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#yes these episodes literally aired on the same day
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On December 8, 2011, someone at NBC was DONE with the Black Eyed Peas
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stsgluver · 6 months
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summary. instead of spending two weeks in a hot country, you're stuck in a cramped hotel with your boyfriend.
wc. 1.3k
tags. richly!gojo au, fluff, slightly suggestive themes but not really you've got to squint hard, swearing once
series masterlist
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“i’m literally dying,” gojo whined, falling back dramatically onto the double bed in the room.
you shot him a glare from where you sat on the floor, searching through your suitcase for ibuprofen which you had grabbed in the airport’s pharmacy to help with the searing headache you had. despite his tendency to have migraines that could leave him bedridden for days, gojo had decided not to bring any painkillers just in case and that was just one of many reasons you might be killing him before the fortnight is over. “if you complain one more time you will be dead.”
you were meant to be going on a two week, all inclusive holiday with your darling boyfriend and his mega rich family in a hot foreign country, the worries of college pushed far to the back of your mind for fourteen days of pure bliss. 
but fate clearly didn’t think you’d earnt such restbite as upon arrival and taking the mandatory test, both you and gojo had tested positive for covid-19. the light sniffles he had put down to hayfever and the headache you’d assumed was just what came with having gojo satoru as a boyfriend, were in fact symptoms of the illness you both had.
so now here you were: isolating in a small hotel room until your isolation period was up, or you both tested negative. it was sparsely decorated – a double bed in the centre of the room and a television opposite. there was a small open wardrobe where gojo had dumped his suitcase and an ensuite that would just about fit your lanky boyfriend. although not the best, there was some air conditioning as well which made the stifling heat just a little bit more bearable.
the staff had given you a specific number to call if either of your symptoms got worse and food would be brought to you at specific times everyday (not like the usual room service gojo was used to where he’d order banquets of food at stupid times in the morning). there were also the morning tests that you now had to do daily which left you pathetically sneezing afterwards. all in all, nothing that you had expected for your get away.
after finally finding the medication, you quickly swallowed two pills down with a sip of water. the sooner they could kick in and actually do something to help ease your discomfort, the better.
crawling onto the double bed, gojo welcomed you with open arms and you gratefully curled into his side, throwing one of your legs over him. yes, it was boiling and yes, you were mildly irritated with your boyfriend, but you were also in pain and, for all his flaws (which he denied having any), nothing could top being held close by him. the two of you were clingy with each other at the best of times – being ill and feeling sorry for yourselves only made you both worse.
“pass me the remote,” you patted the space next to gojo blindly, too lazy to lift your head to actually search for it. it had now been almost an hour of you two cuddled up on the bed, and for the last thirty minutes gojo had been rewatching the same show over and over. whilst you headache had marginally subsided, listening to the same crappy show was only driving you insane.
“no, i like this show,” gojo whined, swatting your hand away.
“satoru,” you dragged out, muffled as you pressed your face further into his top, “you’ve watched this episode three times, you don’t need to watch it again.”
gojo hummed thoughtfully, running his hands through your hair. it was enough to make you fall asleep if you weren’t careful. “yes i do.”
“why?” you rested your chin on his chest, meeting the gaze of his bright blue eyes that sparkled as they looked down at you.
“because i’m ill.” he coughed twice for affect, sounding as pathetic as ever as he ‘checked’ himself for a fever too. 
you narrowed your eyes at him before pinching his side, causing him to let out a small yelp. “who’s fault is that?”
“covid’s.”
“no. yours,” you said pointedly, a little more alert as you relayed all the reasons why it was in fact gojo’s fault that you both had contracted this illness. “i said don’t go to geto’s party, we’re about to go on a very expensive holiday. you said but baby please please please-” you huffed, rolling back onto your back next to him defiantly. “so i gave in, as per, and now we’re–”
gojo brought his other hand to messily pat the top of your head, coaxing you to turn to face him. “i love it when you’re mad,” he was wearing a shit-eating grin that only widened when you blankly stared back at him – your annoyance radiating off of you in waves more powerful than the ones you could’ve been enjoying on the sun-ridden beach. “you’re so sexy.”
“you’re corny. and annoying,” you sat yourself up as you held out your hand, lifting a finger with each complaint, “and stupidly tall, and a pain in my ass… and i feel like you’re not even listening.” 
gojo crossed his arms behind his head as he condescendingly nodded along, gazing up at you with a lopsided smile. his top had risen up ever so slightly to expose a sliver of his abs and you hated how attractive he looked when all you wanted to do was throttle him for his childish behaviour.
“oh i’m listening baby,” he encouraged with a teasing tone, tracing small patterns on the exposed skin of your leg. “go on.” there was a fire in his wake, one that no hot weather could ever compare to, not even covid had this much of an affect on you.
“i don’t think i want to anymore,” you mumbled arms crossed as you slowly lay back down and avoided his eyes, trying not to give him any indication that you were a complete fool for his touch (like your sudden bashfulness wasn’t completely giving you away).
gojo was slow with his movements, thoughtful as he dragged his hand up along your thigh, grazing your hips, giving your waist a light squeeze as he traced the outline of your body. your breath was caught in your throat as you allowed him to do as he pleased, all previous grievances forgiven as you watched entranced. gradually, he closed the gap that you had created, shifting his body until he straddled you, holding his body up by resting on his forearms either side of your head.
gojo dipped his head down, lips milimetres from your own that you would barely even need to lift your head from the pillow to touch. his voice was an octave deeper as he spoke. “shame, i was just starting to–” 
and then he fell into a fit of very loud and very barky and very not sexy coughs. he didn’t even give you the decency of trying to limit the spread of his germs and buried his head into the crook of your neck once his coughs were over.
“mood fucking ruined,” you hit his shoulder lightly and he babbled something that was completely muffled and only tickled as his lips brushed your skin. “please let me at least change the channel so i die from this illness and not insanity.” 
gojo lifted his head up ever so slightly, just enough so that he could peck the corner of your lips and point to the spot next to you. “i slipped the remote under my pillow. tv’s all yours baby.”
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a/n. I think this is like the first thing ive posted in almost a month. I MISS YOU GUYS xxx
taglist. @jar-03 @animeflower26 @hyori2
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firstkanaphans · 3 months
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Hello Sarah sorry to bother you. I'm a new fan kinda but I'm done with watching all the firstkhao dramas (together and individual) but tbh I'm kinda lost on how I will get to know them better. I have no idea about their irl personalities that much. Maybe you can give a little introduction for me if it's not too much of a bother? Also like how they met and why are they doing so many projects together? And are they good friends irl too (my friend told me a lot of time pair actors don't really get along with each other which is why I got curious about their dynamic) Sorry if these questions are a bit dumb I'm altogether very new in bl fandoms so don't have a lot of ideas.
Oh, Anon. I don’t think you know what you’ve signed up for here. If you want a FK primer, I can give you a FK primer!
Both First and Khaotung started working for GMMTV back in 2018. I’m pretty sure talent agents simply slid into their DMs, so there was no formal audition process, but I could be wrong about that. They were both in university at the time. I’m not quite sure what they were doing that attracted the attention of the talent agents. I know First had been in at least one commercial prior, but I don’t believe Khaotung had done any acting. He had, however, had a picture go viral because he’s just so stinkin’ adorable. I think maybe this one? 
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Or it could have been one of these…
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Either way, they ended up in an acting workshop together right after they joined. Khaotung talks about how he didn’t like First at first because he was too friendly and talkative, but I think that must have only lasted for like a day because it was during this same workshop where he discovered that his heart beats to the sound of First’s name—“FirFirFir”—and yes, that is a real thing that he has admitted out loud on multiple occasions. They have been best friends ever since.
From there, the two of them began to act in individual projects—mostly BLs—and although I have no proof of this, I am entirely convinced that they were playing a long con to get themselves partnered together. They did way more fanservice before they were partnered than they do now. Feel free to watch this live from 2020 where they alternate between staring lovingly in each other's eyes and just outright flirting for an hour straight.
Look, they’re smart boys. They knew that their best path to success in this industry was to be in a fixed pair and they wanted that pair to be each other. How do I know? Because these two adorable idiots were showing up to events in matching outfits.
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This picture was taken in January 2021 when Tonhon Chonlatee was actively airing! There's a picture from this same event of them with Podd, who Khao was paired with, and Podd looks like the odd man out.
They were finally paired together for The Eclipse in 2022 and spent the entire press tour either talking about how excited they were to finally work together or crying about the possibility that they might never be able to work together again. I would highly recommend you watch The Eclipse special episode if you haven’t already. In it, First talks about how there was one scene where Khao wasn’t supposed to cry but he kept crying anyway because First was crying and he cared about First so much. 
And speaking of crying, if you want to watch a compilation of FK crying about how much they love each other (and other things!), you can find that here.
One thing I would recommend if you want to get to know FK better is to watch a bit of Safehouse Season 4. It’s unscripted, so you’ll get a sense of their personalities, but First was also in an arm cast at the time, so you’ll get to watch Khao dote on him for seven days straight.
Oh and you have to watch this! If you ever see people talking about the voices in First’s head, that's why.
Obviously, we can never truly know what goes on behind closed doors for any of these BL couples, but I feel pretty confident in saying that FirstKhao are genuine besties. They literally do everything together. You can find a collection of some of their lovestagram pics here although there are so many more now. It never stops.
Actual things they have said to each other un-prompted:
First to Khao: I want to build a house with the same fences as you.
Khao to First: As you grow up, you will meet many new friends. Leave them and stay with me.
I’m wracking my brain for anything else that feels important for a new fan to know and am coming up blank, but I’m sure I’ll probably think of something right after I post this. They’re both just super sweet individuals who have never been involved in any controversy and I think what people love most about them is just how much they care about each other. They’ve got that whole platonic soulmate thing going on and we're all super jealous.
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sailormoonandme · 8 months
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Mamoru is NOT useless in the Anime
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Yes, yes, the memes are funny and all, but this is simply objectively not true and I'm rather exhausted of folks critiquing the character/the anime as though it were.
I will hopefully kill his BS once and for all.
"He just throws a rose and leaves!"
For those who have actually watched the anime (or even just the very first episode) to describe Tuxedo Mask as 'useless' is reductionist to the point of being outright disingenuous. In particular when this argument is made in such a way as to negatively compare him to his manga counterpart, who is put over as allegedly superior on this point.
The original 1992 Sailor Moon anime had 200 episodes, 3 TV specials*, 2 theatrical shorts and 3 films, with these latter theatrical releases being dubiously canonical to the anime. Mamoru appears in the overwhelming majority of those 208 entires, even accounting for the final 34 episodes where he was dead/functionally absent almost all of the time. Even if we seriously low balled things, the majority of those appearances feature him partaking in the following scenario.
Sailor Moon, often with her fellow Senshi, are fighting the monster of the day (maybe it's a higher ranking villain, or a general threat they are dealing with).
They get into a tight spot where either they or whoever/whatever they are trying to protect is in danger from whatever threat they are combatting.
Then, out of the blue, a rose slices through the air and imbeds itself into the scenery like a dart. Typically, this action saves the lives of Sailor Moon, her friends or whomever they might be protecting.
Tuxedo mask gives a speech and either leaves or else sticks around to see Sailor Moon perform her finishing move that effectively ends whatever threat she was dealing with, often with Tuxedo Mask being the one to prompt her into performing this finshing move.
For the sake of argument lets pretend that the above is literally the sum totality of what Mamoru does in regards to the superheroics of Sailor Moon. How could anyone describe the above as 'useless'?
If his interventions regularly save Sailor Moon's life then that is a zillion miles away from useless. For him to be useless, his actions need to be superfluous, pointless, contribute nothing. Even if he contributed a little bit he would by definition not be useless. And saving the protagonist's life is much more than 'a little bit'. If the protagonist dies then the story is over. Evil has won, the world is doomed.
And this isn't even considering all the ways Mamoru contributes OUTSIDE of the above scenario.
He has, whilst untransformed, stabbed a Lemures with a knife to save Sailor Moon.
He has willingly acted as a magical life support system for Chibi-Usa when her Pure Heart was stolen, an act that maybe anyone else could have performed but it is still a noble thing to do, in particular when it freed up the more powerful characters to go get her heart back.
He personally met up with the Outer Senshi to learn about them on behalf of the other girls, going alone which might have been dangerous, but the episode also gives the impression that he, as the oldest member of the team, was better positioned to get info from the older Outer Senshi who has a demeaning view of the younger Inner Senshi. In this same episode, he tried to convince the Outers to join forces with the Inners, acting as a diplomat.
He went 1-on-1 with Rubeus to defend an injured Sailor Moon who was herself acting as a human shield for Chibi-Usa
He has personally gone on a one man mission to infiltrate the Black Moon Clan's HQ to rescue Sailor Moon from being sexually assaulted by Prince Demande.
Mere episodes later he and Artemis went on a scouting mission to learn more about the Malefic Black Crystal
He formed a double team with Sailor Moon to tackle a tennis themed Youma, an encounter that involved more than a singular rose throw and a speech. One of the multiple times he got more directly involved in fighting the monster of the day
He literally carried Sailor Moon on his back to save her when they were both trapped in an elevator courtesy of Nephrite
He was prepared to willingly reveal his identity and hand both himself and his Rainbow Crystals over to Zoisite in order to save Sailor Moon and her friends
The love he shared with Usagi directly led to the manifestation of the Silver Crystal, to the salvation of Chibi-Usa when she'd been brainwashed into Black Lady & the creation of a new weapon and transformation brooch for Usagi in season 3
As Prince Endymion, he went against his own subjects and risked his life to infiltrate the Moon Palace and warn his beloved Serenity that his home planet was going to invade her home
He took not one, not two, but three impalements to protect Sailor Moon's life
More often than not he has acted as reliable emotional support for Usagi and Chibi-Usa, encouraging them, helping them with homework or just being there for them. i.e. he is an imperfect, but ultimately good husband and father. Which is particularly impressive considering he hadn't yet married his wife nor conceived his child.
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There are those who might scoff at the latter. Is emotional support really useful? Well, putting aside how the Sailor Moon universe clearly demonstrates how magical power/energy is directly linked to emotions, this is categorically true in the real world as well. There are no end of testimonies from fire fighters, doctors, people who have serious illnesses, or soldiers that the emotional support of thier loved ones have kept them going and kept them alive. So, this is rather useful for our heroine Usagi who's job is that of a Sailor Soldier.
The Outer Senshi
Furthermore, there is an inherent hypocrisy in the 'Mamoru is useless' narrative because such criticisms are never levelled against other characters whose typical role in the narrative are similar to Mamoru's.
The most popular season of the original anime was season 3 (Sailor Moon S) and one of the biggest reasons for that show's popularity were the fan favourite Outer Senshi: Sailors Uranus, Neptune, Pluto and Saturn. Let's exclude Saturn as she wasn't active as a Senshi for most of season 3. Uranus and Neptune's role in the first half of season 3 typically amounted to
Attacking the monster of the day, usually to the same end that Mamoru's rose throws did, i.e. a distraction or last minute save
Swiping the Pure Heart of that episode's victim
Checking it over before concluding it wasn't a Talisman
Leaving, or else at least standing by as Sailor Moon administered her finishing move on the monster of the day
Golly...that seems just as 'useless' as Mamoru now doesn't it? In fact, maybe more so considering they weren't even trying to help Sailor Moon in the first place. In fact, during their second appearance, they unintentionally saved the lives of a powerless Usagi, her friends and an innocent civilian to check a Pure Heart, then uncaringly left them all in danger.
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You know who then saved them immediately after that? Mamoru!
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Later when he too was overwhelmed by the monster he directly contributed to saving the day as his emotional bond with Usagi generated the Spiral Moon Heart Rod, upgrading Sailor Moon and giving her the power to save everyone.
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During the third sub-arc of season 3 (where the recurring villain was Mimet of the Witches 5) Sailor Pluto joined the Outer Senshi's ranks and their role in the typical monster of the day plots became yet more minimal. More than once, the trio literally appeared but did nothing, something that had also happened at least once before Pluto joined the team. Examples include (but are not necessarily limited to) episodes 97 (The Labyrinth of Water – Ami Targeted), 116 (Sunny Skies After a Storm – A Friendship Dedicated to Hotaru) and 118 (Battle Inside the Demonic Space – The Sailor Guardians’ Gamble). In some of these instances the Outers deliberately choose to do nothing.
Barring 2 of the specials mentioned above (one of which was a clip show), the Outer Senshi were wholly absent in season 4/Sailor Moon SuperS. In one of those specials, upon learning that a new threat had arisen Uranus and Neptune...choose to continue their road trip and leave the fighting to Usagi and the others...How...useful???????
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They, along with Pluto and Saturn get much more involved during the course of the final season/Sailor Stars. Even then, Saturn only appears in the first few episodes and the last few. Pluto only gets involved in the monster of the day schemes once or twice and Uranus and Neptune three or four times, if that. Whilst Mamoru is barely involved at all in this season, he at least has the excuse of being dead for most of it.
So, the fan favourite Outer Senshi got far LESS involved and were LESS useful than Mamoru typically was in the course of the whole show. In fact, even if we exclude the first two seasons where (exempting Pluto) the Outer Senshi hadn't appeared yet, Mamoru overwhelmingly contributed MORE than the Outer Senshi did.**
The Other Senshi
Much the same can be applied to the Sailor Starlights. The Starlights more often than not actually got MORE involved in fighting the monsters of the day during season 5 than the Outer Senshi did in season 3; or at least they were interested in defusing a direct and active threat to innocent lives. But even they literally showed up and did nothing on at least one occasion.
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Whilst the Starlights are nowhere close to the Outer Senshi's popularity, they are also never subjected to the 'they are useless' narrative Mamoru frequently is.
Nor in fact are the Inner Senshi of Sailors venus, Mars, Jupiter and Mercury. Now, whilst it's easy to argue due to their superior screentime, the fact that they often initiate combat with the monster of the day and are generally heavily involved in whatever crisis is happening, that they are obviously more useful than Mamoru is.
And you know what, even including the rare occasions they too show up and do nothing else (or do a last minute save like Mamoru is prone to do) this is perfectly true. It is also perfectly true however that the quartet have rarely ever defeated any monster of the day on their own. The overwhelming majority of the time the Inner Senshi act as a distraction to the Monster of the day or else sufficiently lower its HP so that Sailor Moon can actually beat the monster. That might be more useful than Mamoru's typical contributions, but, call me crazy, it seems like Sailor Moon is doing the lion's share of the work there. So, how 'useful' are the Inner Senshi really if we run by the 'Mamoru is useless' narrative?
If Mamoru is useless so are many if not all of the more popular heroic characters in the series.
But...how useless is Mamoru in the anime compared to the Manga?????????
*Well, one special with three segments, but go with me on this.
**They were mostly absent from season 4 whilst he appeared routinely in that season. Meanwhile, in the season he was mostly absent, they rarely helped out.
Obviously, there are real life writing reasons behind that difference, but my point is why is the fandom not treating the Outer Senshi as 'useless' too?
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elizabeth-dicewielder · 2 months
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Rewatching Once Upon A Time for the first time since I was a kid (I watched it as it aired, I pretty much grew up as Henry did) and like as an adult I can now actually realize how fucking creepy Henry’s life must be. Time is STOPPED. Yes, there’s a day-night cycle, but we have no proof there are seasons. I don’t think we ever hear the date mentioned. People don’t age. He probably made friends when he was a little kid, and he aged and they didn’t. How horrifying must that be? His teachers probably teach the same lesson over and over again. The clock on the clocktower doesn’t work and no one has ever tried to fix it. From the Cinderella episode it’s implied that Cinderella has been pregnant since they left the Enchanted Forest—Henry must have seen her around! He must have seen this woman be pregnant his entire life and never give birth!
And then there’s also the fact that everyone is sad. Literally no one is happy with their lives. Everyone says things have been happening for “as long as I can remember.” And we see that he has access to media from outside Storybrooke (comics, books, tv) so he would also have picked up on the fact that everyone in Storybrooke talks fucking weird. No one in the real world brings up true love or darkness constantly. Regina threatens to “destroy” Emma. No one talks like that!! Henry has to have noticed!
Like no wonder this kid immediately latched onto the everyone was cursed concept. This whole experience must be traumatizing af, he would believe any explanation he came across
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I want to talk about that miracle.
All everybody ever asks is: why was that miracle so strong, is it because Crowley was a powerful angel before the fall (probably), or was it because Aziraphale & Crowley working together are more powerful than anything else (definitely)?
But nobody ever asks: why was that miracle so strong? I mean, they said it worked a little too well, when the angels & demons couldn't even recognize Gabriel when he stood directly in front of them and announced himself. But still ... does that really require a miracle the same strength as bringing someone back from the dead 25 times? We have learned that angels are rather unquestioning and demons rather dim, it should require fairly little to pull the wool over their eyes. And Aziraphale & Crowley didn't even think that it would take a big miracle, they planned to both do a little miracle, a very minor miracle, each a half-miracle that would barely move the dials, the tiniest, most insubstantial, fractional half a miracle they have ever performed. And after they did they even had to check if the miracle took at all.
So yeah, even if they accidentally overdid it - why to the amount of 25 Lazarii? And that without them even noticing!
Of course their delight at the successful hidden miracle followed directly by the scene of all the alarm bells in Heaven ringing with what literally looked like Red Alert was insanely funny. But once I stopped laughing, and they showed Zira's bookshop spewing purple miracle dust like a volcano, I immediately thought: that can't be it. I expected a soft glow around it, like a shield or an aura, but not a pillar of pink that went up into the sky space. There must have been something else in Zira's shop. What do we know was in the shop at that time?
Apart from Gabriel himself my first thought was his cardboard box. Up until the end I was convinced that the box contained more than just empty air. Even when the fly was revealed, I still thought there must have been more inside. Gabriel went to the trouble of taking the fly out of the matchbox and putting it in this much much bigger box. Why did he do that? It cost him a lot of time. He could have just grabbed the matchbox and be on his way! If he had taken a finer pen than the marker, he could have written a message on there too. From inside the elevator. And Soho would have gotten a longer and better look at his goods.
So I kept thinking that there must have been something else, invisible but enormously miraculous, inside that box. No not the fly. More powerful and more important than the fly. 25 Lazarii more powerful. The only problem with that theory is that when Gabriel got his memory back, he should have remembered what else he put into the box as well. And he could/would have told Aziraphale what it was. (I also don't think that the "something terrible" he referred to in his first conversation with Zira was his impeding memory loss, I think he was already talking about the second coming. And I think he wanted to prevent it, even while fleeing Heaven.)
But he didn't tell Aziraphale & Crowley anything. Was he so caught up in his reunion with Beelzebub that he forgot? That he didn't care anymore? Had someone or something removed certain memories from the fly, held them back? Or did he indeed not know that there was something else in the box, was it maybe given to him by somebody?
Yes, I have had this Box-Theory since my very first watch of the very first episode. I can't seem to let it go.
But even if it doesn't have anything to do with the box - I am still absolutely convinced that there was a second miracle. Maybe that miracle is the one that will finally make sense of all the dangling threads and open questions about season 2. Maybe it is the new context we are all seeming to look for. I have absolutely no fucking clue what it could be.
But I know that something was going on in that bookshop on that day that we don't know about.
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doubleddenden · 2 years
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A quick look at the timeline since we last checked in
Sonic Frontiers has a song by ONE OK GO and one version says "Fuck the pain away"
Disney proves it truly listens to what fans do not want by making live action Pinocchio, Little Mermaid, and Mufasa, which is a prequel to the much behated live action Lion King
HBO Max nuked a bunch of its animated shows for tax write offs
Uncle Grandpa almost survived with one episode called "Fleas Help Us" before being deleted
Summer Camp Island literally had a whole season ready
WB canned a completed Batgirl movie after spending $98 million. For tax write offs.
FBI raided Trump's Florida home and found hundreds of stolen top secret files, and one includes nuclear defense details on a foreign nation. Yeah he's in very hot shit
Biden administration opens the path for forgiveness for $10k-$20k of student loans, MS decides to tax anyone that gets it
When the Republicans got offended the White House Official Twitter Account revealed the MILLIONS of PPP loans the nay sayers had forgiven individually
NASA Is trying to GET US BACK ON THE MOON BABEY WOOOOOOOOO but unfortunately they had to scrub 2 launches because of engine troubles and a leak
But it's cool! It's cool! They gotta get it right because the end goal is to try and establish a MOTHERFUCKING MOON BASE!!! SOMEBODY HIGH FIVE ME
A machine on Mars the size of a lunch box made about as much oxygen as a small tree, prompting some to think we could have oxygen mines for future manned Marsian missions
Leonardo DiCaprio breaks up with another woman who just turned 25
JK Rowling wrote a book about totally not her being harassed by the very people she demonizes every day as a racist antisemitic ableist TERF and embarrassed herself in front of God and the internet again
After years of failing to sell on the market, Sony makes the decision to INCREASE the price of the PS5 despite only 5 people other than Crypto Dorks having them
Nintendo follows up by revealing they have no plans to change prices, which we all been knew because they still sell years old ports for $60
Gendy Tartokovsky's Primal aired a Dinosaur literally laying eggs up close and personal from its cloaca (side note do dinosaurs have those?)
Gendy is also apparently at the helm of a second PPG reboot in the works
She-Hulk Twerked
Looney Tunes officially ships Bugs X Daffy
3 Avatar Movies in the works. No not the blue people- well yes those too but I meant the one about the bald kid, the second one about Zuko, and the third about Korra
Blue people avatar has a movie coming in December
Reigen Arataka from Mob Psycho 100 wins Twitter poll for Twink Supreme
Reigen does absolutely nothing and wins Ultimate DILF
In an ultimate final clash, Reigen just barely loses to Sans Undertale for Tumblr Sexyman
Tobyfox wrote fanfic about it and posted it to Twitter
On the same exact fucking day Sans defeats Reigen, the Queen of England DIED. Tv stations in mourning across the globe. Meanwhile Irish people and other people directly negatively impacted by colonization by the crown cheered and partied and tumblr and twitter released the crabs 🦀
This is as of September 10th, 2022, not told in any particular chronological order
This has been the look at the timeline, and no, the year is not over yet
See yall in December
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liashinigami · 6 months
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Was gonna gather my thoughts and write a post tmr on the general mood in the ofts space after the finale bc I feel like a whole bunch of people overthink the amount of editing that was supposedly the result of "promo couple fans complaining too much" but I literally cannot sleep before I get this off my chest so here goes nothing:
Do you guys not understand how tv show productions work....
The script was written, reworked, and then finalized before they even began filming. Yes they might have changed some stuff between the initial scrips draft they had before the mock trailer and the true beginning of production this year but considering that they booked two at the time new but well received promo couples (remember that this show was already in planning at a time when Enchené and The Eclipse were still very very fresh), TopMew and SandRay were always gonna be endgame. It's especially obvious now that the full series is out bc if you go back and watch the mock trailer, all the same storybeats are there. This is how the story was supposed to go from the beginning. They most likely cast two promo couples on purpose because of the added bonus of pre-established compatibility and chemistry needed for endgame couples in such a messy series.
Then they filmed stuff. They finished filming I believe the day that episode 3 aired, so they could not have changed any of the ending based on audience reactions (as I have seen multiple people suggest), since we were barely a few epiaodes into the story. The book based on the series was also already finished and in the last stages of preparing to be released. The only thing they actually did was edit out parts of scenes or full scenes that they found did not add anything at this point in the story (like the sandray garage scene) or would actively harm what we, the audience, are supposed to be understanding and feeling right now (like the Mew smashing shit scene and Top attempting to sleep with someone else, which both were explained to have been cut because audiences were reacting strongly negative to Top even a few episodes into his redemption arc, when we were clearly supposed to start being on his side). They might also have moved some scenes around to aid the story flow but I am unsure of that one (I suspect the scene where Ray and Mew finally solve their shit out was supposed to be directly before the SandRay donut scene bc of obvious clothing reasons, bc they either fucked up hardcore with clothing continuity or moved the first SandRay rehab discussion to after the RayMew talk because it made more sense that way when seeing it played out on screen. If that was the case I am glad for it bc it would have felt a bit weird the other way around idk...).
All of this is however not new. It happens all the time in film and broadcasting production (also in book publishing....this is why editors and alpha/beta readers exist. I mean Brandon Sanderson's books famously go through four (?) stages of feedback before they get published...). Some scenes just get dropped in editing because when you see it on screen it feels redundant or not quite right, so it gets taken out before it changes what they want the audience to take away from other scenes. Movies and tv shows that have months between filming and airing dates usually solve this issue with test screening audiences and several runs of editing. There have been instances of Movies having test screenings at cinemas and then having their release date scrapped because they have to be re-edited completely as a result of unexpected audience feedback. GmmTV series being on smaller budgets and timeframes results in this time window falling away and relying on observing audience reactions to already aired episodes closely and then editing the next episode close to its release is one strategy to still ensure that you bring across what you wanted to (Kdramas also do this very frequently). It might not be ideal but it's not unusual and it certainly does not mean that anything substantial from the story was changed. All the storybeats as well as the character and relationship development remained the same because they already had everything filmed. They did not do reshoots or we'd know it. The story was planned this way. It was in the script. If you did not like it, then you did not like it. But don't accuse the directors of "bending to the will of fans" bc that's just plain wrong.
I too have my issues with some of the writing and some of the characterizations. But let's keep the criticism where it is actually deserved ok?
Edit: I have also seen quite a few people over here and also on Twitter say how disappointed they are in the "editing based on audience reaction" and that they should release a "directors cut" with all the scenes but like....this IS the directors cut. THEY decided how to edit this because the original intent is not always what arrives in the brains of the audience. Storytelling is a two-way street and if a massive chunk of your audience interprets a part of your story so differently to how you intended it to be understood, edits are necessary. Because that means that your intent is not communicated well enough.
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math-is-math · 5 months
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Heather is THE aleheather song (or at least one of lol) and here's why
♬ - "Heather" by Conan Gray; def listen to it if you haven't
Okay let's get the obvious out of the way:
1. The song's name is Heather!! And her name is literally Heather!!!
2. Heather day is known as December 3rd; the lyric, "I still remember the 3rd of December". The episode they became a canon couple in, "The Final Wreck-ening," was literally aired December 3, 2013 in the U.S.
Now this is the part I'm excited to delve into:
3. In the song, Heather is the "it girl." She's the person the narrator wants to be, in order to get the same type of affection from their love interest (as they're in love with Heather).
Now, we're all expecting miss Heather over here to be the "Heather" of the story. She's hot shit, she presents herself as hot shit, there are many guys who are visibly attracted to her (including Alejandro). However, I present you this.
In its full irony, Heather doesn't believe she's the "Heather" of her story.
Everyone fell weak in the knees for Alejandro, even Heather herself. They couldn't stop themselves from falling for his charm; they all wanted to be his "Heather". Throughout the season, he was seen leading on some of the girls. His thing with Bridgette and Leshawna didn't really faze Heather though.
However, she was seen doubting things when Alejandro moved onto Courtney.
In her confessional, after denying anything could possibly happen between them, a look of worry is seen on her face. Throughout those few episodes, she's pretty wary of their relationship, although she covers it up and further focuses on winning the challenges instead. But Alejandro's seen giving Courtney cookies, flirting with her, helping her with her emu and the wedding challenge, etc.
Courtney is starting to become the "Heather" of their story. And frankly, who wouldn't be worried? Because in Heather's eyes, Courtney's a way better person than she could ever be - they all are! Heather is cold and calloused and cruel. The rest of them are humane, they actually have the ability to be kind and show emotion. What would someone as warm and charming as him want to do with her?
Their confrontation/confession in "Sweden Sour" I feel is kind of the peak for this song association, especially his final line:
"Believe me, Heather, the only woman I want to look at is you."
You have this charming young man - who's swooned all the ladies and led them on then broke their hearts and took them to their downfall - confess his devotion to someone the world and their mother hates.
Heather, as someone who:
can't allow herself to trust
can't allow herself to love and become vulnerable
doesn't think she as a person is lovable
cannot believe his confession.
All she's wanted is him, this confession is practically a dream come true. Here he is giving her the title of "Heather" in their story.
But she doesn't know if he's telling the truth. If she allows herself to fall into that trap, she could simply become another pawn on his board. He could twist things and lead Heather to her downfall as well. She could become the narrator once more, just like everyone else, wishing he'd reconsider them as a "Heather" for his story.
Alejandro couldn't possibly mean it, she can't fathom being the "Heather" of their story. She can't fully trust his word. Yes, she doesn't know who his potential "Heather" could be (Courtney lol or maybe someone else he meets after the show is done) but she can't believe it could genuinely be her.
Also in All Stars, in her confessional when she's like:
"It's almost as if he's lost interest in me. No one has ever lost interest in me!"
I feel like that last bit was just her trying to cover up her genuine fear and instead coat it with an ego-boosted comment, to show she really doesn't care, it's his loss after all!
But she's afraid of losing the title of "Heather" in their story once more. It's not like there's any potential competition for her to lose the title to, but there's still a chance of losing it in general.
However, Alejandro always comes through, showing Heather that she truly is her namesake in their story. Taking the dive after she gets beat up, digging her out of the hole, beating the crap out of José for insulting her, literally confessing his feelings to her instead of chucking his doll in to win the million because clearly that was priority.
She'll always be his "Heather". Nothing could change that. <3
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what's your opinion about the whole "hints of Adrien as sentimonster already exist and obvious from s1 and sentimonster Adrien is not just a theory, never been"
This already stated by the ambassador in twitter when s4 aired but I just... call me denial or stupid, but those "hints" that people claimed as one? doesn't looks like hints at all for me. Like, there's other explanation for, say, Adrien feather allergy, other than "it's hint that he's a sentimonster" and this "hints" that they claimed range from trivial one like feather allergy to the irritating one like "reason Adrien can't disobey Gabriel is because he's a sentimonster."
It's irritating because as an ex abused child, seeing people claimed Adrien trauma respond as "hint that he's sentimonster" is irritating, it's invalidating for me. There's no amount of "yes Adrien is abused, him being a sentimonster doesn't change the fact that he's an abused child" validating my experience and feelings as an ex abused child because That! Is! Not! The same!! Our experience is difference!!!
I'm sorry for the rant it just everytime I see people praised the sentimonster Adrien plot or how it's already been there from the first time, make me want to pull my hair. Not only because of the reason I stated above but also because that means I feel like i spend years watching this show just for me to be tricked by the showrunner. ...or it just me who's reading the show wrong like my friends said, that it's never a show where Adrien fight for his freedom, realized that he's abused and get out from that situation, that its like my friend said, this show is Marinette story, it's never been about Adrien, that he's never meant to be more than love interest despite his name is in the title.
I hate it...
I think the so-called "hints" are just things that people came up with in an act of desperation to justify bad story telling as it's quite clear that Adrien wasn't a sentimonster until season four. Possibly even late season four. Fans of the BS point to minor things to try to prove that this was always the plan while ignoring massive plot holes introduced by the twist. I made a list of these plot holes, but the two big ones are Chat Blanc and Gorizilla. These episodes would not exist if the sentimonster plot had been the plan from day one.
If Adrien was always a sentimonster, then Chat Blanc and Ephemeral should have been near identical since both episode let Gabriel control the time and place of final fight by luring his son to his lair, meaning that Gabriel had time to get the ring in both episodes, but the episodes are wildly different. Adrien had free will in Chat Blanc while Ephemeral was basically used to verify the senti-twist for the first time. I don't know how anyone can watch both of those episodes and claim that this isn't clear evidence of a massive retcon or - at the very least - terrible writing.
Similarly, Gorizilla has Gabriel straight up say "[Adrien is] hiding something for sure... there's only one way for us to uncover his secret." If the sentimonster plot had been planned from day one, then the "one way" would have been using the ring. Instead, Gabriel risks his son's life because Adrien wasn't a sentimonster at this point, so Gabriel couldn't force the answer out of him. And don't even try to say that this just means that Gabe wasn't willing to use the rings at this point. He literally lets his kid almost die in this episode! A little forced Q&A is nothing compared to that and him using the ring is not treated as a big deal by the story. He has no change of heart moment where he puts it on for the first time. He just starts using it in the later half of season four almost as if that's when it came into existence.
As for the things people point to, I've talked about the feather allergy in particular before because that one just drives me up a wall. Tldr: Adrien is a magical construct that is exactly what he was intended to be by his creator and no other sentimonster has been shown to have a feather allergy, so if you really think that this is foreshadowing, then you're basically arguing that Emilie designed her kid to have a feather allergy as some weird sort of joke. This is extra true since the allergy is explicitly stated to be a pigeon allergy and not a catch-all feather allergy.
There's also the fact that one of the writers posted the original script of Origins on twitter which revealed that the peacock wasn't originally going to be missing from (or possible in) the miracle box, meaning that it was only added later in the game, which is not shocking in the slightest given the way that Adrien was written in season one. To be more explicit, he's not written as a sheltered romantic. Like, remember how Nino asked Adrien for dating advice back in Animan and Adrien was just like "ask Marinette on a date to the zoo!" That's normal teen type advice, not sheltered teen advice and especially not advice from roses-and-candlelit-rooftop dates Chat Noir who doesn't really exist until season two.
In my opinion, the senti plot only became a thing in the fandom because it explains Emilie's sickness if you assume that she knew what using the peacock would mean, but chose to use it anyway, which was a reasonable assumption. It's one I made! But we now know that she probably didn't have any clue because Félix wouldn't exist if the consequences were known as shown by the play in Representation (S5E24) which gave us these lines:
Félix: (as Gabriel) After much study, I have discovered a solution for you and your wife. But there will be a price to pay. You will give me your best knight to guard my future son. In exchange, I will lend you this magic amulet. It will allow you to give life to your dream and to control it. Félix: Some time after his son was born, the lord of war fell ill. And the weaker he grew, the more convinced he became that he was paying the price for using magic.
I remember watching this, hearing the "there will be a price to pay" line and thinking, "Oh, so they did actually know what the peacock would do. Interesting." Only for the plot twist that this is just Gorilla's origin story. In retrospect, it was honestly kinda funny, but the big takeaway here is still that the story never needed to justify Emilie using the peacock because she apparently didn't chose to die for her child. She only found out that having a sentichild would kill her after Adrien already existed at which point it was too late to give fully informed consent. Given the implication of how the Agreste's got the peacock, it's kind of hard to feel bad for her. If anything, it feels like karma, but we don't know how much Gabriel hid from her so I could be wrong. We'll probably never know for sure because I highly doubt that the Agreste plot will be revisited in a meaningful way.
In summary, the senti twist is terribly setup and ultimately pointless. It adds nothing to the story outside of cheap drama and means one of two things: the twist was a massive, last-minute retcon or the writers are terrible at following their own lore and setting up twists. Neither option is good, but if you like the senti twist (a POV I'll never understand), then you don't want to acknowledge that because you want to feel like it was a good addition instead of something that should have stayed in the realms of fanfiction where authors could reshape canon to make the twist work or treat it with the severity it deserves.
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On a more personal note, I'm sorry that you're feeling invalidated by people's reaction to this twist. I agree that the ways its played really downplays and even outright ignores Adrien's trauma which is extra disappointing since it could have been used to highlight just how much Adrien's home life has hurt him. Supposedly he's no different from a normal human, but no normal human would be okay having their free will overwritten like he has. This change in status hasn't actually changed anything about how messed up his treatment has been unless you don't think Adrien is equal to a normal human.
Basically, there's a lot of cognitive dissonance that goes on in the minds of fans who like the way canon has handled this theory.
Even if we ignore that, the fact that Adrien's not the main character doesn't mean that he deserves to be nothing more than Ladybug's perfect, magical arm-candy. One of the show's major flaws is its obsession with focusing everything on Marinette. I've talked before about how that choice does her no favors.
Most long-running TV shows understand that it's actually a good idea to flesh out more than one character because you need a strong ensemble cast to make long-running shows work. Ron Stoppable, Tuxedo Mask, and other girl-power male love interests show us that good shows tend to give the love interest more development as time goes on. Meanwhile, Miraculous has made Adrien less and less important with each passing season even though he's a titular characters.
No, being in the title doesn't mean that he has to be important, but I use that phrasing as a short hand for the fact that Chat Noir was important for the first four seasons. The fact that his name was in the title made sense and felt totally earned because he'd earned equal billing to the lead. He was key to the plot. His father was the villain. He and Ladybug were the only holders chosen by Master Fu and the only holders given their miraculous full time. Chat Noir was also the emotional core of every final, giving Ladybug the strength to win the day. In other words, we were given the show the title promised until, suddenly, we weren't. The "twist" is that Adrien doesn't matter outside of giving Marinette someone to kiss and trauma dump on and we're now going into a season where the villain no longer has anything to do with Adrien and where everyone has a miraculous, so don't expect that status quo to improve. The bug and cat team is dead and gone.
So, no, I don't think that you were reading the show wrong by expecting Adrien's backstory to mean something. You're perfectly valid to expect good, logical writing instead of the nonsense we got. Hopefully you can find some good content in other works or in fanfiction for this show. The main reason that I write Miraculous fanfic is because there are so many good ideas that have been totally squandered in the name of cheep petty drama and it's natural to feel disheartened by that. The only reason I'm not devastated by season five is because I personally thought that the Queen Bee plot was a canary in a coal mine, warning us that this show was going to have terrible writing for anything that lasted longer than an episode. I never imagined how bad it would get, though, or I probably would have stopped watching sooner instead of keeping up with canon so that I could follow the fan content.
I have personally taken a great deal of pleasure in writing stuff where Adrien's trauma is acknowledge, Gabriel pays for his crimes, and Marinette gets to be a good supportive girlfriend instead of treating Adrien as her therapist while he gets nothing. I think it would have been beautiful if the show had focused more on Chat Noir being Ladybug's support instead of mostly using him as comic relief. If they'd gone that route, then they could have very easily let the roles reverse after Gabriel's defeat, letting Marinette finally have a chance to support Adrien after everything he's done for her. That's how you write a satisfying, balanced romance for the ages.
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the-owl-house-takes · 8 months
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So I think the worst take of the fandom is that all of the problems of the show would have been fixed had it gotten a full S3. That literally any problem the show had merely came from the shortening. This is... Well, just blatantly shows that the fandom not only doesn't understand how the animation industry works AND doesn't want to actually look at the narrative they did choose to focus on post the shortening call that were just... baffling.
So first let's establish how much of the show was affected by the Shortening. As a fandom, we found out about it during the hiatus between S1 and 2. This was at earliest, August 2020 since the S1 finale came out late August 2020. Dana has claimed two things that are important to this timeline. 1: The shortening was decided on shortly before the finale came out and 2: That the first episode affected by Covid, which would have been back in March/April, was Looking Glass Ruins. So we EXPLICTLY know that the shortening didn't affect the show until after S2 Ep 5.
BUT then we get into production schedules. Before S2 even BEGAN airing, we were told to stop campaigning for a full S3 because they had to get started on storyboards for the season and that was effectively the firm deadline. This means ALL of S2 was effectively done in script and storyboards by the time S2 aired. This makes sense to keep a weekly schedule and the like and most animation professionals will tell you they work MONTHS in advance of release, bare minimum.
This means, AT BEST, S2B was when the shortening really kicked in. And yes, S2B has pacing issues. It has issues in general and is when most people think the quality of the show dropped. The problem is that... The signs were always there. There's a reason why there's been a backlash because as people become disillusioned with the show, you have to ask what was driving so much before.
And a lot of that was potential. S1 is so good when you first watch it because it keeps teasing the idea that it's going to tackle things in a complex way. That it will explore concepts like Amity's abusive family, magic, fantasy vs reality, etc. like that. It's why the fandom was at its strongest during S1.
Unfortunately, the problem with presenting good ideas and then not executing on them, or completely gutting them is that those old parts are a lot harder to enjoy. As Willow was effectively not a character for half a season and then just suddenly was a jock, people began to realize the fact that she in the show is much more a plot device than anything else. They claimed "We're not doing the one kind act into friendship and forgiveness thing with Amity and Willow" and then literally did NOTHING with it until S2B and eventually DID just do the same trope anyways but now with less resonance than it would have had in Understanding Willow.
Not only that but even S1 didn't give a single shit about its worldbuilding. The First Day has Dana Terrace as a lead writer on it. If anyone knows the worldbuilding best, it should be her... So why is it that no one talks about multi-coven things being illegal? It's literally just used as meta commentary and so they entirely ignore the worldbuilding they have. Reaching Out is exactly the same, with Dana as the SOLE writer of that where Amity and everyone else treats joining a coven like going to college and not literally the word of the law.
But S1 couldn't even keep Wild Witches consistent. Half the time Eda can chill and not worry. She can go to a place funded by the EC like Hexide and not flinch for a second that Bump might call the guards on her despite that being kind of the ONE real rule to their society that makes it not just our world but with teeth. Then again, the show gives NO FUCKS about its own stuff, willing excising portions of itself that it finds cumbersome. Escaping Expulsion is BEFORE Looking Glass Ruins and yet it murders Luz's magical potential in its sleep and also discards Amity's family as easily disposable, despite how much the show claims her mother's influence is the reason why Amity behaved the way she did for all of... Three appearances? Because Amity's arc isn't actually good.
It shouldn't be surprising S2 would do this though when the writers already struggled to do anything with Luz's magic. If she's supposed to be learning and growing... Even S1 is shit at this and is repetitive. Not just with the at least three times we do "King has a minion!" B plot that isn't funny and doesn't do anything but also with its lessons. Luz theoretically learns to listen to Eda in the third episode and arguably the second as well. Then she gets her first glyph with the lesson, in theory. of not trying to take shortcuts to do magic and to not steal. And then in Adventure in the Elements, not even to impress Amity but because of her impatience, she steals something to take a shortcut to stronger magic. That is THREE episodes of the first TWELVE of the series. It usually takes most kids shows at least a LITTLE longer to be that bad at retreading its own lessons.
And the final part of this is that... S2 actually had to be effectively the exact same as it was for s3 to happen. You need the foreshadowing of the Collector for the Day of Unity. You need to FINALLY do something with Belos for the revelations of the Human Realm to happen and to do Luz's angst arc. You need Hunter to be at least 90% redeemed so he's there on their side during The Day of Unity, etc. like that. Then you get half a season in the human realm before coming back to the Isles for half a season, just like Amphibia did because returning home is the best mid-season finale you can have there. So any argument that a full S3 would have actually fixed issues with S2B is just... Wrong. The problems with S2B come with the fact that S2A wastes a FUCKTON of time on elements that don't matter.
Oh, and lest we forget that The Collector could have been cut. He had one appearance in a dream, that also doesn't make sense with his characterization, before S2B. In the fact, the crew has admitted as much. He was added AFTER the news of the Shortening because they always wanted to include a character like him so now that they didn't have the time for him... Cram him in anyways.
Could a show have EVER been saved when that's how they treat one of their two final antagonists? It's the sort of statement that just solidifies the idea that TOH didn't want three seasons. It wanted five... If not just to go on forever. To be the next monolithic show, even as it repeats character arcs, lessons and shrinks characters rather than expands them.
So no, the show isn't bad because of the shortening. The show is bad because the writing is bad.
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genericpuff · 6 months
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so, i'd been stalking your blog in silence for the past few days/weeks because i used to be a huge fan of LO (i paid patron, was on the discord, own merch and a volume, spent money on fast past for over FOUR years). but as it happened to most fans, i got frustrated and gave up fastpass, and for a while i was trying to stay away from LO critiques because it just made me mad to realize something that was a comfort thing for me was bad all along (and i didn't wanna go full blown anti-LO) but i just finished reading your analysis on the mid-season finale and oh my god dude.
the retcon on how persephone feels about apollo after over 4 years of seeing her hate him because of what he did nearly pushed me over the edge. i feel sick to my stomach, this has to be among the worst things rachel has done and i just wanna say thank you for bringing it up and talking about it so eloquently. i'm a victim of SA and its comforting to see people in the fandom take it as seriously as it should be.
also LO rekindled is a breath of fresh air, thank you for creating it and putting so much work into it <3
Aw man, it's wild when I see people go through the pipeline of realizing LO has issues, mostly because it's a common attack on the critical community that everyone in it are just a bunch of "trolls and haters", but really, a lot of us started in the same boat as you, myself included. I unfortunately just missed the Patreon era, but I remember when I was a diehard fan of LO, it was one of the biggest facets of my friendship with the person who introduced me to it, I would literally be swiping my app refreshing it over and over again in the last seconds leading up to new updates trying to get the episode to just load, I drew fanart, I even did a tattoo of it once for that same friend who got me into it, and yes, I was really pissed that there was an anti community surrounding it.
It's crazy to think back on those times. I do miss how the comic used to make me feel, but at the same time, I know there's no going back to that time so I try to make the best of what I have now within the critic community, and what I've gained since then in terms of dissecting and discussing literature.
I feel so much for your feelings regarding the SA plot, I'm also a victim of SA so it was one of the biggest plot points that drew me into the comic in the first place, so it was really hard to truly realize what the series had become as the SA plotline took a backseat and the characterizations fell apart. It felt like something that I had gone through - and many others who also related to Persephone's struggles - was being used for cheap drama and that feels especially apparent now with how the series seems to be backpedaling it, or at least, replacing it with different motivations to make Apollo the villain, almost like it's an attempt to distract us from the SA and make us want to see his downfall for reasons that Rachel can quantify in a more black and white "good vs evil" kind of way.
I'm so glad you like Rekindled, I made it for people like you and I who loved LO once upon a time but mourn for what it once was before it turned into what it is now. It's been such a cathartic project for me and I'm so happy that others enjoy it too <3
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skamenglishsubs · 1 year
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Subtext and Culture, Young Royals, Season 2, Episode 4
This episode picks up immediately after the previous one, Felice has fled Wilhelm's room and he's panicking...
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Subtext: Not sure if he writes that to reassure Felice, or himself. Or maybe both?
Subtext: Either way, Henry totally snitched. Maybe he just told Walter, who then snitched, but no matter, the secret is out, and now everyone knows.
Subtext: Since Sara has never dated or even pursued a guy before, she's completely clueless on how it's done, and doesn't really understand sexting emojis. I use Urban Dictionary to figure out what the dang kids these days are talking about, and 🍑 means booty! You're welcome. This is an educational Tumblr after all.
Subtext: This episode is littered with hints about Stella's sexuality, and it's kinda telling that she's a lot less bothered about others seeing her make out with Fredrika.
Culture: It totally is. Sweden has imported a couple of retail holidays from the US, Valentine's is one, but it wasn't really a thing until the 90's, and it's pretty watered down compared to that. There's a lost in translation here as well, because in Sweden the day is called Alla Hjärtans Dag - All Hearts' Day, but the Hillerska tradition is called Valentindagen, which literally means Valentine's Day, which is not the same thing as the retail holiday.
Subtext: Oh look, it's the Theme™ rearing its ugly head again! Instead of examining crappy traditions, the students are just perpetuating them mindlessly. That everyone was "a bit sexist" in the 1700's is no excuse to keep the bad parts of this tradition.
Subtext: To the other girls, Marie Antoinette is seen as a positive example of the time period because of the ostentatiousness and nobility, but Sara doesn't quite make the same association, and only remembers her for being decapitated during the French Revolution.
Subtext: She lied, like a liar.
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Subtext: Walter's slightly desperate strategy also applies to Wilhelm. If Simon says no, Wilhelm has no plan B.
Subtext: Oh look, the Theme™. We're on a roll here!
Subtext: The chant that Walter starts goes "Alla är lika mycket värda" in Swedish, which is sort of how the Universal Declaration of Human Rights start in its Swedish version. This egalitarian phrase pops up in tons of places and mission statements where people and organizations want to emphasize human rights, and is very familiar to most Swedes. But then the chant continues about how only very few people are allowed into Forest Ridge, making a mockery of the implied equality. Because of course these rich assholes think they have more worth than everyone else.
Subtext: Earlier I reblogged a great post by @randomsmilingpotatoes about how this season shows us easier, simpler relationship alternatives for both Wilhelm and Simon. This scene is one example of that, because it shows that if Wilhelm had been straight and going after the other rich girls at school, all the Forest Ridge boys would have celebrated him, included him in their fellowship, and cheered him on in his "conquests". Everyone knows he had a thing with Simon, but because he's a boy, and not rich, they're not celebrating Wilhelm for that.
Subtext: As usual when Simon feels hurt by Wilhelm's actions, he reactively reaches out to Marcus.
Subtext: Marcus comes to the rescue and treats Simon to a lunch that is more appropriate to their social class, they're having pizza on the hood of his car. This is another example of how a relationship with Marcus would be simpler for Simon, here he doesn't have to mind his table manners unlike at the formal luncheons at Forest Ridge where he'll always be an outsider.
Blink-and-you-miss-it: Of course Marcus has a Wunderbaum air freshener hanging in the rear-view mirror, like the low-brow pleb he is. I, on the other hand, am a man of high class and refined tastes, so I have a Pusheen air freshener in my car instead. Om nom nom ice cream.
Subtext: Yes Marcus, that is exactly what Simon wants to do.
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Blink-and-you-miss-it: I'm cackling with laughter at Sara's expression as she tries - and fails - to take some sexy selfies.
Blink-and-you-miss-it: Whoops, can't have a horse plushie in the sexy selfie, so she quickly throws it to the floor before continuing.
Culture: They're playing Spökboll, a Swedish version of Dodgeball, and a staple of many a gym class. Also, angry, jealous Simon has great aim!
Blink-and-you-miss-it: Simon's eyes are up here, Wilhelm. Stop ogling his body.
Subtext: In Simon's defence, it was Marcus who surprised him with that kiss, it wasn't exactly mutual. Wilhelm doesn't know how much Simon is actually struggling with moving on, but Simon isn't dispelling the notion either.
Subtext: Previously, the Queen emphasized how anyone dating Wilhelm has to deal with his position, and later in this episode both Felice and Nils will say the same thing. This is the point where Wilhelm realizes that maybe it'll never work out with Simon if this is non-negotiable on his part, because Wilhelm can't stop being a prince. And since Wilhelm walks out of the argument, Simon realizes at this point that he maybe went too far, Wilhelm might actually move on after this.
Blink-and-you-miss-it: Wilhelm makes a hilarious puppy face when asking Felice to forgive him. Her calling him out on his enormous selfishness was pretty satisfying though, and well earned!
Subtext: And again, yet another example of easier alternatives for Wilhelm. There's no shortage of people who would want to date him because he is a prince, unlike Simon who is doing the opposite, making that relationship much more difficult.
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Culture: Traditionally, there are fourteen lines in a sonnet. Each line also needs to be in iambic pentameter, and the whole thing needs to conform to a rhyme scheme. The most well known composer of sonnets was William Shakespeare, who mostly used the ABAB CDCD EFEF GG rhyme scheme.
Blink-and-you-miss-it: Vincent never misses a chance to put down the other boys, and I can't help but laugh.
Subtext: This episode really piles on the relationship alternatives, and here comes Nils with his suggestion: Keep everything on the down-low. Be gay, but discreetly. Hook up with guys, quietly. Go to private, upper-class gay parties at some exclusive ski resort in Switzerland, and meet guys who in the same situation and that can keep quiet. You don't have to be out and proud, no-one needs to know.
Lost in translation: Nils uses "gay" here, which in Swedish has a less strict meaning than the English word gay, where it usually only refers to a homosexual man. In Swedish though it can mean "not straight", so who knows how Nils identifies.
Culture: Tim Cook, the CEO of Apple, isn't high profile enough for you, Nils? But he has a point, it's rare for people in that position to be out and open about it.
Culture: He's not wrong, it would be world news. I don't think there's any immediate family in the line of succession in any European monarchy that is openly queer. However, there's currently over 30 royal kids throughout Europe that are Gen Z or younger, the odds of every single one of them being straight is pretty much zero, so there's a chance that we'll actually see this in real life soon. Fingers crossed! 🤞🤞
Cinematography: Not content with dropping hints about Stella any longer, the show implicitly tells us that she wrote the poem to Fredrika by focusing on her face and her reaction.
Subtext: ...and follows it up with more hints in her dialogue.
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Subtext: August has no qualms about standing naked in front of the window, with the curtains open. He doesn't need to hide his relationship with Sara, if someone were to spy on him, he'd be celebrated by the other guys instead.
Subtext: Even though August started the episode in a great mood after having the meeting with the Queen, here the trap of royal duty begins to close around him, and he realizes that it's not all positive. If he's going to be the spare, the royal court needs to control his future as well. Ten years sure sounds like a prison sentence.
Subtext: No, he lied, like a liar.
Subtext: As if the show hasn't already used Jan-Olof as a personification of systemic homophobia, here it's made explicit. The court needs for August to be straight, otherwise their backup plan might not work either.
Subtext: For Sara, this is possibly something she's heard her dad promise before, and that didn't turn out so well.
Subtext: Sara makes up an excuse for not going with August to the ball, but the real reason is because of loyalty, she promised the girls to go with them. She's also dating her best friend's ex behind her back, which is pretty disloyal as well.
Subtext: Felice is talking about Wilhelm, but now that Sara knows that August is Wilhelm's spare and a future royal, this suddenly applies to her too.
Subtext: Felice is loyal to her friends, which is why she turned Wilhelm down.
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Blink-and-you-miss-it: Vincent being his usual hilarious horrible self.
Culture: In Sweden, the drinking age is 18, so only the third-year students are allowed to legally drink. But since this is an official party for the entire school, the staff can't serve alcohol to the kids, which is why a lot of them are pre-gaming in the dorms.
Subtext: For August, dressing up as a noble is something he enjoys. He's always wanted more status, and now that he's Wilhelm's spare he's got it.
Subtext: ...while Wilhelm hates it, he hates having to dress up and play the part, because it's that exact thing that is stopping him from having a relationship with Simon. But at this point he's pretty much resigned himself to his fate, so he puts on the makeup and the dress, playing the part of a real prince, crying while doing so.
Subtext: August is normally a pretty confident guy, but here we see him being insecure and anxious for the first time, because he's actually in love with Sara and is afraid of fucking up his carefully planned classy little pre-party champagne date with her.
Lost in translation: Sara writes "Vi kan inte ses mer", which means "We can't see each other any more", which is actually kind of a break-up message. But the English subtitles make it seem like she's just standing him up for this one party.
Subtext: Simon was planning to only do his performance and skip the rest of the party, because he knew Wilhelm would be there. But now that Marcus shows up, ready to go to the party for Simon's sake, he changes his mind.
Subtext: The fish do have names, it's just that Simon associates that with a very happy memory of Wilhelm, and he's clearly thinking of that here.
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Culture: We need to have a small intermission here, talking about the theme for the masquerade ball, and how this relates to the show.
In the early 1700's in Sweden, despite early successes defending Sweden on the battlefield against Denmark-Norway, the young king Karl XII embarked on a disastrous campaign against Russia that ended in defeat and weakened the military. On his return to Sweden he started a new campaign against Norway, but died in battle there soon after in 1718, which pretty much led to the end of the era of the Swedish Empire that had started a hundred years earlier.
These defeats and loss of military power made the monarchy pretty unpopular among the people, so when queen Ulrika Eleonora took over the throne after her childless brother, she was forced to give up a lot of power to parliament, and no longer had the unchecked power to rule over the country. The early to mid 1700's was also the time when the Age of Enlightenment swept over Europe, and philosophers like Voltaire and Rousseau spread ideals of liberty and equality and brotherhood, which in France ultimately resulted in the bloody French Revolution at the end of the century.
But In Sweden, these ideas led to the Age of Liberty, an era marked by rationality and science and civil rights, and Sweden started progressing into a proper constitutional monarchy, ruled by law instead of the whims of the current king or queen. However, parliament became more and more unstable, and in 1772 the newly crowned king Gustav III seized power from parliament in a coup, rolled back many of the recent changes, and restored the absolute monarchy.
And that's the dude in the painting above, sitting on the left, together with his two brothers, Prince Fredrik Adolf, and Prince Karl. This time period is the theme of the ball, and all the kids are wearing similar clothes; French fashion from the late 1700's, powdered wigs, cravats, tricorne hats, pearls and all. Because of course an upper-class school like Hillerska would rather celebrate a period marked by a strong monarchy and absolute rule, rather than that egalitarian wishy-washy nonsense of the earlier era.
In further parallels to the show, Gustav III was probably gay, had gay lovers among the nobility, and might not have been the biological father of his children, due to difficulties *ahem* performing the necessary act with his spouse, Queen Sofia Magdalena.
The king was a huge supporter of culture and arts, and under his rule, Sweden got its first opera house, its first ballet company, and a proper drama theatre, all of which are still in operation today. The king even wrote several plays and a few operas himself, and spent a lot of time directing these plays as well. However, him spending more time on his hobbies than actually ruling the country, combined with certain political reforms he pushed through, made him deeply unpopular among the nobility. So unpopular in fact that several nobles got together in a conspiracy to assassinate him. The king was shot at a masquerade ball in 1792 and died of the complications two weeks later.
All the conspirators were caught, the man who pulled the trigger, Jacob Johan Anckarström, was executed for treason, and a number of co-conspirators were either jailed or exiled. One of the leading co-conspirators' name was, and I shit you not, Claes Fredrik Horn. What's August's last name in the show again?
This lesson about queer Swedish kings in history is now over, back to the show.
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Blink-and-you-miss-it: An alternative to pre-gaming is to smuggle in alcohol to the party and spike your own drinks with it. Fredrika Stella hid a pocket flask in her dress.
Blink-and-you-miss-it: Stella is wearing a very anachronistic dollar-sign necklace. It does look fabulous, though!
Subtext: Is it better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all? Stella doesn't dare make that gamble, and is instead settling for the unfortunately very common queer trope of secretly pining for your straight best friend.
Subtext: Throughout the entire party, Simon makes it so obvious that he's not into Marcus, and is just using him to make Wilhelm jealous.
Subtext: Marcus is pretty oblivious though, and he can't wait to get the hell out of this place, he's not comfortable, he wanted a quiet date-night at home with Simon, but this was the only way he could get Simon to spend the night with him.
Subtext: Throughout this not-really-relationship, Marcus has insisted on setting the pace, and here he does it again. He has now decided that they should have sex, which is why he showed up to this thing in the first place, and is nagging Simon to sleep at his place, while completely ignoring all the signs that Simon is on a completely different page.
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Subtext: Alexander is completely in the dark here, he thinks Wilhelm and Felice was a serious thing, and he thinks that August still has feelings for Felice.
Subtext: August is pissed about being stood up by Sara, so he reverts to his usual scheming self. Planning the downfall of the king at a masquerade ball? Didn't I just write about something like that a few sections ago?
Culture: The tall thing in the middle of the table is called a Krokan in Swedish, which is more of a decorative almond cookie thing than a cake. The pink marzipan cake is called an Operatårta, which is a pink variation of the even more classic green Swedish princess cake. If you live near an IKEA, you can usually find mini versions of these in their restaurant.
Subtext: It's kinda ironic that Marcus has more in common with Wilhelm than Simon, but what does Simon and Marcus have in common, really? They clearly have completely opposite tastes.
Cinematography: Out at the party the lighting is pink and warm and romantic, but in the kitchen there's a sickly fluorescent glow instead, and it's filled with modern things that completely clash with the theme of the party. Wilhelm tried putting on a show, but as soon as Simon is out of sight, he throws away his cake and escapes the fake dressed-up environment by going into the kitchen, where we see his real feelings.
Subtext: It was at this exact moment Simon realized that he had fucked up. His attempts at making Wilhelm jealous has completely backfired, and Wilhelm is now finally letting go, just like he has been preparing himself for the entire episode.
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Cinematography: Unlike the first season which featured cute moments between the two of them in almost every episode, this season started with a fakeout dream scene, and has since then withheld moments like this on purpose to build suspense.
We've been seeing both Wilhelm and Simon have intimate scenes with other characters, but there's been no chemistry, nothing in those scenes that make us want to root for those relationships.
But now it's time for the emotional payoff, and the show holds nothing back, it employs every single trick in its book to make us really feel this moment: The action is slowed way down, and all outside sounds disappear. The only thing we're hearing is their heavy breathing, just like in similar scenes in the first season, and the soundtrack switches to the [dreamy electronic music] used in the initial dream scene. The chemistry is insane, you can cut the tension with a knife, and you're all supposed to remember that this is why we're watching this show! This is why we're invested in this couple!
And then they kiss.
Can you breathe again? Do you need to take a cold shower? Alright, let's wrap this episode up. Yeah, yeah, Marcus interrupts the moment, and he sees Wilhelm, putting two and two together, who cares? They kissed! They finally kissed!
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Subtext: The idea that no-one picks up on the fact that this song is totally about a lost love is hilarious, because it's so obvious to me. I have to squint and look at it sideways to imagine how it could possibly be about the school, not the other way around!
Subtext: Wilhelm is looking at Marcus at this line, because Simon got lost by trying to get together with Marcus, but just now found his way back "home" to Wilhelm again.
Subtext: He did remove the profanity and he did put Hillerska in there like the music teacher told him, so that everyone understands it's totally about the school! And not about Wilhelm, nuh-uh!
Subtext: In the same way that Simon's song is about his feelings for Wilhelm, afterwards the soundtrack switches to Beautiful Boy, which is about what Wilhelm is feeling for Simon, because in this moment he could really feel that Simon does love him after all. The way Simon is ignoring Marcus and only has eyes for Wilhelm might be a big fat hint as well.
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campoverlook-if · 23 days
Text
Progress Update #4// 4/3/24
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Hey everyone, just wanted to update you all on the story.
I've started a new process for the past few days where I write for two hours and then take fifteen-thirty minute breaks in between. I'm still blanking on what to write for a section sometimes, but I'm really trying not to have grayed out choices again. That was NOT fun.
Still, the writing process shouldn't be forced, but sometimes you just really need to kick your own ass and grab that text file by the ears. Plus, this is the most productive I've felt since getting my wisdom teeth removed.
In celebration of this new bout of inspiration, here's a sneak peek of an upcoming scene you may encounter in the update.
Alright, that's it. This girl can't just bully you away because she doesn't like you. You hadn't even done anything when she first started acting nasty towards you. Yes, you may have walked away in the middle of a conversation, but she had been so…aggressive. You weren't just going to stand there and take it, and you definitely weren't going to start now. So, you take a step closer to Claire, giving her a leveled glare of your own. "Last time I checked, this table doesn't belong to you." Tension quickly fills the air around the two of you. Claire doesn't respond to your retort, but she doesn't need to. Her body language gives you all the information you need to know.
Ooooh boi, what the hell did you do to make Claire this mad at you. And on the first day? Tragic.
Along with that we'll be getting into a few things before finally ending episode 1:
Reworked the gender system of the counselors. Now you can choose from the beginning how you want them to be.
Added the choice to be non-binary (a new batch of campers, hooyay!). Also need to add onto scenes with Asher, Claire, and Lucas.
Meeting the final two counselors (Ruby and Silas).
An added scene with E for returning MCs during your walk to the mess hall.
Going through orientation, including a fun scavenger hunt (Uncle Robert said it would be fun, don't believe him).
A small scene with your new roommates in your cabins.
I'm so excited just thinking about it, and I'm the one writing the dang story.
If you hadn't seen it yet, I answered an ask a little bit ago about doing visuals for the blog. I'm not the best at visual media (that's more my mother's thing) but I can use a character maker like a mf if I have too.
It was kinda nice, a little limiting, but it was surprisingly helpful for me to have it. I've thought about how these characters look for so long it's strange to suddenly see them brought to life in any type of way except text. The character bios have been updated with these pictures now.
(UPDATE: LITERALLY MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT DECISION: SLEEP DEPRIVED AF BEHAVIOR)
So, I wrote this update yeaterday and was planning for it to just post through queue like I normally do, but the situation has changed. The demo will be updated again, however the stopping point is literally the same. The only major changes are the gender system, adding being non-binary, and having everything on one file (pray for me). The stopping point is still the same.
All in all the word count is now at this point: 57k (W/O Code), 14K (average). Not a huge jump average wise, but I'm happy anyway.
Link to demo here.
(END OF EMERGENCY UPDATE)
That's all I wanted to talk about for now, if you run into any bugs just let me know and I'll fix it lickity split.
See you all on the next update!
P.S. - I love it when new people follow and only like the posts of certain counselors. I know who you're into now ;).
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Text
Meet cute
Greg Hirsch x Reader
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Warnings: its cheesy romcom stuff, english isnt my first language, this isnt canon to succession at all, might be somewhere season one but shiv is working at waystar, use of y/n
Fluff nothing more.
Summary: Reader is Shivs assistant and has to bring some secret documents to Toms new assistant. He is your bosses cousin and has been working at waystar only for a few weeks. You are more than curious to meet him.
Notes: i loveeee succession and i love Cousin Greg the egg. I am not ready for it all to end. And damn the last episode is gonna air one day before my birthday. Another reason to cry at my birthday…it happens every year. Also none of my friends are into succession ( such bad friends ) so if you want to be my succession bestie pls dm me. Thx for reading this. And if you like it, just so you know, comments are like long hugs to writers :)
A loud knock on your office door interrupted your work. For hours you sat on the same boring documents and your head was literally glowing. The day had not started very well. After you arrived late at the trainstation and had missed your train, you felt you already knew that today would be awful. As you walked out into the New York winter air with cold ears, you almost collided with someone else. Why didn't this giant pay more attention to where he was going?
At Starbucks you quickly bought an overpriced coffee and two bagels. One for you and one for your boss. You had overslept and didn't really have time for breakfast and even though you were actually quite good at your job, you could get fired at any time. Waystar was not known for treating its employees well. The longer you worked there the more you hated the company. But you couldn't just quit. You have to pay rent and have enough money to keep you and your two cats alive. You needed that job. That means, that it happened more than often that you had to skip eating or sleeping. The main thing is that your boss has her hot coffee and snacks on her expensive coffee table every morning. And you need to do your job as her assistant perfectly, without ever being late.
But most mornings she wasn't even in the office. you could only wonder what happened to the cold coffee.
About four hours after you ran sweaty and red-headed to your little office to spend the next few hours in front of your computer, there was a loud knock on the door.
"Heyy, Good Morning Y/N. Nice to see you. Can you please bring these to my husband on the other floor. I have a meeting now. See you.“
And away she went again. Shiv Roy had handed you a pack of documents, at least thats what you thought it was. You read the word confidential printed on the envelope in red color. Even tho you were in the middle of something, you decided to take a break and bring that envelope to Shivs husband.
You weren't sure where it suddenly came from, but on the way to the elevator you got a little nervous. Not only because of Shiv's somewhat strange husband. Tom Wabsgans had given you the ick from the beginning. He was tall and rich, like almost every other man who worked here. And yes money can make people a bit peculiar. But Tom... he was on another level. You had once heard him yell at a co-worker for "breathing too loudly". Also, there were rumors going around that he offered to give some employees a fortune, if they would be his "human furniture" for a week. If anyone in this building would claim that Tom had a piece of meat cut out of his own body to eat as a steak, no one would be surprised. You least of all. He gave you a strange feeling every time. But your nervousness came from something else.
The day before, Inej, one of your best friends who used the office next to yours, had whispered to you at lunch that she had seen tom's new assistant. She had grinned and said:
"so if I wasn't already in a happy committed relationship with this awesome guy, I would have given him my number for sure. Fuck Y/N, he's really cute."
Since this talk you had caught yourself wanting to know more about this guy. Because cute wasnt how you would describe most guys who worked for Logan Roy. Most of them where sleazy, moneyhungry guys with big watches and tailored suits. They catcalled all the women who worked with you, honestly you hated their guts.
Inej had sent you a message the night before. She'd heard from two of Tom's coworkers that the assistant was probably part of the Roy family. A cousin or nephew or something. If this rumor was true, then it was definitely the hottest gossip in ages.
The elevator ride didn't take long and with the envelope in your hand you walked confidently towards Tom's office. You had already raised your hand to knock on his office.
But it should not come so far, from the side came a great force that almost made you fall. But before you could curse again the shitty "all women must wear high heels rule" and hit the floor, someone held you by your waist.
"Oh god sorry. Uh. I'm really sorry about that."
You had no idea how you could have almost been knocked over for the second time today. You were kinda getting angry. Why was this day so awful.
"oh fuck, can't you be more careful?!"
When you turned to the side you almost regretted your loud harsh tone.
In front of you stood a tall guy, brown hair, crooked tie and an apologetic and quiet adorable puppy look on his face.
„So, uh, i m sorry. Truly? uh…Truliest.“
You didnt really know how to respond. Damn that guy is tall.
„Wait, uh, are you Y/N? You know because i, uh , i didnt stalk you or something, i saw you on a photo, this coworker, uh, i think her name was Inej, she showed me a picture, like of you guys, and - well i just assumed that might be, uh, you? And i…“
„What?“
„I am Greg, i uh work for Tom, and yeah so yesterday- i talked to this wom…“
„No i get that part. You really need to look where you are going…Greg.“
You were putting on a little smile. Inej was right, he was cute, and apparently also very clumsy. And nervous?
Greg was tucking his hair behind his ear. He didnt looked that shocked anymore. A small smile creeping on his face.
Damn. You really liked that face.
„I am really sorry, Y/N. I kinda, uh, feel like i owe you something?“
You were blushing. Nervously you looked down. He is so tall he probably can’t see the blushing like that.
„Would you maybe give this to Tom?- its from Shiv. And probably important.“
You handed him the envelope. You could have sworn your hands touched. You felt like cringing. This feels like you are in a stupid romcom. Stop blushing and smiling this isnt pride and prejudice.
If you hadn’t looked down while being flustered, you could have witnessed Greg’s cheeks turning a little red too.
Nervously he gave you a thumbs up.
„ sure. Uh - and, eh, maybe i could buy you something for lunch? I don’t know… there is this really cool pizza place i always wanted to go, i … sorry, maybe you don’t even like pizza. Eh i just thought we could maybe go there? And i would pay - obviously. -Not because i am a man or something, uh like i am a feminist and i believe you could pay for yourself, but, uh i you know almost knocked you over because i didnt look where i was going…“
His nervous rambling continued. Your little smirk turned into a genuin smile.
„Hey Greg.“
„Uh yeah?“
„I would love that.“
On the way back to your office, you forgot how horrible this day started. With a smile on your face you pushed the button to go up. Entering the elevator you looked around, he was still standing where you left him. Grinning to himself. You saw him looking back up to search for your face, right when the elevator doors closed in front of you.
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miley1442111 · 1 month
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hii would love smth with sydney adamu x reader if ur still taking requests!! like literally anything just need more syd content haha
omg thank u for requesting sydney, there's like nowhere near enough stuff for her? like guys... she's amazing. anyways, I hope you enjoy, it's kind of short, so sorry about that :)
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no-show
a/n: lowkey spoilers for season 2, episode 3- sundae, also I didn't really think of male! or fem! reader while writing so just imagine what you want :)
summary: sydney asks if you want to join her and carmen on some food tasting, how could you say no?
pairing: sydneyadamu x reader
warnings: general fluff, talk of parents dying, brief mention of lupus, brief mention of cancer, mention of crushes.
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She was pretty. But… she was also technically your new boss. You, a new person on the waitstaff at The Bear, had been hired a month ago. For the past 4 days, you had been building the tables and chairs along with your new co-workers, they’re fine, all pretty normal people- nothing to write home about. But Sydney, your boss, she was amazing. She had been the one to orient you in the restaurant. She showed you where everything is and how everything works, but you were sure you’d forgotten all of it. You were too busy watching her.. You pushed those thoughts out of your head, for now, you just had to keep your head down, get to opening night. All anyone is focusing on is opening night. So, you keep working and finish the last table, when you notice Sydney standing and talking with Carmen. Carmen Berzatto was strange, in your opinion. He barely talked to her, yet she was his ‘business partner’? He refused to even send her a text when he basically told you all to start taking down walls more than a week ago, and she was rightfully upset. He walks away from her with a nod and you get up from under the table. She comes up behind you as you stretch your aching back. 
“Do you want to come with us? We’re just- our pallets are fucked and-” she starts to explain.
“Yes,” you say, probably too eagerly. 
“O-ok. Cool,” she smiles. “I’ll grab my stuff.”
You smile and follow her to the lockers. “So, where do you plan on going?”
“Just some places around, I know some people, Carm knows some people,” she shrugs and the nickname she has for him irks you slightly. There can’t be anything going on between them, right? 
“Will we wait for him?” You ask, pulling your jacket on.
“He’ll catch up,” she decides, leading out the back door and into the cold Chicago air. 
—----------------------------------------------------------------------------
A train ride, a short 10 minute walk, and a conversation with a waiter later, you sit across from Sydney, conversation flowing freely. You feel… comfortable with her. She’s awkward in an endearing way, kind in a way that's foreign to you, and so deeply interesting that you feel like you could talk to her forever. The food arrives, and it’s the best thing you’ve tasted in a while. Considering you’ve been living off of the same meal for the past three days (meal prepping is the only way you eat), this is like actual gold dust. Clearly your reaction doesn’t stay in your head, your eyes closing in satisfaction.
“Good right?” Sydney grins from across the table. 
All you can do is nod. And internally kick yourself for being so embarrassing. 
—----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Carmen has been long forgotten. He was supposed to show, he didn’t, boo hoo. You don’t care. Sydney doesn’t care. Your day with Sydney has been nothing short of perfect. Good food, good company, and now, good ideas- on Sydney’s part, you were basically just here for the food and her. 
“So, what’s your favourite food?” Sydney asks, just on the walk back to The Bear. 
“Can I be honest?” You chuckle, a warm feeling within you shielding you from the cold. 
“Of course!” 
“When I was a kid, my mom made these nachos with like-just random cheeses on them, and then we’d dip them in this spicy sauce until our tongues would go numb,” you recounted fondly. “I forgot to ask for the recipe before she died.” Sydney’s face falls, and you can’t help but feel that you’ve ruined the moment, the day too, maybe. “S-sorry, I didn’t- it just slipped out-”
“It’s ok. My mom died too,” she explains slowly. “Lupus.”
“Cancer.”
“I’m sorry,” she smiles softly as you both stop just outside the restaurant. 
“I was like 10, it happened a while ago-”
“I’m sorry,” she repeats. 
“I’m sorry too,” you smile, the sound of blood rushing filling your ears. You want to kiss her. You want to kiss her so bad. So, you do.
You reach and hand out and cup her cheek, pulling her in to kiss you. She gasps at the sudden contact, but kisses back all the same. She tastes like the mint the last restaurant gave you both. Her arms wrap around your neck, a smile on her lips against yours. You pull away, opening your eyes. 
She looks beautiful, a smile on her perfect lips. The lips you just kissed. 
“Thank you for today,” you smile. 
“Thank you.” 
“For what?” you chuckle.
She rolls her eyes and kisses you again.
Wow. What a good day. 
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