always hold a piece of my soul. Sensitive, wistful, tenderly aching and so very romantic, this is a Muggle Draco triumph with a superb Harry, exquisite slow burn and a side of suds comfort. I promise it will be impossible to listen to Bowie again without thinking of this love story.

Bonus: five stunning drabbles!

Something in the Way (2021, T, 119 words)

“Up,” he said, and Draco, sick with love, raised his arms above his head and allowed Potter to slide the jumper on him, big hands stroking it flat over Draco’s stomach until they both shivered.

Stir-Up Sunday (2020, M, 300 words)

“I want you always,” he said, tugging again on the fine curling length of it. “Is it okay to say that?”

Whalebone Arch (2021, M, 722 words)

“Are you still not talking to me?” Draco steered Harry towards the crisps. “Do I have to suck you off in the loo to cheer you up?”

Semiplume (2021, T, 923 words)

“Did you know,” Harry murmured, and he put his arms around Draco, fearless. “I’d be your mate. If you needed a mate, I mean.”

Relic Radiation (2021, M, 927 words)

“You’ll kill me,” Harry said, and Draco turned his face towards the darkened sky, lunar pale, his profile some stupid unearthly thing—a flaring blazar, a supernova—in the light from the kitchen window.

#drarry fic rec #Drarry reclist #happy birthday Tacky! #fave

[thebibliomancer]

Essential Avengers: Avengers #230: THE LAST FAREWELL!

April, 1983

“Yellowjacket no more!”

Aw, dang! Hank got raptured!

Captain America, Thor, and Hawkeye is a weird collection of characters to be staring forlornly at the empty Yellowjacket uniform.

Thor hasn’t really expressed much about the Yellowjacket situation in comparison. You think they could squeeze Wasp into the shot. Just her ex-husband is all. She’s just the team leader is all.

Put Wasp on the cover, you cowards.

So last times on Avengers: Hank Pym got himself kicked out of the Avengers and out of his marriage and pretty much deserved it. He was tricked into committing treason by his arch-nemesis Egghead and sent to jail. He sat in jail for, like, a really long time. The wheels really spun on the arc.

He was kicked out of the Avengers/walked before he could be kicked out in #213. He was arrested at the end of issue #217. His trial was in issue #228.

He was kidnapped from his trial by the Masters of Evil. Then in #229, he turned the tables on them all in quite a satisfying manner and slugged Egghead in the egg head.

Then Hawkeye manslaughtered him. He’s dead.

Hawkeye arrowed the science gun to stop Egghead from shooting Hank in the back and then the science gun backfired and microwaved that egg.

This makes Hank’s victory a little bittersweet for him.

Hank Pym: “I defeated the Masters of Evil single-handed... but more than anything, I wanted to bring Egghead to justice. He was a thorn in my side for so many years. I was never able to defeat him for long, not when I was Ant-Man... and not even after I became Giant-Man! He bedeviled me in every identity I assumed. He did me the greatest wrong when I was Yellowjacket. I’d already ruined my Avengers career, when he tricked me into committing a federal crime!”

Hawkeye too is set to thinking by what happened. Maybe humming a bit of Bohemian Rhapsody to himself too.

Hawkeye: “This is unreal! I’ve never killed a man before! I never planned on anything like this happening! Yeah, but I can’t feel sorry for Egghead! If anyone deserved this, he did! My brother Barney bought the farm, stopping Egghead from killing the Avengers. And if I hadn’t acted when I did, Hank Pym would be dead! If I had to do it again... I would!”

Hawkeye: ‘Eh, fuck ‘em!’

hah.

But Hank laments that with Egghead dead, so goes his chance of proving his innocence by turning him over to the law.

Hank Pym: “Egghead was always getting away from me, Hawkeye. It’s almost as if he’s pulled the ultimate escape!”

Fun fact: There doesn’t seem to be an Ultimate Egghead! Why would there need to be? Even more than in the 616, Ultimate Hank Pym is by far his own worst enemy.

Hawkeye basically tells Hank to buck up and that there’s basically incriminating evidence lying all over the place.

He doesn’t say it but even Egghead’s dead deceased corpse is kind of like evidence. Evidence that he wasn’t dead until recently.

Captain Marvel shows up because someone finally came looking for Hawkeye.

Hank is surprised, much like others have been that this is Captain Marvel. He knew the old guy, the super saiyan. And I guess he didn’t hear there was a new one.

Hawkeye: “We’ve had a few changes since you went in the slammer, Hank. C.M. is an Avenger in training.”

Huh. Captain Marvel doesn’t even react to the dead body. Then again, there’s a lot of bodies lying all around the place.

And while Hawkeye is introducing the new Captain Marvel to Hank, one of those bodies stirs.

Moonstone has regained consciousness and assesses the situation. She could blast Hank, Captain Marvel, and Hawkeye with her coherent light pew pew but that’d just weaken her.

Like in the previous issue, Moonstone is one of the few supervillains who knows when to fold ‘em.

So she decides to skeedaddle while the getting is good but whoops.

Getting wasn’t good.

The rest of the Avengers have shown up and cornered her while she was pondering.

So Moonstone decides ‘eh fuck it’ and promises to spill all the beans if it gets her a lighter sentence.

So days later, the mostly off-screen trial of Hank Pym finally ends.

A loooot of new evidence suddenly popping up led the prosecution to withdraw all charges.

The lead prosecution witness, Trish Starr, suddenly reversing her testimony after putting on Tony Stark’s magical mental-scan helmet kind of tanked the case, really.

Wait, they really did just admit the use of the helmet in the trial when its new, unsubstantiated technology whose inventor disappeared?

Damn, I knew the Marvel legal system was wild (considering comic books as legal documents as explored in Dan Slott’s run on the character) but still!

Although it makes sense. Egghead got Trish to incriminate Hank by using the bionic arm to alter her memories. The helmet Tony invented undoes that kind of alteration. This connects the dots quite reasonably. Glad Stern was paying attention when preparing to finish this arc.

Moonstone and Beetle confirming that Egghead was using Hank as a tool also helps.

In fact, not only did the prosecution drop all their charges, the judge also dismissed all the charges. Which feels redundant? I dunno much about law, really. Just the She-Hulk version of law. Which, again, uses comic books as legal documents.

Apparently happening at around the same time, Hawkeye also had his day in court.

Literally a day.

It wasn’t a trial, just a hearing to investigate whether he was guilty of wrong-doing in the death of Egghead.

Newsman with a newsplan: “Though he was threatened with contempt-of-court charges a number of times -- Hawkeye was found innocent of any wrong-doing in the death of Dr. Elihas Starr -- the self-styled Egghead.”

Yeah, I bet Hawkeye was threatened with contempt-of-court a bunch. And I bet you anything that at least one of the times he rejoined with “No, you’re out of order! This whole damn courtroom is out of order!”

And then the judge probably just sighed.

I mean, look at that unbelievable Hawkeye in the bottom left panel.

Anyway, I think Stern must have felt a little pent up having to start his Avengers run finishing off someone else’s story, especially having to devote a recap issue to it since the plot had been interspersed with fill-ins.

Because in the middle of concluding this arc, he throws in two plot beats that I have to assume are to set up stuff of his own.

A day after the trial, the Beetle is being escorted to a cell in a Western Pennsylvanian federal maximum security prison when he bumps into another prisoner.

What neither the Beetle or the guard notices is that the bump to “Sam Smithers” has peeled off some skin on his arm and revealed THAT HE IS ACTUALLY MADE OF WOOD!

Suspect possibly a living puppet.

And elsewhere but samewhen, IN SPACE, specifically on Saturn’s moon Titan, Thanos’ brother Eros is basically complaining about being bored.

When Captain Mar-vell died of having a lot of cancer, he asked Eros to look after Mar-vell’s... uh... -google- robot girlfriend?? Elysius.

Eventual mom to Genis and Phyla-Vells.

Soooooo, Eros has done as Mar-vell’s deathbed wish was and spent an agonizing several consecutive months hanging out in Titan’s beautiful inside forests and just having a real hard time caring about one thing for such a long period of time.

I’m not even being unfair to him.

Eros: “This is the first time in ages that I’ve spent so many consecutive months on Titan! I have ever been a wanderer! I’ve sought out adventure across the wide cosmos. Frankly, I have known romance on more worlds than most sentient beings could imagine. That’s part of the problem. Our friendship has been wonderful, but I’m having a hard time adjusting to it. My previous relationships have all been of a fleeting nature.”

‘Look its not you, its me’ except for attempting to dump someone as a friend, instead of romantically.

Not dump, even. He just kind of wants to ditch her and is asking in a roundabout way if she’s emotionally stable enough to ditch.

She goes, yeah sure, go off and have fun. And maybe she’s getting tired of his company too.

Elysius: “Look... you’ve been a great comfort to me these last few months, but now I need to be alone for a while with my thoughts.”

Geez, how clingy has he been this whole time while desperately wanting to be anywhere else?

Anyway, since she’s fine with him fucking off, he does fuck off. Right to the Hall of Science.

Where Eros’ dad is like ‘oh ffs’ when Eros tells him that he needs to use the LIVING COMPUTER Isaac to look up planets with the highest adventure potential.

Mentor of Titan is a man deeply disappointed in both of his sons for very different reasons.

Anyway, would you really be surprised if I told you that Earth was in the Top 3 planets in known space for adventure?

You wouldn’t, right?

Meanwhile, back at the plot, Hank Pym is on a boat with Trish Starr.

She wants to apologize for that time she incriminated him but Hank isn’t going to blame her for being as much a pawn in Egghead’s scheme as he was.

Trish: “Yes, uncle was like that all of his life. I think he really enjoyed using people.”

And she remembers the first time they met in Marvel Feature #5, where Egghead tried to drain her mind to power his machines. Because. Batteries hadn’t been invented? Because he’s just not happy unless he’s screwing over someone else?

Second one sounds likeliest.

She also remembers the time he car bombed her car but siphoned out most of the gas first.

Trish: “He didn’t want to kill me... only maim me. Nice guy, my uncle.”

Yeah. Its stories like that why its only Trish and Hank also Fred Sloan on a boat at Egghead’s funeral. Yeah, by the way, this is basically Egghead’s funeral.

Fred is only here for Trish.

Hank reacts to Fred so I wondered if he’s important in some way or if Hank recognized him but I checked the wiki and his main importance seems to be... this issue? So I don’t know why Hank reacts to the guy.

So Fred is just here for Trish. Trish is here out of duty, since she was Egghead’s only known family. And Hank is also only here out of duty but more archnemesis ‘can’t believe that asshole is dead and I don’t even get to feel good about it’ duty. I assume.

Hank even gets the honor (?) of laying Egghead to rest. By dumping his ashes into New York harbor.

Mostly because it doesn’t seem like Trish wants to?

So Hank quotes some Mark Twain and dumps the ashes.

Hank Pym: “‘Death... the only immortal who treats us all alike, whose pity and whose peace and whose refuge are for all -- the soiled and the pure, the rich and the poor, the loved and the unloved.’ Farewell, Egghead.”

Trish: “It’s awful to say this -- but I can’t find it in myself to be sorry. I think I’m glad he’s dead.”

And that’s Egghead’s legacy. Mourned by no one. And his death is only not cheered because the only people that cared feel shitty about feeling glad he’s dead.

ANYWAY, there’s some other loose ends to tie up.

So Hank takes a taxi to the Avengers Mansion and I guess finally explicitly explains why the mansion has seemed to change positions over time?

Hank Pym: “I never thought I’d be coming here again. The place has certainly changed since the day Jan and I met here with Iron Man, Thor, and the Hulk to draft the Avengers charter and by-laws. And I still recall the time Iron Man and Thor moved the mansion back from the street to give us more privacy. What a project that was!”

Sounds like a heck of a noodle incident, Hank.

... Why just Thor and Iron Man? Did they... did they literally just shove the mansion back from the street? ... There’s... basements and caves under there. How does that work? That seems like a massive architectural project.

Hank, pls, I need to know more details. You can’t just drop that information and casually stroll away. HANK!

Captain Marvel meets Hank at the door and escorts him inside, captain marveling at how calm Hank is despite everything he’s been through.

Hank shows up to the Avengers meeting and-

Oh god, She-Hulk looks like she wants to punch the suppressed emotions right out of Jan. She-Hulk, pls.

So, Wasp is super formal, calling Hank Dr. Pym and telling him that they want to use the mento-scan helmet to see if he was under outside influence when he did all the very bad things he did.

All of the Avengers are harboring their own concerns.

She-Hulk: “I’ve read legal briefs that were more informal! She’s cool on the surface, but inside -- ! Jannie, why are you doing this to yourself?!”

Are you guys already at the cute nickname stage of your friendship or is that just the way She-Hulk be?

Cap is worried that this is rough on Jan but that she’s doing what she needs to do as the Avengers chairwoman. But he’s more worried about the absence of Iron Man who is still missing and who ignored three calls to assemble.

Thor is just internally like ‘just do the helmet, my dude.’

Hawkeye is literally biting his lip at the tension.

Hawkeye: “Jan divorced Hank after his last breakdown. If we find out that he wasn’t to blame, what’s it gonna do to the both of ‘em? I hate this! That stupid court hearing was a breeze in comparison.”

Huh, Hawkeye has a point. Even if outside influence is proven, its not as straightforward as Jan and Hank instantly getting back together, no harm no foul. There was harm. And the problems with their relationship were deeper than one incident. But it would also create this possible expectation that they should get back together because the specific incident wasn’t Hank’s fault.

And Captain Marvel is still looking at this from an outsiders’ perspective.

Captain Marvel: “They’re really hurting over this... all of them! They all care so very, very much. If I ever become a fully active Avenger, I pray that I can live up to their example.”

So Hank very calmly agrees to use the helmet. But...

Hank Pym: “Sorry... no outside influences. It would have changed a lot of things if there had been, wouldn’t it? But no, I made my own mistakes... and I have to live with them.”

Thiiiiis was the best decision for the story arc. It may seem, in retrospect, the worst decision in the long run, but I can respect the story for standing by what it has done and standing by the growth Hank has had as a result of everything that happened.

I think a lot of more modern marvel comics have gone a little wild with letting the heroes do all kinds of dubious things and also die because it can be easily undone. It was a Skrull, they were being mind-controlled, it was an AU Nazi version of them created by a cosmic cube child. Or by giving the hero some big redemptive moment like Iron Man wiping his mind to make up for doing Civil War. Or Iron Man dying to make up for Civil War 2. You can explore whatever scenarios you want without worrying about dealing with the consequences long-term.

But in this era of Marvel, they were concerned with the long-term. Not to say that there weren’t cop-outs back in this day too. But since books were expected to keep going indefinitely instead of being cancelled and relaunched, there’s less of a sense of ‘this thing is only here to play with for a little while.’ If you wrote a thing, another writer was expected to follow up on it.

And I miss that a little.

So not giving a cop-out bullshit thing that undoes Hank’s actions was bad in the long run for his image as a character. But that’s a long way from now problem, exacerbated by writers like Chuck Austin and Mark Millar who wanted to wallow in it.

For an arc where Hank fell from grace and proved himself again, taking ownership of what a garbage fire his life can be was necessary.

One among many reasons I probably won’t like the Crossing when I get to it, haha.

With Hank’s actions proven as being Hank’s actions, Hank says there’s one more loose end that he wants to help tie off.

He wants to participate as witness when the Avengers hold a court of inquiry for Hawkeye killing Egghead.

This comes as an absolute surprise to Hawkeye, who I guess never read the bylaws. Which honestly, is very in-character for him.

But it being brought up, he insists that all he has to do is enter the findings of the state judge and be done with it.

Hank insists he participate though.

Hank Pym: “Hawkeye is faced with charges because he acted in my defense. It’s only right that I act in his.”

So, the Avengers go to the first floor library, which is apparently the court of inquiry room. I feel like we’re suddenly getting a lot of details about the layout of the Avengers Mansion in recent issues.

So Wasp convenes the court all formal style, so formal style that Hawkeye thinks that stickler Cap(tain America) couldn’t have done a better job. The purpose of the court of inquiry is to determine the validity of the charge of “unreasonable use of deadly force” and determine what if any proper disciplinary action should be taken.

I think Hawkeye is annoyed at having to go through with this (read the bylaws, my dude) because when Wasp asks if he has anything to add to his claim of innocence of the charge, he says he already gave the court copies of the court transcript that cleared him of the same charge, but also decides to speechify a little, because he wasn’t accused of contempt of court enough today.

Hawkeye: “I have already given the chair copies of the transcript of a hearing of the state courts... a hearing which found me not guilty of the same charge. And I have something else to say as well!”

“I don’t deny that my actions caused the death of Egghead. But in no way did I use undue force! I found Hank Pym in mortal danger, and I used the necessary means to save him... period. After all, we are supposed to be the Avengers, right?”

Luckily for Hawkeye, the Avengers are more willing to put up with him than a state court so Jan just goes ‘ok, noted.’

Captain Marvel also has a minor change of heart on Hawkeye. I don’t think we’ve gotten her in-depth feelings on him before (although he did get pissy about her joining the team, we didn’t see her response to that) but she’s impressed because she thought he had more wind than conviction but is seeing that isn’t so. And she’s also impressed by Serious Mode Jan who she thought was kind of flighty.

Captain Monica Marvel seeing all kinds of new sides of the Avengers lately.

Also, this isn’t important and you won’t be able to see what I mean unless I included more caps than I wanted to, but in the panel establishing the court of inquiry, Monica is just standing off to the side. But in the next panel she appears in, she’s moved over to sit on a couch instead.

I think its a framing thing but its still kind of funny to imagine her going ‘wait why am I standing up’ and heading for the comfy couch.

With Hawkeye’s statement given, Wasp invites Hank Pym to speak his piece.

And Hank gets up and gives an entirely unnecessary but probably appreciated defense of Hawkeye.

Hank Pym: “Ladies and gentlemen... I have not always been on the friendliest of terms with Hawkeye. Point of fact, we nearly came to blows a number of times... back in the days when I was an Avenger. But in all the time I’ve known him, Hawkeye has never used undue force.”

“I realize that this inquiry is little more than a formality. I have no doubt that you will find in his behalf. He did, as he said, act only in my defense. Unlike my own recent case before you, there is not the slightest hint of misconduct or negligence. The only thing Hawkeye is guilty of is being a good Avenger.”

“When I last spoke before this body, at my court-martial, I was not in a rational state of mind. I was unfit to be an Avenger. You wisely expelled me. I never expected to speak before you again. And now, I can think of no finer final statement than this... It has been my sincere honor to have known Hawkeye’s fellowship... as it has to have known yours.”

Okay. So. Half a defense of Hawkeye. And half... just a general good-bye and a demonstration that he actually does know how to deliver a defense at a court-martial. Cool.

I imagine if he had a mic, he would have dropped it.

Probably not, actually. Hank isn’t that exact blend of cool and inconsiderate for a mic drop.

Jarvis intercepts Hank on his way out and asks that he come with him to the second floor study. Jarvis has taken the liberty of gathering up the personal items Hank just kind of left in the mansion and packing them for him.

One suitcase has a bunch of Hank’s clothes that he had stashed in the mansion over the years. Including some wacky ties for wacky tie Fridays and a shirt that Hank had just plumb lost.

The other suitcase is a spare Yellowjacket outfit. In case Hank ever needs it.

Then Hank and Jarvis shake hands, Hank thanking Jarvis for everything that he’s done for him and the Avengers. He asks Jarvis to take care of himself because he knows he doesn’t have to ask him to take care of the Avengers.

This is a very touching scene. Its so touching that Jarvis excuses himself to go get misty eyed.

This is a Jarvis appreciation blog because I appreciate Jarvis as well.

Then, as Hank heads back down the staircase, he is intercepted by Thor, Captain America, and Hawkeye.

Yeah, the court of inquiry resolved off-screen because of how forgone a conclusion it was.

The three Avengers basically fall all over themselves to pat Hank on the back. Hank actually looks somewhat panicked by the positive affirmation.

That’s some mixture of funny and sad that I can’t identify.

Hawkeye tells Hank how much he appreciated his unnecessary defense. Thor clasps Hank’s shoulder and tells him he’s a class act, but in Thor-y words. And Cap extends an offer for whatever the Avengers can do to help Hank get back on his feet.

Hank thanks him for the offer but he’s already received an offer from a small research foundation in the Midwest.

Seems like getting exonerated of a treason charge is the best resume of all. That and Hank’s actual impressive resume.

But Cap has some stuff to work out re: Hank because he starts off on the stuff he put on the back burner back in that Ghost Rider issue.

Cap(tain America): “Hank... I know Iron Man would agree, if he were here, that we’re all sorry about the way things worked out. We should have realized the pressures you’d been under, prior to your breakdown. I was group leader at the time! I should have -- !”

Hank Pym: “Hold it right there, Cap! What I did, I did to myself! If I could have admitted that my problems existed... If I’d been willing to open up to you folks... Well, ‘if’ can be a big word sometimes. The fact of the matter is, I screwed up. And you did the only thing you could do! I don’t blame any of you.”

Hank has boarded the personal responsibility train and goddammit he’s riding it to the end of the line!

Good for him. Good clarity for the arc to have in its last issue.

But having started to slightly shout at the Avengers that he’s taking responsibility dammit! (he looks a bit pissed when he’s responding to Cap) Hank awkwardly excuses himself.

Cap tries to stop Hank from leaving because he has reached the bargaining stage of grief, I guess.

Cap: “Hank, wait! It doesn’t have to end like this! We could make a special amendment to the by-laws! We could reinstate you as an Avenger! You could be a special reservist -- !”

Hank: “Thanks, Cap. But no thanks. Trying to play super hero was the biggest mistake I ever made with my life! I was only fooling myself in ever thinking otherwise. But if you ever really think you might need a Yellowjacket again some day...”

He hands Cap the Yellowjacket suitcase.

Hank: “... Here! All you need is a good man and what’s in this case!”

I would hope, anyway. It’s going to be awkward if he opens it up later and its full of wacky ties.

The funny thing, although not really funny ha ha, is that Yellowjacket is the one codename of Hank’s that never really catches on outside of him.

You have multiple Ant-Men, a couple Goliaths, at least one other Giant-Man. There was a second Yellowjacket, eventually. But she didn’t make a big splash.

Despite Hank’s attempt here to pass the torch, Yellowjacket is a codename that remains inextricably tied to him. Which might be the problem. If there were another, more successful or at least more endearing Yellowjacket, Hank’s infamy in the role would not stand out so much.

Alas.

She-Hulk and Captain Marvel try next to intercept Hank. They don’t know him very well but they wanted to say their goodbyes too, despite not really knowing him that well.

Its the thought that definitely counts, probably.

But Hawkeye has some social awareness for a change and draws their attention to Wasp who is hanging back, but who clearly wants to talk to Hank.

So the rest of the Avengers quickly vacate to let Hank and Jan finally have closure. Or re-closure. “I want a divorce and to never see you again” is a kind of closure.

The situation has changed, however.

They both try to apologize to each other and then laugh at the awkwardness.

Hank: “Janet van Dyne, you are one in a million! After all that I put you through, you want to tell me that you’re sorry?”

Wasp: “I think we both made some mistakes along the way, but there were some good times... weren’t there?”

Hank: “Yes. But you can’t base a marriage on just a few good times. I fell for the young lady who reminded me of my first wife... and you thought you’d found the strong, silent hero. But I was never that strong, Jan. You know that now.”

Wasp: “Uh-huh.”

Damn, his prison time really did bring Hank a lot of clarity. That or the pile of therapists Tony kept throwing at him.

Hank also kind of talks over Jan here. Or at least steers the conversation. I don’t know what Jan would have said because Hank tells her that they both have other lives to lead and tells her to take care of herself.

Maybe its for the best, if, like Cap, she was going to try to shoulder all the blame for Hank’s bad decisions.

Hank walks out the door and finds Trish and Fred from the boat waiting to give him a ride to the airport. And then he is gone.

Like in the final image of the COURT-MARTIAL issue, Jan watches at the window.

“The last time Henry Pym left these walls, Janet felt like crying... but couldn’t find any tears. Today, at last, she has found the tears... for her former husband... for her team... for herself. Today, there is pain and remorse and release. There will be time enough for joy and hope tomorrow.”

Emotional catharsis can be like that.

In that the book kept going ‘Jan is really holding her emotions in and that’s probably not overall great for her’ its good that she can let it out now.

Kind of laughing at Captain Marvel and She-Hulk who only recently just met Jan being the ones going there there while the men she has known for years are just awkwardly standing in the background.

And that’s the fall and rise of Hank Pym. Apparently collected in trade as The Trial of Yellowjacket, which is a decent enough name too.

Overall, a good arc. That is kind of hampered by the need for filler and a writer change near the end. But honestly, Stern catches the ball and runs with it. He concludes the arc just as good as Shooter would’ve.

This arc is all kinds of iconic for Hank, although, unfortunately, most people are only aware of the beginning and maybe have a hazy understanding of what the ending does.

Although. This is a really good send-off for Hank. A really, really good send-off that would have worked best if he did like he said and quit superheroing forever.

That’s not to be, obviously, not in a perpetual narrative machine like Marvel. But it feels like it could have been and maybe should have been the last word on his character.

I enjoy Hank in Busiek’s Avengers and in Avengers Academy. And also, conceptually, Hank telling Reed “it’s on, bitch.” I very don’t enjoy Ultimate Hank Pym. So its a balancing act. The perfect exit for the character vs but I like some stuff when they brought him back.

Anyway.

After this, Stern gets to move on to his own material. Which he already planted the seeds for in this issue.

That’s a pun.

Follow @essential-avengers​ because of my bad puns. Also like and reblog, if you like to reblog.

#Avengers #Egghead #Masters of Evil #Hank Pym #Hawkeye #the Wasp #Captain America #Thor #She Hulk #Captain Marvel #Monica Rambeau #i did a lot of quoting because the comic has some good quotables here #essential avengers #essential marvel liveblogging

[collectsfallenstars]

Gravity: A Summary of the Development of Jeong TaeEul’s Feelings for Lee Gon in “The King: Eternal Monarch (Part 1 of 3)

*spoiler warnings for episodes 1-8*

I’m responding to a specific point that critics have raised about “The King: Eternal Monarch having a slow pace while the romance between the leads have happened at an extremely fast pace.  That, or there has been no development whatsoever.  In the K-drama world, yes it was fast, but in my humble opinion, just because it was fast doesn’t mean it was underdeveloped.  I think it had to be that way because of the kind of characters they were created to be.  And I am going to try and prove this by tracing the development of Jeong Tae-eul’s feelings from the first episode to the 8th only.  I’m leaving Lee Gon out because his emotional journey is different from Jeong Tae-eul’s and he comes into the series with his feelings almost fully developed.  The one that needs to catch up is Jeong Tae-eul so I will follow her.

Now, let’s look at these two characters.

Lee Gon is a mathematician and well versed in scientific matters.  He is a man of logic, relentless in the pursuit of a final answer to any equation. He comes into the series already half in love with Jeong Tae-eul.  Upon seeing that she exists, he pursues her.  His character’s conflict now is how to convince Jeong Tae-eul that what he feels for her is real.  But before he even gets there, he first has to prove that his identity as the King of Corea is also real.  Aside from this, he also has his own emotional journey to take on but that’s another discussion.

This one is about Jeong Tae-eul because it might seem baffling that she spent 6 episodes seemingly annoyed and exasperated with Lee Gon’s crazy declarations of King-ness and her utmost importance in his life, and then suddenly came running into his arms by the 7th episode and ended up confessing to him by the 8th.   It’s not that baffling if you take a closer look at her character.

Jeong Tae-eul is a taekwondo master, detective, not very good in math and science, but well versed in chicken and beer.  What with her being a detective, one would think that she would be as logical as Lee Gon.  She is.

But she and Lee Gon do not have the same kind of logic.  Lee Gon can grasp non-material knowledge like theorems and possibilities of other worlds from a theoretical point of view and only cancel them out when they are proven incorrect.  Like a mathematical equation.  It’s also why, between the two of them, he’s the more romantic one.  But Jeong Tae-eul’s logic is that of a flat-earther. I’m not sure if that brand carries the same stigma in South Korea as it does in the west, but I’m sure that the writer, Kim Eun-sook, did not mean to make her look like a nutter by branding her a flat-earther.  It just means that she’s one of those people who need to see something first before they believe it.  It’s also why she speaks so bluntly.  She says what she needs to say as honestly as possible because she demands the same kind of transparency in order for her to believe someone else.

She was also never really good in school, particularly in math. (Okay, science too.) Even Kang Shin-jae knows it as shown by his tired expression during the time they went on a stakeout.  This means abstract concepts like square roots, quantum mechanics, and parallel worlds fly over her head.  She relies on physicality to navigate the world. That’s what Taekwondo, a contact sport, gives her.  She perceives the world through her senses.  Eating fried chicken and drinking beer satisfy her body, her sense of taste and smell. They’re real to her and so she likes doing it. But if she can’t hold them, see them, smell them, taste them, and hear them, then they do not exist.  

And this is why, when Lee Gon couldn’t produce his identification papers when they first met at Gwanghwamun Square, refused to tell her his name, and told her he lived in a parallel world, it drove her up the wall.  

“IF YOU KNEW I WOULDN’T BELIEVE YOU, WHY SAY SUCH BULLSHIT? SHOW ME YOUR ID”

“I DON’T HAVE AN ID BECAUSE I AM WHO I AM”

If she can’t believe that he’s the unnameable King of Corea, how else is she going to believe that she is as important to him as he says she is?

In Episode 2, she gets his money, fingerprints, and DNA tested – methods she knows will work, and trust to do so. In Episodes 3 – 4, the fingerprints and DNA turn up with nothing.  The money, despite appearances, is proved to be genuine by Forensics by the 4th episode. But her first clue that Lee Gon might actually be telling the truth was his diamond button.  A legitimate jeweler accepted it in exchange for cash in the 2nd episode.

But it wasn’t until the 4th episode that the pieces of evidence began to stack up to support Lee Gon’s claims.  When he left to go home and Jeong Tae-eul saw that Maximus was gone from her yard, she actually searched for Lee Gon’s  movements through CCTV footage.  She found him disappearing into the bamboo forest and that was it. Although she couldn’t confirm that he had an actual home, the fact that he had disappeared into somewhere told her that he must have one.  It was also on the 4thepisode when she lost her ID card and it was reissued to her exactly on the date that Lee Gon told her it would be—Nov. 11, 2019.  This shakes her to the core because her flat world just wavered. And when Lee Gon reappears at the end of episode 4, she tests him about her ID picture and asked if it her hair was up or down and what she was wearing.  He answers correctly and seeing that he was finally getting through to her, he asks the very thing a flat-earther, taekwondo master, detective would want to hear,

“DO YOU WANT TO SEE FOR YOURSELF? COME WITH ME TO MY WORLD.”

She says yes and when she crosses over that barrier, all the flat-earthing walls she put up to protect herself came crashing down.  And when she lands in the Kingdom of Corea to the tune of his guards calling him, “Your Highness,” she finally gets the two things she had asked of him back in episode 2.

“I AM THE KING OF THE KINGDOM OF COREA.  AND MY NAME, WHICH YOU CANNOT SAY, IS LEE GON.”

He does have a home. He does have a name. He is a king.  This means that everything he ever said was true – including the way he feels for her.

Now, I know what you’re going to say.  She can’t have fallen in love with him in one day just because he’s got a home and a name. Honestly though, I’m pretty sure most of us have fallen in love with undeserving men for less than that.

Episode 5 may have been very significant when it came to a shift in her feelings but, things have been brewing beneath the surface since their first meeting.  She just put a lid on it because she couldn’t properly identify him and what he was.  Now that she has no excuse anymore, standing on his kingdom and even brazenly saying his name aloud, she’s now forced to confront this strange pull that this man has on her. It took her 8 episodes to explore this gravitational pull she has with this man and it is developed in an uneven pace.  

Episodes 1 – 4 are slow paced but with a huge amount of screen time.  By the 5th episode, their interactions become fast and heavy, but they begin to share less screen time together, making all their moments even more bittersweet up up until the 8th episode when Jeong Tae-eul properly tells him that she loves him.

EPISODE 1

On their first meeting, he hugs her with his eyes wide open.  He has pined after her for 25 years. What started out as deep gratitude for his savior had grown into a balm for his lonely existence as a young monarch. He wanted to find her and he did.  This is probably why he couldn’t even close his eyes when he embraced her—someone he had searched for for so long was finally in his arms and he didn’t want to miss a minute of it.

EPISODE 2

In the precinct, Jeong Tae-eul continues to interrogate him much to her annoyance but didn’t miss the fact that he said, “I have finally met you.”  Her brain tells her this is strange, but obviously, not enough to make her fall.  Nevertheless, it got her attention. And his answer will continue to boggle her mind.

“I WAS CURIOUS ABOUT YOU AND I THOUGHT ABOUT YOU A LOT. YOU ALSO LOOK BETTER IN REAL LIFE”

She gets a weird answer, and then a compliment. Her brain latches on to the weird answer and sets aside the compliment.  However, the weird answer also suggests the pre-existence of a connection between them that she knows nothing about. This draws her into his mad world.  

“THE PROOF IS RIGHT IN FRONT OF YOU.  I CAME FROM THE OTHER WORLD.”

He fixes his steady gaze on her after saying this.  The subtext here is, “I came from the other world to find you. I exist now, because of you. And now you’re questioning my existence when you’re at the root of it all.” But of course, all this is lost on JTE. However, she does notice that something more is bubbling beneath his words and his very still form because she then asks,

“WHY DO YOU LOOK AT ME LIKE THAT?”

“HOW ELSE SHOULD I LOOK AT YOU?”

He answers maddeningly. He says this in a teasing manner, breaking his intense eye contact.  But even if the manner is meant to irritate her, it also carries another layer of meaning known only to Lee Gon and the audience, “I don’t know any other way to look at you except with awe and love given that I’ve spent the last 25 years searching for your shadow.”

All throughout this episode he drops heart bombs on her one after another, including a proposal/command to marry.

“ARE YOU LEAVING? WHY? DON’T GO. IT TOOK 25 YEARS FOR ME TO MEET YOU.  I HOPE TODAY WILL BE A LONG DAY.”

“I HAVEN’T DECIDED YET. I SHOULD HAVE, BUT I POSTPONED IT FOR LATER. I LIKE BEING HERE WITH YOU LIKE THIS.”

“JTE I TAKE YOU TO BE MY WIFE, THE QUEEN.  YOU JUST BECAME THE REASON WHY I SHOULD STAY IN THIS WORLD.”

However, she ignores all this, ridicules him, or changes the subject. Also, she behaves this way because she doesn’t seem to have any romantic bone in her body.  However, only this one incident seems to have visibly affected her. He plays up the entire issue of tasting food for poison before he eats their chicken dinner and uses it to tell her this:

“THANK YOU FOR EVERYTHING. BECAUSE YOU EXISTED SOMEWHERE, I WAS LESS LONELY FOR THE PAST 25 YEARS.”

For one, imagine being someone’s salvation from a lonely life for 25 years.  It was a declaration too heavy and too earnest to dismiss and Jeong Tae-eul stares at him, almost frozen. You can see her lips move so minutely, it would be easy to miss, as if she’s trying to say something, respond or change the subject as she usually does when she’s made uncomfortable by his sudden declarations of affections.  But for the first time, she can’t.  It is Lee Gon who changes the subject by advertising the chicken he’s eating.  

Her inability to dismiss this shows that she listened to him this time.   She doesn’t believe his words yet at this point, but something in the way he said them made it hard for her to respond in her usual brusque manner. This stays with her.

Towards the end of the episode, she left Lee Gon standing alone in the middle of her yard, possibly cold and hungry, to grab some chicken and beer with Sin-jae and Eun-sop.  However, upon remembering what Lee Gon told her last night, about being the the reason why he hadn’t been too lonely and trying to find a reason to stay in this world, she went back for him.  She actually gives up chicken and beer for Lee Gon.

EPISODE 3

Lee Gon’s geeky comparison of Jeong Tae-eul to Zero was beautiful but I’m pretty sure she understood none of it. I understood only half.  Having understood none of it, she remains unaffected. His DNA results haven’t been out at this point in time yet so she remains doubtful and issues a challenge for him to take her to his parallel world.

Their walk through the bamboo forest, fruitless of course, irritated her. But three things of significance happened that time. She found out from him that his parents died and that his first duty as king at 8 years old was to bury his father.  Just like before, she couldn’t respond to this and it is Lee Gon who changed the subject when her face started showing signs of distress.  He doesn’t know it yet, but Jeong Tae-eul’s mother passed away when she was very young so she knew a thing or two about losing a parent.  And she just realized that Lee Gon lost both of his.

Being able to put herself in his shoes makes him real person for her, a scary thought for someone who still doesn’t believe anything he says.  And because Lee Gon allowed himself to be vulnerable, to be open, with her, it became easy for her to do the same for him.

When he asked her a personal question about why she chose to be a cop, she had actually answered honestly.  This event is the 2nd significant event for this episode.

“WHY DID YOU DECIDE TO BECOME A COP? IT’S A DANGEROUS JOB.”

“NOT EVERYONE IN THE WORLD CAN BE BRAVE.  SO I DECIDED TO BECOME BRAVE.”

This was probably the first real connection they ever made.  It will be later revealed in one of those extended flashback scenes in Episode 4 how they had this actual conversation in the bamboo forest.  But as of Episode 3, this detail about one of her most important life choices is revealed by showcasing Jeong Tae-eul and Kang Shin Jae fighting a pack of goons while at work, while the voices of Lee Gon and Jeong Tae-eul having this short conversation are played on screen throughout the fight, as Lee Gon observed them from a distance.  This might make him look like a ponce, like a King who would never dirty himself with a street fight. But what this scene shows is how Lee Gon respects her as a soldier, a warrior even.  

Now, given that Lee Gon knows why she became a cop and how important it was to her, he had respected her enough to not intrude in her fight, in her work.  This is Lee Gon recognizing how capable she was to fight and defend herself, and trusting in her abilities enough to not intervene.  And for a woman who prides herself in her strength, this would register in her mind, despite Lee Gon still being a source of annoyance to her at that point.

And lastly, on their way back, he put his coat over her shoulders because in the middle of her frustrated rant earlier about following him on this foolish errand, she said she was cold.  This appeared to have touched her quite a bit.  She has been helpful to him, yes.  But she had also been mocking him, ridiculing him, and doubted him every step of the way.  And yet here he was, still being very considerate of her. This also means, he listens to her.  How can that not be attractive for any woman? A man who actually listens.

EPISODE 4

“SO THAT’S MY STORY. TELL ME WHAT KIND OF KING YOU ARE. A YOUNG, HANDSOME, AND RICH KING?”

More of their conversation in the bamboo forest is revealed in this episode.  This line is significant for both Lee Gon and Jeong Tae-eul. By asking him this question, sincerely, without any trace of sarcasm or ridicule, she opens herself up to the possibility that he has been telling the truth about who he is all this time. She openly acknowledges his identity as a king, for the first time.  And if you look at her eyes, they are a little softer now, not as sharp as when they bicker. (Of course, the bickering can be considered foreplay or unresolved sexual tension.) Anyway, this goes without saying that her question was sincere too, in response to his earlier sincerity.  She genuinely wanted to know what kind of king he was. Furthermore, she also openly acknowledges his handsomeness.  She has eyes, of course she knows.  She stated it as an observation. Now, it’s supposed to be a compliment, but she cleverly sandwiched it inside a question, so it doesn’t look she gave it at all.  This could very well be a very very mild case, of Jeong Tae-eul flirting. But just a mild one.

Deeper into the episode, we see her in the library, reading up on the existence of a parallel universe.  So now, she’s also acknowledging the possibility that he could have been telling the truth about where he lived.  So she sits there, trying to learn his world.  An episode ago, he sat in the same library, on a chair opposite hers, trying to learn about her world.  And then we are treated to a beautiful split screen of Lee Gon, sitting in the same library, but in his world, missing her, not knowing that across the universe, she was doing the same thing.  She’s not exactly missing him with the same fervor as he is with her.  But she is making leaps in bounds in the romance department here because she is essentially trying to learn more about him.  You know when you have a crush on someone who likes Star Trek, and you’ve never seen an episode, you start to look up stuff about it, trying to learn something that is of interest to him so you can have common ground? That’s kind of what she’s doing here. She is trying to understand him. It is ironically at this point where they are farthest from each other, that they were actually becoming closer.

By this time though, all the evidence Jeong Tae-eul has of Lee Gon all point to the fact that he was telling the truth (button, DNA, fingerprint, money bill, disappearing into the bamboo forest from the CCTV).  Then the last piece of the puzzle came to her in this episode – her ID card issued on Nov. 11, 2019. So by the time Lee Gon showed up at the end of this episode, she had no excuses left. Everything he told her had been proven true, and all pointed towards an existence beyond her world.  She tried to test him one more time by asking what she wore and how her hair looked in her new ID picture.  HE answered both correctly in the most tender way possible, because he wasn’t just answering her question. He was reliving every day he had spent staring at her picture for the last 25 years!) Anyway, when he answered both questions correctly, the flat-earther in her was left with no more questions except for the first two that she had ever asked of him.  His name. His home.  And because he had waited until he had gotten rid of all her other questions save for those two, the moment he asked her,

“DO YOU WANT TO SEE FOR YOURSELF? COME WITH ME TO MY WORLD.”

there really was nothing left to do but to give in to whatever was pulling her to Lee Gon and his world.  She wanted to know those answers.  She wanted to know him. And of course, the start playing Kim Jong Wan’s “Gravity” in the background. A song about surrendering to an undeniably pull you feel towards someone who is destined for you.

#thekingeternalmonarch #lee gon #jeong tae eul #jung tae eul #kimgoeun #leeminho

[queenangst]

weekly fic roundup #4 (bnha)

weekly fic roundups cover boku no hero academia fanfiction, and generally showcases gen whump fic.

for more fic recs, check out my fic rec tag & my weekly fic roundups.

*due to the sheer amount of fics i’m reccing this week, this fic is going under a read more cut, but please go through and take a look at all of them! there’s around 24 fics on this list.

this weekly fic roundup covers the week mar 8-15.

Tristeza by ViolentlyRed

gen; 6/5k; 1/1 complete; bakugou & aizawa

"Through the lenses of three AM, Bakugou looks a lot smaller in the streetlight of a hospital parking lot."

Or, Aizawa comes to a few conclusions in the span and the aftermath of one long, stressful night.

(Bakugou is hurt and sick and Aizawa is robbed of his sleep and his sanity, yet again)

thoughts: ugh, what a good fic. it hurts in all the right ways, and dadzawa and hurt!bakugou is satisfying in a visceral way.

Wonders Never Ceased by ViolentlyRed

gen; 2.6k; 1/1 complete; bakugou & aizawa

Two calamitous days.

He gets the call from Tsukauchi sometime around nine in the morning.

Or, everything is awful, Bakugou is not okay, Aizawa's heart aches and they somehow get through it.

thoughts: and another bakugou whump from the same author. really a treat.

In Harm’s Way by VIKAN

gen; 19.7k; 1/1 complete; todoroki, kirishima, & bakugou

Todoroki isn't feeling so good, Kirishima is concerned, and Bakugou doesn't care at all.

thoughts: oh, yes. putting these three together makes for an interesting dynamic, especially because it’s todoroki’s pov while he’s dying just a little bit and two idiots don’t know what to do. todoroki whump!

Blooming Gladiolus, Fall to the Ground by twilighteve

gen; 19.5k; chapters 5/? ongoing

When Midoriya Hisashi finally comes home from years-long work outside the country, Izuku expected to have some family down time that he hadn’t ever had with him since… well, forever. Catching-up talk, maybe. Chatting while drinking coffee or eating ice cream at some fancy outdoor patio. Definitely fumbling around for an explanation about him developing a Quirk pretty much out of nowhere.

However, his expectations were turned upside down, because apparently, his father isn’t what he seems, and Izuku doesn’t know what to expect anymore.

What Izuku knows is that the appearance of Midoriya Hisashi triggers a domino effect that sends his whole world toppling down. And honestly, being accused of turning around and becoming a villain is just a bonus. When have life ever passed the chance to fuck him over, anyway?

thoughts: this is, hands down, my favorite fic of the week. i was completely blown away by the sheer concept of the fic. it’s so interesting, and such an original take on “villain” (in a loose sense) Hisashi that i won’t spoil, but it makes for an interesting and tense read. please read this. i absolutely lost it reading this fic.

Get Well Soon by brickboat

gen; 9k; 1/1 complete; jirou & all might

Super hearing can give you access to information that others aren't privy to.

That's not always a good thing.

thoughts: what a mess. i love fics like these that explore what consequences can come with quirks.. like overhearing things you should very much not be hearing.

Oxygen Mask by cinnabee

multi; 2.6k; 1/1 complete; izuku & bakugou (izuku/bakugou)

Static. Smoke. Heat. Katsuki's eyes land on a green lump in the corner, lit up like a ghost by an emergency lantern on the floor a few feet away. Not dreaming. Real. Deku. His fingers squeak across the respirator strapped to his own face. Deku's respirator.

OR: Katsuki wakes up trapped in a burning building with an unconscious partner, very little time, and a borrowed respirator.

thoughts: i’m a fan! [this fic is pre-relationship, so can be read platonically or romantically.]

[rec list continues under the cut]

A Simple Mistake by Silverkleptfox

gen; 5k; 1/1 complete; izuku, iida, & todoroki

It was a basic, run-of-the mill rescue, until a simple mistake from each of the heroes put Todoroki’s life in danger.

thoughts: yes, please! it’s just fun to see how mistakes can blow out of proportion and cause repercussions... 

Alexithymia by LunaLucrea

gen; 2.4k; 1/? ongoing; izuku & aizawa

After a relatively benign villain encounter during an off campus lesson, Izuku suddenly feels too much.

thoughts: intriguing start to a new fic! i’ve read the author’s other works before and am extremely excited about this one. quirk-related whump, sign me up.

A Hero for a Villain by ZeroUnitRGB

gen; 3k; 1/1 complete

“With an appearance like that, you must’ve been bullied a lot as a kid.”

Those words had not been used to disparage Shouji’s appearance. Rather, they most certainly came from a place of sympathy. Shouji had a hard time believing they were evidence of the villain’s hypocrisy, but a reflection of his own loneliness. So even though he was a hero student on the opposite path, he’d made a vow back then. And even though it had been years ago, he swore he would see it through.

thoughts: oh, shouji is so underappreciated and this fic is a great look into his character and his thoughts! i really enjoyed it. [contains heroes: rising spoilers]

Mockingbird by angst_goblin

gen; 10.8k; 2/2 complete; izuku & aizawa, izuku & all might, izuku & bakugou, class 1-a

Izuku gets de-aged to 3 years old and Shota Aizawa is really not being paid enough to deal with any of this.

thoughts: while deaging fics are usually not my fare, this fic was an absolute find and such a great read. sweet, soft, angsty, and funny - covers it all and wraps it in a package of tiny deku. 

It’s a Long Road (We All Need Help Sometimes) by TDFawkes

gen; 15.7k; chapters 10/31 ongoing; izuku & aizawa, izuku & all might

Aizawa wouldn’t say it to the boy’s face yet, but Midoriya was bound to quite the future in the hero world. Quite the natural.

That being said, Midoriya caused Aizawa many problems while in his class, ranging from slight headaches to near panic attacks.

thoughts: catching up on whumptober fic and i love seeing the whump in this one. 

seeing red by pleurer

gen; 819 words; chapters 1/1 complete; izuku & aizawa, kirishima & aizawa

Aizawa wasn’t even surprised to hear the sound of scuffling outside of the dorms at midnight. Disappointed, maybe. But not surprised.

thoughts: a short, nice read. 

Revelation by murple

gen; 4.9k; chapters 3/? ongoing

Class 1A has always known there was something different about Midoriya. It was the way All Might was closer to him than any other student. It was the way he rapidly went from having no control over his quirk to being one of the strongest in the class. It was the way he never really talked about his life before UA. It was obvious he was hiding something.

But secrets can only be kept for so long in a class of curious teenagers, especially when one of them has a quirk specially suited for eavesdropping.

OR

All Might and Izuku have another chat. Jirou shares some things that weren't meant to be shared.

thoughts: really enjoyed this one. another messy “jirou overhears something she shouldn’t have” fic, and i like how it’s turning out! i love a good secrets revealed fic. 

give me everything you have (and then some) by laurenshappenstobemyboyfriend

gen; 7.1k; 1/1 complete; izuku & shinsou

"Midoriya, which one of these guys do you think you want to manage?" the girl next to him asks. "I think the shadow quirk bird boy looks pretty powerful. I'll try and nab him after this."

Midoriya agrees, but his eyes are drawn to a different boy. The one with the mind quirk that can control anyone. The one that lost on a fluke. The one who everyone else already thinks of as a villain to be.

"I think I'll go for that one," he says, pointing to the purple haired boy. "He looks like he can be something great."

thoughts: oh, i loved this au to bits. this fic turned my heart inside-out. i loved the dynamic, and i loved seeing how management student!izuku differs from canon in both a bittersweet and touching way, and how that changes his path forward. (and his relationship with shinsou). 

Nice to Meet You? by Allwalkfree

gen; 9.5k; 11/? ongoing; bakugou & amajiki

Kirishima introduces Bakugou to his favorite senpai.

In which over several encounters Bakugou and Amajiki learn to become tentative friends.

thoughts: now this is a fic that’s won me over in terms of dynamic. bakugou and amajiki are an interesting pair, i love it.

dragged back, pushing forward by RSDobs

gen; 3k; 1/2 ongoing; izuku & todoroki

Midoriya and Todoroki just wanted a relaxing trip to go buy new All Might merch. Howevor that goes out the window when the two of them run into one of Midoriya's old middle school teachers. Specifically, the quirkist one who seemed to have it out for Izuku. Midoriya struggles not to regress into his old mindset and Todoroki struggles to help his friend.

thoughts: oh, yeah. oh, yeah. love seeing fics that bring up some painful pasts, and i like that this one focuses on izuku & todoroki. 

An Accident at Work Study by TestyCanadian

gen; 6.8k; 2/6 ongoing

Izuku is working hard to prove himself at his work study, but it's hard when Sir Nighteye has made it clear he's not wanted. But what happens when Izuku is caught in a villain attack on his way to the agency? Will a few revelations about his most recent intern's past be enough for Sir Nighteye to change his mind about All Might's successor?

thoughts: yes! yeah! we love to see it!

Spring’s Whisperings by scythian

gen; 4.7k; 1/? ongoing; tsukauchi & bakugou

Detective Tsukauchi Naomasa tries to always have good faith in people. It's tested greatly when cases get dumped onto him; such as the case of missing five year old Midoriya Izuku. Few leads and even fewer witnesses that hardly care, Naomosa can only hope for the best. Especially when the only one willing to help is young Bakugou Katsuki.

thoughts: the author and i have been talking about this au for ages and it’s finally posted. i have seen this au at its bare bones and it is now blossoming into a great fic. if you’re looking for tsukauchi fic, bakugou goodness, or izuku whump this one’s for you!

A Shared Consequence by GuardianLioness

gen; 2k; 1/1 complete; izuku & all might

The cold is not kind to injury and old bones.

thoughts: just some nice dadmight!

painting the night with sun by ADreamingSongbird

gen; 6.1k; 1/1 complete; izuku/todoroki, izuku & uraraka

Heroism is not a low-risk occupation. Hospital waiting rooms are not pleasant places. Ochako's clothes are stained with her best friend's blood.

Today has not been a very good day.

thoughts: this fic hooked and reeled me in. a fantastic read!

paid for it (with all of my blood) by theshoutingslytherin

gen; 1k; 1/1 complete; izuku & shinsou

As it turns out, Midoriya has more in common with him than Hitoshi ever realized.

thoughts: this fic, looking at it, is really sad, but i found it really emotionally charged and a good read.

you’ll blow us all away, someday by Origamidragons

gen; 2k; 1/1 complete; eri & kouta

Eri’s first day of school at UA is like coming home.

thoughts: i love eri future fic. sweet and hopeful.

And Now I See Daylight by DancingInTheStorm

gen; 8.6k; 1/1 complete

AnalysisOverload Current mood: HERO CON HERO CON HERO CON HERO CON

AnalysisOverload reblogged AnalysisOverload Okay, let’s talk HeroCon.

Look around, and you’ll see a lot of discrimination—against people whose Quirk is debilitating, against people whose Quirks scare us, against people who have trouble controlling their Quirk, against people who don’t have a Quirk at all. It’s easy to feel alone in a sea of discrimination.

Enter HeroCon:X.

A social media fic following Deku post-graduation.

thoughts: how can i ever express how much i love hero convention fics, especially through the lens of social media and with izuku? it’s a great fic that plays with not only the hero convention idea, but also with quirklessness and quirkless discrimination, and the waves that future izuku is making.

Thaw by Esselle

gen; 2.1k, 1/1 complete; izuku & todoroki, iida & todoroki

Izuku observes as Shouto learns how to fit in after the Sports Festival, with the help of Class 1-A.

thoughts: todoroki has friends! he’s making friends! funny, sweet, and class bonding.

#bnha #bnha fanfic #SO MUCH FANFIC #bnha fic rec #fic rec #weekly fic roundup #PLEASE READ THESE FICS #THERES SO MANY AND THEYRE SO GOOD #fic roundup

[yiling]

Give us a 3 for general, a 5 for ships, a 3 for story, and a 5 for fic!

Okay, 3-5-3-5 it is!

3. Manhua, donghua, novel, live-action, or audio drama?

Ah, I’m one of those plebs who didn’t know anything about the genre until CQL got big. I’ve read bits and pieces of the novel mostly for point of comparison, but I’ve yet to sit down and read it the whole way through. I’ve also made an attempt at watching the donghua but I...really don’t like the art style OTL

5. Platonic OTPs/BROTPs? Rarepairs? OT3+s?

Wow this question encompasses a lot. Here goes:

-Platonic OTPs: I love Wei Wuxian and Wen Qing’s relationship and while I’m not actually adverse to it as a romantic pairing, I’m way more interested in them as friends and allies and partners in crime, the bonds of loyalty and debt between them. (The words “thank you and I’m sorry” still crush my heart tbqh)

I also am really curious about Lan Sizhui and Wen Ning’s post canon relationship! I think there’s some really interesting stuff you could explore with their familial connection. Them traveling together feels so right and I’m really glad that’s where canon leaves them. I’m mad that their spinoff movie apparently sucked lol

Others: The Yunmeng Siblings in all their dysfunction. Whatever the hell was going on between Meng Yao and Nie Huaisang. Xiao Xingchen and A-Qing. The WWX+JC+NHS one brain cell trio. All the juniors’ friendships.

-Rarepairs: HAHA TOO MANY. The niche rarepairs in this fandom are top quality. I’ve been making noise about Xue Yang/Wei Wuxian recently because I still cannot believe that it’s a rarepair! Like, Xue Yang is flirting with everything in him in every scene they have in CQL, and the fact that they’re narrative parallels with each other is like...*chef’s kiss*. The fandom should be all over that shit

By far my rarest rarepair, though, is Wei Wuxian/Xiao Xingchen. There are three works on the archive for it, and two are in languages I don’t speak :’’’)))). I’d be fine with this one as a platonic pairing too tbh? But I just think they’d be sweet together. @veilchenjaeger wrote this banging post about why they’d get along really well and I’m quietly appropriating it as a ship manifesto.

Others: Jiggy/Xue Yang, WWX/NHS, Song Lan/Wen Ning, SL/LXC, LWJ/Jiang Cheng but it sucks and they don’t like each other, WQ/WWX sometimes, WQ/JYL

-OT3+: You should know this because I never shut up about it, but I fucking love Songxuexiao in all their component pairings and especially as a threesome. They’re just really screwed up and awful and fun, and I love seeing people in the fandom either find new ways for them to ruin each other, or wonderfully, impossibly finagle ways for them all to end up together and happy. 

I was also running my mouth about it earlier, but I’m fascinated by the idea of a Songxiao+Wangxian foursome. It would be very poignant and poetic and also really hot. This is something I’m a little surprised isn’t more popular, especially in CQL where they all get to meet while everyone is alive, but foursomes are hard to write lmao, too many limbs to coordinate

Others: 3zun. Wangningxian. LWJ/MXY/WWX.

3. You can bring one character back to life, but you must pick someone else to die in their place. Would you do it? How would this affect the story?

Man this one is ambiguous. Can I pick someone who already dies during the plot, or does it have to be someone who lives? I’d definitely do it, mostly because I think certain characters got...really shafted, so here’s some thoughts.

Going with a strict interpretation of “die in their place”, as in, “literally dies where the other character does”, I would uh. Kill Song Lan and have A-Qing be the one who survives Yi City :’’’)))))). Sorry daozhang, but not enough girls live through the plot! It would be sad as hell, but I wouldn’t mind it if the implication is that Songxiao are together in death, and I really love the idea of A-Qing as a sentient fierce corpse tagging along with the juniors. (There is an excellent fic with this premise). A-Qing is the most human of the Yi City characters, and I think she has the best chance to be happy even with all she was put through. I think having her live would be kind of bittersweet and hopeful, honestly.

Here’s an even hotter take: keep Wen Qing alive but kill Wen Yuan. THIS ONE IS ALMOST TOO AWFUL BUT LIKE...idk! The fact that Wen Qing dies is truly some bullshit and I love her relationship with WWX well enough that I’m almost willing to sacrifice poor Sizhui just to see her reaction when he comes back. I’m not 100% on board with this one, because, you know, I really love Sizhui, and I think he has tremendous thematic importance. I think a lot of things wouldn’t work as well without him. But I love Wen Qing a lot, and I really wanna see her live :((((

Look, could I just kill Sect Leader Yao? Then I can resurrect whoever :V

5. Recommend a fanfic!! Can be yours or someone else’s.

Already recced Small Medium Large (3.5k, A-Qing and juniors) up top, but it’s really fun and good, so I’ll rec it again. A-Qing gets to live and terrorize asshole sect leaders, it’s wonderful

Devil on a Bed of Bones (9k, WWX/XY) is a stellar example of my favorite rarepair and you should absolutely read it, it should get more attention! Love some banter interspersed with creeping horror. 

(and uh...I’m still pretty proud of pass the time (2.7k, A-Qing and Xue Yang) so you can read that if you like my stuff)

#sorry this took so long i had stuff to do #mdzs #cql #the untamed #mo dao zu shi #mine #asks #anon

[sanrionharbor-blog]

Thoughts on Sansa S8 Endgame

Speculations galore! Long post ahoy!

Let’s run through every possibility I can think of for the end of show-Sansa’s story (and yes, there will be many more possibilities besides these because GOT is layers upon layers, man, I’m still new to the fandom, and there’s probably a lot I’ve missed).

At the very least, let’s do this categorically.

Dead, Alive, or a Fate Worse Than Death?

1. I’d bet money that Sansa survives the whole dang thing

2. But if she does die…it could be A) Sacrifice to save Arya, Jon, and/or Bran, B) in a possible collapse of Winterfell, C) after ensuring the demise of Cersei or a similar threat, D) something worthy of a song

3. Crack Theory: Sansa Becomes the Night Queen?

Shipping...

1. Let’s start with the most popular ship: Jonsa. While I’m not personally a Jonsa fan, I neither hate it nor see it as a complete impossibility. And while I’m not personally a Jonerys fan, I neither hate it nor see it as a no-brainer. Jonsa makes sense practically (uniting Targ and Stark, North & South; they already trust one another; cousin marriage isn’t considered incest in-universe, etc.), though I’m not entirely convinced if the show goes this direction that it would be the most romantic ship ever. The best I see is that it has vibes similar to Ned/Cat when they were first married to one another; they didn’t love each other romantically at first, but it would come with time. As for political!Jon Theory making this ship possible, while I wouldn’t completely put it past the GOT universe to make Jon that cold, it honestly doesn’t jive with what I think is at the core of Jon: which is a hardscrabble sort of nobility, decency, honesty. I mean, if he was politcal!Jon, wouldn’t he have come up with a smoother way to handle Cersei in their first meeting? Anyhoot, the ship isn’t hateful. I think the biggest obstacles are the fact that, even though they are technically cousins, they were raised as brother and sister. You don’t just erase that. This is somewhat “remedied” by the fact that they were never close and Sansa pretty much treated him as a whole-lot-less-than-a-brother for most of their childhood. But GOT has never shown incestuous relationships (again, I don’t really consider historically based cousin relationships as incestuous, but it is a close family bond never-the-less) as a good thing. At all. The Targ’s went mad; Dany’s brother was creepy as fudge; UMM Jaime x Cersei dear Lord; Craster and his Merry Brood, etc. (But this mainly just spells doom for Jonerys, IMHO). So, as with anything in GOT--it’s possible, it’s also not possible, there’s undertones, but there’s undertones for the complete opposite thing happening, etc. Lastly, as for the “romantic framing” of S7, I think it falls under that same maybe/maybe-not. I LOVE Jon and Sansa’s dynamic, even if I don’t see it as romantic, even if does or does not end up romantic. It is certainly one thing: intimate. And the framing (forehead kiss, bittersweet reunion, worrying for one another’s safety) supports that at the very least. If they don’t end up romantically, Jon is the last real strong male relative that Sansa has. That’s not to diss Bran, but D&D have made him a remote magical old man stuck in a teenager’s body. In some ways, he’s dead to Sansa too (as Meera said, “You died in that cave.”). The poetry, the irony, is that the people Sansa had the most problems with in her family (Arya and Jon) are all that Sansa has left now (yes, yes, I love Bran, but again he’s acting more like a solo unit than a family unit at this point)--and she realizes how much they’ve always meant to her. Jon, and Arya for that matter, are different sides of Sansa, just as she is a different side for each of them. The parallels are lovely, and this ship could very well set sail.

2. My personal favorite: Sanrion (Sansa x Tyrion, Tyrion x Sansa, whatever the preferred parlance is). Yes, I’m biased, so this entry will be the longest--BUT, let’s remove my shipper goggles. This, to me, is just as possible as Jonsa. That is, I don’t see it as guaranteed at all, but there’s plenty to read from the text. Let’s get the trouble spots out of the way: 1) the build-up has been few and far in-between since S4 (though they did throw us a bone in S7). 2) the 50/50 chance of Tyrion dying in S8 (no, I’m not basing this on “leaks,” interviews, or what-not--I’m just using this as a baseline guess, given that this is GOT and given that Tyrion is at the center of a very dangerous web of relationships), 3) the show possibly not wanting to ask a twentysomething actress and a nearly 50-year-old actor to act out anything deliberately romantic (however, I don’t expect an on-screen ship to be anything but unconventionally romantic--I very much see it being done with subtle dialogue, color theory, ambiguous looks, an epilogue, etc), and 4) Tyrion may or may not be in love with Daenerys. None of these trouble spots spells doom for me. The greatest “doom” is simply Sansa ending up alone (thematically possible) or with someone else (also thematically possible). Let’s break down counter-points to the trouble spots, then I’ll list my reasons why this ship could sail. 1) Almost all relationships in GOT are troubled and/or unconventional, built up over one season, hidden underneath layers of symbolism, or suffer from the fact that one or both partners are either dead or seperated (by this same token, Sansa’s other popular ships, Jonsa and Sansan, also suffer the same dearth of “development” or copious screen time. Arguably, Jonsa’s foundations were mostly built over the later seasons), 2) yeah, Tyrion could die (and I would be heartbroken but not blindsided) or Tyrion could live (but I would bet money that Sansa lives through the whole thing), 3) the show already put them through the most awkward phase of their “relationship” (i.e., their wedding night, though it was toned down compared to the books) and they can still sell this relationship in any number of ways (again, dialogue, color theory, looks, just holding hands again geez Louise), 4) Tyrion’s “love” for Daenerys is incredibly debatable and may only be used as fuel for a soap opera plot that I really hope doesn’t happen, but even the director of the S7 finale said Tyrion’s main concern was political and Dinklage proposed the idea that Tyrion only “think he’s in love” with Dany, that what most people feel for Dany is awe (I’m neither a Dany fan or hater, but it’s hard to deny that she’s shocking, enthralling, powerful, attractive, a force, for lack of a better term). Now, on to the practical/thematical reasons why I think this ship would work. Let’s use letters for this, haha. A) Fairy Tale parallels/Turning Tropes Upside Down: It’s easy to read inversions of fairy tale archetypes into Sansa’s storyline, as that is what her character is naturally drawn to: songs, princesses, true love, beauty. So far in the story she has learned that looks can be deceiving; life is not a song (though I wouldn’t be surprised if GRRM turns this on its head again, and Sansa simply learns that all great tales involve sorrow and darkness as well as joy and light--i.e., bittersweet vs. simply sweet); people are not black and white (Tyrion shows her that the Lannisters aren’t necessarily all evil and Littlefinger shows her that allies, even someone who loved her mother, are not necessarily all good); etc. Just some of the fairy tales/tropes that play into Sansa’s personal storyline and the subtext of Sansa x Tyrion include: Beauty and the Beast, Psyche and Cupid, Hades and Persephone, The Princess in the Tower archetype, and many, many more (I’ll meta about it one of these days--and there are already many excellent posts under the Sansa tag that expound on these). B) The Queen Elizabeth Theory: So Sansa has parallels with two remarkable historical Queen Elizabeths: Elizabeth of York and Queen Elizabeth I.  Since this has been said by so many before, here’s a quote and link to the article as summary: “The show is based off the War of the Roses, the real-life family feud between the Lancasters and Yorks that ended with the two broods combining their houses. Since the storyline happening at the end of season seven is extremely similar to this moment in history, we can infer that GoT will follow that path...” Link  C) Character Actions Written Especially For the Show: Just to name a few: GRRM purposely changed a moment in the books to where Sansa hands Tyrion a cup instead of him having to crawl underneath a table to do so; Tyrion remains loyal to his wedding vows (and this is probably inspired by his trauma for having killed his father and lover as well) even when it was very possible that Sansa had left him high-and-dry and the marriage was, in Tyrion’s own words, a “sham marriage”; Sansa and Tyrion both stick up for one another’s character, etc., and D) Also, aren’t they technically married? :-p [There’s a lot more, but again, I’ll save that for a future meta]

3. Sansan: While there may end up being a slight possibility in the books, I don’t think show-Sansa and show-Sandor are heading in this direction. However, the same fairytale motifs play into play here: Beauty and the Beast, Hades and Persephone, etc. Also, bridge4 over on Youtube has a fabulous analysis of the “unKiss” over on his channel, which I think could pop up in some shape or form in S8. Here’s the  link

4. Sansa Alone: Also supports the Queen Elizabeth theory. Specifically, Elizabeth I “the Virgin Queen.” This would a different form of poetry/irony: Sansa, the one who wanted most to be a queen consort and be married to a handsome king and have babies, ends up as a queen (full-stop) but leverages her power as a single lady. Not my favorite ending for Sansa, as I’m Teh Unabashed Romantic, but it’s plausible, thematic, pragmatic. Only time will tell!

The Fate of the North, Night King, Direwolf Theorizing

Just spitballing various takes:

1. The war is “won” (as in mankind survives), but Winterfell or possibly the entire North is compromised. As in, perhaps they have to trade the North to the Winter King at the promise he won’t invade the rest of Westeros. Or Winterfell explodes, so the North and all of Westeros is saved but the Starks lose their home

2. The Starks deliberately blow up Winterfell, for any number of reasons. Perhaps a bunch of wights or what-nots ended up there. Perhaps the dead in the Crypts were resurrected, and this was the only way to neutralize that threat. Or something deeper and darker lurks in the Crypts, something worse than the Night King. In fact….

3. Maybe the true enemy ends up being something awoken within the Crypts of Winterfell, and the Night King is not what he seems….

4. The old gods play an unexpected role

5. The godswood is burned or ends up in splinters or is used to create a new throne (ending the age of iron, fire, blood and making this a “time for wolves”)

6. Sansa’s direwolf Lady is resurrected (of course, poor Lady is headless…) and manages to wound Cersei (if she gets her arse up north, which seems unlikely) before Cersei’s killed by whoever the heck the Valonquar is

7. Speaking of, could Ghost be the Valonquar? I mean, he was the runt, the littlest brother of the brood. Eh, dunno. I just don’t expect the Valonquar to be anything close to what we think he/she/it/them is.

8. I like the idea of parts of the ocean being permanently frozen over because of something the Night King does. Dunno why. I don’t think there’s any foreshadowing to that in the show; it just sounds cool, and represents a permanent consequence to the land. Because I do not expect there to be zero consequence for the landscape of Westeros itself. The Greyjoy’s are already kinda sorta doomed (with eunuch Theon being the last male of that line, unless Euron’s got a kid somewhere and he ends up surviving to take the throne and not be a dick about it), so it’d be a bit of tragic poetry if their islands, their seas were frozen and lifeless but thanks to their efforts the rest of Westeros is safe and their people will have to make a life on land

9. One or both remaining dragons are frozen for all timez

10. Sansa becomes Queen in the North or Queen of the Seven Kingdoms (is there really an in-between?)

Bonus

Lastly, here’s just an observation on an important part of Sansa’s storyline and character development: Arya Stark. I believe Sansa and Arya adopted different pieces of the original storylines in GRRM’s book proposal outline--not that I put much stock in the outline. Sansa was created, at first, to add tension to the Stark family. GRRM says he was surprised by Sansa’s developments; he also says he empathizes with whichever character he is currently writing, so I think he just naturally found things that he liked in Sansa that made her more than a complication device. Because his original vision included Arya as the sole Stark daughter, I wouldn’t be surprised if Sansa and Arya aren’t the result of this once singular character being developed into two very different ways. The archetypal Amazon Wild Child and the Princess in the Tower. Two sides of the same coin--or, in Ned’s words, Sansa is the sun to Arya’s moon and vice-versa. For this reason, I don’t put it past Sansa to continue developing her personal brand of Brave Northern Lady and Arya developing her personal brand of Brave Northern Lady. Because that is what they both are: brave, northern, ladies. Will Sansa find herself at the center of a love triangle? I really, really hope not, but at this point if it is gonna happen I find it much more likely with Sansa than with Arya.

#got s8 speculation #got #game of thrones #sansa #sansa stark #endgame speculation #fan theory #shipping #stark #night king #jonsa #sanrion #sansa x tyrion #tyrion x sansa #sansan #arya stark #spoilers #possible spoilers anyway #got spoilers #direwolves #the north #got s8 #tropes

[edgeofthedales]

A short birthday tribute to Robert Hardy

A little over a year ago today, Robert Hardy passed away at the age of 91. Had he lived, today would have been his 93th birthday.

(Image credit: The Stage)

Having only become aware of his work late last year, I know there are fans who are far more knowledgeable about his life and work and who could give a much more comprehensive analysis of his life and work. So, this essay will not be that.

Instead, I’d like to talk about what makes him stand out to me.

I actually had been introduced to him many years ago in the film adaptation of Jane Austin’s Sense and Sensibility. Hardy played Sir John Middleton, a kindly if boisterous member of the local gentry who shows compassion to the Dashwood sisters and whose first appearance onscreen involves having a pack of dogs travel with him in his carriage (shades of things to come, for me….). At the time, he mainly stayed in the sidelines for me although that was only because he was one in a cast of wonderful actors within a superb period film.

(Image credit: Frock Flicks)

Back then, I was rather ambivalent to period dramas and even more so to romantically themed ones, but Sense and Sensibility won me over with the high caliber of acting and film-making…of which Hardy certainly played a role.

It wasn’t until years later though, that he actually caught my eye in one of the roles he was probably best known for: Siegfried Farnon on All Creatures Great and Small.

(Image credit: Getty Images)

I had enjoyed the James Herriot books immensely when I was a teenager, but never thought to seek out the TV series until late last year. Originally, it was because I had recently became interested in Peter Davison’s work, first on Doctor Who and then on the vintage mystery series, Campion. Thus, I had fully expected to enjoy All Creatures if only to re-acquaint myself with Herriot’s charming stories and enjoy one of Davison’s most popular roles.

What I didn’t expect was how quickly I became intrigued with Hardy’s Siegfried Farnon. I remembered Siegfried as an explosive, eccentric and yet compassionate character from the books. Hardy, however, gave him even more depth on the TV series. Siegfried became hypocritical and yet charming, temperamental and yet loyal, whimsical and yet possessing sharp, clever mind.

Hardy did not shy away one inch from Siegfried’s flaws and instead showed us how those flaws were simply part of the ultimately warm, kind-hearted and yet complex person that Siegfried was. We wouldn’t want Siegfried to change who he was one bit, flaws and all, and it takes a true acting gift to bring a character like that to life while maintaining that careful balance of shortcomings and noble qualities.

Hardy also did plenty of other things besides All Creatures, of course. One thing that I enjoyed in particular was how he made use of his voice for readings and audio plays. Hardy uses pauses, changes in tone and pitch to add interest to his readings of works like H.G Wells’ The Time Machine.  I would love to hear how he handed Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes stories, but sadly, have not come across any of his audio-book readings.

Speaking of Holmes, Hardy did manage to have one role on the Granada adaptations of the Holmes stories: that of Sir Charles Milverton from the story, The Master Blackmailer. The episode is one of the longest in the Granada series for the short stories, and honestly, I can understand the temptation to spend more time with this one. Hardy makes Milverton an absolutely terrible character: condescending, odious, callous and smarmy. He doesn’t resort to the clichéd mustache-twirling techniques too many use when crafting truly evil villains. He doesn’t have to. There is an edge of danger to his Milverton that comes through despite his lack of making few direct threats.

(Image credit: I hear of Sherlock)

In fact, I think this is something that Hardy excelled at. Many of the characters he played, be they heroes or villains, were often a perfect blend of charm and menace. The mix ensured that his good guys were never too bland and that his villains remained thoroughly watchable.

One set of roles that absolutely required this sort of mix is the other series that I know Hardy best for: Hot Metal, a comedy series from the mid-80s. Hot Metal was a satire on the rise of tabloid journalism in general and on the infamous press figure, Rupert Murdoch in particular. It was an over-the-top, brutal satire of how this brand of journalism fueled an atmosphere of distrust, misinformation, and political polarization in the media and, if anything, is even more relevant today than it was back when it was on the air.

In this series, Hardy has the duel role of Terence “Twiggy” Rathbone (a clear spoof of Murdoch), a multimillionaire businessman who buys out The Daily Crucible, a failing newspaper, and Russell Spam, the editor Twiggy hires to steer the Crucible however he wishes. Both Twiggy and Russell are terrible in their own ways with Twiggy leaning toward egotism and vindictiveness and Russell having nonexistent scruples about getting the latest scoop and increasing readership.

However, despite the fact that these two are far from the protagonists of the show, Hardy manages to keep both Twiggy and Russell entertaining and intriguing. Yes, they are villains, but Hardy is wise enough to figure out that the show could get dreadfully dreary fast if he didn’t also give them an odd sort of charisma which makes it easy to laugh at them and with them even while they are being awful.

I think a detail that sums up a facet of Hardy’s acting best is a moment when Twiggy is being interviewed about his plans for the Crucible. During this interview, Twiggy tries to insist that he’s a “life-long socialist” and friend to the workers (both of which are categorically untrue). While he is spinning his lies, he has a charming smile on his face, but he is also playing with a letter opener, brandishing it like a weapon, like he fully plans on stabbing someone in the back. It’s the perfect quirk to remind us what is really lurking below the surface of Twiggy’s apparent goodwill.

It’s also the sort of detail that Hardy is a master at, going beyond just his dialogue and where his mark is onscreen to bring these characters to life.

Even toward the end of his life, Hardy demonstrated a true skill at giving depth to his characters, no matter how brief their time onscreen was. In Familia, short film by independent filmmaker, James Murray showcases this. Here, Hardy has his last film performance as Sir Ashton Leonard, a very old man who apparently has shown up for a driving lesson and ends up in a revealing conversation with the instructor, Nina. Although we are limited to watching him converse with Nina in a car, Hardy gives us a lovely, bittersweet snapshot of a man who is contemplating years gone by and the end that is surely coming soon. He does this with how his expression mirrors (or sometimes reveals) the emotions Leonard is working through during this conversation.

Honestly, I’m not sure how anyone can keep a completely dry eye when Leonard says “where I’m going, you can’t take anything with you.” It’s a heartbreaking thought, but Hardy delivers it with a quiet insight that is peaceful rather than depressing.

Perhaps that is the heart of what made Hardy such an extraordinary actor: his insight. His commitment to his characters to make them as real and as impactful as they could be, even if that impact was mainly about inspiring a laugh or sheer entertainment.

There is a lot more of Hardy’s work that I have left to discover and sadly, none of it will happen while he is still alive. However, I like to think that he’d enjoy the thought of people coming to know him through his work long after his death.

(Image credit: Move Nocitias)

So happy birthday Sir Robert Hardy (yes, he was never knighted, but really should have been). Thank you for leaving so much to those of us who will miss you.

#Random #Robert Hardy

[him-e]

Hi, I sent the original ask about a Celibate Rey ending, I don't know what discourse came out of it, I didn't see it, but I wanted to clear the air. I didn't mean to come off dismissive of female romance/sexuality or of your ship in my ask. I understand it can be exhausting to defend your perspective over and over to people who don't want to listen, so I totally get if you thought I was baiting, though. I'm sorry for the trouble or stress this caused you.

Not asking to troll or continue the discourse, but if you don’t want to continue discussing this topic please delete this. But how can you see a valid Celibate-Rey endgame going? If IX were to end with Rey on her own and to some degree happy (Since this is Star Wars, the ending has to be at least slightly happy or hopeful) what kind of an ending would it be? If Kylo dies or survives, either/or.

Hey, no problem at all, and sorry for my snappish answer (hopefully you realized I was being part tongue-in-cheek, though). Admittedly the “better off alone/celibate” argument is something that cyclically resurfaces in other ships of mine, particularly Jaime/Brienne, which made me skittish on the whole thing, particularly when it’s tied to *female agency* buzzwords and the assumption that it’s the shippers who are arbitrarily trying to force a romance on the character, rather than it being part of the character’s canon narrative (not necessarily your case, but it’s such a popular argument against the J/B ship that I’ve developed particularly nasty anticorps for it)

So re: Celibate Jedi!Rey—

Is it a technically possible endgame for her? Totally.

Is it something I would personally be okay with and find satisfying? Well, yes, if:

a) it acknowledges and gives closure to Rey’s feelings for Ben, and viceversa. This includes admitting a degree of bittersweet in the happily ever after final picture.

Just considering the force bond alone without its romantic implications, Rey and Kylo, just the two of them, are connected on a deep intimate level. This is kind of a big deal, especially for Rey, whose familial bonds were suddenly and irrevocably severed when she was little, after which she was left completely alone with no chance to find her way back to her parents (ironically, now she has a magical tracking device in her head that allows her to communicate with another person even across galaxies. From completely alone, to never completely alone even in her own head. Big deal, indeed). 

Even if the bond is broken (because Kylo dies, or else) and no overtly romantic stuff happens between them, it will still leave a mark on Rey, an empty spot where something magical used to be that can only be partially filled with familial or “muggle” love and the purpose of a “lone” Jedi path. That she would bury Kylo (or watch him leave never to return) and immediately go to join the Resistance’s party original trilogy style as if nothing sad just happened doesn’t make a lot sense to me. In fact, it would infuriate me, as I hate when characters are written as if they had some emotion switch hidden somewhere that makes them go from sad to cheerful in the blink of an eye (and tbh TLJ, for all I liked it, already went dangerously close to that, with Rey’s jarring post-proposal cheerfulness on the Falcon during the whole Crait sequence, imo). 

So if they want to go that route, they need to be ready to tinge their happy ending with a little melancholy, otherwise I won’t find it realistic at all. This especially if Kylo dies, but also if he leaves or they are separated for whatever reason. (if Kylo lives, and redeems himself, and stays, I don’t see any reason why he and Rey should not be together, tbh. I mean it’s not like there’s still a Jedi order around dictating what Rey is or isn’t allowed to do. Like Palpatine was the Senate, she is the Jedi Order now, she can make new rules, lmao)

b) it avoids attaching moralistic implications to this choice (?) of celibacy (”that’s what I’m really meant for”, or “that’s how I’ll live my life to the fullest and be truly happy”, etc).

The figure of the Jedi in SW is, at the end of the day, a caregiver. A magical warrior/monk who essentially devotes their life to other people, denying any sort of personal ambition of satisfaction for himself (self-drive is closer to the Sith way). While the extent of this self-abnegation can be reframed and repackaged in a more “progressive” light (say Rey rebuilds a Jedi order with different rules, or just chooses a different way to be a Jedi, see above), the essence of caregiving and selflessness will probably remain untouched. It’s really funny to me that the people who want this endgame for Rey are the same one who get their panties in a twist at the thought of Rey being “reduced to an emotional caregiver” for Ben (paraphrasing some anti post I’ve read recently). The point is, Celibate!Jedi Rey wouldn’t be simply choosing friendship/family/a career over romance, she’d actually sacrifice her individual (in this case, romantic/sexual) desires in order to become a caregiver for an entire community. And this isn’t something I’d consider an especially subversive or /empowering/ endgame for a female character, quite the opposite, actually. The subtext here needs to be handed carefully, particularly if her endgame involves rebuilding some sort of Jedi school for gifted children: the risk of elevating her to a self-sacrificial virgin mother archetype would be pretty high. It can be done, and it can imply Rey will find happiness in this life, but without any sort of hamfisted *inspirational moral message for little girls*, if you know what I mean.

c) it doesn’t frame Rey’s choice not to be with Kylo specifically (if it is indeed a choice on her part and not something dictated by external forces, aka Kylo’s death or the Willabeth endgame, more on that later) in a moral(istic) perspective.

no “I can’t be with you because you have been mean to people, ewww” bullshit, thank you very much. This sounds like the ultimate anti wet dream, Rey rejecting Kylo because he’s awful, and I think we’re WAAAYYYY past it with all that happened in TLJ.

I hope this clarifies things a bit!

Another anon asked me to explain what I meant with the Willabeth endgame, and:

in POTC III Will Turner kills Davy Jones, so he has to take his place as the captain of the Flying Dutchman, which is a curse for life. He and Elizabeth (who are now married) spend a last day together on an island (during which it’s implied they fuck like rabbits and conceive a child, lmao), and then, at sunset, Will says goodbye, leaving the box containing his heart to Elizabeth, to whom he says, “will you keep it safe for me?”. It’s heartbreaking and a bit sadistic tbh but also incredibly romantic.

How does this apply to Reylo?

Well, Kylo could be 

sentenced to lifelong exile on a remote planet, or 

imprisoned for life, or 

going on exile on his own will, or 

leaving to form a new order of darksiders (or something) as he feels he has no place among the Good Guys and has Redeemed Himself But Not Really, or 

sentenced to death and then promptly freed by Rey, who urges him to leave never to return, for his own safety, or

in general, literally or metaphorically cursed to live an existence separated from Rey as a form of atonement alternative to death;

and Rey obviously can’t follow him, because she can’t and won’t abandon her place among the Resistance, and they both know this, but it doesn’t stop them for wanting each other and swearing they will wait for each other forever, cue pants-dropping emotional final goodbye scene which, while offering complete closure, leaves the possibility of a future reunion entirely possible.

Why do I think it’s a valid scenario?

it’s a good compromise between endgame Reylo and Celibate!Jedi Rey;

Kylo gets to Suffer ™, as y’all hope for;

an unwritten but very common and wise rule of storytelling (whether or not you agree with it) is that a couple who can’t be together NOW is more interesting than a couple who is Just Together and chillin’ on the sofa or something, so this endgame leaves things open enough to be further explored in hypothetical tie-in canon material (comics, novels, tv adaptations, maybe even a standalone Episode IX-bis in five or six years from now, WHO THE HELL KNOWS?);

the fanfictions would SKYROCKET; 

the force bond, if it still exists at that point, would be an INCREDIBLY convenient plot device;

Reylo Sex Island

end

#anon #asks #sw asks #sw for ts #sw wank #reylo for ts #celibate rey #sw endgame #sw speculation #the willabeth endgame #long post

[odderancyart]

How would you start a ship story? Any tips?

That depends on what kind of story you want to write. Is it a drabble? A longer one-shot? A multi-chapter? When in their relationship?

It also depends on your writing style. If you’re relatively new to writing (and I am counted into that) you probably will change your style every now and then so you’ll have chance to try a lot of different ways.

 I’ll put this under the cut because it got a bit long. There’s also a few minor spoilers for a few of my fics.

Two examples of a little longer one-shots about first meetings I’ve written are…

Errotic:The first time Error had showed up in Underlust, he had been disgusted and frankly horrified. It had been quite easy for Lust to see. The exact moment the other realized the nature of his universe… it hadn’t been pretty. Especially since some really horny Snowdin citizens had come by and triggered Error’s haphephobia. Badly. Many people had almost died that day, and Lust had never seen such a frightening panic attack. 

Spicyhoney:Stretch stood hid behind an alley, watching the people walking by. This was one of the nicer parts of the town, so it was obvious he did not belong here. His tattered, torn clothes and dirty face was easy enough to spot. He had done his best to clean himself up, but hadn’t managed very well. Yet, he was desperate.

As you can see, they’re done quite differently. The first one is written with Tell, not Show. I tell you what happens, and I begin immediately in the middle of the story. I show you directly into a (non-graphic) panic attack in the first few sentences. Both characters are immediately introduced; it’s obvious this story is going to be about Error and Lust. Not until about half-way into the story do I start to show you what happens rather than tell you.

The Spicyhoney-one is more subtle. I start with showing you the situation we’re in rather than telling you a story. We’re still going quickly into the meeting with the love-interest (Fell), but it happens a few paragraphs in rather than in the first sentence or two. (As he walked past the next person, who was carrying a heavy box, he quickly moved his hand to grab the wallet sticking up from his victim’s backpocket). It’s not even obvious it’s Fell at first. It could’ve been a random person. There’s not any romance happening either until after a huge time-skip in the end.

Another example is NRS; in this story Red isn’t even directly introduced until we’re over a thousand words into the first chapter. In this story, he’s introduced by coming with food to Razz who is now a prisoner. There’s absolutely no romantic interest either, to begin with. Only resentment from Razz and amusement from Red:

Suddenly it knocked on the door, and thesound of a key in the key hole reached him. He froze. It opened, and in yetanother skeleton came. This one was shorter and sturdier than the one he hadfought, but still taller than Razz, irritatingly enough. The pirate startled ashe saw Razz on his feet, before grinning widely.

“good, yer awake,” he drawled, and held upa tray on which a mug and a few sandwiches laid. “boss said ya oughta wake upsoon.”

“WHO ARE YOU?” Razz demanded,backing a few steps until he stood against the wall.

So the story starts with some telling yells about protecting the princess (Razz) and then we get to see Razz in his cabin where he’s supposedly safe from the pirate attack.

The cabin was small and dark. Only an oil lamp lightened up the room and made it possible to see. The only furniture in the room was three bunks and a chest of drawers. Razz paced the room nervously. He detested being locked in. Yet, he knew there was nothing he could do about it. As the princess, he had to be kept safe in situations like these. Even so, it felt awful to be protected and safe while his guards fought for him. He couldn’t even watch and see which of them died. Once Razz was queen he could ride to the battlefield when he so wished, but not before that. He couldn’t wait.

Drabbles, on the other hand, should be started in the middle. Even though hardly any of my drabbles actually are drabbles. Throw us directly into the action:

Kustard”ey, sans, look a’ this!”

The loud call made Sans peek out from behind the huge clothes racks he had been going through. The sight that met him made him snort. His husband was fighting to get a huge sweater over his head. It was hideous. The sweater was black and depicted a green ribcage decorated like a Christmas tree with gifts beneath. Once it sat where it was supposed to, Red grinned triumphantly at Sans. Sans, meanwhile, could hardly believe his eyes when he saw the joyous expression on the other’s face.

There’s no build-up. You can also do this with a longer story, of course, but it’s especially important in a short one so things actually happen. Starting with someone speaking works a lot of the time, so that is a recommendation.

Hmm, what else?

I wrote this fic that was supposed to be Cherryblossom, but then I got bored and finished it before it could really turn into romance. This story starts with Red walking through the forest, being all cold and tired and annoyed. Four short paragraphs in, we’re introduced to Papyrus.

”OH. HELLO!” This time, Red did jump at the unexpected sound. Frantically, he tried to spot whoever had spoken. Nothing. There was a sound of someone clearing their throat, and he looked up. In one of the trees the source of the light was… hanging. A skeleton, like him. They looked a bit like his brother, just less sharp. And they appeared to be stuck. Red blinked in shock as he studied the stranger. They were wearing a long, white robe, a red scarf, and a kind smile. Then there were the wings. The stranger had great, feathery wings on their back. White but kind of sparkling gold.

To be perfectly honest, starting a romance isn’t so different from starting any other kind of story. Try to catch your reader’s interest as soon as possible so they don’t get bored - preferably already with the first sentence, but this is hard - and don’t get too lenghty. 

Make sure that the characters interactions are realistic; the I’ll-do-anything-for you kind of love by first eyesight isn’t exactly a common occurence in real life. Now we’re not talking the infatuation one can get in the early stages of a relationship or during a crush, but rather I’ll give my life for your happiness. It’s not exactly healthy either. So don’t rush things. Don’t make your character sad for years to come because someone they’ve known for one day doesn’t love them back, so to speak. That is an easy way to make me lose interest for a story, at least.

Try to let the relationship build up. Let them be friends, not only lovers. At least if you’re writing a healthy relationship. Otherwise feel free to ignore what I just said.

If they’re already in a relationship in your story, try to show early that they truly love each other. My Errotic-fics tend to be very Telling in the beginning, like this one:

Memories.

Flashes of two lives intertwined to one.

The first time they met. Those panic-attacks. Holding hands the first time; hugging, kissing. His soul fluttered slightly at those. It had been such a long time since those initial tentative touches. Having sex, carefully, slowly, for Error’s sake. Lust had made him scream, like promised.

Little things, like eating popcorn on the couch and cleaning up said popcorns after a popcorn war.

In this fic, they’ve already been together for many, many years. Centuries. Personally, I think these sentences gives a certain feeling of tenderness. The story has just begun, but I did my best to so quickly as possible show that they truly love each other. 

That is the main point of the story, after all. The love and the memories they have shared during their very long relationship. Honestly, I think I’m already here preparing the reader for bittersweetness and fluffy angst. Because this beginning gives, according to me, a feeling that “alright something’s going on here”. Of course, I’m the writer, so I might be completely wrong.

Otherwise the ending wouldn’t be as sad, after all. *wink wink*And sad, that was what I wanted it to be. A lovely sad. Bittersweet. Looking at the comments, I think I succeeded. 

You can also do it in a much less serious way, of course. By jokes and pranks and wrestling and laughing together. Unless your story is meant to be solemn this is actually recommended. Like this drabble I wrote a couple months ago;

RottenberryRazz grinned as he picked up the sugarbowl, pouring it all into the trash. Normally he wouldn’t waste all this food; he had grown up in a world of limited resources after all, but this was totally worth it. He’d make Blue regret tricking him yesterday. Filling the bowl with salt instead he put it back in it’s place and began preparing breakfast. Now he could only wait.

Just as he had finished the pancakes and the coffee was standing on the table his husband walked into the kitchen. Blue looked just as energic and cheerful as always, giving him a big grin.

”Morning love.” He said and kissed Razz’s cheek. Razz felt his usual grin melt into a sincere smile. There was few people who actually could make him really smile, but Blue always managed. He was so lucky to have him. Still. Revenge was soon to be served.

The first few sentences are important. They will set the mood for your story. If you want it to be humorous, try to make that clear quickly. By starting with a light-hearted situation, for example. Perhaps your OTP/OT3 is having a pun war or looking at bunnies in a pet store? If you want it to be sad, try to build up to it. 

Then of course there’s the concept of changing mood in the middle of the story, or even the end of it. It’s a great thing to do. Amazing. It’ll shock your reader and I recommend it. Just do it logically.

This Genodust drabble doesn’t start out sad. It starts out happy. Which only makes the ending more heart-breaking, because this isn’t a lovely kind of sad.

The Void was empty and silent, but it didn’t feel as cold and lonely as usual. Not when Geno was lying with his head in Dust’s lap, watching Outertale’s stars through a screen. He had been happier these last months than he could remember being since he kind-of-died. Dust stared at the stars in awe. This was the first time he saw them.

While this Classicberry is thoroughly happy because I needed happy when writing it (thanks to Kamari and The Last Laugh which I need to re-read). It starts happy and it continues to be happy, following the mood set in the beginning.

Blue smiled as he rolled around where he was resting in Sans’ arms. Looking at his husband’s – his husband, how amazing was that, he was married and soul-bonded to Sans – peaceful face. Sans never looked quite as peaceful as he did when he slept next to Blue, and he adored it. He knew that Sans still had awful nightmares sometimes, about dust and blood and RESETs, despite them having ended a long time ago but Sans had told him he never slept as well as he did when he either held Blue or was being held by Blue.

I need to wrap this up now, it’s getting too long. It also covered a bit more than the beginning… Oops? I got enthusiastic. I hope it’s helpful!

#oddasks #writing tips #anonymous

[crazy-noonoohead]

So no one told you life was gonna be this way. *CLAP CLAP CLAP CLAP!*

I’ve spent the past two months re-watching all of Friends from beginning to end (that’s right, all ten seasons in two months), and I just finished the series a couple of days ago. This was a project I had wanted to take on for a while now (and yes, binge-watching a TV show totally counts as a project, especially one that ran as long as Friends), and thanks to Netflix, I was finally able to do it. Friends is the first TV show that I remember ending. I spent most of my childhood under the assumption that TV shows just kept going until they got abruptly cancelled or the entire cast died of old age, but then the words “series finale” entered my life. Watching it now is a very different experience than watching it when it was on TV, and I have some thoughts.

Things that don’t hold up (I forgive these things because we were a lot less conscious of them in the 90s/early 2000s than we are now, but it’s still important to acknowledge the parts that would be considered offensive if the show had been written in this decade):

*Awful lot of straight, white, cisgender, thin people in New York City. In ten seasons, I think there have been three interracial relationships, and two involved the same person outside of the friend group (Ross and Julie, Joey and Charlie, Ross and Charlie). If I missed any, someone please let me know.

*Toxic masculinity. A lot of the jokes in this show give me an “LOL STRAIGHT MEN DOING SOMETHING FEMININE” vibe now (nap buddies, Chandler calling Joey a woman when he gets into potpourri, Chandler and Joey worrying if they hug too often). If those same jokes were in a script today, I would want them to make fun of the internalized toxic masculinity instead of making fun of the actions themselves. Although, in the episode where Ross freaks out about Ben having a Barbie doll, his side is clearly written as the wrong one, so they get points for that.

*Body shaming jokes. This one gets more of a pass, because even Monica joked about how she used to be overweight (“I WAS the pile of coats!”), but a lot of the comments about her past appearance would be criticized a lot more heavily today. Unfortunately, this is still an issue in media, but I think viewers are more likely to call TV shows out on it now than we were then.

*Ross’ jealous, controlling tendencies were written as funny quirks. Now I know to stay away from people who have those qualities as strongly as Ross does. That’s not endearing. That leads to unhealthy relationships.

*Trigger warning: Sexual assault.    They completely made light of the fact that Joey’s tailor sexually assaulted him for most of his life. While I admit I still laughed at the “That’s not how they do pants!” line, I don’t think a network would even dream of having that happen to any of the women on the show. Also, Paolo didn’t “make a move on” Phoebe. What he did was harassment.

*Semi-related to the last one, there was the occasional comment about characters liking certain celebrities who were later revealed to have sexually harassed and/or assaulted people. I 100% don’t fault the writers for this because they couldn’t have known, but watching now, with that knowledge, I definitely had some “...Oh” moments. Of course now I can’t think of any examples, but I know I’ve gotten that feeling a few times.

*With the exception of Rachel, everyone starts the show with stable jobs and enough financial security to live independently in nice apartments in their mid/late 20s. REALLY? Maybe that was easier in the 90s, but it wasn’t THAT easy. I’m now older than these characters were at the beginning of the series, and very few of my friends have moved out of their parents’ houses. Our 20s aren’t as grown up as we used to think.

Things that totally still hold up:

*Everyone’s comedic timing! They may not be the greatest, most versatile actors ever (I still see their Friends characters in other roles they’ve played), but they’re still very funny and they delivered their lines and reactions in just the right ways.

*The bittersweet, mostly-feel-good, classic sitcom ending. Its series finale had every quality most people would expect and want, and while most of my favorite series finales don’t wrap everything up neatly, this one did so in a good, effective way. I do have that “one coupling in a TV friend group is enough” mindset, and I even thought that when I first watched the finale at 13, but I still wasn’t bothered by Rachel getting off the plane. Although, I cared more that it would be easier for Ross to see Emma than I did about his relationship with Rachel.

*Their willingness not to shy away from some of the more serious life events, obviously aside from the one I mentioned earlier in this note. The best example is when Monica and Chandler found out they probably couldn’t have children. This was one of the only times Chandler didn’t try to lighten the mood with a joke, because it was a big deal and had to be treated as such. Showing the difficulty of the adoption process added to this, because while I may not have personal experience in the matter (yet), I know it’s not easy.

*Alternatively, finding the humor in serious situations. Phoebe had a very disturbing past, but the way she talked about it so casually is still funny. No one’s laughing at her mom’s death (hopefully), but the show allows us to laugh at her willingness to joke about it...and use it to guilt-trip people into giving her what she wants.

*How quickly Chandler accepted his dad after going to his show. I don’t think his issues were ever with his dad being gay, but more that he left, and the person he left for also happened to be a man. Yes, there were jokes about his dad wearing dresses in public, but of course that bothered him as a child, because kids in elementary and middle school are mean and used that to make fun of him. Allowing himself to move past that and reconnect with his dad after years of not speaking was a great moment in the series, and again, wasn’t played as a joke. Something funny probably happened immediately after that, but the moment itself was taken seriously.

*So many things are still relatable. The struggles of finding a job, eventually finding a new job you really love, finding meaningful romantic relationships (for those of you who are interested in those), etc. will always be relevant. Watching Rachel’s journey from someone who still relied on her parents’ money to someone with enough financial independence has a lot more meaning to me now than it did when the show first aired.

*Going back to Ross being jealous and controlling, I like that Rachel got mad and called him out instead of immediately forgiving him because it meant that he cares about her. His actions may have made the audience laugh, but he still didn’t get away with it.

*Despite the lack of non-white characters, the few interracial relationships just were. Julie happened to be Asian and Charlie happened to be black, and no one made a thing out of it.

*All six characters have both flattering and not so flattering qualities, and you never doubt that they genuinely care about each other. I don’t think I need to elaborate any more.

Other random thoughts:

*I’m definitely the most like Phoebe, but I have Chandler’s sarcastic humor, as well as some aspects of Monica in the way I like some things organized.

*I want a CD of all of Phoebe’s songs. “Smelly Cat” is still better than the entire score to [show title redacted].

*A lot of cool celebrity cameos/guest stars, most of which are people I wouldn’t start recognizing until years later! (Hank Azaria, Jane Lynch, Billy Crystal, Robin Williams, Ellen Pompeo, Ron Glass, Mae Whitman, and Danny DeVito, to name a few.)*I never watched Mad About You, but now that I know Ursula is a character on that show, I appreciate the cross-over.

*There’s a fan theory that Ross has Asperger’s, and I’m into it.

*Rachel ordering the lobster on her date with Joey was definitely a shout-out to “He’s her lobster” back in the second season, her getting sick from what she thought was the lobster was an indication that they didn’t belong together, and her getting sick right before she has an affair with him in the alternate universe episode proves that even more (shout-out to my friend Tracy for bringing that last part to my attention), and nothing will convince me otherwise.

*To help myself ease out of the withdrawal, I started watching Joey. It’s not as bad as I remember people saying it was, but...it’s not that good. With the exception of Joey, the characters are pretty one-dimensional, and a lot of the jokes feel forced. The fact that I only remembered two things from the show (memorizing a monologue but performing it at the wrong play, and presenting an award to the wrong person YEARS BEFORE STEVE HARVEY DID IT) says a lot about its quality. As much as I love Joey, I think the wrong friend got the spin-off. The one I’d really like to see is about Phoebe’s life before she met the rest of the group. Just like she always does, she’d be able to find the humor even in the toughest of times, and I think it would be a very interesting story.

*I still hear, “we’d come up to poop in your ear” instead of, “your week, your month, or even your year,” despite knowing better.

*They were most definitely, without a single doubt, on a break.

So parts of Friends didn’t age well, but 10-20 years from now, we’ll be saying the same thing about beloved TV shows from this decade. And in my personal opinion, the parts that did age well outweigh the parts that didn’t, which is why I love it just as much now as I did back then. I’m thrilled that after all these years, it’s still there for me, like it’s been there before.

#Friends #Friends TV show

[kyaaaaa-desu]

Ozmafia!! (Reaction and thoughts)

Overall Reaction

I just finished Ozmafia!! yesterday and I still have this emptiness after finishing the game.

It was sooo gooood.. I didn't think I would end up jumping on the Kyrie bandwagon at the epilogue. My poor baby is just a misunderstood brainiac.

But Caramia is definitely the ultimate bae. 😍

Followed by Hamelin and Caesar (sorry but Caesar is just the cutest awkward funny shit ever 😂😂😂 )

Then there’s Kyrie who’s just amazing during the love triangle routes ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) 

Now that I think about it, my top guys in Ozmafia includes all the “bad” guys except for my ever so fluffy Caramia (until he goes full lion on you  ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) )

Unfortunately, there’s no actual sexual content here. Everything is left to your imaginations BUT there are some delicious laying on-the-bed-topless CG for the Oz guys. yuuuuuuuummmmmmmmmmm

I truly love the witty conversations between Kyrie and Axel or Kyrie and Caramia. But if there was one scene I have to choose as my favorite, it would definitely be the scene where Caramia taught MC how to shoot a gun and Axel made some pretty amusing conclusion based on how MC and Caramia expressed their thoughts when teaching MC how to shoot.  ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

How everyone reacted to MC when they found out she was dating Kyrie:

Well, sorry for having an awful taste in men. He tasted pretty nice to me   ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

Ghad... there’s so much sexual frustration in this post. xD

I can’t help it. I wish it has sexual content in it sooooo bad when I started dating one of the characters.

The Boys

Oz Family

Anyway, for the Oz boys, I have to choose Caramia as my favorite. He’s just the sweetest little fluff ever! Like totally boyfriend/husband material. If you ever need a guy you could casually show your parents and say “Imma marry this guy because the world knows he will treat me right”, Caramia’s the one for you. *whispers* Sugar daddy *whispers*

Kyrie’s 2nd mainly because I have this weird love-hate relationship with him which completely went full on love after reading the epilogue and grand ending. I didn’t like how he was treating me during the first few days but I did love everything he is after the love triangle scenes (transferred or not). He’s probably the most serious lover out of the three.

 Axel for third place. The boy is sweet and awkward but I felt like it wasn’t enough for me. I love his absolute devotion but romantically, I guess he’s slow, but hey~ it’s not like he always had a heart. Surprisingly, Axel, despite his always serious appearance, is the most childish among the three. I laughed a lot during some of the scenes in his routes.

Grimm Family

There’s only 2 romanceable ?  guy in the Grimm family: Scarlet and Hamelin.

As stated from above, Hamelin is one of my favorite guys. I’ve always sort of known that there was something wrong with his character and I’m glad I was right about it. He has a really short route, but wow... He made me swoon in less than three days (game time). He’s someone I would file a petition to protect at all cost. He’s an absolute romantic, probably better than Caramia, and he’s so sweet. He continuously shows his romantic interest in MC unlike Caramia who switch between a daddy, brother, and friend.  Both of his endings wasn’t enough for me, but it’s not like I could do or suggest anything given that there’s really not much option on how his and MC’s relationship should go.

The next Grimm family member is Scarlet, Hamelin’s right hand man. He’s probably, by looks, younger than MC (but definitely older by age tho). I honestly went for Scarlet’s route first (out of all the characters) because... bishounen. I love his route to be honest. He was the calm before the storm (since I did not expect the following routes to be that heavy). Sweet, gentle, mature, and innocent. Those are how I could describe Scarlet’s route.

I really wish that Hansel has his own route. I wouldn’t mind tasting some of that well made “pastry”  ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

That and I want to interact/befriend Gretel. She seems like a really nice person if you talk to her enough.... at least that’s what I believe.

Boots Family

Despite what most people originally think, Paschet is not a GL/Yuri route. It’s a total friendship route wherein you have a girl-friend (an actual female friend). I don’t usually go for a female route but since I wanted to see the epilogue and grand ending, I sucked it up and played her route. I was quite happy with it. I enjoyed her route as if giving me a break from all the guy drama.

Robin Hood

OHMAIGHAD DOCTOR ROBIN HOOD IS FINE AF

^Literally said that when I first saw him without the Crow mask.

Robin Hood’s route made me quite uneasy to be honest. I’m not really interested in NTR (which made it a bit difficult for me to go to the transfer routes in the Oz family). Robin Hood is actually.... married and.... wait for it..... He’s absolutely in love with his wife. Despite this truth, no, you won’t end up fighting his wife to death. His route is definitely bittersweet up to the ending, but definitely worth every pain you take in whenever he talks about his wife. Be that as it may, he did do an extremely scumbag move on MC so that’s a bit of a negative for me, but I still love his route nonetheless.

Brothel 

It really goes downhill from here. xD

First and foremost, I would like to blame Kyrie for every single thing that happened in this route. 

There’s really no bad ending in this game but the closest to a “bad end” would be the second ending in this route.

There’s three guys here and the main guy you sort of romance is Manboy the servant  it’s a shitty name I know so don’t judge. The other two is Dorian Gray, the owner of the brothel, and Alfani, the number one choice in the brothel. Everything in this route is dark (at least compared to the others), but on the plus side, we do get to see MC being a seme/dom. I also did have the pleasure to change Dorian Gray’s name into “Little Bitch” just because he pissed me off during the route. xD

If I have to summarize the characters shortly:

-Dorian Gray is that creepy uncle that you just know is up to no good and have probably been sent to jail for perversion

-Manboy is that close friend who always had a thing for you but too afraid to tell you because he’s afraid of hurting you or getting you involve in the weird things the creepy uncle is affiliated in

-Alfani: he who brings out the inner seme/dom in you. He looks and acts like a girl, but damn his libido o-o

Wolf Gang

I played the Wolf Gang routes (Soh and Caesar) last since that’s what most people recommend.

I played Soh’s route first. From the previous routes, Soh is like the ultimate bestie. He cooks, give advices, and he’s a total sweetheart. I get to see some of his more manly-ish side in his route but I must say, I am a bit depressed about his endings. It was confusing (even after reading the epilogue and grand ending) and depressing, probably more than Hamelin and that’s saying something.

Caesar, however, is just... moe. He started of as this big bad wolf who’s chasing after MC to kill her, but in his route, he’s too much of a dorky sweetheart. The fact that his looks are extremely good and his actions are of a kid, makes him weirdly irresistible. He’s basically a tsundere but not exactly within the boundaries of a tsundere. His endings are the cutest. I just love him to bits.

These are all personal opinions of the game which I enjoyed a whole lot. It’s extremely difficult for me to accept that I don’t get to see more of Caramia’s face and hear his lovely voice, but.... my other husbando is waiting for me. 

Til the next game~

#ozmafia #caramia #kyrie #axel #scarlet #hamelin #paschet #robin hood #manboy #dorian gray #alfani #soh #caesar #oz famiglia #grimm famiglia #boots famiglia #anderson famiglia #oscar wilde street #wolf gang

[scriptaed]

paper hearts. 12

♡ genre: angst/fluff

♡ pairing: reader x jungkook

♡ length: 4.2k

♡ synopsis: It has been nearly a year since you started writing anonymous letters to Jungkook, giving him words of encouragement behind the thin mask of a paper. He never considered you as a possible suspect behind these letters, because you were nothing more than a best friend. And you couldn’t put all the blame on him either, after all, you were too afraid to confess in fear of tarnishing your precious friendship.

With the exception of the two especially radiant stars far off in the distance, the twinkle of the stars above were hidden underneath the gray clouds that loomed above the two of you tonight. The pair of stars were far off and away, buried in the incoming bundles of gray fluff and tucked away for an unknown span of time in the near future. But for the short time that they were given their time to shine brightly, the beaming light of theirs illuminated the pitch black, night sky, striking the silver lock dangling from Jimin’s neck at an angle so perfectly that you couldn’t help but stare in awe at the one beaming sparkle of the lustrous metal.

Somehow along the way home, Jimin’s arms had ended up slung over your shoulder, utilizing your sobriety to stabilize himself as he swayed and staggered, nearly tripping over his own feet several times. You had to keep yourself aware at all times, ready to catch him if he fell, because the weight he put upon your shoulders never seemed to lift. It was a moment of déjà vu and an uncanny resemblance to how you’ve felt all this time. From whatever moment you had started to develop feelings for Jimin, from whatever time the two of you had developed some twisted and undefined affection, whether it was called love or not, the weight you dragged along in your chest and above your shoulders never left.

“Seeing how much you used to party, I always thought that you could handle much more liquor than that,” you groaned as you heaved up his arm that had slipped from your shoulder, “but you’re so fucking wasted. Just how much did you drink?”

“Don’t know…” he grumbled, finally giving up trying to keep himself upright and letting his lowered head bob up and down before finally resting upon your right shoulder. The soft, black hair of his brushed slightly against your right cheek as the added weight of his head forced you to wrap your right arm around his back and right arm, hooking your left hand over his slung arm to prop him back upright.

“Ay, you’re already heavy enough! At least try to hold your head up,” you scolded him. At this point, you were practically dragging him and his sluggish feet along with you.

“No,” he pouted, replying much quicker than usual and snuggling his head into the crook of your neck.

It was an odd experience seeing this side of Jimin. Although he wasn’t completely cool headed, he was usually calm and collected, making quirky jokes and teasing you relentlessly. Unlike Jungkook, he was the more reserved type when it came to skinship. You’ve seen him interlock his hands and plant plentiful kisses with a different girl every other week, it was as though it was second nature to him, but he was far less bold around you.

Now that you thought about it, he was the exact opposite of Jungkook. Jimin struggled to express himself through gestures and actions, rather, he preferred to use his persuasive way with words to get his message across. Maybe it was the way he had become accustomed to, the image and lifestyle he had taken on as the bad boy of the school, and this was just the side of him that you never knew. Or maybe this was something he had wanted to do all along, but was too inexperienced and conflicted with the difference between affectionate skinship and lustful skinship. Perhaps the reason he was so out of character at this moment was because with the loss of his sobriety, he believed he had nothing to fear and nothing to lose. Jimin believed you belonged to Jungkook, even after all this time, and so he falsely believed he had anything to lose but the chance to gain what was never his.

“I know you drank and all that, but what’s going on with you tonight?” you muttered under your heavy breaths, “I really didn’t want to bring this up, but I don’t want to go through the same mistake I made with… Jungkook… again. We need to talk about ourselves, about us, or the problem won’t ever resolve itself.”

Silence ensued shortly after as the never ending hums of Jimin’s came to a halt. The both of you were silent for a minute that felt like hours, both pondering over your words and whether it was the correct way to proceed with things. The numerous misunderstandings caused by the unwillingness to speak out of consideration for the other was the primary reason your relationship with Jungkook was an endless path filled with bumps and hitches. Whether it was you or Jungkook, one of you two were always one step behind. Instead of expressing yourself and your feelings in person, you foolishly hid behind your paper hearts. Instead of confronting his own affections for you, separating the thin line between platonic and romantic relationships, he ran away from his own fears until it was too late to try and reverse things.

And now that you were more experienced, you genuinely wanted things to go right between you and Jimin. Despite the possessive language Jimin had used back in the bar, you knew a part of it was the alcohol talking and the other part was your fault. You had given him false hope. You shouldn’t have accepted his offer in the first place when you knew it wasn’t the right thing to do. You couldn’t give him the utmost love that he deserved, but you gave him the false perception that you were willing to do so.

Maybe it was easier to just break it all off, to run away and give yourselves time to heal your shattered hearts, but all the efforts and heartbreak the three of you had gone through would just go to waste. You wanted to persevere, to go through with your plan, because somehow you had managed to convince yourself of your ability to devote all of your attention to Jimin and Jimin only. But at the same time, you knew were tired of heartbreak and all you wanted was to be healed. So a part of you couldn’t help but think, maybe the only reason you were still holding on was because of your own selfish desires to avoid having your heart trampled over for a second time.

“How was your talk with Jungkook?” Jimin muttered, his words slightly less slurred than usual. 

You glanced at Jimin, quirking a brow at his question. It was as though he knew exactly what was on your mind, because maybe it, too, was on his mind. To your surprise, his footsteps were getting much less staggered than they had been nearly half an hour ago. You figured it must have been the chilly night breeze that helped clear up his mind, bringing him back to a sober state with every second.

“It was… alright,” you stated, hesitating to find your last word when you remembered what had resulted from your meet up with Jungkook. You had originally met him with the thoughts of officially leaving your feelings for him behind. But as much as you knew there was nothing wrong with maintaining the long lasting friendship of yours while dating Jimin, a part of you acknowledged the fact that staying with Jungkook would only bring back the lingering feelings you had for him, and that was what made it wrong. The more you thought about it, the more your growing guilt stung in your already aching chest.  

“So… you’re done? No more midnight meetups? No more rumors about you and him? About you cheating on me for your long time best friend, Jungkook?” he flatly asked, his questions slurred together as he let his mind wander and his lips move freely. His tone was seemingly nonchalant and carefree, but its undertone indicated that he was all too concerned and serious for you to ignore.

If you were honest with yourself, you knew Jimin must have been going through a lot of embarrassment because of you. First, he had given up his tough image, his so called label as a player, and had even shut his lips and turned a blind eye to the roaming rumors about your “more than platonic” late night meals with Jungkook. It wouldn’t be a surprise to anyone if Jimin felt undermined and insecure after constantly being compared to Jungkook, someone you had known for years, when the two of you had just started dating. This was your fault and you needed to be more understanding, so as much as his questions irked you the wrong way, you tried to control your temper.

“You know those people have nothing better to do than make up dumbass stories, right?” you rolled your eyes, shifting his arm as you continued to pull him along on your way back home. “I’ve asked all of my questions and I don’t have any… particular feelings for him at the moment… but-”

“-but?” Jimin quirked a brow, propping himself up and glimpsing at you with his head lolled to the side, making zero to no effort to hold himself up for long.

Judging by the way his feet alternated between short and long steps forward, his footsteps making a zigzag pattern, you feared he would soon trip over his own feet once again. So you took a step forward, offering your hands for support, but he shocked you when he quickly took a step back. His hands ran through his hair, lifting his bangs and revealing his forehead, as you caught his eyes locked with yours, a small smirk hinting from the curve of one corner of his lips. He was holding his hands up before him, as though the drunken state of his awakened his instincts, using his hands as a way to protect himself from the very person inflicting pain upon him. And as much as it pierced your chest to see him so defensive, it also tugged at your heartstrings, because you had once been something that had brought him not only release from boredom, but also bittersweet bliss in the midst of confusion.

“But?” he repeated, the lopsided, twisted smile of his bringing forth a gnawing pain of your chest.

“…but I’m not ending my friendship with him,” you hesitantly finished your sentence, averting your eyes to the ground and back at him in fear of his response.

And your reason to fear was correct, because the second your eyes locked with his once again, you could see him scoffing in disbelief. “Why am I not surprised?” he chuckled, taking a deep breath and sighing as he turned away from you, running his hand through his hair once again.

“Jimin,” you pleaded, following shortly behind as he started to guide you on your way home. “I’m sorry, I know it’s not what you wanted-”

“-it’s not what I want. It’s what you promised,” he corrected you without a slight hint of concern in his voice. He was being awfully monotonous, his expressions were the exact opposite of what you would expect. He was reacting in an illogical way, as though he had already been shattered and trampled upon enough to grow immune to the never ending pain of his heartbreaks.

“I didn’t promise that. I promised to get over him, not end my friendship,” you furrowed your brows and frowned, “I can’t just end things with him like that. He’s my best friend, Jimin. You make it sound so easy, but it’s not that easy!”  

“I know he’s your best friend!” Jimin yelled, turning around to reveal the soft edges of his pained eyes before lowering his voice. “You have no idea how many times I’ve heard that. I hear in the classroom, I hear it in the locker room, I even have to hear it around you. I know he’s your best friend, but he’s also your past, no, present, love and that’s exactly why you’re breaking your promise, because continuing your friendship with him will only cause you more pain.”

“Me? Breaking my promise? Aren’t you breaking your promise?” you questioned, scoffing as you looked around to find the two of you stopping in the middle of your tracks, arriving before you front door. “You promised me you’d stop all of this heartache. You told me you didn’t care if I still liked Jungkook-”

“-I know I did! But it’s all easier said than done!” he exclaimed.

“Yeah, that’s why you treat me like another one of your toys,” you scoffed under your breath, rolling your eyes.

“What?” Jimin quirked a brow at you.

“I mean your habits… the habits you’ve developed after hooking up with practically every girl in the school,” you spat. “I saw you check my messages, Jimin. I know you’ve been looking through my phone.”

Jimin’s eyes widened in shock before he fell silent. He stared at the ground, his bangs hovering over his eyes as he reflected upon his actions. “I’m sorry, Y/N…” he finally uttered, his voice low and raspy, “I didn’t mean to. I was just jealous, I know I was being overly possessive. I let my feelings get the best of me… and one thing led to another…”

“It’s fine. As long as you don’t do it again. I should’ve told you about it earlier anyways,” you muttered, gritting your teeth and looking away from him with your arms crossed against your chest. “But what about what you said in the bar back there? I know a part of it was the alcohol talking and all, but are we just going to ignore it? I’m grateful for everything that you’ve given me, really. You deserve so much more than me, but your expectations scare me, Jimin. I want to be able to retain my other relationships, I want to be free to do what I want, and none of that would make my love for you any less.”

“But it wouldn’t make it any more either,” Jimin blurted out, his dark, expressionless eyes that looked into yours struck you silent. “I just… want you to feel for me the way I feel for you. I just want you to forget about Jungkook and all the pain he’s caused you, because I know I’d be more than willing to give you all the happiness in the world… is that too much to ask for?”

“That’s not how love works, Jimin!” you bursted out, leaning back against your door as you sighed out the pent up frustration.

“Then why’d you tell me otherwise?! It’s my first time in a real relationship, I looked to you to teach me how it works… so why’d you start me on the wrong path? Why did you have to give me this?” he questioned, his breath shaky and his voice brittle as he raised the lock necklace you had given him. His soft, glimmering eyes where tears were brimming on its edges were practically crying out to you, begging for you to explain all the questions he had pondered over for so long. “You told me you were mine. You told me you’d be the key to my heart. You promised me so many things, and I tried my best to uphold mine, but did you?”

You were struck silent as your eyes averted when you realized he had a point. While Jimin was trying everything to gain your attention and love, all you were doing was reconciling with the very person whom had broken your heart.

“I know it’s partially my fault too, but you shouldn’t have promised me so many things, you shouldn’t have given me so much false hope when you knew it was impossible. I know I went into my promise  thinking I knew just how hard this would be…” he uttered, his voice becoming more unstable and his chest heaving up and down more as he took deep breaths in and out. He pressed his lips into a thin line, knitting his brows before finally confessing, “All of this is new to me. The butterflies I get in my stomach when you smile and the whole world just lights up? The burning jealousy of my chest and the churning feeling I get in my stomach every time you mention Jungkook? I didn’t know it’d be this painful, Y/N… and I’m scared I won’t be able to keep my promise.”

“Jimin…” you sighed, looking up at him in guilt as you could feel your heart aching just by the mere glance of his sorrowful state. His eyes were glimmering as they were on the verge of tears, they were shaking as he peered up at you, too ashamed to look into your eyes. He was vulnerable, he was heartbroken, and he was broken.

“So won’t you open your heart to me just this once? Can’t you give me a second chance?” he pleaded, taking a step forward and placing his hand above you, lying flatly on the door behind you and trapping you in between. “I didn’t know I had this part of me either. I didn’t know I could love so strongly, so passionately to the point that it became overbearing… but I’ll learn and I’ll fix myself. I just want to make you happy. Is that so wrong of me?”

You didn’t realize it until now, but his lips were just inches away from yours. He was slowly leaning in, the lustful look in his dark eyes locked with yours as he inched closer and closer. Your cheeks were burning and your heartbeat spiked up into a rapid one, each one of its pumps hammering against your chest and screaming at you to do something. What exactly it was telling you to do, you didn’t know. After all, you were the reason Jimin was so broken. He was so confused about the concept of romance and relationships, because you were his first and you had opened up a whole new world to him, one that he never had the patience or desire to immerse into before.

Yet at the same time, you couldn’t help but wonder if he could truly make you happy. Certainly in the future when your heart no longer yearned for Jungkook, and when it no longer ached from this entire mess, you were more than confident that Jimin could make you happy… but perhaps now wasn’t the right time. Maybe you couldn’t make him happy either.

On the contrary, maybe Jimin was right. Maybe all you had to do was give him a second chance and put in a more active effort and things would turn out for the better. Perhaps this time around, he’d be able to control his temptations and you’d finally leave your past alone. If you put in more effort in the relationship and he gave up his habits from the past, this would all work out. Now, all you had to do was to shut your eyes and accept him. As easy as it sounded, a part of you knew something about this whole ordeal was just plain wrong. Your stomach twisted and each pound of your heart sent tingles of pain across your chest and into your veins, because for the first time since you had met Jimin, you were actually scared. Whether you were scared he’d find out about your hesitation, scared you had made the wrong decision, scared for the future, you couldn’t figure it out after all.

So you compulsively shut your eyes tightly, waiting for his lips to touch yours, but the second you felt his lips just barely graze over yours, you could feel a whirl of wind breeze past you as he immediately pulled himself and his arm away. You hesitantly peeped one eye open, seeing Jimin looking off into the distance of your driveway, his hands nervously running through his hair.

“Oh God, I have no idea what I was doing. I-I’m so sorry,” your eyes widened as Jimin turned around to stare at you wide eyed himself, dipping his head low and apologizing repeatedly. “God, I’m so disgusting. I’m sorry, I’m so sorry. I’m so fucking stupid.”

“Jimin, it’s okay-”

“-no, it’s not okay! I messed up. It’s all my fault. You shouldn’t forgive me,” he shook his head, his eyes now glued to the ground as his hand held his bangs up from falling back down.

“Do you want to come in? You can sleep over and we can talk about this,” you tried to comfort him, taking a step forward only to see him hastily take several steps back.

“No, I can’t. Who knows what I’d do next? I shouldn’t,” his eyes popped at your question, shaking his head profusely as he began to back away from you no matter how many times you called his name. “You were right… I haven’t changed at all. I still have my disgusting habits and-”

“-Jimin, it’s really not a big deal!” you cried out.

“It was all my fault… I shouldn’t have even tried,” his voice cracked as he immediately turned his back on you, hiding his face from you in shame. His then lowered his voice, so soft and quiet that it was barely audible. “You should head back in now.”

“Jimin, don’t do this. This is silly!” you pleaded, calling out to him as your own strained voice nearly broke into sobs.

Everything was happening so quickly, your head was still dizzy from the kiss that was just barely a kiss before. You weren’t entirely sure what was happening, but something in your stomach dropped seeing how Jimin was acting. His panic, his body language, the stutter of his words and breath made you want to touch him and make sure he was still there… that this wasn’t all a mystical dream and that you wouldn’t be waking up to the day after your dreadful, heartshattering confession to Jungkook. Jimin had healed a part of you, and you wanted to know that it was all reality rather than your childish dreams playing tricks on you. But the way he stood several strides away from you, looking off into the distance with his back on you, something about this eerie moment made you fear for your life more than anything. Something about this moment stuck out to you, because now it seemed like he was more intangible, more distant than ever before. He was escaping right on the tips of your fingers, and all you could do was helplessly watch. 

So instinctively, you stepped forward and reached your hand out before ultimately being turned down.

“I’m sorry, Y/N,” he gently apologized one last time, his words slow and emphasized as though attempting to keep his shaky breathing at bay. “Good night.” 

But you couldn’t give up just like that. You called out to him relentlessly, slowly walking up behind him until he finally broke out into a sprint and you could no longer see nor speak to him.

Because now, your voice was drowned out by whatever thoughts were flooding him. Because now, nothing could reach him and nothing could pull him out and save him from drowning. Because of this one little mistake, because he had let himself go and allowed these flood of new emotions to consume him, all he could hear and feel was regret and guilt. Because of you, Jimin had learned the true meaning of love. And because of you, he had experienced what it meant to fear losing that very love.

Stumbling into your house, you used the remainder of your little energy to close the door behind you as you leaned your back against the door and collapsed onto the floor. Lost in thought, you subconsciously brought your knees to your chest and wrapped your arms around them before burying your head into your lap and rocking back and forth to keep yourself from breaking out into tears. 

This was all your fault. If you hadn’t been so hesitant, if you had just concealed the frightened expression of yours and accepted his kiss, his doting affection, then you wouldn’t have hurt him to this point. It was your responsibility to fix things. You were done being selfish, because while you were trying to mend your heart from your previous heartbreaks, you had somehow broken another. There was nothing in the world that could persuade you to think and act otherwise.

You [12:55 AM] About the promise I made earlier… I’ve changed my mind. I think it’s better off if we take a break from each other. I’m sorry, Jungkook…

#bts #bts scenarios #bangtan scenarios #jungkook scenarios #jimin scenarios #jungkook x you #jungkook x reader #jimin x reader #jimin x you #jimin angst #bts x you #bts x reader #jimin fluff #jungkook angst #jungkook fluff #jungkook scenario #jimin scenario #bts imagines #bangtan imagines #bts jungkook #bts jimin #taechubs

[blaineandsamevanderson]

Title:  Once in A Lifetime Chapter 24

By: @blaineandsamevanderson (SageK on ff.net, kaitlia777 on LJ and AO3)

Graphics and Assistant Brain Stormer: @lauraperfectinsanity

Pairing: Blaine/Sam

Rating: PG

Summary:  Late Spring, 2014 Sam auditions for a role in a TV show and Blaine comes along for moral support…and that’s just the beginning of their adventure!

Authors Note: I don’t know anything about the casting process for a TV show or what the process might be before filming.  This is all fiction.  I also don’t have any affiliation with Glee, Agents of Shield or any of the men and women who are involved with making the show.  Again, this is a work of fiction!

Authors Note #2: This is AU for Glee Season 5, pretty Episode 100 and anything after isn’t applicable to this.  Also, the plot for Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. was thought of before I saw CA:TWS, but was easily adapted…but let’s just say AOS is AU as of Turn, Turn, Turn.

Authors Note #3: We named Blaine’s Mom Anna before we knew Glee had named her Pam and hired and actress to play her…so we’re gonna stick with our name and FC!

Authors Note #4: This isn’t really a fic for fans of Kurt and Rachel.  They’re the antagonists in this fic and are way over the top (in keeping with Glee’s tradition of being OTT).

Authors Note #5: Now back to the regular path of Once in a Lifetime

**

**

Filming the season finale of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. had been bittersweet. True, the idea that they had been in LA for nearly a full year was amazing, but it also meant that they were done filming their first season. They were no longer going to be the new kids....

Of course, that was made less traumatic by the fact that their contracted been renewed and they were going to be regulars next year.  Kitty had taken them out to celebrate when she told the news. It was during that dinner when she had told them she was moving out to LA as well. They'd suspected she would, but until that night it had not been confirmed. Sugar was delighted to offer a spare room at her beach house and Kitty took her up on it.

Two weeks into their summer hiatus from the making the trek back to New York City. Artie had one of his student films accepted into a small festival and they wanted to be there to support him. The movie itself had been pretty good. Sure, Sam had been confused by a few things, but Blaine's whispered explanations helped with that. Artie was over the moon and it even won an award at the festival, which was awesome.

The night after Artie's film screening, Kurt and Rachel hosted a dinner at their loft.  Initially, they only invited a few people, but as word spread to the assorted members of New Directions present to support Artie, the party grew in size.

It was great to see everyone again and Sam thought it was really nice of Kurt and Rachel to throw the party. They were both acting very sweet and he figured they must've realized they had been kind of out of line when they had come to LA. This, he figured, was their way of apologizing and Sam was okay with that, cuz people make mistakes and if they had learned from it, well, then all was forgiven.

To absolutely no one's surprise, Jake, Marley, Ryder and Unique all chose to attend college in the same general part of California.  Even Kitty was taking part-time classes at UCLA, though she was also considering taking on new clients.

“You guys must be thrilled about having your contracts renewed," Marley said Sam with a grin.  "Your fans online are going nuts."

"Yeah and that douche bag Turk seems to finally shut up," Ryder added.  "That dude was seriously cracked."

Kurt was setting out a new tray of... Sam actually didn't know what the appetizers were, but he thought he could see suction cups like you'd see on the tentacles of an octopus, so he was gonna pass on that. Overhearing their conversation, Kurt offered, "You shouldn't be so judgmental. Just because a person has a different opinion does not mean they are...cracked, as you put it."

"The guy was a nasty, deluded troll with a creepy obsession who must've finally realized he was universally hated," Jake snorted.  "I'm gonna judge the fuck out of him."

"I think he was just strong in his convictions," Kurt said, his voice getting high in that way it did when his temper flared.  "Perhaps the rabid fan base bullied him to the point where he retreated out of fear."

"Seemed to me he enjoyed the fights he got into and was always far more aggressive than anyone he argued with," Quinn said. "I remember reading his posts and think he was a classic bully pretending to be the victim type, taking out his own feelings of inadequacy on others."

"I am not bully and I'm certainly not inadequate!" Kurt more or less shrieked and happy chatter in the room faded. "How dare you come into my house and belittle me like that? I demand an apology!"

In the heavy silence, Sam looked at Blaine, hoping he'd misunderstood, but from the look of betrayal on Blaine's face, he clearly hadn't.

In a tone laced with ice, Quinn said, "Kurt... I was talking about Turk McKinley. Is there some reason you took that to heart?"

"Well, I'm feeling kind of stupid for not figuring that one out," Mike murmured as Kurt sputtered denials, but it was too late.

Sam wrapped an arm around Blaine, who leaned into his side.  "I can't even say I'm shocked really," Blaine sighed, shaking his head.  "Just hurt and disappointed."

A flush colored Kurt's face.  "You're hurt and disappointed?!  What about me? I need...."

"You need to shut the hell up," Santana snarled, inserting herself between Kurt and Blaine. "None of us need to hear your weak and moronic justifications for your awfulness.  In fact, I don't think the boys need to be subjected to you at all right now. Party's moving people. Across the hall."

Sam was more than happy with the change of venue, though he was pretty sure they were all little shaken for the rest of the night.

How could Kurt do that?

It took a few hours with the baby goats at the Central Park petting zoo the next day for Blaine's smile to fully return and that made Sam even madder than finding out that the troll been Kurt initially.

No one got to steal Blaine's smile, not when Sam was around!

**

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After Kurt's revelation in New York, it was especially sweet to return home to LA. A little TLC from their pets had them both in high spirits by the time July and the San Diego Comic Con rolled around.  It was no less thrilling than the first time, though they had a bit more experience getting used to the idea of having fans as well as being fans.

Once again, Artie flew out to join them, though this year he had plans in addition to geeking out.  Earlier in the year he'd begun a blog for posting his short films and other little videos and he wanted to film Blaine and Sam walking around Comic Con interacting with fans.

Only the fans wouldn't know was them, as they'd be in the costume of another masked or cowled hero.

Blaine thought it was a darn cool idea and after a little finagling by Kitty, a deal was worked out for Artie to produce and film segments with financial backing from Marvel TV and they would air on both Artie and Marvel's websites.

A win win situation.

On the first day of the con, they had no panels to participate in, so that seemed like a good time to start. The costumes they got to wear were amazing.

"You know, I love you and your Hulkling uniform, but...," Blaine said, staring at a red, white and blue clad Sam.  "I think I need a kiss from Captain Samerica!"

That made Sam grin and set down his prop shield.  "You make a pretty darn awesome Iron Blaine yourself," he replied, bending down for a kiss.

Artie rolled his eyes good-naturedly.  "Just don't do that out on the convention floor... At least not until we finished the segments and you've done the big reveal.  Then you can totally throw the Stony fans a bone."

"Probably not the only bones being thrown," Sugar teased, making Kitty snicker.

"C'mon boys, helmet and cowl on!  Let's go talk to the fans!"

**

**

The interview surprises went over even better than expected. Everyone was delighted and they took so many pictures with excited fans. Kids in particular were a riot and Blaine adored a picture of Sam holding a little girl dressed as The Winter Soldier in one arm.

At the end of the day, Blaine took off his mask for the last time and Sam pulled him in for a kiss. In most photos, there wasn't a great angle on their faces, so it did look like Captain America was smooching Iron Man in the middle of the San Diego Comic Con!

**

**

The next day, during the Marvel panel, the other actors teased playfully.

"Well, you had to go unspoiled big romantic surprise from the next Avengers movie!" Robert Downey Jr. joked, causing the crowd to go nuts.  Five minutes later, when some order was restored, he quirked a brow at Chris Evans.  "They really want to see us kiss."

“And the ones that don't want to see me and Chris make out," Sebastian Stan replied, making everyone scream again.

Joss had to step in then to wrangle the crowd.  "Now, now, I know we all like to speculate about Cap's love life, but we can't spoil everything.  I do have a few things about the new movie I can say though...."

He talked for some time, quite masterfully giving away very little. It was really impressive Blaine thought, eager to hear about the movie himself.

"... And toward the end of the film, were introducing a character from the comics who will play a role in the Marvel movie/TV/Netflix universe... America Chavez!"

Everyone cheered and Sam's hand tightened around Blaine's.

"All you Young Avengers fans know her and cince of bringing America in, of course Billy and Teddy will be there," Joss said turning to them with a smile.  "We kind of figured you two would like this surprise."

Like was putting in a little mildly.

Tiny guest roles are not, they were going to be a part of the next Avengers movie!

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#Blam #Fic: OIAL #Blamily #lauraperfectinsanity

[hawk-in-a-jazzy-hat]

Anime Review: Eureka Seven, and Why Anime was Better in the Olden Days

In a constantly shifting world, people are clinging to life as best they can, despite tectonic shifts and mysterious Desperation Disease making life hard. Still, the people cling to hope in this weird world; hope for the military, for the rebel group Gekko-State, and hope brought about by the hero of the people, Adroc Thurston. Hope that the world will someday be healed.

So we meet Adroc’s son, Renton Thurston, who lives with his mechanic grandfather and dreams of a life where he can freely lift through the sky. Then his life changes as a giant robot crashes through his roof, and he meets a mysterious young girl named Eureka, as well as the Gekko-State leader himself, Holland. Given a powerful device called the Amita Drive by his grandfather, which is able to power a famous robot known as the Nirvash, or Type/Zero, Renton rushes off in pursuit of Eureka, and a new life aboard the Gekko-State. But ominous rumblings are brewing in the military and the very core of the world itself, and the carefree life that Renton thought he was getting into may just be the greatest test he’s ever faced...

Oh yeah, I’m going there. And I’m finally gonna explain why.

The golden age of anime, or of media in general, is an incredibly subjective thing. It depends on your tastes, the things you grew up with, and the things thrust at you as you stumble through life. As such, I cannot in any way say “anime was better at this time that it has ever been since”, because that’s just my opinion. And I would always respect otherwise. But still, for me, film, music and anime were all better in the olden days.

Of course, “the olden days” itself is relative. In my case the golden generation would be the one before me; say the mid-80s to the mid-90s for music and film. Anime is slightly more recent, given that the industry is actually slightly behind western animation on the timeline (so much so that the first ‘anime’ series, as it were, Astro Boy, was based off of classic Disney cartoons). That means the ‘golden age’ of anime for me actually spans from the late 90s to exactly 2007. And yes, as with everything, of course there was a load of crap that came out in that time period, and yes there have been better shows come out since (two of my favourite shows are from 2010 and 2011 respectively). But, in general, I feel anime was at its best during that period, for a few reasons.

So where does that leave Eureka Seven? It came out in 2006 as an original story from Bones, and is now considered one of the classic mech shows along with Evangelion and Gurren Lagann. So how exactly is it? And what is it that makes it so firmly a product of the golden age of anime?

Let’s start with the animation. The absolutely phenomenally awesome animation. Oh yeah, Studio Bones, baby. Immediately that puts this in the classic category; I know nowadays there are a tonne of awesome studios out there, both veterans and newcomers, but back in the day when you saw the Bones logo you knew that the show was going to look stunning. Wolf’s Rain, both FullMetal Alchemists, Soul Eater, Darker than Black, and even in the recent years they haven’t let up with shows like Blood Battlefront Blockade, My Hero Academia and Mob Psycho 100. For the longest time they were the epitamy of quality animation, and they don’t drop the ball here. Eureka Seven looks absolutely wonderful. The character animation is amazing and never devolves into emoticon slapstick, the backgrounds are wonderful, as are the colours, and the show has probably some of the best aerial battles I’ve ever seen. Eureka Seven has the unique style of having giant robots surfing through the sky, and whether or not it’s a silly concept, you can totally buy it with some of the most wonderful flying and falling moments I’ve ever seen. The only time Eureka Seven looks less than stellar is just on occasion, where they’re obviously holding back a little budget and some of the faces get a little squash-and-stretchy.  But honestly, it doesn’t matter one bit. Having every frame be perfect is nowhere near as important as having the truly important moments be special.

The animation truly is excellent, but honestly I was far more blown away by the score to this show. The composer was Naoki Satō, and honestly I’ve only heard his work once before in Assassination Classroom, although for the life of me I can’t really remember a single track. Here is a different story though, as the entire score to Eureka Seven just blew me away. From wonderfully emotional opening themes to bittersweet endings to great sweeping strings and horns to some actually epic trance and techno pieces; the whole score is full of standouts both long and short, and it’s probably the only anime soundtrack I’ve listened to in full while I’ve been working (aside from Baccano). The music belongs to the show, and it is the show. Without it, it wouldn’t be the same. I’ve heard some people say over the years that soundtracks aren’t really important, and there seems to be a rising case of that in many modern blockbusters. But as these old series, and heck, even older films can testify, the soundtrack is important. In fact, essential. Decisive Battle. Goodnight Julia. The friggin’ Team Rocket theme. And among films, The Raider’s March. He’s a Pirate. Binary Sunset. I don’t even need to have the music clips and you’re probably already humming them in your head. The music of your favourite things will stick with you until the very end of time. That is how important the soundtrack is. Again, anime was better in the olden days.

While I can’t lavish as much praise onto the dub as I can the music, I can say it grew on me an awful lot. This is, I believe, an early Bang Zoom! effort, a company who would later go on to do good work with Madoka and Kill la Kill. It still has the old dub flavours though, with a few very recognisable actors and a few actors who don’t really act very well? I don’t know; as older dubs go it’s not as fluently fitting as GTO but it’s nowhere near as flat as Elfen Lied or Soul Eater so it sort of balances out. And for the most part the actors do a great job; Johnny Young Bosch and Crispin Freeman perform really nicely as Renton and Holland respectively, as you’d expect; Kate Higgins is a standout as Talho, and while Stephanie Sheh as Eureka takes some time to get into the role, she’s definitely nailing it by the end. In fact most of the Gekko-State, the recurring villains and even a few one-off characters really nail the voices, with the exception of Woz’s actor, who always sounds like he’s questioning everything he says, and Ken-Goh’s VA in the second half of the series, Kyle Hebert. He isn’t terrible, but after the original actor Bob Papenbrook sadly passed away in 2007, the change is very noticeable.

If there is a problem with the dub it lies a little more with the script than the actors. While most of it is very well handled and feels natural, there are definitely a few monologue-y moments where the actors are clearly just standing on a soapbox. But still, as a dub it works well. Very well. And I’m not convinced that the monologue-y moments are really the fault of the ADR team, at least, not completely. But I’ll get to that a little bit later.

You may have been slightly confused with the plot synopsis, and all the weird and wonderful terms and things going on. This is understandable; this is not a simple series, with alien worlds, political and military turmoil, and a huge cast of characters. There is a lot of lore, and a lot of stuff going on in the background that even I couldn’t always follow. Much like Outlaw Star, this is a world of...well...worldbuilding. And yet despite not being simple, it is far from inaccessible. I’d even go so far as to see this would be a very good introductory series for anime newcomers; certainly a better introductory mecha series than either Evangelion or Gurren Lagann.

(Partly because it’s kinda not really a mecha series. I mean, it is, and the mechas are a very important part, but halfway through it sorta turns out to be Trigun in disguise, in more ways than one).

There’s a reason for this, and again it goes into why I prefer the older style of series; despite the fact that all this stuff is going on, the focus is constantly on the main characters. The central point of the series, for the whole 50 episodes, are the relationships aboard the Gekko-State. Romantic, platonic, and familial. Renton’s growing relationship with Eureka and Hollands strained relationship with Talho. And the characters interact with each other, and no interaction is the same. There’s no simple ‘oh I respect this guy and I’m utterly loyal to him’. There’s a lot of back talking, and a lot of abuse being flung around. There’s blood, there’re tears, and fights, and some of it can be downright unpleasant to watch. But guess what; that’s a family! Even when Renton is being at his most annoying-teenager, or Holland is at his most annoying-manchild, or heck, the three kids who are constantly annoying, it still feels natural. They are inherently relatable characters, even if we don’t always like them.

And that’s just the main four; the rest of the Gekko-State are wonderful to watch as well, and heck, even members of the military. Despite the fact that not all of them go through a character arc, even the less prominent ones like Woz and Joves still feel like real people. And I say that not all of them go through an arc, but there’s a lot of really sneaky development here across the board. The shouty military commander Jurgens spends the beginning as a shouty commander, but he reveals a few hidden depths later in the series. Moondoggie (yeah, I know, but just roll with the names) is constantly fighting against feelings of his own inadequacy. Stoner is trying to find his own way to fight, being very pacifistic. Ray and Charles, despite a limited screentime, still manage to be some of the best written characters in the cast. Even among the children, there is Maurice, whose story I found utterly heartbreaking, not just for the obvious reasons, but for the build-up throughout the series and how much the final...reveal...hit close to home. These are real people. We spend the series following real people making real decisions, and some of them are very bad decisions. They make mistakes, they scream and shout. Some of them never recover, whereas others must try to deal with the consequences. And occasionally...just occasionally...some of them find their redemption. And let me tell you, they may make for the most glorious scenes of the show.

That’s the thing. Not every character needs to go through a deep epiphany, or come out on top, or even have a real purpose in the story. You could easily write out half the members of Gekko-State, but the show would suffer greatly for it. In most modern shows of this kind, every character needs a purpose. They must have their moment in the spotlight, and their own character arc. But the thing is, we already have a story, that being, Renton and Eureka’s relationship. Some of the other characters will have stories tying into it, but this is their show. We are seeing things unravel through their eyes, and sometimes, the main character needs a constant they can lean on. That’s when you need the Winrys, the Meryl Stryfes, and the Gekko-States. Back in the day, characters were exactly that. Characters. Characters in their own right, whose paths would cross with those of the mains. Not constructs. As wonderfully crafted as shows like Hunter X Hunter and FMA Brotherhood can be, the side characters too often steal the focus away from where it needs to be. The show does not need to pull you out of the main character arc to show you another one; it should be able to just show you through the eyes of the main. I don’t need to know Shoot’s or Ikalgo’s or Ling’s motivations absolutely word-for-word; I should be able to work it out for myself.

And that’s the point (which I’ve finally gotten back round to); when I see a good modern anime, or a good modern film, or hear a good modern song, I see and hear something that is perfect. Something that has been crafted beautifully and exquisitely to be utterly flawless. And, as weird as it sounds...that’s not how art works. Art needs to have flaws; that is one of the fundamental aspects. You cannot have art that is objectively perfect, since part of the reason it exists as it does is the fact that it is subjective to the creator. It cannot be objectively perfect, therefore, it must have flaws. Every show, every film, every song out there has flaws. And that’s what makes things beautiful.

Eureka Seven has flaws. Oh boy, does it have flaws. Way too much technobabble and monologuing in parts. Some of the dialogue feels incredibly forced and preachy. Some really, really unpleasant scenes in places where even if it fits with the characters it’s just not nice to watch. The pacing can be very off, especially in parts where there are multiple things going on at once. Little things scattered throughout the series, and heck, I like it. There are people out there who are going to hate this show for the choices it makes.

But the flaws make Eureka Seven what it is, just as they do for every show. But more and more nowadays, I see films and shows that have to be utterly perfect in everything they do. The plot has to have the right timing and the right number of twists, and be split into nice neat little arcs. The characters need to have a distinct character arc that finishes in the correct place, and heaven forbid we let any characters make mistakes. Nothing is allowed to be their fault. As technically great as things such as Civil War or Frozen are, I hate the fact that there has to be a villain. There has to be somebody you can point at and say “I can support the good guys in everything because it’s all their fault.” Direction and music fit everything to a tee, to the point where the soundtrack can just be plucked from a massive backlog in order to fit the mood perfectly. In songs, it’s always the same beats, and the same chord structures, and the same computed synthetic backings, in order to show how the singer has such perfect control over their voice even though they’re not saying anything. And NOTHING is allowed to have flaws anymore. The moment a show goes into the very slightest of heavier material, suddenly it’s problematic and sending a bad message. The general public are far too critical of everything nowadays, constantly pointing out plot-holes and every single mistake a film makes, so much so that you fail to see the good. We live in a culture that will judge everything we see before we’ve even seen it, and we will praise the technically flawless as the very best without accepting that people could possibly, possibly like something else more. And believe me, I’m among them. I went through a period of being so critical that I was willing to criticise the technicals of a joke in a kid’s play. It’s not a good look, and it’s not a good feeling when you look back and realise that sometimes you just need to sit back and enjoy something for a change.

Does it go for everything nowadays? Of course it doesn’t, and of course not everything in the olden days was better. We’ve kept the good stuff and wisely decided to leave the crap behind. Even in anime. Too much studio meddling, too little effort going into the story or animation, often way too much filler, and sometimes so needlessly dark that you end up with a Berserk or an Elfen Lied.

And the very reason that so much modern anime is so technically great is that the industry is in a fantastic place. More series are being made every season, with a variety of lengths, new techniques and new studios. Just last year Studio Mappa made a massive hit with Yuri!! On Ice; a unique sports show that was funny, charming, had some gorgeous skating scenes and finally gave a great representation of a gay couple in an anime, in a mainstream hit. It had its issues with the animation and the ending (and I’ll admit, I haven’t seen the whole show so I can’t give my own opinion) but honestly that’s what made it such a hit. It’s going to stick, whether people love it, hate it, think it’s over or underrated or just think it’s meh.

And in every medium, that is the art that will stick. I can think of two areas which are better now than have ever been before. One is kids’ shows and films, which are finally being taken seriously as a legitimate art form and are having more effort put into them than ever before (Lego Movie, Zootopia, Gravity Falls, Steven Universe, Inside Out, and every Laika film, among many). The other is things that are entirely creator-driven, which was what made the classics what they were. More and more people have more freedom to create the thing they want to make. Over in the west, people like Guillermo del Toro, George Miller and Neil Gaiman, or again with the kids shows, people like Rebecca Sugar, Pendleton Ward, Daron Nefcy, Ben Bocquelet and Alex Hirsch. Netflix and Amazon are bringing more unique and wonderful shows and adaptations to more and more people. And in the anime world, there are creators like Gen Urobuchi, Kunihiko Ikuhara, Jun Maeda and ONE, as well as new and upcoming studios like Shuka, 3Hz and of course Studio Mappa. The talent is out there. The people who care are out there. And I have no doubt that in another few years we’re going to see a new renaissance of media as people like this – people like you and me - take the technology and the dedication we now have, sit down, and make the story they want to make. Flaws and all.

Anime was better in the olden days. Film was better in the olden days. Music was better in the olden days. Not because it had more talent or technique behind it, though we have sadly lost several geniuses over the past few years. It was better, because the people who made it cared. They didn’t care about it being perfect, or being good for people. The things that were good were so good because people picked up the camera, or the pen, or the instrument, and they wanted to make something. They wanted to make their very own piece of art, and nobody was going to stop them.

And we got Empire Strikes Back, and Blues Brothers, and Terminator 2, Labyrinth, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, Ghostbusters, Lion King, Gremlins, Jurassic Park and Beetlejuice. We got Take On Me, Living On a Prayer, I’d Do Anything For Love (But I Won’t Do That), Heaven is a Place On Earth, Under Pressure, Tunnel of Love and Dry County. And we got Cowboy Bebop, FullMetal Alchemist, Wolf’s Rain, Gunslinger Girl, Baccano, Bokurano, Clannad, Princess Tutu and Welcome to the NHK.

And we got so, so many wonderful things. Not one of them perfect. But all of them forever wonderful.

Eureka Seven is a deeply flawed show, and yet I absolutely love it. It impressed me in all the right ways, with relatable characters, an exciting world, an inspiring story and an absolutely gorgeous presentation. It is every bit a product of the heart and love of Dai Satō, Naoki Satō, and every member of Studio Bones who worked on it. Not everybody will like everything about it, but personally, I found it a true classic. It made my top 20 in an instant and I would recommend it to anybody interested, and in fact, if you live in the good old UK like myself, the whole series is available completely free and legally on Viewster. Go for it. See the stories that came out over a decade ago. Because let me tell you, it’s going to be a little while before we see anything like their kind again.

My score: 9/10

#eureka seven #studio bones #anime 2006 #sorry not sorry

[laurietom]

My Favorite Games of 2016

My gaming backlog is something impressive, as I typically buy a few more than I can play in any given year, and then those extras build up. The result is that I rarely play any game in its year of release unless it's a part of a favorite series, and even then, depending on how busy I am, a much anticipated game might get postponed. But I'm not adverse to playing older games. As long as the gameplay is still there I generally don't care. Maybe that's the same for you? These are the nine games I liked enough to finish for the first time in 2016, in the order I played them. Virtue's Last Reward * I enjoyed 9 Hours, 9 Persons, 9 Doors for the Nintendo DS, so I intended to pick up the sequel, but took a while due to a bugged 3DS version (now patched) and not having a Vita at the time. Virtue's Last Reward is quite simply the strongest entry in the Zero Escape series. Science, pseudo-science, multiple universes, time travel, non-linear gameplay, and an incredible cast of characters made this a joy to play. I was up at 3am with tears in my eyes (on a work night!) because I had to see a particularly bittersweet sequence through. Fair warning there is a lot of reading, and the gameplay is all making choices and escape room mechanics, but if that's even remotely your bag it's worth playing. It'll mean more if you play 9 Hours, 9 Persons, 9 Doors first, but the good news is that both games are coming to Steam in a remastered edition. Fire Emblem Fates: Conquest I was looking forward to Fire Emblem Fates: Conquest, and despite the child problems I blogged about, I enjoyed it. It was refreshing to have a game so focused on family and divided loyalties. I really liked the moral gray area that Corrin and her siblings occupied and as mentioned in my RPG Talk entry, I like that the final confrontation features Corrin standing together with her siblings rather than Corrin plus love interest and motley band of heroes. Familial relationships are usually set behind the romantic ones in games, so having family placed before everything else makes this unique. Zero Time Dilemma Zero Time Dilemma had a hell of a lot of hype to live up to, and at the end of the day I don't think it's going to be anyone's favorite out of the Zero Escape series, but it's still an enjoyable game. It keeps a lot of the same mechanics from Virtue's Last Reward, but suffers from a less satisfying mastermind than the other two. There's also a plot twist that people tend to either love or hate. But that said, it does a decent job of wrapping up the series, the escape rooms are still fun, and offers a lot of emotional rewards for fans of the previous two. Code Realize: Guardian of Rebirth This is the best otome game I've played to date. I would have liked to include it in my top three games of the year, and it was a narrow miss. Otome games are usually given lackluster, passive protagonists to serve as the female player insert, but not Cardia. That girl is amazing, whether she's piloting an airship, busting herself out of confinement, or being a supportive girlfriend, because why can't one person do all of that. The boyfriends are more interesting than average, with only one route that really bored me. If there's any fault to this game I'd say it's locking Lupin's route behind everyone else's and making it so clearly the "real" route. Danganronpa: Another Episode: Ultra Despair Girls Ultra Despair Girls is a little strange in that I don't think it's a particular good game, though I still finished it. It's a third person shooter, which is a strange genre jump for what had been a visual novel series. I only played it when I did because the Danganronpa 3 anime had Monaca, who originated in this game. The story isn't bad, it asks good questions and even clears up some others (like where did Junko Enoshima get all those crazy robots), but I'm not a shooter fan and I can't imagine the overlap between visual novels, shooters, and Danganronpa is enough to justify this game's existence. If you suck at shooters though, there's no story penalty for playing on easy. You can still see the whole thing. Ace Attorney: Spirit of Justice I still haven't posted my VN Talk for this, but the sixth entry in the Ace Attorney series was a bumpy ride. It was good, but it wasn't great, and I think this is mostly due to character bloat. Dual Destinies had three lawyer protagonists so by golly Spirit of Justice has to too, even when the game can't quite figure out what to do with them. Unlike Dual Destinies, where the story honestly belongs to all of them, when it comes down to it, Spirit of Justice is really about Apollo, but the writing tries to showcase everyone, including several supporting characters, which results in a lack of focus. But if you like Apollo, this is the game to play as he has his best moments. This War of Mine * I waffled a lot on whether to buy This War of Mine because the vertical cut-away view of the buildings made me think of old platformers I was terrible at, but This War of Mine needs very little in the way of reflexes. I bought it for the for miserable experience of surviving as a civilian in an urban warzone and I was not disappointed. There's no tutorial, but the basics can be picked up by point and click, which feels oddly immersive, as the characters you're tasked with caring for have no idea how they're going to make ends meet either. Chances are, a first playthrough is going to be unsuccessful. People will die along the way, and you'll feel awful, which is the point. You get to put down the game and go home whereas the people who really lived this life could not. It was a sobering realization. (This War of Mine was inspired by the real world Siege of Sarajevo.) The Room This was a purchase based on a friend's recommendation because we both like escape rooms. While you're not escaping anything in The Room, the type of puzzle solving is familiar to anyone who has done escape rooms, and it's a affordable fix that can be done in an afternoon or two. The story is minimal and the atmosphere creepy, though it's manageable for those who scare easily (with one possible exception during the ending, but you've solved everything by then). I'm skipping the sequel because I react poorly to jump scares, even the ones that are so mild that most people wouldn't even consider them jump scares. Civilization V * When Civilization VI came out, I realized I wanted to play a Civ game again, but rather than getting the latest and greatest at full price, I decided to pick up Civilization V during a Steam sale, which netted me the base game and all the expansions and DLC for under $14. This turned out to be $14 well spent as I've now logged an embarrassing amount of hours on it. It's a lot of strategy and management to bring my chosen civilization to victory, but fun since the AI leaders of other civilizations have their own personalities. I had a really good tussle with Caesar in my Carthage campaign, which felt appropriate. My only complaint is that Europe feels over-represented in the number of civilizations available. There are multiple options for a continent like Africa, with Carthage, Morocco, Ethiopia, Egypt, Songhai, and Zulu available, which show that the game designers did put effort into avoiding a Eurocentric world, but it feels like it's not enough when 15 of the 43 civilizations are European (17 if one counts Byzantium and Ottoman, which I'm not since they're partially in the mideast), making them slightly more than a third of what's available. As I did with my book roundup, the three games I tagged with an asterisk (*) were my favorites of the year and definitely worth playing. I'd also like to mention the four games I replayed this year since it's rare that I replay anything, and four is unprecedented. Fire Emblem: Awakening (second time) Dragon Age II (third time) Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc (third time) Danganronpa 2: Good-bye Despair (second time) The Danganronpa games were mostly because of the anime and wanting to relive the experience, but Fire Emblem: Awakening and Dragon Age II were purely unprompted, with the former having happened before the release of Fire Emblem Fates.

Mirrored from: The Rat’s Den

#ace attorney #code realize #danganronpa #dragon age #entertainment roundup #fire emblem #fire emblem fates #video games #visual novel #zero escape #zero time dilemma

[recentanimenews]

Bookshelf Briefs 10/9/17

Food Wars: Shokugeki no Soma, Vol. 20 | By Yuto Tsukuda and Shun Saeki | VIZ Media – There really was zero chance that Soma’s contest with Eishi Tsukasa would end with Soma becoming the new first seat, but still, I didn’t expect that to fizzle out as much as it did. Thankfully, the rest of the volume makes up for it. I really enjoyed the scene between Erina and Soma in which she a) eats the totally delicious-looking tempura egg rice bowl that he makes and b) comes to completely reject her father’s plans for the homogenization of Totsuki cuisine. It’s great to see her fired up and training other students how to pass Central’s exams. (Also, by the end of volume 20, the cast is only at the end of the second term of their first year. We’ve hopefully got a long run ahead of us!) – Michelle Smith

Flying Witch, Vol. 3 | By Chihiro Ishizuka | Vertical Comics – I was right, the idea that this series has a plot was laughable. Nothing much continues to happen in this third volume, though we do expand the cast a little more with the addition of a secret cafe for supernatural beings, run by a mother/daughter combo and their shy ghost waitress, who is probably the cutest thing in the volume. There’s no real romance to be seen—Kei barely exists in the manga, and when Akane briefly thinks he has a girlfriend, it’s shot down immediately. What people are reading the series for is the cute girls doing magic (sometimes) very peacefully and seeing impressive sights, such as flying whales that resemble ancient civilizations. Flying Witch is a calm oasis, though risks putting you to sleep. – Sean Gaffney

Golden Kamuy, Vol. 2 | By Satoru Noda | Viz Media – The joke I’d heard about this volume was that the manga decided to turn into a foodie series, and there is an awful lot of attention devoted to the preparations of the wild animals that our heroes kill and eat while in the jungle. It also shows off their chemistry, and when we visit Asirpa’s village we find that they are very much in favor of hooking the two of them up. That’s unlikely to happen right away (if at all), though, as Sugimoto decides that it’s unfair to take her away from her loving family and friends and immediately goes out and gets captured and tortured. He’s a self-proclaimed immortal, but that doesn’t mean we can’t graphically show what he goes through, so it’s a foodie manga with a gore warning. Very good, though. – Sean Gaffney

In/Spectre, Vol. 6 | By Kyo Shirodaira and Chashiba Katase | Kodansha Comics – I thought this was going to be the final volume, and it does wrap up the novel it’s adapting, but apparently more stories are coming, though I wouldn’t believe Kotoko as to the content. Things wrap up nicely here, with the artist finding new and entertaining ways to show off what is basically a giant internet forum argument and make it a compelling mystery, as well as showing the sordid creepiness that comes from strangers raking over the past of a broken family. Also, the romantic triangle is resolved with no surprises whatsoever—the most interesting girl wins easily. I had a lot of fun reading this series, and am delighted that there will be original stories coming after. – Sean Gaffney

Kamisama Kiss, Vol. 25 | By Julietta Suzuki | VIZ Media – Another shoujo manga comes to a close, this one with a more satisfying ending than some, though it be full of fast-forwards. Nanami has been allowed to remain at Mikage Shrine until she finishes high school, and before that time is up she and Tomoe decide to get married while they’re still ayakashi and kami. I’m grateful that one of her friends brought up that getting married as a teenager is not generally a good idea, but I find that I don’t mind it in this case, since they’ve been through so much together. The ending is satisfying and bittersweet, a combination I really appreciate. Too, if you get the limited edition of this volume, it comes with a snazzy hardcover extra including an illustration gallery and a bonus manga! I’ll miss this series, and look forward to reading Suzuki’s next work. – Michelle Smith

Plum Crazy!: Tales of a Tiger-Striped Cat, Vol. 2 | By Natsumi Hoshino | Vertical Comics – Much like Flying Witch, it’s hard to even fill up a Bookshelf Brief with what happens in this volume—cats are cute!—but I’m going to try anyway as it really is a fun series, and Plum is a very sympathetic heroine even as she’s getting bitten and scratched and otherwise pummeled by the tsundere kitten Snowball. You can tell the author is very good at observing cat behavior, both on their own and with groups of humans—the reaction of the kids at the ballet school to “NEW KITTY!” was hilarious. There are a few sweet moments as well, but for the most part this series is going to be a mild tickle to the funnybone, as you smile and nod your head at the wacky cat antics. – Sean Gaffney

Princess Jellyfish, Vol. 6 | By Akiko Higashimura | Kodansha Comics – Most manga is more or less predictable—readers pretty much know what to expect with a sports manga or shoujo romance. Princess Jellyfish is an exception. At the end of the last volume, at which point Kuranosuke was hit hard by the reality of the fashion business, I never would’ve guessed at the place where the characters find themselves at the end of this volume. It’s too good to spoil, really, but I’ll mention the standout moments are Shu delivering Kuranosuke’s dress to his mother in Italy, where we see how much she really does love her son, and a certain character saying to herself, “So this time, I’ll be the one. I have to save everyone.” Reader, I sniffled! I have no idea where this story is going, and that is truly delightful. – Michelle Smith

Welcome to the Ballroom, Vol. 7 | By Tomo Takeuchi | Kodansha Comics – Last time I said that Ballroom‘s fault was that it tended to hammer on the angsty drama a bit too much, and this volumes takes that drama and doubles it. Honestly, it was pretty hard for me to plow through, particularly the first half. I really enjoy watching the dancing and the art is terrific, but there needs to come a time when we see our leads genuinely enjoying themselves, and they’re both just wallowing in misery here. It’s even piled on with their major rivals going to Germany instead of coming to the competition they were going to meet up at. Sports titles always get like this, and I know we’re going to have to have a breakthrough next time, which will be amazing. But only read this to get to that. – Sean Gaffney

By: Michelle Smith

#Anime #News #Manga Bookshelf